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Pjöngjang (AFP) – Yellow ginkgo leaves adorn the streets of Pyongyang in North Korea, one of the world’s most isolated nations.

Seoul (AFP) – Students arrive at Yongsan High School in Seoul on one of the most important days for South Korean teenagers: the college entrance exam. More than 550,000 students registered for the Suneung, for which the authorities are taking extraordinary measures, including halting flights, to minimise distraction.

Paris (AFP) – Ten years on from its worst attack, France pays tribute to those killed in Paris in 2015. In a series of shootings and suicide bombings, jihadists killed 130 people in and around the French capital on the night of November 13, with the Islamic State group claiming responsibility. The only surviving assailant remains in prison, where he is serving a life sentence.

Myawaddy (Myanmar) (AFP) – Myanmar’s military says it is demolishing nearly 150 buildings in a crackdown on a notorious internet scam compound bordering Thailand — including a gym, a spa and a karaoke parlour.

Washington (AFP) – President Donald Trump signed a bill to end the longest government shutdown in US history — 43 days that paralyzed Washington and left hundreds of thousands of workers unpaid while Republicans and Democrats played a high-stakes blame game.

Kiew (AFP) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pledges a “clean-up and reboot” of state-run nuclear agency Energoatom after anti-corruption investigators opened a major probe into the country’s energy sector, which led to the sacking of Justice Minister German Galushchenko, a former energy minister accused of orchestrating a $100-million scheme to secure kickbacks. The case is the latest to trigger accusations that Zelensky’s team are weaponising the judicial system following last month’s arrest of Volodymyr Kudrytsky, who led national energy company Ukrenergo until 2024, on embezzlement accusations.

Islamabad (AFP) – Pakistan “must learn” from a deadly suicide bombing that killed at least 12 people in Islamabad, says a resident of the city. The bombing has been claimed by the Pakistani Taliban amid a resurgence in similar attacks, which authorities blame on militant groups allegedly sheltering in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Belém (Brésil) (AFP) – Dozens of boats join the fleet organized by the People’s Summit calling for social and climate justice in the Amazon, sailing the Guama River as part of a symbolic crossing. The mobilization is happening alongside COP30, the UN climate conference, in Belem. IMAGES

Belém (Brésil) (AFP) – Indigenous leader Raoni Metuktire arrives for a press conference as the People’s Summit opens in Brazil’s Belem on the sidelines of COP30. On the opening day of the climate conference, some 8,000 Indigenous people from the Amazon rainforest and the Pacific converged in Belem to demand a voice as the country hosts this year’s UN climate summit. IMAGES

Undisclosed (AFP) – Images released on the Telegram channel of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claim to show the Ukrainian interception of Russian drones in flight. In the post he says the effectiveness of interceptor drones has “significantly increased”. Drones, fired by the hundreds every day by both sides, have become the deadliest weapon of the conflict, with both sides also using larger attack drones capable of carrying explosives, particularly to strike infrastructure far from the front lines.

Yilan (AFP) – Rescue workers evacuate residents using boats and amphibious vehicles after torrential rains from Typhoon Fung-wong — now downgraded to a tropical storm — triggered severe overnight flooding in eastern Taiwan, with water levels surging up to one storey high in some areas. With the storm approaching Taiwan, at least 89 residents have been rescued from inundated homes, while minor flooding in other areas has since receded.

Paris (AFP) – ‘Tomorrow, we will try to pay tribute to all these people, both during the day and during the match, by trying to put smiles on the faces of those who come to the stadium,’ says France captain Kylian Mbappe on eve of the 10th anniversary of 2015 Paris terror attacks, on which France will face Ukraine at the Parc des Princes in a World Cup qualifier.