Washington (AFP) – The White House reiterates that Joe Biden’s poor debate appearance was due to nothing more than a “bad night” as Democrats shocked by the president’s performance urge him to be transparent about his mental fitness.
Melbourne (AFP) – A police helicopter spots a stolen gorilla statue in the cluttered backyard of a suburban home in Australia. The 1.5 metre lifelike statue of Garry the Gorilla was pilfered from a retirement home in Melbourne last month, Victoria Police said in a statement.
Hathras (India) (AFP) – At least 120 people, most of them women, have been crushed to death at an overcrowded Hindu religious gathering in northern India. The stampede marks the country’s worst such tragedy in more than a decade.
Hathras (India) (AFP) – Workers clean up debris at the muddy site in India’s Hadras where at least 120 people were crushed to death at an overcrowded Hindu religious gathering.
New Delhi (AFP) – Raped by her husband on her wedding night aged 17, Divya described her repeated suffering an all-too-common account in India, permitted by a terrifying colonial-era legal loophole. “I told him I have never had sex, and asked him if we can take it slowly and try to understand it. He said no, the first night is very important for us men.” 19-year-old Divya said.
Santiago (AFP) – Buin Zoo in Chile’s capital Santiago unveils a rhino calf named Silverio to the public, making him the third white rhino ever born in South America.
New Delhi (AFP) – Raped by her husband on her wedding night aged 17, Divya described her repeated suffering an all-too-common account in India, permitted by a terrifying colonial-era legal loophole.
Tel Aviv (AFP) – Thousands gather in Tel Aviv to participate in the biggest peace event since the beginning of the war between Israel and Hamas. Performers and activists speak on stage in front of thousands of Israelis, Jews, Muslims and Christians to call for a shared future. The war started with Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel which resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures. The militants also seized 251 hostages, 116 of whom remain in Gaza including 42 the army says are dead. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 37,877 people, also mostly civilians, according to data from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tells visiting Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban that his war-battered country needs a “just peace” after more than two years of fighting Russia’s invasion.
Banbury (United Kingdom) (AFP) – British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak urges supporters to back his governing right-wing Conservative party two days before the country heads to a general election with the Tories trailing the opposition Labour in opinion polls, while British Labour party leader Keir Starmer says “our party and other parties and governments across the world, are the answer to the challenges that the world faces.”
