AFP News Agency

🇺🇦 🇷🇺 A local truce between Ukraine and Russia aimed at allowing humanitarian aid into the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky appeared to be tentatively holding on Tuesday, hours after Russia fired missiles on a university campus in Kyiv ➡️ u.afp.com/SyTn

#BREAKING Kylian Mbappe apologises for 'ill-judged' comment about former Chinese leader Mao Zedong, which has led to Chinese brands dropping the Real Madrid star

⚽ 🏆 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🇪🇸 Harry Kane and Alexia Putellas win Ballon d'Or awards Harry Kane became England's first Ballon d'Or winner in 25 years in his native city of London, beating Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappe to the accolade. Spain's Alexia Putellas claimed the women's prize for a third time

⚽ 🏆 Harry Kane said he was targeting Champions League glory for Bayern Munich and ending England's wait for a major international tournament after lifting the Ballon d'Or in the highlight of his career to date on Monday ➡️ u.afp.com/SySm

🇬🇧 👑 🇧🇸 🇬🇾 🇦🇬 King Charles III begins a delicate tour of the Caribbean on Tuesday, overshadowed by calls to apologise and pay reparations for the slave trade, which he has called the "darkest days" of British history ➡️ u.afp.com/SySd

Canadian youths ask court to impose binding climate protections. Landmark trial pitting young Canadians against the federal government over its alleged climate policy failures opens, with lawyers for the youths describing climate change as a "grave threat" u.afp.com/Sy5v

Oil slick spreads. An oil slick spreading along the UAE coast forces authorities to close beaches, as vessels in Gulf waters come under attack during the Middle East war

A woman walks past art on a street in Port-au-Prince, Haiti 📸 Clarens Siffroy

AI poses an "unprecedented" threat as foreign governments turn it loose to hack computer networks and critical infrastructure, Australia's cyber security agency warns u.afp.com/Sy5M

Israel's military operation in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, launched after a deadly attack by Palestinian gunmen, raises serious concerns of "ethnic cleansing", UN warns. Israeli forces deployed in Hebron after a Palestinian gunmen killed two Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint on Friday

Climate-threatened Fijian utopia rejects calls to relocate. As the sun sets over Fiji's tiny Serua Island, its climate-threatened inhabitants soak in one of the reasons they have rejected attempts to relocate their village -- the "$100 million views" u.afp.com/Sy52

A fighter loyal to Yemen's internationally-recognised government fires on the frontline against the Houthis in Taiz province. Yemen's long-running civil war had been dormant since a ceasefire in 2022, but erupted again in July as the wider Middle East war roiled the region 📸 Ahmed Al-Basha

Kylian Mbappe dropped by two major brands in China after a video circulated online in which the French football star apparently joked about former leader Mao Zedong u.afp.com/Sy5R

Democrats call for special counsel to probe Trump's ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein u.afp.com/Sy5p

Israel to give verdict on Netanyahu in pivotal election. A deeply divided Israel will head to the polls on Tuesday for the first time since Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack, with voters delivering a verdict on veteran Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the country's rightward drift u.afp.com/Sy57

Truce between Ukraine and Russia aimed at allowing humanitarian aid into the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky begins. AFP was not able to immediately verify whether there had been a decrease in fighting. Neither Russia, Ukraine nor the US have said who would monitor the truce u.afp.com/Sy5n

Trump hits back after Barack Obama jokingly said the White House now looks as if it is a cheesecake restaurant run by Saddam Hussein. "For you to say it's a Cheesecake Factory, that just shows why you were a lousy president" u.afp.com/Sy5q

BREAKING A truce between Ukraine and Russia aimed at allowing humanitarian aid into the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky enters into force

Harry Kane became England's first Ballon d'Or winner in 25 years in his native city of London on Monday, beating out stiff competition from Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappe. Alexia Putellas claimed the women's prize for a third time to extend Spain's domination of the award u.afp.com/Sy55

Cubans react with disdain to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's call for Cubans to make 'discreet' contact with US intelligence services. A Havana resident says Rubio and President Donald Trump are ‘clowns…I really don't waste my time listening to them.’

Walter Koenig, the actor best known for his role as Pavel Chekov on the groundbreaking television show ‘Star Trek’ and in the franchise's first seven movies, has died at age 90, his representative said. u.afp.com/Syiu

A wave of American wealth created by artificial intelligence companies could produce some of the largest charitable sums since the era of Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller, raising questions about where the money goes. u.afp.com/Syig

Five outside groups significantly funded by dark money have poured more than $1 billion into the US midterm election campaign. With just over a week until voting day, the records in the notoriously expensive US election system have been shattered. u.afp.com/Syie

Venezuelan interim president Delcy Rodriguez derided the dramatic return from exile of opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, signaling immediate tensions despite Machado saying she was open to talks. u.afp.com/Syir

Microsoft is offering voluntary buyouts to about 60,000 employees, the company said on Monday, roughly a quarter of its workforce, as the tech giant seeks to cut costs while pouring money into artificial intelligence. u.afp.com/Syih

#BREAKING: Trump slams 'rigged' Brazil election after ally loses

AFP REPORTAGE: Each year, Gabon's lush rainforests yield the discovery of previously unknown plant species to botanists who are striving to make a sliver of tropical forest in the heart of the capital a ‘museum of plants’ for his central African country. u.afp.com/Syid

AFP REPORTAGE: Democrats in the largely rural, conservative US state of Kansas are hoping they can exploit voter discontent with President Donald Trump and send a Democrat to the Senate -- a feat that hasn't been achieved since 1932. u.afp.com/Syif

Malaysia will ask Myanmar about reports that hundreds of returned migrants are in military detention, the foreign minister said. Malaysia in late September sent back 1,500 migrants to the war-torn country despite opposition from rights groups. u.afp.com/Syip

Anthropic, one of the world’s leading artificial intelligence companies, made public its plans to sell shares on the stock market, revealing soaring sales but also political and safety risks in a major test of whether the AI boom can deliver profits. u.afp.com/Syiq

#BREAKING: Microsoft offers voluntary exit packages to 60,000 staff

🏏 🇿🇦 🇦🇺 Fast bowler Gerald Coetzee will replace injured fellow paceman Anrich Nortje in the South Africa team for the series-deciding third Test against Australia, starting in Cape Town on Tuesday ➡️ u.afp.com/SywK

🇫🇷 📲 🗳️ French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday accused social media of "damaging our democracies", six months before an election to pick his successor, as authorities grapple with nationwide cost-of-living protests that have spilled over into violence ➡️ u.afp.com/Syw2

🎤 🇺🇸 🇬🇧 ⚖️ American singer Chris Brown avoided jail when sentenced by a UK court on Monday after pleading guilty to a public order offence during a 2023 brawl at a London nightclub ➡️ u.afp.com/SywM

🇷🇸 🗳️ Serbian student movement ousts longtime leader in election Serbia's student-led movement declared victory in parliamentary elections on 25 October, ending 14 years in power for Aleksandar Vucic's right-wing populist party. Vucic conceded defeat less than two hours after polls closed

⚽ 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Winless in eight games and hovering just above the Premier League relegation zone, struggling Manchester United are facing the prospect of yet another managerial change, with Michael Carrick likely to pay the price ➡️ u.afp.com/SywS

🇮🇱 🇵🇸 Israel has committed the crime against humanity of "extermination" in the West Bank, while continuing to commit "genocide" against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, United Nations-mandated investigators said on Monday ➡️ u.afp.com/SywJ

🇻🇪 Venezuela's Machado returns from exile to jubilant crowds Maria Corina Machado, Venezuela's opposition leader and a Nobel Peace Prize winner, has made a surprise return home after nearly a year in exile. Her return is a direct challenge to the US-backed interim government of Delcy Rodriguez

🇧🇷 🗳️ Brazil's Lula defies odds to clinch election victory Leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva pulled off a dramatic comeback as he clinched re-election in a runoff victory as his rival Flavio Bolsonaro refused to accept the loss and said he would seek an annulment

🇸🇪 Swedish Centre Party leader Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist on Monday said she had failed to form a government uniting left and right wing parties, leaving the Nordic country no closer to a new government after its September 13 election. ➡️ u.afp.com/SyU9

🇫🇷 France's Constitutional Council has rejected a demand by Marine Le Pen's far-right party that its president be removed, according to a letter seen by AFP. ➡️ u.afp.com/SyUz

🇺🇸 🗳️ Republicans face Latino backlash ahead of midterms For nearly two years, US President Donald Trump's heavy-handed deportation drive has sowed fear in immigrant communities. Now, with midterm elections looming, many Latino voters who helped propel Trump to power in 2024 say they are fed up.

🇷🇸 Serbia's student-led movement declared victory in parliamentary elections Sunday ending 14 years in power for Aleksandar Vucic's right-wing populist party. ➡️ u.afp.com/SyU8

🇮🇱 Israel's defence minister has denied reports of a rift between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the army over Iran, as the premier's rivals seized on the story as a line of attack a day before close elections. ➡️ u.afp.com/SyUe

🇨🇳 China's President Xi Jinping opened a key meeting of Communist Party elites in Beijing on Monday, state media said, which observers will be closely watching for clues as to the country's direction and future leadership. ➡️ u.afp.com/SyUn

🇲🇽 Mexican artisans preserve traditional decorations for Day of the Dead As Mexico prepares for the Day of the Dead, artisans in the town of San Salvador Huixcolotla continue to craft the "papel picado" decorations by hand despite growing competition from mass-produced versions.

🇻🇪 Maria Corina Machado, Venezuela's opposition leader and a Nobel Peace Prize winner, has made a surprise return home after nearly a year in exile, drawing jubilant crowds in a direct challenge to the US-backed interim government. ➡️ u.afp.com/SyUJ

🇪🇬 Belgian equestrian takes first place at Cairo Grand Prix With the pyramids of Giza as a backdrop, 40 equestrians compete at the Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix in Cairo.