Vatican City (AFP) – Pope Francis calls again for “true negotiations” in the face of “macabre destruction” in Ukraine, at the end of the Pentecost celebrations during the Regina Coeli prayer in St. Peter’s Square.
Juban (Philippines) (AFP) – A volcano in the eastern Philippines spewed a huge, dark cloud on Sunday, prompting evacuations from ash-covered towns while authorities warned of possible further eruptions. The blast from Bulusan volcano in the rural Sorsogon province lasted about 17 minutes, sending a grey plume shooting up at least one kilometre (0.6 miles).
Almaty (Kazakhstan) (AFP) – Voting is underway in Kazakhstan for a referendum to overhaul the constitution after deadly unrest in January ended the founding leader Nursultan Nazarbayev’s three-decade grip on Central Asia’s richest country.
Juban (Philippines) (AFP) – A volcano in the eastern Philippines has spewed a huge, dark cloud, prompting evacuations from ash-covered towns while authorities warned of possible further eruptions. The blast from Bulusan volcano in the rural Sorsogon province lasted about 17 minutes, sending a grey plume shooting up at least one kilometre (0.6 miles), according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.
Sloviansk (Ukraine) (AFP) – Some 70 residents evacuate Sloviansk, a town in eastern Ukraine now deprived of water and electricity, as Russian air strikes in the region escalate.
Chittagong (Bangladesh) (AFP) – Scores of people have died and hundreds are injured after a fire sparked a huge chemical explosion at a shipping container depot in Bangladesh, officials say. The death toll was expected to rise, with some of the more than 300 people injured in serious condition, while volunteers reported that there were more bodies inside the smouldering, wreckage-strewn facility.
Sochi (Russia) (AFP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin warns that Moscow will strike new targets if the West supplies long-range missiles to Ukraine and says new arms deliveries to Kyiv are aimed at “prolonging the conflict”. In extracts of an interview to be broadcast on Rossiya-1 television, Putin did not specify exactly which targets could be hit nor the exact range of the missiles to which Moscow would react.
Koh Dong (Thailand) (AFP) – Fifty-nine Rohingya people have been discovered on a Thai island, saying they were abandoned by traffickers en route to Malaysia, a senior police officer says. Each year, thousands of the mostly Muslim minority Rohingya people, heavily persecuted in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, risk their lives in months-long expensive journeys to reach Malaysia over Thailand’s seas. Police said they had been charged with illegal entry and could face deportation to Myanmar following a court case.
Servion (Switzerland) (AFP) – Visitors to a Swiss zoo catch a glimpse of a rare albino Galapagos giant tortoise born in May. The baby tortoise may be a unique sight to behold with fair skin and red eyes. It weighs around 50 grams (1.7 ounces), and fits in the palm of one’s hand.
Sagaing (Myanmar) (AFP) – Drone footage obtained by AFP show columns of smoke rising into the sky from villages, set along a roughly eight-kilometre stretch of the Chindwin river in Myanmar’s Sagaing region. According to local media and residents, the country’s junta troops have torched hundreds of buildings in a three-day raid in the country’s north. “My life is ruined. I have lost my home and have nothing left to do for a living,” says one resident from Ke Taung Village.
