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Rescuers clear the rubble of a building hit by overnight Israeli bombardment in the southern Lebanese village of Kafra, killing two elderly people. Lebanon's Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, has exchanged near-daily fire with the Israeli army since war erupted between Israel and the Gaza-based Palestinian militant group in October, while Palestinian groups in Lebanon have also occasionally claimed attacks.

In the northern Salaheddine province of Iraq, puddles of black crude oil dot the ground, contaminating vast swathes of farmland. "What is happening is that oil has damaged all that the land can give, every seed we plant gets damaged … This land has become useless," says one farmer. While local authorities blame the Islamic State group - which controlled large areas of Syria and Iraq in 2014 - farmers criticise the state for not doing enough to clean up the mess.

Israel's planned ground assault on Rafah in the Gaza Strip would contravene the orders issued by the ICJ, says the UN'S human rights chief. "I fail to see how such an operation could be consistent with the binding provisional measures issued by the International Court of Justice," Volker Turk tells the UN Human Rights Council.

President Vladimir Putin warns of a "real" risk of nuclear war if the West escalates the conflict in Ukraine, offering a defiant and emboldened stance in his annual speech to Russians. Speaking in Moscow, Putin says his soldiers are advancing in Ukraine and warns the West against sending troops to Kyiv.

French President Emmanuel Macron arrives in Saint-Denis, near Paris, for the inauguration of the Olympic Village, five months before the start of the Games (26 July - 11 August).

Following statements by French President Emmanuel Macron on the possible deployment of Western troops to Ukraine, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says he will not send any German soldiers to the conflict.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky compares Russia's President Vladimir Putin to the notorious Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, as he calls for greater backing to help Kyiv fend off the invading Russian forces. Zelensky has repeatedly pleaded with allies for more aid, warning that a Ukrainian victory depends on the West boosting support for his outgunned nation.

"Europe has seen frontal attacks on the right to abortion," says Daniele Gaudry, a gynaecologist and family planning activist, at a pro-abortion demonstration attended by several dozen activists on the Place de la Sorbonne in Paris, just as the Senate was preparing to vote on enshrining abortion in the Constitution.

Travelers wait at the Mexico City International Airport, where 22 flights were canceled due to an ash cloud from the Popocatepetl volcano. Authorities have warned ash is likely to fall in the states of Morelos, Puebla and Mexico, as well as in Mexico City, which lies some 55 miles (90 kilometers) from the volcano.

Polish farmers block routes across the country's border with Ukraine, protesting against competition from goods coming from their war-torn neighbour. Across Poland, farmers protested at over 250 locations, the latest action in a wave of agricultural unrest that has swept Europe in recent weeks.