Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Valeriy Kucherenko, a decorated “Hero of Ukraine”, became a double amputee after being seriously injured on the battlefield last October. Currently undergoing rehabilitation at a clinic in Kyiv, he is learning how to adjust to life with the help of his bionic prosthetic arms. “I haven’t changed anything fundamentally, yet I have to learn to do everything independently,” he says.
Srinagar (India) (AFP) – Grieving family members gather beside the Jhelum river where a boat capsized, killing six people, including five chilren, in Indian-administered Kashmir. Rescuers in rubber boats joined by marine commandos scramble to find survivors as hundreds of people watch from the riverbanks after the accident.
Nevatim Air Base (Israel) (AFP) – In a video released by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Israel’s army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari says that those killed in a strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus had engaged in “terrorism against Israel”, in the first official comment on the April 1 attack.
(AFP) – Tens of thousands of people have been killed and 8.5 million have been forced to flee their homes a year after civil war erupted in Sudan. The northeast African country is experiencing “one of the worst humanitarian disasters in recent memory”, the UN says. Experts see no end in sight to the fighting, which began on 15 April 2023 between the forces of two rival generals. Aid workers have called it the “forgotten war” affecting a country of 48 million people and leaving more than half the population in need of humanitarian assistance.
Lizard Island (Australia) (AFP) – The Great Barrier Reef is suffering one of the worst coral bleaching events ever – its seventh in five years – and scientists fear it might not be able to recover. Australian Museum’s Lizard Island Research Station Director Anne Hoggett has lived on the reef for over 30 years, studying its changes amid increased heat stress on the reef. Lizard Island, a small tropical slice of paradise 270 kilometres north of Cairns, is among the worst bleached areas. The island hosts a research centre where scientists from around the world study Australia’s unique marine ecosystem.
Petropavl (Kazakhstan) (AFP) – In northern Kazakhstan, flooding has submerged swathes of the city of Petropavlosk, where rescuers have carried out “preventive” evacuations the day before. There is widespread flooding in the Russian Urals regions and neighbouring Kazakhstan, caused by melting ice swelling rivers, exacerbated by heavy rainfall.
Brasília (AFP) – Argentina’s Foreign Minister Diana Mondino meets her Brazilian counterpart Mauro Vieira at the Itamaraty Palace in Brasilia. IMAGES
Spanish firefighters battle a forest wildfire near the southestern town of Tarbena in the Valencia region which started on April 14 as temperatures reached 30 degrees Celcius (86 degrees Fahrenheit).
Scottsdale (United States) (AFP) – Hundreds of abortion rights supporters gather outside Phoenix, Arizona, days after the southwestern state’s conservative Supreme Court rolled back reproductive rights to the Civil War era, saying an 1864 ban on abortion was valid. “Folks are mad as hell” about the court’s decision, says Chris Love, a spokesperson for the Arizona for Abortion Access campaign, the rally’s organizer.
Tbilisi (AFP) – Scuffles break out in Georgia’s parliament over the government’s re-introduction of a controversial “foreign influence” bill that critics say mirrors repressive Russian legislation used to silence and intimidate dissidents. An opposition MP punches a ruling party lawmaker who co-sponsored the bill in the head at a parliamentary hearing, prompting a brawl and the video’s live feed to be cut.
