Salvador (Brésil) (AFP) – French President Emmanuel Macron arrives at the gallery dedicated to French photographer and anthropologist Pierre Fatumbi Verger in the Brazilian city of Salvador. The president is in Brazil to advocate for a “reimagined transatlantic relationship” involving South America and Africa, before he is set to attend COP30 in Belem. IMAGES
Salvador (Brésil) (AFP) – French President Emmanuel Macron arrives at the cultural center and museum “Casa do Benin”, or Benin House, in the Brazilian city of Salvador. The president is in Brazil to advocate for a “reimagined transatlantic relationship” involving South America and Africa, before attending COP30 in Belem. IMAGES
Washington (AFP) – Demonstrators dressed as characters from the dystopian novel and TV series about a totalitarian society, “The Handmaid’s Tale,” march through Washington DC, chanting slogans and carrying “SHAME” banners to protest what they describe as the country’s drift toward fascism and authoritarianism. The protesters march to the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation, which has swayed Trump’s policy decisions and has held influence in conservative politics for years, ahead of the “Trump Must Go” protest on the National Mall, marking the first anniversary of Donald Trump’s election for a second term as President.
Cebu (Philippines) (AFP) – Residents of Talisay in the Philippines’ Cebu province say floods took “everything” and destroyed their homes after powerful Typhoon Kalmaegi slammed into the country, leaving at least 100 people dead. “We were not able to save anything. The flood took even our rice. Everything,” resident Regie Mallorca tells AFP.
Moscow (AFP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin says that Russia will consider resuming nuclear tests if the United States did so, convening a security council meeting after US President Donald Trump’s comments on testing. The statement marks the latest episode of nuclear sabre-rattling between the world’s two largest atomic powers, after Putin and Trump failed to find ways to resolve the Ukraine conflict.
Kampala (AFP) – Ugandans express their pride at the news that one of their countrymen, Zohran Mamdani, has been elected mayor of New York. Mamdani, a staunch leftist, was born in Uganda to a family of Indian origin and has lived in the US since he was seven years of age. “Uganda is invisible to the rest of the world, but seeing him up there makes me feel so proud of my country,” psychologist Anthony Kirabo tells AFP on the streets of Kampala.
Caracas (AFP) – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro jokes that he is “more famous” than artists Taylor Swift and Bad Bunny because of the media coverage he receives in the United States over its military deployment in the Caribbean, which he claims is intended to overthrow him. “I am amazed to see my photo and my image on Fox News and CNN, and I say, ‘Damn, how far you’ve come, Nico!'”, he says on Venezuelan state TV.
New York (AFP) – Supporters of leftist Zohran Mamdani, packed in the Brooklyn Paramount Theater, dance and hug each other after their candidate wins the New York mayoral elections. “As a South Asian, but also as a New Yorker… I feel so proud to be part of a movement across class, across culture,” one volunteer tells AFP.
New York (AFP) – New York’s mayor elect Zohran Mamdani says his decisive victory shows a way to defeat US President Donald Trump, who has been a fierce critic of the young Muslim’s Democratic socialist policies. “If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him,” Mamdani tells a cheering crowd in New York.
Cedros (Trinidad and Tobago) (AFP) – A stone’s throw from Venezuela, in the eye of a political storm fueled by a US naval deployment, fishermen from the archipelago of Trinidad and Tobago fear getting caught up in the tumult. [EXTRA RUSHES VIDI82KB8NQ_EN]
Tehran (AFP) – With replicas of missiles on display and effigies of Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu hanging from a crane, thousands of Iranians commemorate the 1979 storming of the US embassy in Tehran. Five months after a brief war with Israel that saw the US join in with strikes on key nuclear facilities, demonstrators chant “Death to America, death to Israel!” and sing revolutionary songs in a particularly charged outing for the annual event.
Brussels (Belgium) (AFP) – The EU enlargement commissioner reaffirms support for Ukraine’s EU membership, saying that the country has “demonstrated its commitments to its EU path”. Meanwhile she accuses Georgia of “backsliding on the fundamentals” of the EU membership process, adding that the commission now considers the South Caucasus nation a “candidate in name only”. The announcements come as Brussels unveils its annual scorecard for countries seeking to join.
