UK

Moscow (AFP) – Detained Russian theatre director Yevgeniya Berkovich and fellow playwright Svetlana Petriychuk appear via video link to attend a court hearing. The pair were arrested in 2023 on charges of “justifying terrorism” after being accused of vindicating terrorism in their award-winning play “Finist, the Bright Falcon” about Russian women who are recruited into the Islamic State (IS) and travel to Syria to marry IS fighters before returning to Russia.

Odesa (Ukraine) (AFP) – Ukrainian firefighters rush to extinguish a fire after a Russian missile attack in the southwestern city of Odesa that left 13 people injured, according to its mayor.

New York (AFP) – Police deployed a heavy presence on US university campuses Wednesday after forcibly clearing away some weeks-long protests against Israel’s war with Hamas. Some students at Columbia University have decried “rough and aggressive” tactics used by officers.

Tbilisi (AFP) – Tens of thousands of people rally in Georgia against a controversial “foreign influence” bill, after parliament advanced the measure that Brussels has warned would harm Tbilisi’s long-standing European aspirations.

Dong Nai (Vietnam) (AFP) – Hundreds of thousands of fish have died in a reservoir in southern Vietnam’s Dong Nai province, with locals and media reports suggesting a brutal heatwave and the lake’s management are to blame.

Kumasi (Ghana) (AFP) – Ghana’s Asante King displays for the first time dozens of royal artefacts looted during colonial rule, after they were returned by British museums on a long-term loan as part of his silver jubilee celebrations.

(AFP) – Immigration Enforcement staff have started detaining migrants from their places of residence in the UK ahead of their deportation to Rwanda, according to footage from Britain’s Home Office. Flights are expected to start “in the next nine to eleven weeks”, according to the governmental department.

Moscow (AFP) – Long before Russia sent its troops to Ukraine, rights groups had sounded the alarm over the country’s poor record on protecting women from domestic violence. But now, with the conflict in its third year, campaigners say that the problem could be getting even worse, with veterans rendered “more agressive”.

Riyadh (AFP) – Flash floods inundate roads in Riyadh, the latest instance of heavy rains disrupting life in Saudi Arabia. Authorities have closed schools in several regions following the floods hitting the desert Gulf.

Yangon (AFP) – Diving into the darkness of the Yangon River, Thet Oo starts another murky sortie in his months-long mission to salvage a sunken ship using the power of the tides. He says he has salvaged around 40 ships, from cargo boats to passenger ferries, since he started diving over four decades ago. The metal carcasses are then sold on to scrap dealers.

Buenos Aires (AFP) – Hundreds of Union workers gather in Buenos Aires ahead of a march to mark International Workers’ Day. IMAGES

Havana (AFP) – Thousands of Cubans gather for International Workers’ Day celebrations at the Anti-imperialist Tribune in the capital of Havana, led by Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel and former President Raul Castro. IMAGES