Auckland (AFP) – New Zealander Mike Heard, 41, smashes the world record Wednesday for the most bungee jumps in 24 hours after making a total of 941 leaps off Auckland Bridge. Heard said he was motivated to bring the record to New Zealand and raise money for a mental health charity.
Half Moon Bay (United States) (AFP) – A monster pumpkin weighing the same as a hippopotamus claims the world record for the mightiest gourd — and bagged its grower a $30,000 prize. Travis Gienger squashed the competition with his enormous fruit weighing in at an improbable 2,749 pounds at the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival in California.
Vatican City (AFP) – Pope Francis calls for the immediate release of hostages taken in fighting between Hamas and Israel, and expresses his concern over the siege of Gaza.
Villa Carlos Paz (Argentina) (AFP) – Wildfires rage near homes in the city of Villa Carlos Paz, in Argentina’s central province of Cordoba, causing widespread destruction and prompting evacuations. Firefighters have been trying to control the blaze since it broke out on October 9. According to local media, a man admitted to lighting a fire to heat water for coffee, and said he lost control of the flames. The fires have been exacerbated by challenging weather conditions, with temperatures soaring to around 35 degrees Celsius and strong north winds gusting up to 70 kilometres per hour.
Washington (AFP) – White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan says that Washington believes “20 or more Americans” are missing after a surprise attack by militant group Hamas in Israel, adding that this does not mean that all of them are hostages. Hamas are believed to be holding at least 150 hostages in Gaza, mostly Israelis but also foreign and dual nationals. The unprecedented assault has been met with a barrage of air strikes and a total siege of the Gaza Strip.
Near Izyum (Ukraine) (AFP) – A mobile dental clinic and a team of volunteer dentists treat Ukrainian soldiers near the front line. “Treating teeth is probably the number one problem after back pain,” says 29-year-old combat medic Yevgen Gorbunov, “due to lack of vitamins, stress and nerves, teeth are the first to crumble.”
Gardena (United States) (AFP) – Kurt Cobain’s left-handed Fender Mustang “Skystang I” electric guitar, which he played at Nirvana’s last ever performance, a few weeks before he committed suicide, is on display near Los Angeles before it goes on auction.
Bago (Myanmar) (AFP) – Residents of Myanmar’s flood-hit Bago city navigate the city’s submerged streets, salvaging food and belongings from their waterlogged homes, after record rainfall triggered floods that authorities said have displaced 14,000 people. “My house is flooded. This is the first time my house has been flooded in my life,” says Phwar Than Hme, a 101-year-old resident of Bago.
Moscow (AFP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin calls the creation of “an independent sovereign Palestinian state” a “necessity”, while meeting Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani in Moscow.
Puerto Vallarta (Mexico) (AFP) – Strong winds hit the popular beach resort of Puerto Vallarta on Mexico’s Pacific coast as Hurricane Lidia makes landfall as an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 storm, threatening to bring flooding and mudslides according to forecasters. Lidia came ashore near Puerto Vallarta packing maximum sustained winds of around 140 miles (220 kilometers) per hour, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. IMAGES
Washington (AFP) – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Israel “in the coming days to engage our Israeli partners directly about the situation on the ground” as Israeli forces conduct a war against Hamas following an attack on Israel.
New York (AFP) – Zixiao “Gary” Wang, co-founder of the FTX crypto platform, leaves court as the federal trial of Sam Bankman-Fried continues in New York.
