AFP UK

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.

Baikonur (AFP) – The Russian Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft launches on a mission to the International Space Station (ISS), lifting off from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrome. The Soyuz 2.1a rocket is carrying a crew of three: Russian commander Sergei Kud-Sverchkov, on his second mission, Russian cosmonaut Sergei Mikayev and NASA astronaut Christopher Williams, both on their first spaceflight. Following docking, the crew will join the ISS crew for a planned eight-month stay.

Hongkong (AFP) – Hong Kong residents are left “heartbroken” after the city’s worst fire in decades which ripped through apartment complex. The death toll has risen to at least 75, with more than 250 people missing. “It’s truly shocking,” says nearby resident Shirley Chan.

Bissau (AFP) – “This atmosphere is creating a climate of fear for everyone,” says Guinea-Bissau resident Salvador Gomes, after military officers declare they have “total control” of the coup-prone west African country. They have arrested the president, closed the borders and suspended the country’s electoral process three days after general elections.

Saint-Domingue (AFP) – US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth arrives to the Dominican Republic, a close US Caribbean ally, for talks on combatting drug trafficking amid a standoff between Washington and Venezuela. Hegseth is received by Dominican President Luis Abinader at the National Palace. IMAGES

Bissau (AFP) – Military officers in Guinea-Bissau announce they are taking “full state powers” of the country while suspending its electoral process and closing its borders, three days after the poverty-stricken west African nation’s legislative and presidential elections.

Bischkek (AFP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin tries to play a traditional Kyrgyz folk instrument called the ‘komuz’ during a state visit to Kyrgyzstan. Kyrgyz President Japarov is hosting a number of leaders from countries in the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, a military alliance of six post-Soviet states.

Hongkong (AFP) – A huge fire rips through several high-rise blocks in a Hong Kong residential estate, killing at least 13 people. The fire — which started in the afternoon and showed little sign of abating after dark — is one of the deadliest in decades for Hong Kong, which has some of the world’s most densely populated and tallest apartment blocks.

Carrickfergus (AFP) – A Northern Irish council has voted to rename a street in the town of Carrickfergus named after Britain’s disgraced former prince Andrew. Mid and East Antrim is the first UK council to drop the ex-prince from a street name following King Charles III’s decision to remove his brother — now known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor — from public life.

Bethlehem (AFP) – Caritas, the Catholic humanitarian aid organisation, unveils the popemobile vehicle used by Pope Francis on his 2014 visit to Bethlehem, now converted to a mobile health clinic destined for Gaza children. “I think it’s also symbolic in terms of offering a symbol of hope,” says the Secretary General of Caritas Internationalis, Alistair Dutton. “And I know talking to people here in Jerusalem that they have seen this as a real moment of hope.”

Saporischschja (AFP) – Russia launches a series of overnight strikes on Zaporizhzhia, wounding 18 people and damaging 31 apartment blocks, according to the head of the regional military administration. Donald Trump says he is sending his envoy Steve Witkoff to meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Moscow next week as the US president seeks to close out a deal to end the war in Ukraine, though European leaders remain skeptical, with French President Emmanuel Macron saying there is “clearly no Russian willingness” for a ceasefire.

Vatikanstadt (AFP) – During the General Audience in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Leo XIV asks the faithful to pray for his imminent apostolic journey to Turkey and Lebanon, which begins on 27 November with a visit to Ankara. He will then continue on to Istanbul, Iznik, and later on 30 November to Lebanon, where he will remain until 2 December.