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Khartoum (AFP) – Sudanese pro-civilian rule protesters pile up bricks and rocks to block streets in the capital Khartoum as demonstrations against the military coup enter their third day.

Zwijndrecht (Belgium) (AFP) – Almost 60 percent of residents tested in Zwijndrecht, Belgium, have alarmingly high levels of a toxic chemical called PFOS in their blood. The chemical was produced by a nearby 3M factory and has been linked to multiple health problems around the world.

Goma (DR Congo) (AFP) – The city of Goma, capital of North Kivu province in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, is hosting its first major sports competition: a karate tournament bringing together five countries from the Great Lakes region, with the aim of promoting peace and peaceful cohabitation in a region that has been plagued by violence.

Las Vegas (AFP) – A pair of sneakers worn by NBA superstar Michael Jordan early in his career sell for nearly $1.5 million after fees, setting a record price at auction for game-worn footwear, according to Sotheby’s. The white leather shoes with the red Nike swoosh and soles were worn by the iconic player in the fifth game of his rookie season with the Chicago Bulls, when Nike’s Jordan-affiliated brand was only just taking off as a sensation both on and off the court.

Armenis (Romania) (AFP) – Two hundred years after the bison disappeared from Romania, more than 100 of Europe’s largest land mammal now roam the country’s south-eastern forest, the fruit of a seven-year project carried out by NGOs the World Wildlife Fund and Rewilding Europe in the Eastern European nation.

Albay (Philippines) (AFP) – Hundreds of families from poor villages around Mayon volcano in Albay province on The Philippines’ most populous island of Luzon are waiting for new homes after Typhoon Goni pounded the region last November. Among them is food vendor Florivic Baldoza, who still lives in an evacuation centre. As global warming brings increasingly extreme weather, she now fears nowhere is safe.

London (AFP) – Climate activists demanding the UK government immediately insulate homes nationwide end a 10-day pause in their civil disobedience protests. The activists, who want the government to insulate all British homes starting with social housing, began their disruptive demonstrations last month but temporarily suspended them in mid-October to give themselves and the public “a break”.

Al Anbari (Iraq) (AFP) – In Iraq’s vast western desert, some 200 families live in a hamlet largely cut off from the rest of the world, their only neighbour one of the country’s biggest military bases. Lost in rocky ochre hills and surrounded by humble palm groves, Al-Sahl’s only education facility is a primary school, and residents rely on livestock and farming to survive.

Khartoum (AFP) – General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan dissolves transitional authorities and declares a state of emergency during a statement on Sudan state television. The announcement comes after armed forces detained figures of the government in charge of leading the transition to democracy since the April 2019 ouster of autocratic president Omar al-Bashir.

Khartoum (AFP) – Sudanese citizens take to the streets and block the roads with burning tyres in protest against the military and the arrest of Sudan’s prime minister. Armed forces detained Omar al-Bashir on October 25th over his refusal to support their “coup” after weeks of tensions between the military and civilian figures sharing power since the ouster of the autocrat.

Sagaing (Myanmar) (AFP) – In Myanmar, a Buddhist monk has become a symbol of hope for thousands, who believe him to be an antidote to their “three catastrophes”: the military’s ousting of the government, the Covid-19 pandemic and an economy ruined by nearly nine months of unrest.