AFP Video

Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Clutching battered pots, children and women scramble to get a meal at a community food kitchen in Gaza City after the United Nation’s World Food Programme said it had depleted its food stocks. The humanitarian crisis in the besieged Palestinian territory has worsened since Israel blocked all aid entering into Gaza from March 2, days before it resumed its military campaign in the territory following the collapse of a ceasefire.

Rome (AFP) – Red-robed cardinals arrive for the fifth general congregation in the Vatican since the death of Pope Francis, in which they are expected to decide on the date of the conclave to elect the new Pope. Speculation suggests the secretive election process could begin on Monday May 5, the day after the nine days of formal Vatican mourning ends.

Inwa (Myanmar) (AFP) – When a massive earthquake hit Myanmar last month, centuries of sacred history tumbled down — towering Buddha idols, sky-scraping stupas and the pure-white Nagayon pagoda where worshippers have prayed for generations. “I am very, very sad. As a Theravada Buddhist, I have never experienced such tragedy in my 65 years”, says Thein Myint Ko in Inwa. The magnitude-7.7 tremor also killed more than 3,700 people.

Attari (India) (AFP) – As relations between Islamabad and New Delhi quickly deteriorate, the neighbouring nations have scrapped visas and expelled each other’s citizens, giving people just days to get to the frontier before it closes.

Vancouver (AFP) – Mourners lay flowers and pay their respects to the 11 victims of a car-ramming attack at a Filipino street party in Vancouver, Canada. Police say the suspect has been charged with murder with additional charges anticipated.

Sanaa (AFP) – Residential buildings lie in ruins after overnight strikes on Yemen’s capital Sanaa, attributed to the United States by Huthi media. Since Donald Trump came to power in January, US strikes on Yemen have become an almost daily occurrence. The Huthis, who control much of war-torn Yemen, are part of Iran’s “axis of resistance” – countering US and Israeli interests in the region. They regularly launch missiles and drones at Israel and at cargo vessels plying the key Red Sea trade route. US strikes on Huthi targets seek to thwart these Huthi strikes.

Rome (AFP) – Members of the public queue to visit Pope Francis’s tomb at the Roman basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore as it opens to the public for the first time. It comes a day after 400,000 lined the streets of Rome and St Peter’s Square in the Vatican to watch the late pontiff’s funeral. “His simplicity made him feel like a neighbour”, one visitor to the tomb says.

Mississauga (Canada) (AFP) – At a rally in Ontario two days before elections, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney attacks US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian imports into the United States. Carney’s Liberal Party were trailing the opposition Conservatives when former leader Justin Trudeau resigned in January. In the weeks after that, Trump rolled out a barrage of tariff policies which Carney has vowed to fight back against – a message which appeals to many Canadians who are hardest hit by them.

Ashikaga (Japan) (AFP) – Thousands of people visit Ashikaga Flower Park north of Tokyo to admire over 350 wisteria trees – some over 100 year old – in full bloom. “Spectacular is the word. And I love how Japan is so seasonal and celebrates its seasons,” says visitor Sonia Paul.

Rome (AFP) – Pope Francis’ tomb inside the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome is revealed on the first day it opens for public viewing. Francis was buried in an alcove of the church, becoming the first pope in more than a century to be interred outside the Vatican. The tomb simply bears his papal name in Latin: ‘Fransiscus’.