FRANCE
Labor action disrupts flights
About 40 percent of flights were canceled Friday at all Paris airports, and tens of thousands of passengers were rearranging plans at the height of the summer travel season because of a strike by French air traffic controllers seeking better working conditions. Disruptions at airports around France began on Thursday and intensified yesterday. One of the two unions leading the strike, UNSA-ICNA, said in a statement that there are not enough employees to handle surging air travel and that inflation is eating away at salaries. The unions are also protesting new reform measures aiming to more tightly monitor their work, prompted by a near-collision at the Bordeaux airport.
AFGHANISTAN
Russia recognizes Taliban
Afghanistan’s government on Thursday said that Russia had become the first country to officially recognize its rule, calling it a “brave decision.” The Taliban swept back to power in 2021 after ousting the foreign-backed government and have imposed an austere version of Islamic law. The announcement was made after Afghan Minister of Foreign Affairs Amir Khan Muttaqi met with Russian Ambassador to Afghanistan Dmitry Zhirnov, in Kabul. “This brave decision will be an example for others ... Now that the process of recognition has started, Russia was ahead of everyone,” Muttaqi said in a video of the meeting on X. Only Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates recognized the Taliban during their first stint in power from 1996 to 2001. This time, multiple other states, including China and Pakistan, have accepted Taliban ambassadors in their capitals, but have not officially recognized the Islamic Emirate.
PAKISTAN
Czech dies on Nanga Parbat
A Czech mountaineer fell to her death on the world’s ninth-highest peak, Pakistan officials said yesterday, becoming the first casualty of the summer climbing season in the country. Klara Kolouchova, 46, the first Czech woman to summit the world’s two highest mountains, died on Thursday after falling on the lower slopes of Nanga Parbat. The 8,125m mountain is one of the world’s most dangerous climbs with a reported one-in-five fatality rate. “Her feet slipped from a slope and she fell into a ravine,” said Nizam-ud-Din, a senior local government official in Diamer district, adding that one of her team members reported the death. “The exact location of her body will first be traced. Once confirmed, appropriate rescue operations will be initiated to retrieve the body by using a helicopter service.” Five of the globe’s 14 mountains higher than 8,000m are in Pakistan, including the world’s second-highest mountain, K2.
United Kingdom
Macron to address commons
French President Emmanuel Macron would address the House of Commons during his UK state visit next week, when he would receive a royal welcome and attend a summit on deepening bilateral ties. Macron is the first French president to make a state visit since then-French president Nicolas Sarkozy in 2008 and would follow in the footsteps of his predecessors Charles de Gaulle and Francois Mitterrand, who formally addressed the British parliament. “The president and Mrs Macron will visit the Palace of Westminster, where the president will address parliamentarians” on Tuesday, the Buckingham Palace office of King Charles III said yesterday. The king invited the French leader and his wife, Brigitte, for the three-day visit, which starts on Tuesday.
Two former Chilean ministers are among four candidates competing this weekend for the presidential nomination of the left ahead of November elections dominated by rising levels of violent crime. More than 15 million voters are eligible to choose today between former minister of labor Jeannette Jara, former minister of the interior Carolina Toha and two members of parliament, Gonzalo Winter and Jaime Mulet, to represent the left against a resurgent right. The primary is open to members of the parties within Chilean President Gabriel Boric’s ruling left-wing coalition and other voters who are not affiliated with specific parties. A recent poll by the
Irish-language rap group Kneecap on Saturday gave an impassioned performance for tens of thousands of fans at the Glastonbury Festival despite criticism by British politicians and a terror charge for one of the trio. Liam Og O hAnnaidh, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, has been charged under the UK’s Terrorism Act with supporting a proscribed organization for allegedly waving a Hezbollah flag at a concert in London in November last year. The rapper, who was charged under the anglicized version of his name, Liam O’Hanna, is on unconditional bail before a further court hearing in August. “Glastonbury,
TENSIONS HIGH: For more than half a year, students have organized protests around the country, while the Serbian presaident said they are part of a foreign plot About 140,000 protesters rallied in Belgrade, the largest turnout over the past few months, as student-led demonstrations mount pressure on the populist government to call early elections. The rally was one of the largest in more than half a year student-led actions, which began in November last year after the roof of a train station collapsed in the northern city of Novi Sad, killing 16 people — a tragedy widely blamed on entrenched corruption. On Saturday, a sea of protesters filled Belgrade’s largest square and poured into several surrounding streets. The independent protest monitor Archive of Public Gatherings estimated the
FLYBY: The object, appears to be traveling more than 60 kilometers per second, meaning it is not bound by the sun’s orbit, astronomers studying 3I/Atlas said Astronomers on Wednesday confirmed the discovery of an interstellar object racing through the solar system — only the third-ever spotted, although scientists suspect many more might slip past unnoticed. The visitor from the stars, designated 3I/Atlas, is likely the largest yet detected, and has been classified as a comet, or cosmic snowball. “It looks kind of fuzzy,” said Peter Veres, an astronomer with the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center, which was responsible for the official confirmation. “It seems that there is some gas around it, and I think one or two telescopes reported a very short tail.” Originally known as A11pl3Z before
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