Ankara (AFP) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s main challenger pledges Sunday to restore democracy, after casting his ballot in the country’s most important election of modern times. “We all missed democracy,” secular leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu tells reporters. “You will see, God willing, spring will come to this country.”
Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Aerial views over Gaza as calm returns to the city on the first day of a fragile ceasefire between Israel and the Islamic Jihad militant group, following five days of cross-border fire which has killed dozens.
Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Video showing the moment the house of Ziyad al-Salmy, an Islamic Jihad leader, is hit by an Israeli air strike in Gaza City.
Tel Aviv (AFP) – Around 2,000 protesters march on Tel Aviv’s Kaplan Street, waving Palestinian flags and signs reading: “Stop the war.”
Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Rockets are fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israel, minutes after a truce to end fighting that has killed at least 33 Palestinians in Gaza and two people in Israel took effect.
Sderot (Israel) (AFP) – A barrage of rockets is fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israeli territory, a few minutes before and after a ceasefire was announced to take effect to end five days of cross-border exchanges.
Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Drone images of Palestinians celebrating after the ceasefire took effect in Gaza City following five days of cross-border exchanges that have killed at least 33 Palestinians in Gaza and two people in Israel.
Sderot (Israel) (AFP) – Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system launches missiles to intercept rockets from Gaza.
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.
