Paris (AFP) – “We have to get organised and we have to fight,” says a young demonstrator in a rally organised on the Place de la Concorde in Paris, after French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne deploys article 49.3 of the constitution to push through President Emmanuel Macron’s controversial reform of the pension system.
Kigali (AFP) – After being re-elected as president of FIFA until 2027, Gianni Infantino asks journalists why some of them are “so mean” and insists that world football’s governing body “is about football and not about money”. Both Infantino and FIFA have faced criticism over their defence of Qatar’s hosting of last year’s World Cup, especially in light of the Gulf state’s treatment of migrant workers, women and the LGBTQ community.
Tel Aviv (AFP) – Israeli protesters return to the streets to rally against proposed judicial reforms, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a compromise plan touted by the country’s president Isaac Herzog. Since Netanyahu’s hard-right government announced the reforms in January, the month after taking office, massive demonstrations have regularly taken place across Israel, with protesters arguing that the reforms threaten the country’s democracy.
Athens (AFP) – Riot police in Athens clash with protesters during a demonstration amid a 24-hour general strike to voice outrage over last month’s train disaster, which claimed 57 lives.
Beijing (AFP) – Beijing calls for the United States to stop “unreasonably suppressing” TikTok, after the popular video-sharing app said US officials had urged it to part ways with its Chinese parent ByteDance to avoid a national ban. “The US has so far failed to produce evidence that TikTok threatens US national security,” China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin says.
Tecoluca (El Salvador) (AFP) – A group of 2,000 inmates belonging to MS-13 and 18 gangs are transferred to a new prison built in El Salvador to accommodate more than 40,000 suspected gangsters targeted in President Nayib Bukele’s “war” on crime. Bukele has boasted that the new Center for the Confinement of Terrorism (CECOT) facility is the largest mega-prison in the Americas, but rights groups have criticized it over its severe conditions.
Chaclacayo (Peru) (AFP) – “It has left me with nothing, just the clothes I’m wearing”: after heavy rains flooded his house in Chaclacayo, outside Lima, police officer Elvis Palomino can barely believe the destruction that has unfolded before his eyes. According to the country’s Civil Defense, dozens of people have died and more than 12,000 have been affected by Peru’s rainy season since September due to flooding and overflowing rivers.
Naples (Italy) (AFP) – Eintracht Frankfurt fans clash with police after arriving in Naples despite not having tickets for their team’s Champions League decider with Napoli on Wednesday. Footage broadcast by Italian media showed hundreds of supporters of the German club throwing smoke bombs and flares at police, who responded with tear gas.
Kratié (Cambodia) (AFP) – Bulging grey heads break the turbid waters of the Mekong River in Cambodia as a pod of rare Irrawaddy dolphins surfaces to breathe. The thrilling sight may soon be no more than a memory, as numbers of the endangered mammals dwindle despite efforts to preserve them.
Tokyo (AFP) – South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol meets Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo, just hours after Pyongyang fired a long-range ballistic missile. The launch, North Korea’s third this week, was a potent reminder of the regional security challenges that have pushed Seoul and Tokyo to patch up differences and try to form a united front.
