Nairobi (AFP) – Kenyan medics are taking part in a protest march over pay and working conditions in the capital, Nairobi, amidst an ongoing nationwide doctors’ strike that is paralysing health services. At the centre of the row is the government’s move to slash the salaries of medical interns and delay employing them on permanent and pensionable terms.
Rafah (AFP) – At the gates of Gaza, on the Egyptian side of the border, the UN chief, Antonio Guterres, calls for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” as the war between Israel and the Palestinian militants Hamas continues in the Gaza Strip. “Palestinians in Gaza, children, women, men remain stuck in a non-stop nightmare”, he added. Despite warnings that an operation in Rafah would cause mass civilian casualties and worsen the humanitarian crisis gripping Gaza after nearly six months of war between Israel and Hamas militants, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would press ahead with the attack.
Krasnogorsk (AFP) – An attack on a concert hall leaves at least 133 people dead, Russia’s Investigative Committee says, warning the toll could rise. People died both from gunshot wounds and from smoke inhalation after a fire engulfed the packed venue in Moscow’s northern Krasnogorsk suburb. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack on March 22.
Berlin (AFP) – The German and French Defence ministers announce an agreement on a future joint tank project (MGCS) concerning the division of labour between manufacturers. This is a key factor in breaking the deadlock on the project, which divergent interests have so far plagued.
Miami (AFP) – Shakira attends her ‘Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran’ album release party in Miami.
Jerusalem (AFP) – In a small hotel near the Augusta Victoria Hospital in East Jerusalem, where she received radiotherapy for breast cancer, Palestinian Rim Abu Obeida is gripped by anxiety. She is one of a group of Palestinian patients living in limbo as a top Israeli court weighs whether to send them back to war-torn Gaza now that their treatment is completed.
San Juan Teotihuacán (Mexico) (AFP) – Mexicans gather at the pre-Hispanic pyramids of Teotihuacan on the outskirts of Mexico City for a tradition that celebrates spring equinox.
Cairo (AFP) – A major ground operation in Rafah would worsen the humanitarian crisis warns US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. After meeting with Blinken in Tel Aviv, Benjamin Netanyahu says he will go into Rafah in the Gaza Strip even without US support.
Beijing (AFP) – China sees major differences between Russia and Ukraine on the idea of a negotiated settlement to end the war, Beijing’s Eurasia envoy Li Hui says in a briefing after wrapping up a tour.
New Delhi (AFP) – India’s opposition says the government’s freezing of its bank accounts has left it with no money to fight the heavily funded ruling party in general elections that begin next month. “The idea that India is the world’s largest democracy, it’s a lie. It’s a complete lie,” says party leader Rahul Gandhi. Several of the Congress Party’s bank accounts were frozen in February because of the alleged late filing of tax returns.
