AFP Video

Tbilisi (AFP) – On 4 June, Georgia’s ruling party outlined a package of draft laws that would ban what it calls “LGBT propaganda”, mirroring similar legislation used to crack down on gay rights in Russia and, more recently, Hungary. Tato Londaridze, owner of the first gay club in the Caucasus and Mariam Kvaratskhelia, co-founder of LGBTQ rights group Tbilisi Pride, tell AFP that the legislation could spell the end for their organisations and force them into exile.

Ayutthaya (Thailand) (AFP) – An elephant in Thailand has delivered a rare set of twins in a dramatic birth that left a carer injured as he protected one of the newborns from her mother’s attack.

Tokyo (AFP) – Down a Tokyo street lined with bright signs, up narrow stairs and behind a windowless door is a “snack bar” long cherished by regulars but hidden from tourists — until now.

Foshan (China) (AFP) – Rowers careen around tight corners past packed crowds in southern China’s Foshan, where the Dragon Boat racing is more “Fast and Furious” than your average contest.

Kostanay Region (Kazakhstan) (AFP) – After a long journey, three Przewalski horses return to their native habitat in Kazakhstan — the first of 40 of the endangered species to be released in the vast Central Asian country over the next five years. “This is the moment we have been waiting for for a very long time,” says Albert Salemgareyev from the Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity in Kazakhstan.

Oradour-sur-Glane (France) (AFP) – “Let us never forget the damage caused in Europe by nationalism and hatred!”, says German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier giving a speech in Oradour-sur-Glane in France, as governments in France and Germany have been weakened following a surge in far-right parties in the the EU vote.

Rome (AFP) – Far-right gains in EU elections have sent the bloc into turmoil and triggered a political earthquake in France, with President Emmanuel Macron calling snap legislative polls in a high-risk move. Although centrist mainstream parties kept an overall majority in the European Parliament, preliminary results of the vote sent Europe’s stock markets and the euro sliding.

Hong Kong (AFP) – The Darkness Fighters are Hong Kong’s only team that pairs visually impaired people with sighted volunteers to compete in the annual Dragon Boat Festival. The team was founded in 2018 and today has around 50 members — many of them retirees — with varying levels of eyesight and physical fitness.

Zaporizhzhia (Ukraine) (AFP) – Ukraine’s largest monument to communist leader Vladimir Lenin is being put up for sale by deputies of Zaporizhzhia’s City Council. The bronze sculpture’s proceeds will be donated to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

(AFP) – Israeli rescued hostage Noa Argamani is seen smiling and speaking on the phone with president Isaac Herzog, surrounded by family members, after Israeli forces say it has rescued four Hamas-held hostages from Gaza. Over 250 were taken on October 7, after Hamas’s unprecedented attack in Israel resulting in the deaths of 1,194 people, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures. Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 36,600 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.