Palma (Spain) (AFP) – Swedish director Ruben Östlund vows to keep his ego in check as jury head at the Cannes Film Festival, promising that newcomers will get the chance to make their mark alongside the big names. Östlund spoke to AFP in the garden of his townhouse on the Spanish island of Majorca about his excitement over leading the jury at the world’s most prestigious film festival next month.
Mount Darwin (Zimbabwe) (AFP) – In a speech to mark Zimbabwe’s Independence Day, the country’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa vows “free and fair” general elections expected later this year – but warns what he calls “rogue” civil society organisations not to “sow division and disharmony”.
Munich (Germany) (AFP) – Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola insists that opponents Bayern Munich believe they can pull off a miracle and overturn a three-goal deficit against his side to reach the Champions League semi-finals. “I’ve been here at Bayern Munich and I know the mentality of this club. I know that they believe they can do it,” says Guardiola, who was head coach at Bayern from 2013 to 2016 before joining City.
Tegucigalpa (AFP) – Fires rage in the forests of la Montanita in Honduras, turning trees to ash and blanketing the area in thick smoke. According to the Forest Conservation Institute (ICF), wildfires have resulted in more than 64,000 hectares of burnt forest so far this year.
Oswiecim (Poland) (AFP) – A few dozen Holocaust survivors lead a march at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in southern Poland to commemorate those dead at the hands of the Nazis in the Second World War.
Dubai (AFP) – Dubai opens its first crocodile park housing 250 Nile crocodiles, one of the largest species in the world. The park dedicated to education awareness and knowledge about crocodiles, and it will be fully opened to students who want to study the deadly reptiles.
Lahore (Pakistan) (AFP) – Eid al-Fitr, the holiday that marks the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, used to be a guaranteed earner for Pakistan’s small shops and businesses. But soaring inflation and political turmoil has dampened the shopping spirit as many worry they won’t even make enough to pay their rent.
Beijing (AFP) – A fire broke out on Tuesday afternoon at the Beijing Changfeng Hospital, leaving nearly at least 29 people dead and scores of other people injured. Twelve people, including the hospital’s director, have been detained in connection with the fire.
Hong Kong (AFP) – Neon signs once transformed Hong Kong’s oldest neighbourhoods into a kaleidoscope of luminous colour after dark, but most have been removed with a few lucky ones now piled up in a ramshackle yard.
Wilmington (United States) (AFP) – Fox News reached a $787.5 million settlement Tuesday in a defamation case brought by voting technology company Dominion that alleged the network knowingly aired false claims linking its machines to a conspiracy to undermine the 2020 US presidential election.
