AFP UK

Tal Tamr (AFP) – Syria’s rebel groups that have taken Aleppo and surrounding zones “spread very quickly and very thin” and are likely to face serious difficulties in governing the areas they have captured, Dr Rim Turkmani, Director of the Syria Conflict Research Programme at the London School of Economics, tells AFP. She also says that President Bashar al-Assad is likely to “continue to rely on Iran and Russia”, even if his ability to do so is “limited” partly due to Iran being weakened by wider regional conflict with Israel.

Luanda (AFP) – US President Joe Biden lands in Angola for the first and only visit to sub-Saharan Africa of his presidency, which is focused on a multinational project to rehabilitate a railway line ferrying minerals from inland countries to the Angolan port of Lobito for export. In anticipation of his trip, the Angolan government declared December 3 and 4 public holidays and deployed heavy security across the capital, Luanda, a city of around 9.5 million people.

Paris (AFP) – “Some people are getting ready to play Russian roulette with France’s destiny,” warns France’s Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau at the National Assembly as the country heads into a new political crisis. Two no-confidence motions against the current government have been tabled by both the left and far right, with one of them expected to pass.

United States (AFP) – Taiwan President Lai Ching-te arrived in the United States for a week-long tour in the Pacific that he said would usher in a new era of democracy, but that has sparked fury in Beijing.

Murak (Syria) (AFP) – Images show Syrian rebel forces pushing into Hama province where regime army tanks, artillery and other equipment lie abandoned on the side of roads. A war monitor reported that the army had pulled out of Syria’s fourth largest city Hama, as Jihadist-led rebels seized Aleppo’s airport and dozens of nearby towns on Saturday after overrunning most of Syria’s second city.

Bucharest (AFP) – Romanians vote in parliamentary elections to elect a new parliament, with the far right tipped to win, potentially heralding a shift in the foreign policy of the NATO country bordering Ukraine. The parliamentary poll comes at a time of political turmoil, sparked when a top court ordered a recount of the first round of the separate presidential election on November 24. The presidential ballot was won by Calin Georgescu, a little-known far-right admirer of Russian President Vladimir Putin. A run-off in that poll is slated for December 8.

(AFP) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says that an invitation to join the NATO military alliance is necessary for his country’s survival during a press conference with the European Council’s new chief, Antonio Costa.

Sainyabuli (Laos) (AFP) – Once abundant in the forests of Laos, Asian elephants have been decimated by habitat destruction, gruelling labour in the logging industry, poaching and scarce breeding opportunities. But conservationists are hoping DNA analysis of elephants’ dung will help them track both captive and wild tuskers, so they can secure a healthy genetic pool and craft an effective breeding plan to protect the species.

Jind (India) (AFP) – Blazing flames light the sky as Indian farmer Ali Sher burns his fields to clear them for new crops, a common but illegal practice that is fuelling deadly pollution killing millions. Burning strips the fertility of fields, has a ruinous impact on India’s economy and sends plumes of acrid smoke packed with dangerous cancer-causing particles drifting over a densely-populated belt of northern India, including capital New Delhi’s 30 million people. But it is cheap — for farmers at least — to carry out.

Dabrówka (Poland) (AFP) – Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk inspects the start of work on a vast military project, known as the ‘Eastern Shield’, to reinforce the country’s border with Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.

Paris (AFP) – Notre Dame fans share their thoughts on the cathedral just over a week before the 850-year-old mediaeval edifice reopens following painstaking restoration after the devastating 2019 fire.

Zubin Potok (Kosovo) (AFP) – Members of the Kosovar special forces are deployed in the area where an explosion damaged a crucial canal that supplies thousands of people with drinking water and carries the water needed to cool two thermal power plants.