Mogadishu (AFP) – Visiting UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appeals for “massive” international support for Somalia as it battles a devastating drought and a grinding Islamist insurgency. “Although Somalis make no contribution to climate change, the Somalis are among the greatest victims. Nearly five million people are experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity,” he says.
Ciudad Juárez (Mexico) (AFP) – A large group of migrants gathers at the US-Mexico border crossing bridge in Mexico’s Ciudad Juarez hoping to enter the United States after a rumour spread that the crossing restrictions imposed under Title 42 were to be lifted. The restrictions were implemented under Donald Trump’s administration, ostensibly as a health measure to reduce the flow of people during the Covid pandemic. In response to the big crowds, the US Customs and Border Protection members temporarily closed to pedestrians and vehicles. The crossing was then reopened hours later without incident.
Belfast (AFP) – Police are blocking streets in the city centre of Belfast, around the hotel where the US president Joe Biden is thought to stay during his visit. Biden arrived in Northern Ireland on Tuesday, saying his priority was to “keep the peace” 25 years after the Good Friday agreement ended decades of sectarian violence over British rule.
Marseille (AFP) – A prayer vigil is held at a church for the victims of a building collapse in France’s second city Marseille.
Villahermosa (Colombia) (AFP) – Footage taken from a helicopter show the Nevado del Ruiz volcano emitting a cloud of ash. The eruption threat of the volcano has loomed since the end of March when the number of daily tremors within the volcano shot up from 50 to 12,000.
Les Contamines-Montjoie (France) (AFP) – “We are in a state of incomprehension and pain,” says the head of a French mountain guide agency after an avalanche killed six people, including two mountain guides, on a glacier near Mont Blanc in the French Alps.
Aqabat Jabr (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Palestinians chant slogans as they carry the body of 15-year-old Mohammed Fayez Balhan during his funeral procession in the Aqabat Jaber camp near West Bank’s Jericho, after he was shot dead by Israeli forces in a raid on the camp.
Walden (United States) (AFP) – Could donkeys hold the key to wolf reintroduction peace in rural Colorado? Some ranchers protect their livestock in unusual ways after attacks by a pack from neighboring Wyoming and before the wolf’s expected return by the end of the year.
Barquisimeto (Venezuela) (AFP) – Venezuela’s Easter tradition of burning a puppet of Judas has taken a political turn this year, with effigies of political figures accused of corruption set alight. In Barquisimeto, Lara state, the Judas puppet resembled president Nicolas Maduro, while in a square in the capital Caracas, a three-headed snake representing corrupt public officials was burned. In Barquisimeto, Lara state, the Judas puppet resembled president Nicolas Maduro, while in a square in the capital Caracas, a three-headed snake representing corrupt public officials was burned.
Pingtan (China) (AFP) – On Beigan island, part of Taiwan’s Matsu archipelago that is within eyesight of China’s mainland, 60-year-old chef Lin Ke-qiang says he does not want war. “The Russia-Ukraine war, that’s terrifying. I feel very emotional seeing the people there become destitute and homeless”, he says. China was due to hold live-fire drills on Monday to round off three days of military exercises in response to Taiwan’s president meeting with the US House speaker.
Les Contamines-Montjoie (France) (AFP) – UGC footage shows an avalanche which killed at least four people in the French Alps near Mont Blanc in southeastern France.
Jerusalem (AFP) – Thousands of Jewish worshippers flock to Jerusalem’s Western Wall for the Passover (Pesach) priestly blessing ceremony. The city is seeing a flare-up in tensions after renewed violence between Israelis and Palestinians.
