Riyadh (AFP) – Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, aims to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2060, says Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, days before the COP26 global climate summit. In March, Saudi Arabia unveiled a sweeping campaign to tackle climate change and reduce carbon emissions, including a plan to plant billions of trees in the coming decades.
Atlixco (Mexico) (AFP) – Farmers from the Atlixco region in central Mexico cut cempasuchil flowers, which are used to adorn altars and tombs on the “Day of the Dead” celebrations on 1 and 2 November. According to the tradition, trails of cempasuchil flowers serve as a guide for the spirits to reach the altar.
Kleszczele (Poland) (AFP) – Hundreds of migrants from the Middle East try to cross the Polish-Belarusian border illegally through the forest every day to seek asylum in the EU. Nearly 6,000 Polish soldiers and border guards are patrolling to try to send them back to Belarus. Entire families are trapped between the two countries and are trying to survive in increasingly difficult conditions.
London (AFP) – Supporters of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange march to London’s High Court ahead of his appeal in his extradition case. The United States government will on October 27th begin an appeal to extradite Assange to face trial for publishing military secrets, after a British judge blocked a request earlier this year.
Police work in Kentish Town, northwest London, outside the home of the suspect held on suspicion of fatally stabbing the British lawmaker David Amess. Politicians and members of the public continue to lay flowers and pay their respects to Amess, in what the police are considering a terrorist incident.
Kenitra (Morocco) (AFP) – In 2015, Morocco’s DGAPR prison service launched Moussalaha, a de-radicalisation programme, with several partner organisations, helping terror detainees who are willing to question their beliefs.
Pope Francis expresses his compassion for the victims of the recent attacks in Norway, Afghanistan and England stressing that “violence begets violence.”
Moscow (AFP) – Russia has recorded 1,000 coronavirus deaths over 24 hours for the first time since the start of the pandemic, with the country’s jab drive at a standstill and few restrictions in place.
Stockholm (AFP) – Swedish activist Greta Thunberg says upcoming climate talks in Glasgow, billed as humanity’s last chance to avoid catastrophic global warming, were unlikely to “lead to big changes”. Thunberg, whose Fridays For Future movement has inspired massive street protests around the world, said activists need to keep on “pushing” for real change.
In space (AFP) – A Russian film crew bid farewell to the International Space Station crew before returning to Earth after spending 12 days on the International Space Station (ISS) shooting scenes for the first movie in orbit. The Russian crew is set to beat a Hollywood project that was announced last year by “Mission Impossible” star Tom Cruise together with NASA and Elon Musk’s SpaceX. The crew travelled in a Soyuz MS-19 spaceship to film scenes for “The Challenge”.
Navan (Ireland) (AFP) – Eight years ago, death metal fan Randal Plunkett, whose family have presided over Dunsany Castle northwest of Dublin for nine centuries, began his “radical” rewilding project. The 38-year-old vegan, an unlikely successor to ancestors depicted in sober portraits lining the walls of the grey stone castle, evicted livestock and dismissed lawnmowers to allow nature to take its course.
