Families of Americans ensnared in DRC coup plot assert their innocence

Young Americans face death penalty for ‘amateurish’ assault in Congo that was led by one of their fathers

The family of a Utah student sentenced to death in the Democratic Republic of Congo for his alleged role in a failed coup d’etat in which his father was killed fears he and two other Americans could be executed within days without US government intervention.

Marcel Malanga, 22, was one of dozens convicted and sentenced at a military tribunal in Kinshasa last week, after the attempted overthrow of the Congolese government in May. The “amateurish” assault, which left six dead, was led by his father, Christian Malanga, a former DRC opposition leader, army captain and self-styled warlord.

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Thai woman rescued after two hours trapped in four-metre python’s coils – The Guardian

  1. Thai woman rescued after two hours trapped in four-metre python’s coils  The Guardian
  2. Woman spends almost two hours in 13-foot python’s coils: ‘I fought with it’  The Washington Post
  3. Woman Freed After Being Strangled by Python for 2 Hours: 'I Saw the Snake Wrapping Around Me'  PEOPLE
  4. Python attacks Thai woman in her kitchen, squeezes her for 2 hours: ‘It only tightened’  FOX 31 Denver
  5. Thai Woman, 64, Rescued After Being In Python's Grip For 2 Hours  NDTV
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Global alliance buys half a million mpox vaccines for Africa

Gavi uses newly established First Response Fund to secure doses, but 10 million are needed to meet demand on the continent

A batch of 500,000 mpox vaccines has been bought by the vaccine alliance Gavi, for delivery this year to virus-affected countries in Africa, where until now doses have been scarce.

It is estimated that 10 million vaccines are needed to meet demand, but the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which accounts for most cases, only received 100,000 vaccines earlier this month despite having had more than 700 deaths this year and 22,000 cases of the new Clade 1b strain. Neighbouring countries Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya have each reported a handful of cases.

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Thai woman rescued after two hours trapped in four-metre python’s coils

Arom Arunroj, 64, said she was doing the washing-up at about 8.30pm when the 20kg snake attacked her

A Thai woman has described being trapped in the coils of a 20kg (44lb) python for about two hours in her home before rescuers were able to free her.

Arom Arunroj, 64, was bitten several times by the snake, which had entered her home in Samut Prakan, a province south of Bangkok. She said she had been doing the washing-up at about 8.30pm when she suddenly felt something biting her leg. “I looked at it, and it was a snake,” she said in an interview broadcast on Thai media.

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Associate of Frenchman accused of mass rape of wife admits to similar abuse – Reuters

  1. Associate of Frenchman accused of mass rape of wife admits to similar abuse  Reuters
  2. Gisèle Pélicot tells mass rape trial that she ‘never gave consent’  The Guardian
  3. ‘These men are degenerates’: French rape victim attacks defence case  The Times
  4. ‘I am a rapist just like all the others in this room,’ says Frenchman accused of mass rape of wife  CNN
  5. A French man admits in court to drugging his wife so that he and dozens of men could rape her  The Associated Press
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London’s fourth plinth artwork aims to ‘unite trans community around the world’

Trafalgar Square piece by Mexican artist Teresa Margolles is made of masks depicting faces of transgender and non-binary people

A towering cuboid made of more than 300 masks depicting the faces of transgender and non-binary people, this year’s fourth plinth artwork, has been described as a piece designed to “unite the trans community around the world”.

The Mexican artist Teresa Margolles was flanked by members of her country’s trans community as Mil Veces un Instante (A Thousand Times in an Instant) was unwrapped in Trafalgar Square on Wednesday.

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