Colombo (AFP) – Emergency crews rescue people stranded in flooded areas of Sri Lanka, after the country declared a state of emergency and appealed for international assistance to help with extreme flooding caused by Cyclone Ditwah. Authorities say at leats 132 people have died, with another 130 reported missing.
Unknown (AFP) – Images put out by the Ukraine Security Service show what they say are sea drone attacks on tankers in the Black Sea that Kyiv believes were transporting sanctioned Russian oil. The two tankers were rocked by explosions in Turkish waters late overnight and early this morning, according to Turkey’s transport ministry.
Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – A Russian drone strike on Kyiv has killed one person and wounded several others, according to authorities. “Today, what appeared to be rocket fragments hit our house. We were asleep, and all the windows were blown out,” says local resident Galyna.
Istanbul (AFP) – Pope Leo XIV visits Istanbul’s famed Blue Mosque on the third day of his trip to Turkey. It was the first time the American pope, who was elected in May as leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, has visited a Muslim place of worship since taking over from his late predecessor Francis.
Dschenin (AFP) – AFP footage shows a Palestinian man raising his hands in surrender before Israeli forces in Jenin. He is directed inside the building before gunshots ring out, and the troops are later seen moving a body. The Palestinian Authority says two men aged 26 and 37 were killed by Israeli fire, and condemns the incident in Jenin as a “war crime” and a “brutal” summary execution. The UN has called for an investigation into the incident.
Yokohama (AFP) – Shoes squeaking in perfect unison, dozens of Japanese students move in formation through a Yokohama sports hall in training for a synchronised walking performance expected to draw thousands. For more than half a century, students at Nippon Sport Science University have captivated audiences in a practice known as Shudan Kodo, meaning “collective action”.
Istanbul (AFP) – Pope Leo XIV struggles to unveil a plaque inside the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Istanbul, where he met bishops, clergy and pastoral workers during the second day of his Turkey tour.
(AFP) – Days of devastating flooding across Southeast Asia have killed more than 300 people across Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia, according to authorities. Heavy monsoon season rains paired with a tropical storm system have inundated areas across the three countries, stranding residents on roof tops and cutting off entire communities.
Hongkong (AFP) – Aerial images show the devastation at the residential estate Wang Fuk Court after Hong Kong’s worst blaze in decades, with the death toll now above a hundred. Flames moved quickly through the housing estate in Tai Po district two days earlier, spreading through seven of the eight high-rises and transforming the densely packed complex into an inferno.
Varces-Allières-et-Risset (AFP) – French President Emmanuel Macron announces that a new voluntary military service will be rolled out “gradually starting next summer”, speaking during an address to troops in southeastern France. The announcement comes more than three and a half years into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with Macron and other French officials warning that Moscow risks not stopping at Ukraine’s borders.
Bissau (AFP) – General Horta N’Tam announces that he has been appointed as the new leader of Guinea-Bissau for one year, a day after the military seized power and arrested the president of the coup-prone west African nation.
Bangkok (AFP) – Eleven pink painted elephants march through Bangkok, bowing in unison outside the Grand Palace in a lumbering tribute to the late queen mother. Sirikit, the mother of current King Maha Vajiralongkorn and wife of the longest-reigning Thai monarch, died in October at the age of 93. Since Sirikit’s death, the government has declared a year-long mourning period for officials and urged the public to wear mourning colours of black or white for 90 days.
