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Bogotá (AFP) – Huge crowds take to the streets of Bogota in Colombia to protest against the left-wing government of Gustavo Petro, whose popularity is at an all-time low.

New York (AFP) – New York City’s famous Washington Square Park was the site of a huge 420 party, with thousands celebrating the plant amidst a giant cloud of marijuana smoke. 420 is considered the most celebrated day for marijuana enthusiasts and just a few years after legalization, New Yorkers are taking full advantage of the laws that allow public consumption in any area where smoking cigarettes is allowed. At this year’s event, many unlicensed vendors hawked their products to eager buyers with cash in hand. With the slow rollout in New York City of only 138 legal stores, the vendors have taken up the supplying the huge demand in New York City.

Jerusalem (AFP) – In a video released by the Government Press Office of Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vows to increase “military pressure” on Palestinian militant group Hamas in the “coming days” in a bid to secure the release of hostages held in Gaza.

Tel Aviv (AFP) – Israelis and family members of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip protest in Tel Aviv, calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – People in Kyiv share their views after the US House of Representaives’ approved a long-delayed $61-billion aid package for Ukraine. “It will help a lot,” says Oksana, a Nurse. “It will make guys who are fighting there – happy,” says Stepan, who works for Ukrainian Railways.

Bamako (AFP) – Mali experienced and exceptional heatwave at the start of April, with temperatures soaring above 45 degrees Celsius, leading to dozens of deaths. “There is a very, very high mortality rate linked to dehydration and fever,” says Dr Ibrahim Fall, head of health centre located in Mali’s capital Bamako.

Istanbul (AFP) – The Turkish Presidency releases images which show Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh meeting in Istanbul, where they spoke for more than two and a half hours, Turkish media reported. Haniyeh was received at the Dolmabahçe palace with his delegation, including a key member of the Palestinian militant group, Khaled Mashal, according to photographs released by the Turkish presidency.

Dnipro (Ukraine) (AFP) – Dnipro residents rush into the underground metro as air raid sirens ring out the day after a deadly strike. The Russian night-time strikes killed eight people, including two children, and injured 18 in Ukraine’s central Dnipropetrovsk region. Six people, including children aged six and eight, died in the Synelnykivsky area south-east of Dnipro, and two people died and 16 others were wounded in Dnipro, the regional capital. The Ukrainian air force said Russian forces had launched 22 missiles and 14 Iranian-designed attack drones overnight. All the unmanned aerial vehicles were downed as well as 15 missiles.

United Nations (United States) (AFP) – Senior UN officials warn the Security Council of the risks of a new front opening in Sudan, around the town of el-Fasher in Darfur, where the population is already on the brink of starvation. After a year of war between the armed forces (SAF) of General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (FSR), under the command of General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, the country is experiencing “a crisis of epic proportions… wholly man-made,” says Rosemary DiCarlo, UN under-secretary-general for political and peacebuilding affairs.

Dubai (AFP) – Images show flooded streets in Dubai as some streets remain clogged by flooding and trucks pump water, more than three days after record rains.