At sea (AFP) – Italian police claim to have found over 400 million euros worth of cocaine floating in the water off Sicily in packages likely left by a cargo ship for drugs traffickers to bring ashore.
Torpoint (United Kingdom) (AFP) – A group of volunteer environmental hunters scour a beach in Cornwall for tiny plastic balls, or “nurdles”, used by industry to manufacture plastic products. When spilt at industrial facilities, they can be swept into drains and then out into the sea — and are one of the main sources of microplastic pollution.
Barcelona (AFP) – Barcelona have never “done anything” to “obtain some type of sporting advantage,” the football club’s president Joan Laporta says amid investigations into payments made to a former refereeing chief. Last month Spanish prosecutors charged the Catalan club with corruption after payments of more than 7.3 million euros ($7.8 million) to a company owned by a former refereeing chief were uncovered earlier this year.
Moscow (AFP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomes China’s Defence Minister Li Shangfu to the Kremlin on the first day of his three-day visit to Russia, where the two are preparing to discuss Beijing’s deepening military cooperation with Moscow. Both countries have ramped up ties in recent years to counterbalance global US dominance, and they’ve only grown closer since Putin launched an offensive in Ukraine last February.
Brovary (Ukraine) (AFP) – When Olga Slyshyk’s husband Mykhailo failed to call her on her birthday, she knew something was wrong. The next day she found out he was dead, killed whilst defending Soledar from Russian forces in the eastern Donetsk region. More than a year after the invasion began, Slyshyk is among a growing number of Ukrainian women left widowed by war.
Tehran (AFP) – Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanani expresses his hopes that Iran and Saudi Arabia will reopen their respective diplomatic missions by May 9, after reaching an agreement to mend ties last month. The annual hajj pilgrimage to holy sites in Saudi Arabia, one of the pillars of Islam, is expected to begin in late June.
Khartoum (AFP) – Fierce fighting raged in Sudan’s capital despite a pause Sunday to help those caught up in the violence, on the second day of battles between the powerful armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The death toll has risen to at least 97, with scores of other people wounded, the doctors’ union said early Monday.
Beijing (AFP) – The streets around Beijing’s Workers’ Stadium are a sea of lime green as tens of thousands of football fans turn out for the post-Covid return of the Chinese Super League. After almost three years of pandemic restrictions, including games in secure “bubbles” and limits on attendances, normality is beginning to return to sport in China, and anticipation is high.
Ankara (AFP) – Survivors of Turkey’s deadly earthquake fear that they will be unable to vote in the upcoming May 14 general elections. Some three million people were displaced by the disaster, which left over 50,000 dead. They now face difficult prospect of heading back to their ruined cities to have their say over the future of their country and President Erdogan.
Jerusalem (AFP) – Thousands of Christians throng Jerusalem for the traditional Holy Fire rite ahead of the Orthodox Easter, despite a security clampdown in the holy city.
Vatican City (AFP) – Pope Francis says he is following the events in Sudan with ‘concern’ as fighting rages for a second day. Speaking from St Peter’s Square, the pontiff urged ‘dialogue’ and the abandonment of weapons in the troubled African nation where battles between rival generals, who seized power in a 2021 coup, have left over 50 civilians including three UN staff dead and sparked international alarm.
Washington (AFP) – Hundreds of abortion rights activists protest in Washington after a ruling by a federal judge in Texas aimed at curtailing nationwide access to a widespread abortion drug.
