Tel Aviv (AFP) – Protesters gather and wave Israeli flags at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv after the Knesset adopted in a first reading a key clause of the government’s judicial overhaul package which opponents say threatens democracy.
Litli-Hrutur (Iceland) (AFP) – Lava pours from Fagradalsfjall, a volcano just 30 kilometres southwest of Reykjavik. The eruption is the third at the site since 2021, before which it had remained dormant for eight centures. “It’s just unbelievable” says Jessica Poteet, one of those drawn to the spectacle, despite warnings from the Icelandic Meteorological Office for tourists to stay away.
Paris (AFP) – More than four years on from a fire that destroyed much of Notre-Dame’s upper levels, the cathedral receives one of three essential roof “trusses”, which will eventually support a new spire. “It’s a historic event” says one Parisian watching as the wooden frame is lifted into position next to the Seine. The cathedral is set to reopen in December 2024, after the Paris Olympics.
San Francisco (AFP) – Californian fisher Sarah Bates would ordinarily be working out at sea, but a ban on fishing salmon has confined her boat to the harbor. “It’s a little demoralizing” she says, “not to have our fishery this year”. The ban, which lasts until September, is aimed at helping the salmon recover, as a decades-long drought has reduced their river habitat and caused numbers to plunge.
Very rare prehistoric specimens, dated from more than 83 million years ago, go to auction at Sotheby’s at the end of July: a flying Pteranodon and the sea creature Plesiosaur, which is thought to have inspired the legend of the Loch Ness Monster.
Vilnius (AFP) – NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, is “confident” that “allies will reaffirm that Ukraine will become a member”. Speaking at an alliance summit in Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital, Stoltenberg says “we need to stand by Ukraine for as long as it takes.”
Nicosia (AFP) – Under quarantine at a veterinary clinic, “Bebe” lies listlessly on the examination table, suffering from a fatal mutation of feline coronavirus. FIP (Feline Infectious Peritonitis) has claimed the lives of 300,000 cats in Cyprus since January, according to animal advocates who are pleading the government to take effective measures in order to curb the epidemic that struck the island, whose history is intrinsically linked to that of felines.
Saint-Quentin-Fallavier (France) (AFP) – At the Saint-Quentin-Fallavier detention centre in southeast France, prisoners who attended eight jazz music workshops, run by musicians of the “Jazz à Vienne” festival, perform jazz pieces in front of other inmates. Inmates described the eight workshops as “very rewarding”. “When I come to the music workshop, I’m not in prison” says an inmate.
Karatsu (Japan) (AFP) – Rescuers and military troops search for residents missing after torrential rain triggered mudslides on a mountain slope in Karatsu, Japan.
Jakarta (AFP) – ASEAN foreign ministers arrive in Jakarta for talks dominated by the crisis in Myanmar, with the regional bloc divided over how or whether to reengage with the coup-wracked country’s ruling junta. IMAGES
