Doha (AFP) – Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari says that Israel should have ceased operations in Gaza already, in line with US President Donald Trump’s peace plan.
Pjöngjang (AFP) – Figure skaters from Russia, China, and North Korea perform in the Pyongyang International Figure Skating Festival, held in North Korea’s capital, to celebrate the 80th founding anniversary of the Workers’ Party of Korea.
Caracas (AFP) – President Nicolas Maduro says Venezuela foiled a false flag operation by what he called local terrorists to plant explosives at the US embassy in Caracas and exacerbate a dispute between the two countries over drug trafficking. The incident comes as thousands take to the streets of the capital to call for peace.
Hongkong (AFP) – Waving a fire dragon adorned with burning incense sticks, volunteers pump up the festival atmosphere in Hong Kong ahead of the Mid-Autumn Festival in the city’s Tai Hang neighbourhood. The ritual is said to have originated in the 1800s to ward off the plague.
Osaka (AFP) – Shimon Sakaguchi, the Japanese immunologist who won this year’s Nobel Prize in Medicine, says he hopes the award will help further advance research and patient care. Sakaguchi has been jointly awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Medicine alongside American scientists Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell for their research into how the immune system is kept in check by identifying its “security guards”, according to the Nobel jury.
Copiapó (AFP) – The Atacama Desert, in northern Chile, is covered in colorful flowers. The phenomenon, known as the ‘flowering desert,’ occurs in certain years when rainfall and temperatures coincide, awakening the desert’s dormant seeds.
Lagos (AFP) – Nigeria’s bustling metropolis of Lagos hosts a race in the UIM E1 World Championship, an all-electric powerboat racing series — the first time that such an event is held in Africa. The E1 Lagos Grand Prix — the penultimate round of the season — was held on Lagos’s lagoon, ahead of the season finale in Miami later this year. Africa is the fourth continent to host an E1 race during the series’ second season, as the championship has expanded from five to seven races.
Sidoarjo (AFP) – The death toll from an Indonesian school collapse has risen to 63, according to officials, as workers pull more remains from the rubble of the building that collapsed last week. Part of the multi-storey building on Indonesia’s Java island collapsed as more than 150 students gathered for afternoon prayers. Around half a dozen youngsters are still unaccounted for. The collapse was Indonesia’s deadliest disaster so far this year, says Budi Irawan, the deputy head of the national disaster agency (BNPB).
Paris (AFP) – Outgoing French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu says the conditions were not satisfied to allow him to stay in office, after resigning following less than a month in the post. Lecornu’s stint in office was the shortest ever for a prime minister in modern France. His resignation compounds a political crisis that has rocked France for over a year, after French President Emmanuel Macron called legislative elections in the summer of 2024, which ended in a hung parliament.
Tiflis (AFP) – Georgian police fire tear gas and water cannons at anti-government protesters trying to enter the presidential palace, as tens of thousands rally during local elections after the opposition urged a “last chance” protest to save democracy. The polls were the ruling populist Georgian Dream party’s first electoral test since a disputed parliamentary vote a year ago plunged the Black Sea nation into turmoil.
Kathmandu (AFP) – Clean-up operations are underway in Nepal after torrential rains triggered landslides and flash floods that blocked major roads connecting the capital, Kathmandu. At least 43 people have been killed, according to a disaster official, with parts of the country inundated since Friday.
