Decades before transgender became a household word and “RuPaul’s Drag Race” became a worldwide hit — before visibility brought rights and recognition — there was Bambi, the Parisian icon who danced for Hollywood.

The moment that changed queer history occurred on a sweltering summer day in early 1950s Algeria. An effeminate teenage boy named Jean-Pierre Pruvot stood mesmerized as traffic halted and crowds swarmed around a scandalous spectacle unfolding in the conservative Algiers streets.

All had stopped to look at Coccinelle, the flamboyant “transvestite” star of Paris’ legendary cabaret, the Carrousel de Paris, who strutted defiantly down the boulevard, impeccably dressed as a woman, sparking awe and outrage and literally stopping traffic.

What Pruvot — who would become famous under the female stage name “Bambi” and Coccinelle’s best friend — witnessed was more than mere performance. It was an act of resistance from the ashes of the Nazi persecution of the LGBTQ+ community in World War II.

In this report, we monitored through open sources data, the erosion of green vegetation and the cutting down of trees, as a result of the accelerated pace of settlement expansion in seven settlements and an industrial zone in the occupied West Bank.

Greenland has allowed a Danish-French consortium to mine a rock which is key to the production of aluminum.

The permit granted to Greenland Anorthosite Mining (GAM) to extract anorthosite follows interest in the Arctic territory from Donald Trump in acquiring the island.

GAM, which is backed by French company Jean Boulle Group and real estate investment firms bodies from Denmark and Greenland, was granted a 30-year permit, Reuters reported.

Chinese automaker BYD sold more electric vehicles in Europe than Tesla for the first time, according to a report by JATO Dynamics, as an aging model lineup and CEO Elon Musk's politics hurt demand for the U.S. EV maker's cars.

BYD, which also makes plug-in hybrid vehicles, registered 7,231 battery-powered electric vehicles (BEV) in Europe in April, while Tesla registered 7,165 units, the market research firm said.

"This is a watershed moment for Europe's car market, particularly when you consider that Tesla has led the European BEV market for years, while BYD only officially began operations beyond Norway and the Netherlands in late 2022," JATO Dynamics' global analyst Felipe Munoz said.

"What is happening there is unjustified and unacceptable. Israel must stop these operations immediately," Mitsotakis told Greek broadcaster Skai.

• Russian attacks in Ukraine since January 2025 have killed and injured more civilians than in the same period in 2024.
• The attacks violated the international law prohibition on indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks. Such attacks, when committed deliberately or recklessly, constitute war crimes under international law.
• Diplomatic efforts should prioritize protection of civilians and justice for violations. This means continued support for investigations and prosecutions of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

https://archive.is/MLDhz

• Proposed EU reforms would cut a minimum eight-year window companies have to exclusively sell new drugs they produce before cheaper generic competitors can enter the market.

• Pharmaceutical companies have fiercely opposed any reduction in the minimum eight-year window, where they have “protection” over their research and data from clinical trials.

• Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke said the Government now supports the position pushed by the pharmaceutical industry that there should be no change. “We are prepared to accept eight years,” he said in Brussels on Thursday.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who watched the failed launch, called it a "criminal act," that tarnished the country's dignity.

A new North Korean naval destroyer launch ended in failure, state media reported Thursday.

North Korea's state news agency, KCNA, said Kim Jong Un described the accident as a "criminal act caused by absolute carelessness."

The country's leader reportedly witnessed the failed launch, which left "some sections of the warship's bottom crushed."

Kim has ordered the ship to be repaired ahead of a major meeting of the ruling Workers' Party Central Committee in late June.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said he has had talks with Donald Trump about it. The defense system is designed to detect, track and potentially intercept incoming missiles.

Canada is conducting "high level" talks with the United States over joining Donald Trump's proposed "Golden Dome" missile defense program, Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Wednesday.

Trump announced his plans the previous day to develop the multilayered, $175 billion (€155 billion) system with ground- and space-based capabilities that can defend against a wide range of enemy weapons, like drones, hypersonic and cruise missiles, and intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The US President said he expected the missile shield to be ready by the end of his second term in 2029.

The ship slid off the ramp and became stuck after the flatcar failed to move alongside it, throwing off its balance and crushing parts of the ship’s bottom, according to the Korean Central News Agency.

The accident at Wednesday’s ceremony at the northeastern port of Chongjin was an embarrassing setback for Kim, who has emphasized naval advancement as key to his nuclear-armed military.

The damaged vessel was likely in the same class as the country’s first destroyer, unveiled on April 25, which experts assessed as the North’s largest and most advanced warship to date. Kim called it a significant asset for advancing his goal of expanding the military’s operational range and nuclear strike capabilities.

The delegation included diplomats from China, Japan, Mexico and several European, including France, Spain and Italy.

US President Donald Trump confronted his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, over widely discredited claims of a white genocide in South Africa, during an Oval Office meeting on Wednesday.

Mr Trump said that white farmers are "fleeing South Africa", playing footage to the room showing people chanting "kill the Boer, kill the farmer".

Responding, Mr Ramaphosa condemned the chants but pushed back against claims of white persecution.

THE COGNITIVE DISSONANCE begins from above. The stunning aquiline waters and jagged Cuban coastline of Guantánamo Bay come into view, and our plane makes a dramatic arc before landing on the US naval base that Amnesty International dubbed “the gulag of our times.”

It’s been eight years since my last visit, which was the first time Donald J. Trump was inaugurated as president and vowed to fill Guantánamo up with “bad dudes.” The prison population at that time was forty-one, and he didn’t end up sending anyone here during his first term. The Joe Biden administration reduced the number further, so that today just fifteen “War on Terror” captives remain (nine of the 780 detainees died while in custody, and others were repatriated or resettled in third countries). This dwindling population is being held in the world’s most expensive detention centre. Everything at this remote base, from water bottles to Humvees, must be shipped or flown in. According to 2019 estimates from the New York Times, the cost works out to about $36 million (US) per year per prisoner.

THERE HAVE BEEN small changes since my last visit in 2017. The four windmills that the navy spent $12 million (US) on to power about a quarter of the base stopped turning more than a year ago, and now there’s only one radome on the hill (those large golf balls for electronic surveillance) instead of two. No one can explain why the blades ceased or where the other white dome went.

The gift shop still does good business, although it no longer stocks snow globes and “Kisses from Guantánamo” magnets. There is, however, a new line of “The Real Housewives of Guantánamo Bay” T-shirts, stickers, keychains, and tote bags, and the dive shop has long-sleeved shirts that say “Fishing in Fidel’s Backyard.”