Montreux (Switzerland) (AFP) – Sixteen young people from around the globe don their brightest smiles on a set in Montreux designed to look like a hotel lobby. This is the arena for the 2022 hotel receptionist WorldSkills championships. “It is very important to be flexible, to be creative, to have the ability to improvise,” says Swiss finalist Tim Oberli, one of the competitors seeking to be crowned the world’s best receptionist.
Kerch (AFP) – Thick black smoke rises from a fire on the Kerch bridge that links the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Moscow in 2014, to Russia. Russian investigators have launched a probe, adding that a truck “had exploded” on the automobile part of the bridge.
Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky says Ukrainian forces have recaptured nearly 2,500 square kilometres (965 square miles) of territory from Russia in a counteroffensive that began late last month.
Johi (Pakistan) (AFP) – Four months after the start of record monsoon rains linked to climate change, the standing water has curdled into a pestilent soup breeding malaria, cholera and dengue. The UN has warned of a “second wave” of catastrophe.
Dohuk (Iraq) (AFP) – Iraqi Yezidis gather at the Lalish temple for the annual autumn assembly, the largest and most important Yezidi festival.
Na Klang (Thailand) (AFP) – Thailand is in mourning the day after a massacre that left 37 people dead, most of them children in a nursery. Police say the gunman – a 34-year-old former police sergeant who was sacked from the force over drug use – had an addiction to yaba, a methamphetamine in pill form.
Prague (AFP) – French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte arrive at the informal EU summit in Prague.
Prague (AFP) – French President Emmanuel Macron announces a fund, initially worth 100 million euros ($98 million), for Ukraine to directly buy weapons and other material it needs in its war against invading Russia. Macron was speaking after an EU summit in Prague.
Hanga Roa (Chile) (AFP) – A forest fire that tore through part of Easter Island has charred some of its fabled monumental carved stone figures, known as moai.
“The news shocked us,” says a Buenos Aires resident, reacting to Lionel Messi’s announcement that the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will “surely” be the last of his career.
Lima (AFP) – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken tells reporters that Washington is reviewing options on its relationship with Saudi Arabia after Riyadh and other OPEC+ nations agreed to large cuts in oil production.
Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Anna Trushova, communications manager at the Center for Civil Liberties, reacts after to the organisation was awarded the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize. “When we found out the news, we were stupefied. It was a great start to our day,” says Anna Trushova.
