Khan Yunis (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Children bid farewell to their mother Reem Al-Akhras after she was killed in the Al-Alam area of Rafah near an aid centre run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), where the Red Cross says at least 27 people were killed by Israeli fire. The Israeli military says it is investigating the incident.
Moscow (AFP) – The evening is in full swing in Moscow’s posh Patriarch Ponds neighbourhood, with ice-cold spritz and fancy cars. Despite Ukraine recently intensifying its drone attacks aimed at the Russian capital, the revelry continues in Moscow. “I don’t read the news. It’s a mood spoiler,” says one woman.
Kramatorsk (Ukraine) (AFP) – Even with Russian bombs raining down on her town in eastern Ukraine, nothing will stop Olena Sologub from taking care of her appearance. For Ukrainians like her living near the front, beauty offers an escape that prevents the war from engulfing their lives. “Let me be beautiful, even if they find me under the rubble,” says the 50-year-old crane operator in Kramatorsk, which lies less than 20 kilometres (12 miles) from advancing Russian troops.
Argelia (Colombia) (AFP) – With cocaine production at an all-time high, Colombia’s government is trying a new approach to its narcotics problem: paying farmers to uproot crops of coca, the drug’s main ingredient. Among the beneficiaries are Alirio Caicedo and his son Nicolas, who a decade ago planted an expanse of coca as they staked their future on the continued patronage of criminal gangs. Today, they are uprooting the crops and hoping for the best.
Geneva (AFP) – The “willful impediment of access to food and other life-sustaining relief supplies for civilians may constitute a war crime,” says United Nations Human Rights Office (OHCHR) spokesperson Jeremy Laurence, discussing the situation in Gaza at a press conference in Geneva.
Santa María Ostuma (AFP) – Men carry bundles of fruit on poles on their shoulders during the Santa Cruz festivities in Santa Maria Ostuma, 65 km east of San Salvador, to celebrate the year’s abundant harvest. The celebration dates back almost a century and takes place every 31 May.
Warschau (AFP) – Nationalist historian Karol Nawrocki wins Poland’s presidential election, according to official results, in a major blow for the country’s pro-EU government. The 42-year-old, an admirer of US President Donald Trump, scored 50.9 percent of the vote in Sunday’s runoff. His 53-year-old rival Rafal Trzaskowski, Warsaw’s pro-EU mayor and an ally of the country’s centrist government, won 49.1 percent in the highly polarised NATO and EU nation. The results followed a tense evening, as both candidates had claimed victory when an exit poll indicated they were neck and neck.
Halinów (Poland) (AFP) – Voters in Poland head to the polls for the second round of a tight presidential election, with major stakes for the country’s role in the EU and its stance on abortion and LGBTQ+ rights. Rafal Trzaskowski, 53, the pro-EU mayor of Warsaw and ally of the centrist government, is up against Karol Nawrocki, 42, a nationalist historian backed by the conservative Law and Justice Party (PiS) of outgoing President Andrzej Duda.
Paris (AFP) – “We will not tolerate any acts of violence this evening,” warns French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, one day after PSG’s Champions League win on May 31. The celebration has already been marked by two deaths in Dax and Paris, and over 500 arrests across the country.
Mecca (Saudi Arabia) (AFP) – Thousands of Muslim pilgrims perform Tawaf, the ritual of circling the Kaaba at Mecca’s Grand Mosque, ahead of this year’s hajj pilgrimage. Over a million people are expected to join the pilgrimage, despite the intense summer heat, which has proven deadly in the past.
