CHINA: China’s economy managed a mixed performance in May, as retail sales jumped.

Data released today showed retail sales rose 6.4 per cent from a year earlier, helped partly by promotions of products stranded, as shipments were suspended due to higher tariffs.

SPAIN: Protesters used water guns against unsuspecting tourists in Barcelona and on the Spanish island of Mallorca on Sunday as demonstrators marched to demand a rethink of an economic model they believe is fuelling a housing crunch and erasing the character of their hometowns.

The marches were part of the first co-ordinated effort by activists concerned with the ills of overtourism in southern Europe’s top destinations. Hundreds more gathered in other Spanish cities, as well as in Venice, Italy, and Portugal’s capital, Lisbon.

FRANCE: The Louvre, the world’s most-visited museum and a global symbol of art, beauty and endurance, remained closed today — not by war or terror, but by its own exhausted staff.

The spontaneous strike erupted during a routine internal meeting, as gallery attendants, ticket agents and security personnel refused to take up their posts in protest over unmanageable crowds, chronic under-staffing and what one union called “untenable” working conditions.

INDIA: India and Cyprus will step up defence ties between the two countries’ respective defence industries, the Indian prime minister said today.

During talks with the Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said talks would begin on boosting bilateral maritime and cybersecurity co-operation.

Mr Modi’s two-day visit to Cyprus is the first by an Indian prime minister in more than two decades.