AFP Video

Kramatorsk (Ukraine) (AFP) – At least four people have died and more than 40 have been injured in a Russian strike that hit a restaurant in the city centre of eastern Ukrainian Kramatorsk, according to the Ukrainian emergency service. Some people are still believed to be trapped under the rubble as rescue continues. The blast at the Ria Pizza restaurant was popular with both soldiers and journalists in the town of 150,000 people, one of the largest still under Ukraine control in the east.

Minsk (AFP) – Belarus strongman Alexander Lukashenko says during a meeting with security officials that he has urged his ally President Vladimir Putin not to kill the head of the mercenary Wagner group, which attempted to topple Russia’s top brass.

Washington (AFP) – The United States will soon announce measures against Russia’s Wagner mercenary group over its past activities in Africa, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller says during a news briefing.

Kobarid (Slovenia) (AFP) – Propelled into the limelight by an exceptional chef, Slovenian cuisine has risen to the top of world gastronomy in the space of a few years. The Michelin guide now recommends 58 restaurants in the small Alpine country of two million people, with their chefs creating avant-garde dishes from an abundance of fresh and seasonal produce on their doorstep. Leading the way is star chef Ana Ros, 50, and her Hisa Franko restaurant in the verdant Soca Valley. “As a painter sees colours… the chef sees flavours,” Ros tells AFP.

Langeais (France) (AFP) – They were made by Neanderthals at least 57,000 years ago: the oldest known cave engravings in France, and possibly Europe, have been discovered in the Loire Valley, according to researchers. “There is no other cave in France that is as old as this one,” explains French archaeologist Jean-Claude Marquet.

Geneva (AFP) – Russia has summarily executed 77 civilians being held in arbitrary detention during its war in Ukraine, says Matila Bogner, the head of the UN’s Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine. “Many civilian detainees were held incommunicado, in unofficial places of detention, often in deplorable conditions” Bogner explains, speaking at a bi-weekly UN press briefing.

Moscow (AFP) – Speaking to troops from Russia’s military and security services gathered at the Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin tells them they halted a slide into civil war when Wagner mercenaries rebelled and marched on Moscow. With Russia announcing preparations to disarm Yevgeny Prigozhin’s private force, Putin and his supporters are insisting his rule was not weakened by the revolt widely seen as the biggest threat to Kremlin authority since he came to power.

Tamara (Honduras) (AFP) – The Honduran Military Police of Public Order (PMOP) displays a massive haul of weapons, ammunition, mobile phones and other items seized during an operation at the National “Francisco Morazan” Penitentiary in Tamara. The government announced last week that military police would assume control of Honduras’s prisons for a period of one year starting July 1, after a vicious battle between rival gangs left at least 46 women dead in a penitentiary near the capital Tegucigalpa.

Mount Arafat (Saudi Arabia) (AFP) – As dawn breaks, hundreds of thousands of Muslim pilgrims performing the hajj crowd Saudi Arabia’s Mount Arafat, where the Prophet Mohammed is believed to have delivered his final sermon. The hajj is a life goal for many Muslims, who are expected to perform the pilgrimage at least once if they are financially and physically capable.

San Juan de Oriente (Nicaragua) (AFP) – Whether to atone for their sins or for a taste of adrenalin, dozens of people take part in the four-centuries-old religious tradition of whipping each other with dried bull penises. The ritual, known as the dance of the “chinegros,” is held to mark Saint John the Baptist’s day in San Juan de Oriente, southern Nicaragua.