Vatikanstadt (AFP) – King Charles III becomes the first head of the Church of England to pray publicly with a pope in a Vatican service led by Leo XIV. It is also the first time a reigning English or British monarch has prayed publicly with a pope since English king Henry VIII broke with Rome 500 years ago.
Moskau (AFP) – Russia says new US sanctions on its oil industry risk hurting diplomatic efforts to end the Ukraine war, and that it has developed a “strong immunity” to them.
Khan Yunis (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – US diplomat Marco Rubio is due in Israel this week, the latest Washington official to visit as President Donald Trump’s administration keeps up efforts to cement the fragile truce between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Rubio’s trip comes a day after Gazans fled areas of Khan Yunis to avoid the so-called “yellow line,” a boundary behind which Israeli troops have pulled back under the ceasefire agreement.
Zaporizhzhia (Ukraine) (AFP) – US President Donald Trump slapped sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies, complaining that his talks with Vladimir Putin to end the Ukraine war “don’t go anywhere.” The sanctions came hours after Russia’s latest overnight barrage on Ukraine killed at least seven people.
Valencia (Spain) (AFP) – The floods in the Valencia region on 29 October 2024 claimed the lives of more than 230 people and caused colossal material damage. In addition to businesses, belongings and lives being lost, the water and mud also deprived many families of their memories. Thanks to a university-led initiative, hundreds of family photographs hung to dry at a laboratory, fragile reminders of birthday celebrations and summer vacations, have been rescued from ruin.
Jerusalem (AFP) – Vice President JD Vance warns the United States and allies face a “tough task” disarming Hamas and building a peaceful future for Gaza during a visit to Jerusalem, as Washington seeks to reassure Israel over the next steps in its ambitious ceasefire deal.
La Paz (AFP) – Hundreds of Bolivians, mostly young university students, take to the streets of central La Paz for a second night to protest the results of the presidential election. Marching to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal and then to downtown, they claim there was fraud in the vote count, and that conservative, right wing candidate Jorge Quiroga was the true winner of the contest.
Strasbourg (France) (AFP) – Former Belarusian political prisoner Sergei Tikhanovsky, imprisoned for almost five years and released this summer, tells the European Parliament in Strasbourg that a “transfer of power” in Belarus is “imminent”, but warns Europe must “become an active player” in the country. The popular opposition blogger, sentenced to 18 years in 2020 for challenging Belarus’s long-time autocratic leader Alexander Lukashenko, is the husband of the exiled opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.
Arctic (AFP) – Brazilian navigator Tamara Klink says she encountered “very little” sea ice on her solo sail through the Northwest Passage — a rare feat that would have been impossible without an icebreaker ship three decades ago. In September, the 28-year-old became the second woman and the first Latin American to complete the perilous Arctic journey from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, which has only become possible due to melting ice caused by climate change.
Lisbon (AFP) – Lisbon has opened its cemeteries to the public, offering guided night tours by torchlight for a fourth year to showcase the rich architectural and historical heritage of the city’s resting places. “There is a lot to see in a cemetery at night. We can see the architecture, the history, the lives of other people,” says a visitor on a night tour of the Prazeres cemetery, built in 1833.
Rawalpindi (Pakistan) (AFP) – Despite winning the right to medically transition in 2018, many transgender people in Pakistan still turn to unqualified surgeons because of a lack of trained doctors, high costs and cultural taboos.
Tokyo (AFP) – Sanae Takaichi has become Japan’s first woman prime minister: as the country’s fifth premier in as many years, she leads a minority government and has a long to-do list, not least handling the scheduled arrival of US President Donald Trump next week.
