Vatikanstadt (AFP) – Pope Francis once again calls for an “immediate ceasefire” in the Middle East and urges the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas, ahead of the first anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel of October 7th 2023.
Beirut (AFP) – Veteran war doctor Ghassan Abu Sittah treats the wounded in Lebanon amid Israeli air strikes and its ground campaign against militant group Hezbollah. The Palestinian-British reconstructive surgeon, who last year spent the first 43 days of the war treating patients in Gaza, see parallels between the two conflicts. Hamas’s attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 41,870 people in Gaza, the majority of them civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The United Nations has said the figures are reliable.
Topsfield (AFP) – Pumpkin growers gather at Topsfield Fair for the annual New England Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Massachusetts, US. “It feels great, just something I didn’t think I could do,” says winner Stephen Connolly, with his pumpkin weighing in at 2,211 pounds.
London (AFP) – Naseema and her fellow paddlers are encouraging women from east London’s less advantaged neighbourhoods to embrace water sports which have often felt inaccessible to ethnic minorities like them with stretched resources and limited leisure time. Instructor Naseema Begum says there is a “taboo” that prevents many Asian women and those wearing headscarves from taking part in water sports.
Dahieh (Lebanon) (AFP) – “Enter, rescue, and leave” is the mantra of Animal Lebanon. The organisation’s volunteers risk their lives daily to rescue cats left behind by their owners, forced to leave amid Israeli strikes on Beirut.
Aguas Blancas (Uruguay) (AFP) – A mass of stone, golden roofs and ornate facade rises imposingly, defying the winds. It seems fit to crown a corner of the Himalayas, but this Tibetan Buddhist temple lies in the hills of southeastern Uruguay, the most secular country in Latin America.
Masnaa (Lebanon) (AFP) – An Israeli strike has cut off the main international road to Syria, as Israel claims Hezbollah was transporting weapons through the crossing. The border with Syria is the only land route out of Lebanon and the strike could leave thousands who are unable to fly out trapped.
Tehran (AFP) – Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says “the resistance in the region will not back down” and “will win,” as he addresses a crowd at the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla mosque in Tehran. Khamenei’s address is the first since Iran launched its second ever attack on Israel — the first since exchanges of fire pitting Hezbollah fighters against Israeli troops escalated into full-blown war in Lebanon.
Kaohsiung (Taiwan) (AFP) – Taiwanese workers clean up debris after Typhoon Krathon ripped through the southwestern city of Kaohsiung, knocking down trees and damaging buildings and market stalls. Across the island, at least two people were killed and more than 600 were reported injured.
Yinchuan (China) (AFP) – Scientists in China’s nascent wine industry are using genetics and artificial intelligence to address imperfect weather conditions, as well as anticipate future problems that might be wrought by rising global temperatures.
