AFP Video

Beijing (AFP) – China says that rival Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah met in Beijing recently for “in-depth and candid talks on promoting intra-Palestinian reconciliation”.

Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, on Monday became the first British royal to visit Ukraine since Russia invaded the country more than two years ago.

Ebensee (Austria) (AFP) – Red ropes and larger-than-life dresses float in the tunnel of a former Nazi death camp in Ebensee, Austria, as the exhibition by Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota “Where are we now?” opens to the public. More than 8,000 prisoners died at the Ebensee camp between 1943 and 1945, mostly of hunger and malnutrition as they were forced to work on the construction of a huge tunnel network. Opening her exhibition at the site, Shiota says the theme of her work is “absence in the existence”.

Cajamarca (Peru) (AFP) – At least 25 people died and more than a dozen were injured when a bus plunged into a ravine from a mountain road in northern Peru, local authorities said on Monday. The incident late Sunday happened on a potholed dirt road in the Andean region of Cajamarca.

Etobicoke (Canada) (AFP) – Canada’s 17-year-old swimmer, Summer McIntosh, has been setting world records and winning victories since she was seven or eight. She is set to compete in the Paris Olympics, training 10 times a week.

Mai Mahiu (Kenya) (AFP) – People in the Kenyan village of Kamuchiri recount the experience of the deluge which hit their local area overnight after a dam nearby broke, killing dozens. Kamuchiri village lies close to the town of Mai Mahiu, just north of Kenya’s capital Nairobi.

Orly (France) (AFP) – The passenger transport control unit, also known as ‘Boers’, is on the hunt for fake taxis at Orly airport. With three months to go before the Paris Olympic Games, clandestine taxis remain a big issue to tackle.

Hissar (Tajikistan) (AFP) – On a hillside around 30 kilometres from the Tajik capital Dushanbe, Bakhtior Sharipov watches over his flock of Hissar sheep. The breed, prized for profitability and an ability to adapt to climate change, garners celebrity status in the Central Asian country, which is beset by a shortage of both meat and suitable grazing land.

Guareña (Spain) (AFP) – For centuries, the lost civilisation of Tartessos — which emerged in the Iberian peninsular almost 3,000 years ago — was shrouded in mystery, but today its secrets are slowly being revealed through the meticulous work of archaeologists. “We still don’t know where or why they left”, says Esther Rodriguez, in charge of the Casas del Turunuelo site, where excavation work has been ongoing since 2015.

London (AFP) – In a darkly lit arts studio in east London, five young actors mark their scripts and run through their lines. They are the latest cast assembled by “Phosphoros Theatre”, a company that empowers refugees and asylum seekers to tell their own story on stage.