Bogotá (AFP) – Colombian nationals evacuated from Israel arrive at Bogota airport after being repatriated by a Colombian air force plane. Colombian evacuees pose outside the plane with an Israeli flag. IMAGES
On Saturday, Australians will decide whether to recognise First Nations peoples in the constitution for the first time in the 1901 constitution and create an Indigenous advisory body — a so-called “Voice” — for policies that affect their communities. Opinion polls give the reforms little hope, with recent surveys indicating the “yes” camp is polling at just over 40 percent and the “no” side at nearly 60 percent.
Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport (France) (AFP) – A special Air France flight from Tel Aviv brings home French nationals unable to leave the conflict in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Yongin (South Korea) (AFP) – South Korea gets its first up-close look at a new pair of baby giant pandas which were born near Seoul in July. The name-revealing ceremony doubled as an early celebration of the 100 days since their birth.
Shlomi (Israel) (AFP) – “I’m shaking in fear,” says Ida Lannkri, a 62-year-old Israeli pensioner living in the town of Shlomi, close to the northern border with Lebanon. Many residents are leaving after the unprecedented and bloody Hamas offensive, launched from the Gaza Strip, fearing the similar infiltrations could occur. “We are really close to the border” says Leon Gerchovitch, “yes, there is a wall, but we could see in Gaza that every wall can be crossed.”
Breda (Netherlands) (AFP) – Rick Brand browses strains of marijuana in the back room of his coffee shop, one of a handful of businesses set to take part in a trial selling “legal cannabis” from government-approved suppliers. Contrary to popular perception, the drug isn’t legal in the Netherlands, just tolerated to a point. Brand believes legalisation will help protect consumers. “The cannabis that we are now offering sometimes contains pesticides” he says, “if we can soon source from legal producers, we can test our products.”
Tokyo (AFP) – The Japanese government has announced that it is seeking to dissolve the Unification Church, a religious sect that has come under intense scrutiny since the assassination of former prime minister Shinzo Abe. Current Prime Minister Fumio Kishida last year ordered a probe into the church after it emerged Abe’s killer was motivated by resentment against the group, which has been accused of soliciting large donations from followers. Tetsuya Yamagami’s mother had made donations to the group that had bankrupted the family.
Berlin (AFP) – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says the unprecedented attack carried out by Hamas on Saturday would not have been possible “without Iranian support over the last few years”. Speaking to the German parliament, Scholz also says the country will stand “at Israel’s side”. His comments come as Israel continues to pound Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip in response Saturday’s bloody attack which, according to Israeli authorities, left more than 1,200 civilians dead. In Gaza, Israel’s air campaign has left a similar figure dead, according to the Hamas-affiliated health ministry.
Beijing (AFP) – The Chinese Foreign Ministry announces that three nationals have been killed in the Israel-Hamas conflict, with two people missing and several injured. China has also called for an “immediate ceasefire”. Thousands of people have been killed since Hamas’s unprecedented and bloody attack on Saturday, which saw militant gunmen fire on civilians and take around 150 hostages, according to the Israeli government.
Tel Aviv (AFP) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vows to keep fighting Hamas, saying that every member of the Palestinian militant group is “a dead man”.
