Rio de Janeiro (Brésil) (AFP) – Residents of the Complexo da Penha favela protest against police action following Brazil’s bloodiest police raid that killed at least 117 suspected criminals and four police officers, spotlighting the city’s controversial war against drug gangs entrenched in poor neighborhoods. IMAGES
El Cobre (AFP) – Damian Figueredo surveys the ruins of his home in Cuba’s El Cobre after Hurricane Melissa tore it away. Figueredo is grateful to be alive, but, like many on the communist island, he doesn’t know how he will ever rebuild. The ferocious storm has devastated Caribbean islands and is expected to become an “extratropical cyclone” later in the day, reaching the northeastern United States and eastern Canada, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in its latest advisory.
Trujillo (Peru) (AFP) – Keiko Fujimori announced on October 30 she will run for Peru’s presidency next year, marking her fourth attempt to lead the country once helmed by her father, dictator Alberto Fujimori, from 1990 to 2000. The eldest daughter has revealed her intentions to run as candidate for the conservative Popular Force at a party event. IMAGES
Barcelona (AFP) – The first arm of a large cross that will crown Barcelona architect Antoni Gaudi’s church, the Sagrada Familia, is lifted by crane to a platform 54 metres up the church’s main tower, kicking off the final phase of a drawn-out construction process that began in 1882. The full inauguration of the tower and cross is expected on 10 June 2026 at a ceremony set to be attended by Pope Leo XIV. But this will not mark the end of the construction of what has been billed the world’s most famous unfinished building.
Den Haag (AFP) – Dutch centrist leader Rob Jetten says his election victory over far-right head Geert Wilders shows it is possible to beat populist parties that are on the rise in Europe. “I think we’ve now shown to the rest of Europe and the world that it is possible to beat the populist movements if you campaign with a positive message for your country,” Jetten tells AFP in The Hague.
Manila (AFP) – In teeming Manila, where poverty runs deep and millions lack adequate shelter, some 6,000 informal settlers live on a 54-hectare public graveyard, which has seen at least a million deceased pass through its gates. “You only have the dead as your neighbours,” says 51-year-old Priscilla Buan, who was born in the graveyard and has raised her children among its tombs.
Washington (AFP) – US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump hand out candy to children during a White House Halloween event.
Gyeongju (AFP) – Chilean President Gabriel Boric says “No” to war, urging Russia and Israel to respect international law and calling for an end to “protectionism” during his speech at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju, South Korea. “We have two elephants in the room: war and protectionism,” he tells world economic leaders, adding, “Peace is disruptive, but we must fight for it”.
Meteren (AFP) – A train slices through a semi-trailer in the Dutch town of Meteren, sending its load of pears flying and leaving five people slightly injured, according to ProRail, the government body that runs the country’s public railway network. ProRail says they released the images to raise driver awareness at railway crossings.
Unknown (AFP) – Australia’s oceans are teeming with sharks, with great whites topping the list of species that might fatally chomp a human. Authorities have adopted a multi-layered approach — deploying drones, fixing acoustic trackers to sharks so they can be detected by listening buoys near popular beaches, alerting people in real time with a mobile app, and stringing up old-fashioned nets.
Rio de Janeiro (AFP) – Residents of a Rio de Janeiro community line up their dead in harrowing scenes after Brazil’s bloodiest police raid killed at least 119 people, spotlighting the city’s controversial war against drug gangs entrenched in poor neighborhoods. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has called for action against organized crime that does not endanger police or civilians, as Brazil’s security challenges have been laid bare just days before it hosts COP30 UN climate talks in the Amazon.
(AFP) – A team from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) flies straight into the eye of Hurricane Melissa to collect data that helps improve forecasts and research. Hurricane Melissa was moving towards Bermuda on October 30, 2025 after ripping a path of destruction through the Caribbean that left at least 20 people dead in Haiti, and parts of Jamaica and Cuba in ruins.
