AFP UK

Bizerte (Tunisia) (AFP) – Russ Cook on Sunday completed a mammoth quest to run the length of Africa. The Briton arrived at Tunisia’s Cape Angela after completing the 16,000-kilometre (9,900-mile) journey from South Africa. The epic endeavour saw the 27-year-old live up to his ‘hardest geezer’ nickname, crossing mountains, tropical forests, and deserts with more than 19 million steps in 16 countries, running the equivalent of 385 marathons in 351 days.

Vatican City (AFP) – Speaking during the Sunday Regina Coeli prayer, Pope Francis renews his call to world leaders “to negotiate, to engage in talks” for a “just and lasting peace” in Ukraine, Palestine, and Israel.

Kigali (AFP) – At a ceremony paying tribute to victims 30 years after the Rwandan genocide, President Paul Kagame says his “people will never be left for dead again”. In keeping with tradition, the ceremonies on April 7 — the day Hutu militias unleashed the carnage in 1994 — began with Kagame placing wreathes on mass graves and lighting a remembrance flame at the Kigali Genocide Memorial, where more than 250,000 victims are believed to be buried.

Kampong Speu (Cambodia) (AFP) – Villagers aboard Cambodian-flagged wooden carts run their oxen at high speed in an annual race to safeguard the centuries-old tradition as concerns mount over development encroaching on racing grounds.

New York (AFP) – A diamond-covered edition of Truman Capote’s seminal novel “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” is on sale for $1.5 million to mark the centenary of the author’s birth. The one-of-a-kind volume, on display at the New York International Antiquarian Book Fair, is signed by the author and decorated with almost 30 carats of diamonds and a sapphire.

Beit Lahia (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Aid trucks with medical supplies arrive in the northern Gaza strip after Israel agreed to open the Erez crossing to allow humanitarian assistance into the enclave. After six months of war, only 10 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are even partially functioning, with the population desperate not only for food and water but medical supplies care and supplies. According to the Hamas-run health ministry, over 33,000 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory since Israel launched it’s offensive following the deadly October 7 attack by Hamas militants.

The Hague (AFP) – Climate activist Greta Thunberg was detained by Dutch police on Saturday, April 6, after she and a group of marchers blocked a main road in The Hague to protest against fossil fuel subsidies. Earlier, Thunberg joined hundreds of protesters on a walk from The Hague’s city centre to the nearby A12 arterial highway that connects the seat of the Dutch government with other cities including Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Utrecht. The march was organised by the Extinction Rebellion environmental group (XR) — who previously swarmed the highway and blocked off traffic for hours before being sprayed by a police water canon and taken away.

Pushkar (India) (AFP) – India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses his supporters during an election campaign rally for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Pushkar, India. Nearly a billion Indians will vote to elect a new government in six-week-long parliamentary elections starting on April 19, the largest democratic exercise in the world.

Bronte (Italy) (AFP) – Rare smoke rings rise into the blue sky above Sicily’s Mount Etna. Towering over the island at a height of 3,357 metres, Etna is Europe’s most active volcano and activity has been recorded there for over 3,500 years.

Mosul (Iraq) (AFP) – Iraqi Ghofran Mahmoud, a “Musaharati” who plays the traditional role of “Ramadan drummer”, awakens Muslims for the pre-dawn traditional “suhur” meal before the start of the following day’s fast, during the holy month of Ramadan in Mosul’s Old City in Iraq.

Chahak (Afghanistan) (AFP) – Children sit shoulder to shoulder crammed in rows on the floor of a shipping container with lesson books in their laps, the remains of their school unrepaired in the six months since a major earthquake devastated their village in western Afghanistan. Hundreds of schools are still damaged since a series of strong quakes jolted Afghanistan’s Herat province in October, with many students returning to lessons in tents and containers in March.

Dzhezkazgan (Kazakhstan) (AFP) – The first Belarussian woman to go to space, Marina Vasilevskaya, lands in Kazakhstan after a two-week mission at the International Space Station (ISS). Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, has said that the deorbit and landing of the spacecraft went “according to plan.”