Kati (Mali) (AFP) – Smoke rises and shots are heard at the garrison town of Kati as Mali announces it has repelled a suicide raid by Al-Qaeda-linked jihadists on a base used by the ruling military, 15 kilometres (nine miles) from Bamako.
San Diego (AFP) – Tens of thousands of people converge on San Diego for the first full-scale Comic-Con in three years, where new “Lord of the Rings” and “Game of Thrones” TV series will be unveiled.
Santiago (AFP) – Hundreds of BMX riders gather in Chile’s capital Santiago to celebrate World BMX Day. ‘For me, being a rider is being free,’ says Diego Galdames, Chile’s top BMX rider.
Washington (AFP) – The United States hails a Turkish-brokered deal to export grain from Ukrainian ports and urges Russia to implement it.
Minsk (AFP) – The West is behind the war in Ukraine, says the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, in an exclusive interview with AFP. “You have fomented the war and are continuing it,” he adds.
Rome (AFP) – Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi tells the parliament he intends to hand in his resignation after efforts to bring the country’s fractious parties to heel failed, kicking off a snap election campaign which could bring the hard right to power. While making his announcement in the lower house of parliament, Draghi was moved by the warm round of applause he received from MPs, saying, ‘Thank you. Sometimes even central bankers’ hearts are touched.’
London (AFP) – Buckingham Palace is reopening its doors to visitors for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic with an exhibition of twenty-four original photographs of Queen Elizabeth II’s official portraits — a celebration of the Queen for her Platinum Jubilee.
Colombo (AFP) – One of the longest queues in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo is for the exit, as thousands of people line up outside the immigration office seeking passports to escape the country’s economic crisis.
Minsk (AFP) – In an exclusive interview with AFP in Minsk, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko says Russia, Ukraine and the West must agree to halt the Ukraine conflict to avoid “nuclear war” and insisted Kyiv should accept Moscow’s demands. EXCLUSIVE SOUNDBITES
Arlington (United States) (AFP) – The United States promises to send more precision rocket systems to Kyiv, soon after Moscow signaled it was aiming to seize more Ukrainian territory beyond the eastern industrial region of Donbas.
Maskwacis (Canada) (AFP) – Members of the Ermineskin Cree Nation in western Canada await the visit of Pope Francis, as the country reckons with the crimes and trauma that its residential school system inflicted upon First Nations children, who were forcibly enrolled.
Somerset (Massachusetts) (United States) (AFP) – US President Joe Biden warns that climate change represents a “clear and present danger” to the nation as he outlines new executive action aimed at tackling global warming.
