Beijing (AFP) – China calls for all parties on the Korean peninsula to avoid “further escalation” after North Korea blew up sections of roads connecting it to the South and Seoul conducted a “counter-fire” operation in response.
Karbala (Iraq) (AFP) – A funeral procession takes place in Iraq for Iranian Revolutionary Guard General Abbas Nilforoushan, who was killed in an Israeli air strike alongside Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.
Matsu (Taiwan) (AFP) – People living on the outlying Taiwanese island of Matsu appear largely unfazed after China carried out large-scale drills around Taiwan on Monday.
Havana (AFP) – Wearing a traditional keffiyeh scarf, President Miguel Diaz-Canel leads a pro-Palestinian march in Cuba’s capital Havana.
Deir el-Balah (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Arriving at Deir el-Balah health centre in the central Gaza Strip, parents and children are taking part in the second round of polio vaccination being rolled out in the devastated territory. The first round of vaccination took place in early September, following the reporting of Gaza’s first case of the disease in 25 years. The second round aims to offer follow-up doses to nearly 600,000 children under 10 years of age.
Taipei (AFP) – Taipei residents go about their daily lives, despite China’s announcement of new military drills, with ships and planes being deployed around Taiwan. “I won’t panic,” says engineer Benjamin Hsiao, adding “it’s not the first time in recent years” that China has held drills around the self-ruled island.
Kathmandu (AFP) – Cheering crowds greet 18-year-old Nima Rinji Sherpa as he returns home to Kathmandu after becoming the youngest person to summit all 14 of the world’s 8,000-metre peaks. Sherpa began his mission at the age of 16, climbing Nepal’s Mount Manaslu in August 2022. A little over two years on, he claimed the record with his summit of Tibet’s Shisha Pangma in October this year.
Unknown (AFP) – Taiwan’s outlying islands are on “heightened alert” and its “aircraft and ships will respond to enemy situations,” says the country’s Ministry of National Defense, after China deployed jets and warships to encircle the self-ruled island. Defense Ministry spokesperson Sun Lifang describes the drill as “irrational and provocative.”
Baabda (AFP) – Andrea Tenenti, spokesperson for the UN’s peacekeeping force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), told AFP on Saturday that the mission would maintain its positions despite at least five of its members being wounded amid recent fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. He spoke ahead of Sunday’s calls by Israel to move peacekeeping forces out of “harm’s way”. Later, UN peacekeepers said Israeli tanks broke through a gate to enter a Blue Helmet position in Lebanon in the early morning.
Bagdad (AFP) – Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein says Baghdad is against a regional war spreading to Iran, ahead of Israel’s expected retaliation for the Islamic republic’s recent missile attack. “The continuation of the war and its expansion towards the Islamic Republic of Iran and (Israel’s) exploitation of Iraqi airspace as a corridor is completely unacceptable and rejected,” he says during a press conference with his Iranian counterpart in the Iraqi capital.
