AFP Video

Alushta (AFP) – As Russia’s Ukraine campaign drags on into a second year, Russian tourists have stopped flocking to Crimea, spelling another disastrous summer tourism season. Whereas cheap flights used to bring thousands of eager beachgoers from Moscow and other cities, Crimea is now only accessible by car or by train, with air travel called off for security reasons. “We hope to have a prosperous season. But not many people come to Crimea now,” tourist boat owner Sergei Knyazev says.

Créteil (France) (AFP) – People run inside the Creteil Soleil shopping centre in Creteil, southeast of the capital Paris, as violence and looting hit France in a fourth night of protests. French police made nearly 1,000 arrests as the country braces for more riots ahead of the funeral of the teenager who was killed by an officer during a traffic stop.

London (AFP) – UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announces a new recruitment drive for the country’s National Health Service (NHS). If successful, the “long-term workforce plan” will see more than 300,000 new staff added. The publicly funded NHS, which marks its 75th birthday on 5 July 2023, is facing an estimated workforce shortfall of 360,000 by 2037 because of an ageing population, a lack of domestically trained health workers and difficulties retaining staff.

Rhodes (Greece) (AFP) – A tour boat catches fire off the coast of Stegna on the island of Rhodes. According to news reports, a rescue operation evacuated 96 British tourists, as several nearby boats as well as vessels from local authorities came to the aid of the boat, which was identified as the Magellan. All passengers were evacuated safely and taken to the nearby resort town of Kolympia, news reports said. Local media reported that the boat had burnt out completely and that the captain had been arrested.

Seoul (AFP) – A South Korean-made robot makes its debut as an orchestra conductor before a sell-out crowd in Seoul. Named “EveR 6”, the five-foot-ten-inch-tall (1.8m) robot guides more than 60 musicians of the National Orchestra of Korea who are playing traditional Korean instruments. “I came here worried whether this robot could pull this off without a glitch,” Kim Ji-min, a 19-year-old college student majoring in music, tells AFP. “But I found it to be in great harmony with the musicians… It felt like a whole new world for me.”

Tuxtla Gutiérrez (Mexico) (AFP) – Relatives gather at the site where sixteen police employees who had been kidnapped in Mexico’s southern state of Chiapas arrived after being freed following three days of captivity. IMAGES

Paris (AFP) – Demonstrators chant “Justice for Nahel!” as police officers stand in the rue de Rivoli, Paris, following the death on Tuesday of Nahel, aged 17, during a police check in Nanterre.

New York (AFP) – A New York-based organization, Club Migrante Chinelos de Morelos, helps undocumented Mexicans in New York reunite with their parents for a couple of weeks, thanks to an agreement with the US embassy.

Glostrup (Denmark) (AFP) – At Denmark’s police headquarters, cops are glued to their computers playing the popular video game Counter-Strike. But they’re not kicking back on a break — they’re tracking crimes on the internet.

Beijing (AFP) – Beijing on Friday reiterates China’s “firm opposition” to Washington supplying weapons to Taiwan, after the United States said it planned to sell $440 million in ammunition and parts to the island.