Washington (AFP) – Brazil football coach Carlo Ancelotti says his side should not be “scared” of aiming to win the 2026 World Cup. “We have to be brave enough to say it and work towards that,” says Ancelotti at a press conference in Washington after Brazil were drawn in a group with Morocco, Scotland and Haiti.
Conakry (AFP) – 33-year-old Guinean Safiatou Bah has made her decision. She will leave behind her young children to try to secure their future by migrating to Europe from the Guinean coast – a new, even more perilous migration route emerging in West Africa. With few economic opportunities and little hope for the country, thousands of young Guineans have been risking their lives in clandestine migration attempts in recent years.
Switzerland (AFP) – Spain, Ireland and the Netherlands have announced that that they will not participate in next year’s Eurovision Song Contest, in opposition to Israel’s war in Gaza. This comes after organisers of Eurovision — the world’s largest live music competition — opted to allow Israel to take part in next year’s event.
Chengdu (China) (AFP) – French President Emmanuel Macron cautions against the growing “rivalry” between the United States and China, saying it could reshape global dynamics and risk “dividing continents”. Speaking at Sichuan University in Chengdu on the final day of his visit to China, he says that “we are undoubtedly living through a time of extreme complexities and transformations like few we have experienced before”.
Chengdu (China) (AFP) – French President Emmanuel Macron cautions against the growing “rivalry” between the United States and China, saying it could reshape global dynamics and risk “dividing continents”. Speaking at Sichuan University in Chengdu on the final day of his visit to China, he says that “we are undoubtedly living through a time of extreme complexities and transformations like few we have experienced before”.
London (AFP) – Thousands gather to watch the lighting ceremony of Trafalgar Square’s Christmas tree in London, gifted by Norway in a yearly tradition going back to 1947. Mayor of Oslo Anne Lindboe says the 20-metre spruce is “a symbol of friendship”, adding that “in these troubled times that we’re living in, I think that’s more important than ever”.
Ruhengeri (AFP) – Former fighters of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), among them recent recruits and those who participated in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, take part in a rehabilitation camp. The FDLR was initially formed by those who fled across the border after committing a genocide in which around 800,000 people were slaughtered. The militia has been pushed to the brink of annihilation in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) this year as a Rwanda-backed armed group, the M23, seized large parts of the region. Now, US President Donald Trump has hosted the leaders of Rwanda and the DRC to sign a deal that the US leader has hailed as his latest peace triumph despite ongoing violence on the ground.
London (AFP) – German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier says Brexit “has created obstacles” that need to be addressed but, citing the lyrics of the Oasis hit “Don’t Look Back in Anger”, says disappointment and confusion over the UK’s decision to leave the EU has changed. “We decided not to stay stuck in these feelings,” he tells the UK parliament, on the second day of the first visit by a German head of state in 27 years, adding: “I think that this is typically British. Keep calm and carry on — look ahead pragmatically, move on.”
(AFP) – Democrats in the US Congress release photos and videos showing the luxury island home where convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein allegedly forced underage girls into sex with powerful men. According to US media, the images were taken in 2020, the year after the death of Epstein in custody. He was convicted in 2008 on two sex crime counts, including solicitation of prostitution with a minor. He served only about a year in detention with unusually lenient conditions. He then avoided more serious charges until 2019, when he was arrested and charged with sex trafficking of minors.
London (AFP) – A UK inquiry concludes that Russian President Vladimir Putin bears the “moral responsibility” for the 2018 poisoning death of British woman Dawn Sturgess, after a failed assassination attempt against former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal. “The conduct of Petrov and Boshirov, their GRU superiors, and those who authorised the mission up to and including, as I’ve found, President Putin, was astonishingly reckless,” says the inquiry chair, former senior judge Anthony Hughes.
Ashburn (AFP) – The once-quiet town of Ashburn in Northern Virginia, near Washington, has transformed into the heart of the world’s digital infrastructure, handling an estimated 70 percent of global internet traffic and earning the moniker Data Center Alley in the process. Among its 40,000 citizens, Ashburn alone has 152 data centers currently in operation over its 40 square kilometers (15.4 square miles), with more bursting from the ground. But as tech giants race to build ever more massive structures, as part of an AI investment boom, it is also reshaping daily life for residents.
Ashland (AFP) – Photographs released by the Hanover Animal Protection and Shelter show a drunk raccoon passed out in the bathroom of a Virginia liquor store after ransacking the shop. The raccoon was safely returned to the wild after sobering up at the shelter.
