Washington (AFP) – US President Donald Trump hails his Syrian counterpart Ahmed al-Sharaa after unprecedented talks at the White House, saying Sharaa’s “rough” past as a jihadist will help him rebuild the war-torn country.
Hoi An (Vietnam) (AFP) – Severe coastal erosion caused by Typhoon Kalmaegi exposed a centuries-old shipwreck in Vietnam, providing a narrow window to salvage what experts say could be a historically significant find. Initially discovered in 2023 off the coast of Hoi An, the at least 17.4-metre (57-foot) vessel — whose heavy wood-ribbed hull survived hundreds of years of rough seas almost perfectly intact — was resubmerged before authorities could reclaim it.
Belém (Brésil) (AFP) – COP30 attendees make their way through flooded outdoor corridors during a heavy but brief rainfall in Belem, attempting to stay dry as the downpour disrupts movement around the venue. IMAGES
Belém (Brésil) (AFP) – COP30 President Andre Correa do Lago speaks at a press conference during the UN Climate Change Conference in Belem, Brazil, which opens with pleas for the world to keep up the fight against global warming, even as the United States turns its back. IMAGES
Havana (AFP) – India’s Minister of State for External Affairs Pabitra Margherita attends a wreath-laying ceremony at the Jose Marti monument in Revolution Square during his official visit to Cuba. IMAGES
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
