Qaraqosh (Iraq) (AFP) – Christians in Iraq are trying to preserve the Syriac language, the dialect of Aramaic that was spoken by Jesus, with the government helping by launching a dedicated television station.
Seoul (AFP) – South Koreans react to the latest military spy satellite launched by North Korea as they watch the news bulletin at a train station in Seoul.
Brasília (AFP) – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, as well as leaders of Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Ecuador, and Chile, leave Itamaraty Palace in Brasilia after Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva hosted a South American summit. Lula, who returned to office in January after leading Brazil from 2003 to 2010, is looking to strengthen diplomatic ties in a region where left-wing governments are newly back in style. IMAGES
Al Qahtaniyah (Syria) (AFP) – Syrian farmers behind the traditional clotted cream “geymar” are struggling as they battle drought to raise their buffaloes. Their milk, slowly boiled for hours until a thick layer forms on top, is then served up with globs of honey as a local breakfast favourite.
Strasbourg (France) (AFP) – In Strasbourg, a liberal Protestant parish that organised a show combining pole dancing and sacred music in its church has received death threats against its pastor. But it is refusing to give up and is proposing a new pole dancing show.
Oslo (AFP) – NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg condemns attacks against the alliance’s forces in Kosovo, after 30 of its peacekeepers were injured in clashes with ethnic Serb protesters. “Such attacks are unacceptable and must stop,” Stoltenberg says in Oslo.
Caracas (AFP) – Sofia Salomon is the picture of concentration as she poses in bathing suits and evening wear for a photo shoot in preparation for what could be an historic campaign. The 25-year-old model is hoping to become the first-ever transgender woman to vie for the Miss Venezuela crown.
Port Moresby (AFP) – Half a millennium after the game was invented in England, darts is setting Papua New Guinea alight: the game attracts more and more people across the Pacific island, with boards hung up in pubs or next to bus stations and market stalls.
Umm al-Aqarib (Iraq) (AFP) – Iraqi archeological marvels that have survived millennia and the ravages of war now face a modern threat: being blasted and slowly buried by sandstorms linked to climate change. After a decade of worsening storms, sand at Umm al-Aqarib now covers an important part of the site that dates back to around 2350 BC and spans over more than five square kilometres.
Belgorod (Russia) (AFP) – Like many others, Marina Saprykina thought about leaving the Russian border city of Belgorod but finally, despite the bombing, incursions and fear, she says she is staying. “We are used to it,” says the 34-year-old sales director. The Belgorod region witnessed on May 22 the biggest armed incursion into Russia from Ukraine since Moscow launched its offensive in February 2022.
