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Kairo (AFP) – President Emmanuel Macron says that France is “firmly opposed to any displacement of populations and to any annexation” in Gaza or the Israeli-occupied West Bank as he visits Cairo. Speaking during a joint press conference, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi adds that “stability and lasting peace in the Middle East will remain out of reach as long as the Palestinian issue is left without a just resolution”.

Dubai (AFP) – Nearly 200 dogs and their owners gather at Expo City Dubai to take part in the ‘Paw Power Challenge’, a 2.5-kilometre obstacle race where dog owners and their pups team up. “It’s obviously very important to always stay healthy, but we also need to ensure that our animals stay healthy as well because we both want to live a long life together,” says A.J. Amer, a participant, adding that “the race was perfect.”

Shanghai (AFP) – Asian and European equities collapse on a black Monday for markets after China hammered the United States with its own hefty tariffs, ramping up a trade war many fear could spark a recession. US President Donald Trump sparked a market meltdown when he unveiled sweeping tariffs against US trading partners for what he said was years of being ripped off. But after Asian markets closed on Friday, China said it would impose retaliatory levies of 34 percent on all US goods from April 10. 

Peking (AFP) – China accuses the United States of serving “its own selfish interests” with its massive tariffs programme announced by President Donald Trump, adding, “This is typical unilateralism, protectionism and economic bullying.” China on Friday said it would impose retaliatory levies of 34 percent on all US goods from April 10.

Sao Paulo (AFP) – Thousands of supporters of Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro take part in a rally in Sao Paulo demanding amnesty for those convicted of an attack in Brasilia on January 8, 2023. That day, thousands of his backers stormed the presidential palace, Congress and Supreme Court demanding the military oust President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva — who had narrowly triumphed over Bolsonaro in the 2022 election. Bolsonaro plans to lead the demonstration, the first since the Supreme Court decided to try him on charges of plotting a coup. IMAGES

Saada (Yemen) (AFP) – Yemenis inspect the destruction of a building and a solar panel shop following airstrikes on the city of Saada, blamed on the US. Media aligned with Yemen’s Huthi rebels on Saturday said one person was killed and several others wounded.

El Amra (Tunisia) (AFP) – “We have nothing to do at the moment. We’ve got no choice. We don’t even have anywhere to go,” says Guinean migrant Amadou Sadio after Tunisian security forces cleared his tent. For nearly two years, olive groves around El Amra, a town south of Tunis, served as informal camps for thousands of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa. This week, authorities launched a sweeping operation to clear out the makeshift shelters located a few kilometres from Tunisia’s Mediterranean coast.

Pasto (Colombia) (AFP) – A dissident group of the Colombian guerrilla ELN that is negotiating peace with the government hands over almost 600 bombs, which President Gustavo Petro ordered to be destroyed during a public event. The handover of explosives is a gesture of goodwill towards the peace deal that the left-wing president is promoting with the so-called Comuneros del Sur, a small group with whom he has been negotiating since September as part of his ‘Total Peace’ policy.

Pyongyang (AFP) – North Korea holds its first post-Covid Pyongyang International Marathon, as hundreds of runners take to the capital’s streets and onlookers cheer for the first time in six years. Foreign athletes arrived in the city ahead of the running contest, held to celebrate the birth of its founder, Kim Il Sung, in 1912. The marathon is the largest international sporting event in the reclusive country, offering a rare opportunity for visitors to run through the streets of the tightly controlled capital.

(AFP) – Billionaire US presidential adviser Elon Musk says he hopes Europe and the United States will agree to join in a free-trade zone, after US leader Donald Trump unleashed heavy global trade tariffs. He makes the remarks in a video address to a gathering of the Italian hard-right party La Liga.

Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Smoke looms over Kyiv as the sun rises following an early morning missile attack on the Ukrainian capital. The strikes injured at least three people and caused several blazes, the city’s mayor said, two days after a Russian strike killed 18 people in President Volodymyr Zelensky’s hometown.

El Amra (Tunisia) (AFP) – Tunisia has dismantled camps housing thousands of undocumented migrants from sub-Saharan Africa, police say. “It was our duty to end all the disorder,” explains a national guard spokesman. Around 4,000 people of various nationalities left one of the camps cleared by authorities, who say that operations will continue over the coming days. Tunisia has in recent years become a key departure point in North Africa for migrants making the perilous Mediterranean Sea crossing in hopes of reaching Europe.