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Pando (Bolivia) (AFP) – Advancing deforestation is reducing harvests of the brazil nut in Bolivia, one of the seed’s main producers.

Bangkok (AFP) – Thailand’s parliament passed a same-sex marriage bill Wednesday, paving the way for the kingdom to become the first Southeast Asian nation to recognise LGBTQ marriage equality.

Malindi (Kenya) (AFP) – Relatives of those who died in a doomsday starvation cult in Kenya view the remains of their loved ones. Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie is alleged to have incited his followers to starve to death in order to “meet Jesus” in what has been dubbed the “Shakahola forest massacre”.

Jerusalem (AFP) – “I think the bad thing about the US decision in the United Nations Security Council was that it encouraged Hamas to take a hard line,” says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a meeting with US senator Rick Scott in Jerusalem.

Caracas (AFP) – Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro arrives at the National Electoral Council in Caracas to formally registers as a candidate in the country’s 2024 presidential elections. IMAGES

New York (AFP) – After a New York judge ordered Donald Trump’s criminal trial on charges of paying pre-election hush money to a porn star to begin on April 15, the former president denounces the case as a politically motivated attack ahead of the November 5 presidential election when he will likely again face incumbent Democrat Joe Biden. Trump is accused of illegally using campaign funds to secure the silence of Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, about an alleged sexual encounter back in 2006.

Cayenne (AFP) – French President Emmanuel Macron, travelling in French Guiana, justifies raising France’s anti-terror ‘Vigipirate’ plan level, claiming that the Islamic State branch “involved” in the Moscow attack had carried out “several attempts” in France.

Pushkar (India) (AFP) – Revellers across India and Nepal smear each other with colours and water to celebrate the Hindu spring festival of colours.

Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Seven people, including a teenager and two pregnant women, have been injured after Ukrainian air defence systems downed Russian ballistic missiles over the capital Kyiv. “It most likely was a ballistic missile, a “Cyclone”, the air alarms don’t detect it because its speed is high enough,” says Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko from the site of the attack.

Amman (AFP) – United Nations chief Antonio Guterres defends the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, describing it as the “one ray of light for millions of people” during a press conference as he visits the Wihdat refugee camp in the Jordanian capital Amman. His remarks come as the agency faces a financing crisis after several key donor countries cut off funding following Israeli accusations that several UNRWA staff in Gaza were involved in the October 7 Hamas attack.