Dubai (AFP) – UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, announces the creation of a private fund dedicated to “solutions” to climate change, as he opens the summit of heads of state at the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28)in Dubai.
Dubai (AFP) – Activists from Stop Ecocide International hold a protest banner at the entrance to the venu of the COP28 climate talks in Dubai. World leaders take centre stage at UN climate talks in Dubai on Friday, under pressure to step up efforts to limit global warming as the Israel-Hamas conflict casts a shadow over the summit.
Geneva (AFP) – The UN’s human rights chief says the resumption of hostilities between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip is “catastrophic”, with the situation now “beyond crisis point”, as Israel and Hamas resume fighting after a seven-day truce expired, with health officials in the Gaza Strip reporting fatalities within minutes.
Maracay (Venezuela) (AFP) – A Venezuelan zoo has welcomed the country’s first three white lion cubs born in captivity. It’s a boost for the genetically rare animals, whose wild population numbers only about a dozen in their native South Africa.
Tel Aviv (AFP) – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urgeS an extension to a truce that has paused weeks of deadly fighting between Israel and Hamas and enabled aid to reach civilians in Gaza. The current truce is due to expire early Friday after a seven-day pause. “We want every hostage to come home,” Blinken adds during a joint statement to the press with Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. Fighting began on October 7 when Hamas militants broke through Gaza’s militarised border into Israel, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping about 240, according to Israeli authorities. Israel vowed to eliminate Hamas and unleashed an air and ground military campaign that the Hamas government says has killed more than 15,000 people in Gaza, mostly civilians.
Avdiivka (Ukraine) (AFP) – Avdiivka, a former coal hub in the eastern Donetsk region, has become a symbol of a grinding war in which neither Ukraine nor Russia has made a decisive breakthrough in more than a year. Around 1,350 people still live amongst its destroyed buildings and ruined apartment blocks, compared to 30,000 before the war — the few still refusing to leave despite Russia’s attacks.
Granada (Nicaragua) (AFP) – In the colonial town of Granada in Nicaragua, a 130-year-old tradition lives on. Instead of modern-day hearses, carved wooden carriages pulled by two horses are in charge of transporting the deceased to church and to the cemetery. “This is typical in Granada. The poorest to the richest use it,” says Raul Corea, coachman for the last 13 years.
Port Nolloth (South Africa) (AFP) – Traces of a blind mole with iridescent fur that “swims” in the sand, lost to science since 1936, has been found in South Africa’s western coast thanks to a team of conservationists and geneticists from the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) and the University of Pretoria. The rediscovered De Winton’s golden mole is the 11th of the world’s most sought-after lost species to be rediscovered since the Search for Lost Species initiative was launched in 2017.
Ramallah (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – A crowd of Palestinians celebrate the release of prisoners from Israeli imprisonment upon their arrival in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, as part of a Israel-Hamas hostage exchange deal. Fighting began on October 7 when Hamas militants killed 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped about 240, according to Israeli authorities. In response, Israel vowed to eliminate Hamas and unleashed an air and ground military campaign that the Hamas government says has killed more than 15,000 people in Gaza. The warring parties have agreed a pause in fighting to allow time for the militant group to release Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
Beijing (AFP) – Beijing’s foreign ministry’s spokesperson Wang Wenbin hails the late US diplomat Henry Kissinger for his “historic contributions” to China-US ties, describing him as an “old and good friend of the Chinese people”. Kissinger died on November 29 at the age of 100. He remains a divisive figure, including for his ruthless philosophy of realpolitik — the cold calculation that nations pursue their own interests through power.
