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Paris (AFP) – Nicolas Sarkozy leaves prison, a 20-day experience the former president called a “nightmare”, after a judge ordered his release pending an appeal decision over Libyan funding. A lower court in September found the right-wing politician — who was head of state from 2007 to 2012 — guilty of seeking to acquire funding from Moamer Kadhafi’s Libya for the campaign that saw him elected, and sentenced him to five years behind bars. The appeals case means that Sarkozy is now presumed innocent again ahead of the appeal trial in March 2026.

Washington (AFP) – US President Donald Trump addresses the government shutdown with reporters outside the White House, telling them “we’re getting very close” to it ending. “We’ll never agree to give any substantial money, or any money, to prisoners, illegals that come into our country. I think the Democrats understand that,” he said.

Magdeburg (Germany) (AFP) – A Saudi doctor appears in court in the Germany city of Magdeburg, where he is accused of driving an SUV through a Christmas market in a rampage that killed six people and wounded more than 300. Prosecutors say Taleb Jawad al-Abdulmohsen — a critic of Islam and an adherent of far-right views and radical conspiracy theories — was motivated by “dissatisfaction and frustration.”

Cagayan Province (Philippines) (AFP) – Waters breach the banks of the Chico River in Cagayan province, Philippines, destroying houses and displacing residents as Typhoon Fung-wong slams into the Philippines’ eastern seaboard, killing at least five people and forcing more than a million to evacuate. Fung-wong, with a footprint that spanned nearly the entire archipelago, landed days after Typhoon Kalmaegi swept through the islands of the central Philippines, killing at least 224 people.

Sudanese people who fled from El-Fasher, the west Darfur stronghold taken by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on October 26, recount the horrors they saw on their journey, saying the streets were “filled with bodies”. Reports of mass killings, ethnic violence, abductions and sexual assaults have emerged in the aftermath of El-Fasher’s capture.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva declares at the opening of UN climate talks in the Amazon that “it is time to inflict a new defeat” on climate change deniers, and that “COP30 will be the COP of truth”.

Belém (Brazil) (AFP) – Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula poses for a group photo with COP 30 executives as the climate summit begins. IMAGES

Belém (Brazil) (AFP) – The head of last year’s COP29, Mukhtar Babayev, announces that Andre Correa do Lago is elected as president of this year’s COP30 in Brazil. The two men share a photo opportunity as a gavel is symbolically handed over. IMAGES

Belém (Brazil) (AFP) – Indigenous people perform dance at the COP30 opening ceremony in Brazil. IMAGES

Belém (Brazil) (AFP) – People arrive at the COP30 climate change conference in Belem, Brazil, on opening day. Starting on Monday, the 50,000 participants expected in the Amazonian city face the daunting task of keeping global climate cooperation from collapsing. IMAGES

Langkawi (Malaysia) (AFP) – Malaysian rescuers recover a body after a boat carrying migrants capsized near the Thai border. Officials believe the boat was carrying undocumented migrants who departed from Myanmar, part of a group of at least 300 people that had split between several vessels. At least seven bodies have been recovered so far. IMAGES

Langkawi (Malaysia) (AFP) – Malaysia’s Maritime Enforcement Agency rescues two people, with dozens more missing, after a boat capsized near the Thai border. Officials believe the boat was carrying undocumented migrants who departed from Myanmar, part of a group of at least 300 people that had split between several vessels.