Prag (AFP) – Czechs head to the polls for the second and final day of a general election in which the party of self-described “Trumpist” billionaire Andrej Babis is a frontrunner — something that could weaken Prague’s support for Ukraine and affect ties with the European Union. Babis looks set to win the election, scoring 37.6 percent of the vote with over 60 percent counted, according to interim official results.
Nuseirat (AFP) – Gazans and Israelis are hopeful after Islamist group Hamas said it is ready to start talks to resolve all outstanding issues under US President Donald Trump’s Gaza ceasefire deal. The group said Friday that it was ready to release all hostages held in the Gaza Strip, but did not address calls for its disarmament and its exile from the Palestinian territory after the war’s end.
Antananarivo (AFP) – Police fire tear gas at protesters in Madagascar, who flee and take refuge inside a maternity hospital in Antananarivo. Addressing the president, protester Ricardo Rakotomalala says: “Get out, we’re really fed up with you. We’re not joking.” The United Nations says at least 22 people have been killed and hundreds injured since near-daily demonstrations called by a movement known as Gen Z Mada started.
Washington (AFP) – US President Donald Trump pledges in a brief video that all sides will be treated fairly in Gaza talks, as he hails Hamas’s apparent agreement to free hostages as a “special day”. “Everybody was unified in wanting this war to end,” Trump says in the message on his Truth Social network.
Rabat (AFP) – Youth-led protests demanding reforms to public healthcare and education take place in Morocco’s capital Rabat for a seventh day in a row. The protests, called by the online-based GenZ 212 group whose organisers remain unknown, also call on the kingdom’s premier to resign.
Tokyo (AFP) – Japan’s ruling party begins voting to choose its fifth leader in as many years, with the eventual winner almost certain to be approved by parliament as prime minister. The frontrunners for the Liberal Democratic Party’s top seat are Sanae Takaichi, a China hawk who would be Japan’s first woman premier, and the youthful but potentially out-of-his-depth Shinjiro Koizumi. IMAGES
Chan Junis (AFP) – Gazans scramble to receive hot meals distributed by a Turkish foundation and organised by local volunteers at a charity kitchen in Khan Yunis. The Israeli military is waging an air and ground offensive on the territory’s largest urban centre, from which hundreds of thousands have been forced to flee.
Luxemburg (AFP) – Following his swearing-in ceremony, Guillaume, the new Grand Duke of Luxembourg, comes out to greet the crowd from the balcony of the Grand Ducal Palace. He is accompanied by his wife, Grand Duchess Stéphanie and then joined by their children, their families, and the Belgian and Dutch royal families.
New York (AFP) – For Taylor Swift fans, a new era is finally here. Swift’s hotly anticipated album ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ has dropped, with release parties taking place all around the world. In New York, hundreds of ‘Swifties’ queue for hours to attend a pop-up event celebrating the album’s release.
Canterbury (AFP) – The newly nominated Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, makes an address at Canterbury Cathedral in which she reflects on being the first woman to hold the 1,500 year-old position, and says that racism and hatred “cannot be allowed to tear us apart” in the wake of an attack on a synagogue in Manchester. Mullally also addresses abuse scandals in the church, saying “we must all be willing to have light shone on our actions, regardless of our role in the Church.”
Benidorm (AFP) – Fifty years after General Francisco Franco’s death, Benidorm still clings to the mass tourism model it pioneered under his dictatorship, even as anti-tourism protests sweep other Spanish holiday hotspots. “The only industry we have is tourism,” says hotel owner Angela Barcelo, “there are no car factories or soap factories here.” Formerly a village of just 3,000 inhabitants, Benidorm, on Spain’s southern coast, has grown into a city of more than 100 skyscrapers.
Manchester (AFP) – UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria visit the scene of the Manchester synagogue car ramming and stabbing attack that left two people dead and three injured. Britain is on heightened alert to ensure the Jewish community’s safety after the attack outside the synagogue. UK authorities swiftly declared the attack a “terrorist incident”, staged as Jewish communities around the world marked Yom Kippur, the holiest holiday in the Jewish calendar.
