Lille (France) (AFP) – A street artist has covered walls in the northern French city of Lille with portraits of Gisele Pelicot, famous since her ex-husband went on trial for enlisting dozens of strangers to rape her. N°36KD2N8
Sterling Heights (United States) (AFP) – For 40 years, a bakery in the Detroit suburbs has been predicting the winner of the presidential election – except for 2020 – by selling blue and red chocolate chip cookies.
Undisclosed (Ukraine) (AFP) – 190 people have been released in a prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine. Russia said Friday that it has swapped 95 Ukrainian soldiers held captive for an equal number of Russian troops in an exchange deal brokered by the United Arab Emirates. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed on his Telegram channel, “95 of our people are back home. The soldiers who defended Mariupol and Azovstal, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Chernihiv and Kherson regions”.
Shanghai (AFP) – British foreign minister David Lammy on Saturday called for a resumption of dialogue between London and Beijing, urging the two sides to engage in “more diplomacy” as he concluded a rare diplomatic visit to China. China and Britain are seeking to reset ties frayed in recent years by Beijing’s security crackdown in Hong Kong and human rights concerns including in its troubled Xinjiang region.
Seoul (AFP) – South Koreans react to North Korea’s decision to send a “large-scale” troop deployment to support Moscow’s war in Ukraine, with 1,500 special forces already in Russia’s Far East and undergoing training, according to Seoul’s spy agency.
South Aceh (Indonesia) (AFP) – Severe flooding has been affecting villages in the south of Indonesia’s Aceh province for more than five days, leaving thousands displaced and buildings damaged, according to the local disaster mitigation agency.
Lahore (Pakistan) (AFP) – Pakistan’s traditional matchmakers play a revered role in moulding daughters into potential brides, but marriage apps marketing themselves as halal are offering women a new route to finding a husband.
Qamishli (Syria) (AFP) – The Hunter’s full moon lights up the sky over the city of Qamishli, in Syria’s northeastern Hasakeh province.
Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Residents in Kyiv share their thoughts on President Volodymyr Zelensky’s “victory plan” that aims to force Russia into a fair and lasting peace. Although the plan’s text has not yet been made public, Zelensky’s speech to Ukrainian lawmakers in Kyiv outlined that it includes an invitation for Ukraine to join NATO and a demand for allies’ permission to strike military targets inside Russia with long-range weapons.
La Paz (AFP) – Supporters and opponents gather in front of the courthouse where former Bolivian president Jeanine Anez was transferred early on October 17. A court in La Paz is expected to begin the criminal trial against Jeanine Anez for allegedly planning a “coup” against then president Evo Morales in 2019. IMAGES
