Qabatiyah (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Israeli forces conduct an operation in the area of Misilyah, near the northern West Bank town of Qabatiyah, where the military say it has killed two Palestinians, including one suspected of carrying out an attack that left Israelis dead in January.
Alvarães (Brazil) (AFP) – Indigenous communities from all over Brazil gather in the Marajai community, deep in the heart of the Brazilian state of Amazonas, to celebrate the third edition of the Alvaraes Indigenous Intercultural Games and Dances. The games are a way of drawing attention to the process of demarcating new Indigenous lands undertaken by President Lula during his first term in office.
Port Sudan (Sudan) (AFP) – It has been two years since fighting erupted between Sudan’s regular army, led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, headed by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. “In my view, negotiations with the rebels are not an option…despite everything that’s happened, and I know that people have suffered a lot,” says Yassin Saleh, a resident of Port Sudan, where many Sudanese have taken refuge since the war broke out.
Istanbul (AFP) – The Hagia Sophia of Istanbul is no stranger to change — through the centuries the city’s architectural jewel has gone from church to mosque to museum, back to mosque again. But the latest renovation aims to ensure it survives the next earthquake to hit the ancient city. “Earthquakes are known to be frequently occurring disasters in both the history of Istanbul and our country, severely damaging our cultural heritage”, says Asnu Bilban Yalcin, a member of the Hagia Sophia renovation committee.
Dolgellau (United Kingdom) (AFP) – At the bottom of a long-abandoned mine that supplied the gold for Britain’s royal family wedding rings, the search for rare Welsh gold is back on as gold prices hit fresh highs in the turmoil of US trade tariffs. The Clogau St David’s mine was flooded until its latest licence-holder, Alba Mineral Resources, spent months pumping out water to begin operations. “Welsh gold has a premium, mainly because it’s so rare,” says chief operating officer Mark Austin.
Sumy (Ukraine) (AFP) – More than 100 people gather in the eastern Ukrainian city of Sumy for the funeral service of two women killed by a Russian missile on Sunday April 13. School teacher Maryna Chudesa and her mother Lyudmyla Sergiyenko are just two of the 35 people killed in the attack, one of the deadliest Russian strikes of the entire three-year war. “I can’t comprehend with my old brain that I’ll never see her alive again,” says Chudesa’s father-in-law Ivan.
Poltava (Ukraine) (AFP) – With too many patients and a lack of staff, the struggles faced by Poltava’s hospital are symptomatic of the challenges burdening the psychiatric sector across Ukraine. Founder of the humanitarian fund AICM Ukraine Christian Carrer is worried about patients: “They have no future… no solution”, he laments, pointing out that in wartime it is “almost impossible” to offer them adequate treatment, particularly because “many doctors are at the front”.
Poltava (Ukraine) (AFP) – With too many patients and a lack of staff, the struggles faced by Poltava’s hospital are symptomatic of the challenges burdening the psychiatric sector across Ukraine. Its founder Christian Carrer is worried about patients: “They have no future… no solution”, he laments, pointing out that in wartime it is “almost impossible” to offer them adequate treatment, particularly because “many doctors are at the front”.
Inuvik (Canada) (AFP) – Canadian infantry soldiers are preparing mentally and physically to withstand extreme Arctic cold as part of Operation Nanook — a mission through which the army aims to project strength and defend what it calls the country’s “raison d’être (…) from a sovereignty perspective.”
Tehran (AFP) – Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei voices satisfaction with recent talks with the United States, expressing confidence in the Islamic Republic’s position but casting doubt on US intentions. “Entering negotiations [with the US] is a decision and…has been well carried out in the first steps,…[but] we are very pessimistic about the other side”, Khamenei explains.
Beijing (AFP) – China rejects what it calls “manipulation and hype” around two of its nationals captured in Ukraine, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of dragging Beijing into its invasion.
Scunthorpe (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Scunthorpe, an industrial town in Lincolnshire, England, is home to the last steel plant in the UK to produce virgin steel used in construction and rail transport. The plant has long been struggling, with many fearing its closure would “be the end of Scunthorpe”. But recent emergency legislation from the Labour government has given it control over the site in order to keep the blast furnaces burning, and giving some hope to the town. “We’re a thriving town, we need the steelworks, keep the steelworks, nationalise it, get the jobs sorted out and do the job properly,” says former plant worker Jim Kirk, as a long-term solution has yet to be agreed upon, leaving the plant’s 2,700 workers in limbo.
