WORLD

Venice, Italy | AFP | US actress Annette Bening said Wednesday she believes women are making progress in the movie industry, despite only one female-directed film making it into the competition selection at Venice, where she is chairing the awards jury. “There is sexism of course, no question. But I think …

Miami, United States | AFP | The United States approved the first gene therapy against cancer on Wednesday — a treatment that uses a patient’s own immune cells to fight leukemia — opening a new era in the fight against one of the world’s top killers. The treatment is made …

Paris, France | AFP | Parisian nudists will finally have a spot to take it all off — for the next few weeks at least — at a secluded zone in the Bois de Vincennes park east of the city. “The creation of an area in the Bois de Vincennes where …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | Princes William and Harry paid tribute to their late mother Princess Diana on Wednesday for the 20th anniversary of her death as wellwishers left candles and flowers outside the gates of her former London residence. The princes inspected the dozens of bouquets left in front …

In smartphone age, the hajj is for sharing Mecca, Saudi Arabia | AFP | Arm outstretched, Abdul Rahman sweeps his mobile phone across the vista of Mecca, the Great Mosque dazzling in the sun, so his son in Tanzania can experience the pilgrimage to Islam’s holiest sites. He may be thousands …

Moscow, Russia | AFP | President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman on Wednesday confirmed that the Kremlin last year received an email from a lawyer working for then-presidential candidate Donald Trump about building a Trump Tower skyscraper in Moscow. Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists that the Trump Organization’s chief counsel at the …

Buñol, Spain | AFP | Extra police were deployed at Spain’s annual “Tomatina” tomato throwing festival in the eastern town of Bunol on Wednesday in the wake of the deadly twin vehicle attacks in Catalonia. A total of 740 security forces were on duty, including police officers, firefighters and ambulance workers, …

  Washington, United States | AFP | The US economy grew at its fastest pace in more than two years in the second quarter, hitting President Donald Trump’s goal for the first time since he took office, according to data released Wednesday. Higher consumer spending and business investment prompted a sharp …

Seoul, South Korea | AFP | A former South Korean spy chief was jailed for four years Wednesday for leading an online smear campaign against the man who is now president, Moon Jae-In, during the 2012 election. Won Sei-Hoon, who led the National Intelligence Service (NIS) from 2009 to 2013, orchestrated …

Mecca, Saudi Arabia | AFP | More than two million Muslims from around the world began the hajj pilgrimage at Islam’s holiest sites Wednesday, a religious duty and an epic multi-stage journey. This year sees pilgrims from Shiite Iran return to Mecca in Saudi Arabia after a hiatus following a diplomatic …