Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – A barrage of rockets is fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israel, less than an hour before a truce to end fighting that has killed at least 33 Palestinians in Gaza and two people in Israel is to take effect at 1900 GMT Saturday.
Vatican City (AFP) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has a private audience with Pope Francis. During their 40-minute talk, they discussed issues relating to “the humanitarian and political situation in Ukraine caused by the ongoing war”, a Vatican statement said, without mentioning Russia by name. The two also exchanged gifts. IMAGES
Ottawa (AFP) – People wander through fields of colorful tulips at Commissioners Park in Ottawa as the annual Canadian Tulip Festival gets underway. The festival started in 1953 as a nod to the Dutch royal family, which had sent 100,000 tulip bulbs to Ottawa in gratitude for Canadians having sheltered Princess Juliana and her daughters during the Second World War Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. Over the past seven decades, it grew into a major tourist event.
Fátima (Portugal) (AFP) – Portuguese and foreign pilgrims take part in the second and final day of the annual pilgrimage to the Catholic shrine of Fatima in central Portugal. According to Catholic belief, the Virgin Mary appeared there six times between 13 May and 13 October 1917.
Deir el-Balah (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – People in Deir al-Balah, in the Gaza Strip, search for their belongings as they inspect destroyed buildings and homes following Israeli air strikes. Israel and Gaza traded heavy fire on Friday but Egyptian mediators launched a new bid to end days of fighting that has killed dozens, all but one of them Palestinian.
Sant Joan Despí (Spain) (AFP) – FC Barcelona train ahead of Sunday’s La Liga match against Espanyol. Xavi Hernandez’s side can win the league for the first time since 2019 if they emerge victorious at the RCDE stadium, an unthinkable proposition for home supporters.
Moscow (AFP) – Moscow says that Kyiv used British long-range missiles to target civilian sites in the eastern city of Lugansk, wounding six children. The defence ministry said that on Friday evening Ukraine’s armed forces had struck two civilian enterprises.
Manila (AFP) – Philippine human rights campaigner Leila de Lima moved a step closer to freedom on Friday as one of two drug trafficking charges levelled against her was dismissed. The 63-year-old former senator and justice minister has been detained since 2017 on charges filed under then president Rodrigo Duterte, of whom de Lima was a critic. Rights groups say the charges were fabricated in revenge for de Lima’s opposition.
Unknown (AFP) – The head of Russia’s private Wagner mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin says Moscow “must stop lying immediately” about the situation in Bakhmut.” Prigozhin adds it “will lead to a global tragedy for Russia”.
Beijing (AFP) – China will send a special envoy to Ukraine, Russia and other European nations from Monday. Beijing says the visit — by the highest-ranking Chinese diplomat to the war-torn country since the Russian invasion began — “is another manifestation of China’s commitment to promoting peace and talks.”
Rome (AFP) – Pope Francis calls for politicians to find solutions to reverse Italy’s declining birthrate. Francis says that young people today “live in a social climate in which starting a family is turning into a titanic effort”.
Galápagos (Equateur) (AFP) – Darwin’s flycatcher, also known as the little vermilion flycatcher, is making modest but noticeable headway on the Galapagos Islands in its battle back from near extinction. The only 15 remaining pairs of the birds have produced 12 chicks this year.
