Malmö (Sweden) (AFP) – Eurovision stars walk the turquoise carpet in cloudy Malmo, Sweden. This year’s contest has been overshadowed by calls for Israel to be excluded over its military offensive in Gaza, which the organisers rejected.
Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – At the Intelligence Towers area, west of war-torn Gaza City, Palestinians race to avoid being hit by airdropped boxes of humanitarian aid as they rush to collect the precious cargo. The coastal Palestinian territory has been devastated by seven months of war following Hamas’s 7 October attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 34,683 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
Guatemala City (AFP) – Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo says he has asked Congress for legal reform to remove Attorney General Consuelo Porras from office amid a corruption investigation. The country’s top prosecutor, who he accuses of plotting to oust him, is already under US and EU sanctions for corruption. “I cannot allow this injustice to continue,” he states.
(AFP) – In a small house near the front line, the location a closely guarded secret, around 40 Ukrainian soldiers gather to celebrate Orthodox Easter. “A spiritual relief” for most of the soldiers, tired after more than two years of harrowing warfare against Russia. Further south, commander Mykola Panychenko preferred to stay away from the service led by a visiting chaplain, stating: “Here, at the front, in these trenches, there is much more death than God.”
Chanthaburi (Thailand) (AFP) – The pungent durian has been farmed in Thailand for hundreds of years and is one of the kingdom’s most lucrative exports. But a vicious heatwave engulfing Southeast Asia has resulted in smaller yields and spiralling costs, with growers and sellers increasingly panicked as global warming damages the industry.
Panama City (AFP) – Panama’s president-elect Jose Raul Mulino says he is “nobody’s puppet,” a reference to former president Ricardo Martinelli (2009-2014), whom he replaced as a candidate after Martinelli was convicted of money laundering. According to a recent poll, most Panamanians believe Martinelli will wield control from behind the scenes.
Kisumu (Kenya) (AFP) – Kenya said that the death toll from weeks of devastating rains and floods had risen above 220 and warned that there was no sign of a let-up in the crisis.
Tagulandang (Indonesia) (AFP) – A group of volunteers from animal welfare organisations have been rescuing abandoned pets from the foot of a volcano in Indonesia. Mount Ruang, in the country’s northernmost region, has erupted more than half a dozen times since April 16, forcing the island’s residents to be permanently relocated and thousands more evacuated.
Penonomé (Panama) (AFP) – Panamanian presidential candidate Jose Gabriel Carrizo, of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (Partido Revolucionario Democrático), votes in the country’s presidential elections in the capital. The vote comes as Panama is grappling with deep-rooted corruption, a severe drought that has hobbled its economically critical Panama Canal, and a stream of US-bound migrants passing through its jungles. IMAGES
Panama City (AFP) – Panamanian presidential candidate for the Democratic Change party (Cambio Democrático) Romulo Roux votes in the country’s presidential elections. The vote comes as Panama is grappling with deep-rooted corruption, a severe drought that has hobbled its economically critical Panama Canal, and a stream of US-bound migrants passing through its jungles. IMAGES
Panama City (AFP) – Panama’s President Laurentino Cortizo casting his vote at a polling station in Panama City. The vote comes as Panama is grappling with deep-rooted corruption, a severe drought that has hobbled its economically critical Panama Canal, and a stream of US-bound migrants passing through its jungles. IMAGES
Panama City (AFP) – Panamanians queue in the capital to cast their votes in the country’s presidential elections featuring a crowded field of eight candidates led by the protege of a former head of state convicted of corruption. IMAGES
