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Khan Yunis (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – As the war between Israel and Hamas rages on, Palestinians in the southern Gaza Strip have been forced to adapt to the lack of basic resources, with many resorting to traditional clay ovens to cook their food. Already impoverished, relentless bombardment has left access to basics like bread “challenging”, according to the UN. On October 7 Hamas, in power in Gaza, launched an attack on southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians and taking 239 hostages, according to Israel. Since then Israel has been bombing the Gaza Strip and has killed more than 11,000 people, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas health ministry.

Seoul (AFP) – US and South Korean defence chiefs have updated a key military agreement against nuclear-armed North Korea for the first time in a decade as they hailed their “stronger than ever” alliance. US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin is in Seoul for an annual security meeting with his South Korean counterpart Shin Won-sik, as the allies ramp up their defence cooperation in the face of growing missile and nuclear threats from Pyongyang.

New Delhi (AFP) – Residents in Delhi woke up to a thick layer of smog following celebrations for the Hindu festival of lights, Diwali. The air quality dipped to the “very poor” category early on 13 November, with authorities warning of further air quality deterioration. Delhi regularly ranks among the most polluted major cities on the planet. The city is blanketed in acrid smog at the onset of winter every year. The government has already announced emergency school closures, stopped construction and banned diesel vehicles from entering the megacity in a bid to bring down pollution levels and get rid of the toxic smog.

Barcelona (AFP) – A celebratory light show graced the newest towers of Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia basilica on Sunday as the iconic attraction moves closer to completion 141 years after construction started.

At sea (AFP) – Two China Coast Guard aluminium hulled boats chase a Philippine Coast Guard inflatable speed boat with media in the disputed South China Sea. The high seas pursuit near Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands ended when Philippine Navy inflatable speed boats deployed from the crumbling BRP Sierra Madre blocked the approaching Chinese vessels. IMAGES

Grindavik (Iceland) (AFP) – Residents of the Icelandic town of Grindavik have been allowed by the authorities to gather their personal belongings ahead of an expected volcano eruption in the coming hours or days. The town home to some 4,000 people on the southwestern coast was evacuated in the early hours of Saturday after magma shifting under the Earth’s crust caused hundreds of earthquakes in what was believed to be a precursor to an eruption.

United Nations (United States) (AFP) – The health system in the Gaza Strip is “on its knees,” the head of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warns the United Nations Security Council.

Ramallah (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Many Gazan workers stranded in the city of Ramallah in the West Bank and forced to sleep outside on mattresses in the courtyard of the local community centre, want to return home, despite the war. “I miss my family, my daughters, my mother and father,” says Ahmed Misbah Saqr, a worker from Khan Yunis in Gaza. Not long after Hamas launched its surprise attack on 7 October, Israel annulled the 18,500 work permits given to Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, where unemployment sits at 50 percent. Some workers have already been returned to the Gaza Strip. In early November, Israel sent thousands of Palestinian workers back to the territory, several of whom told AFP they had been imprisoned after their work permits were cancelled.

Riyadh (AFP) – Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman says Israel is violating international humanitarian law in Gaza, during his speech at the Saudi-African summit in Riyadh. “We stress the necessity of stopping this war and forced displacement and creating conditions for the return of stability and achieving peace”, he says.

Amman (AFP) – Israeli orders to evacuate hospitals in the north of the Gaza Strip are “a death sentence” given the state of the territory’s overall medical system, says the UN’s human rights chief Volker Turk. He adds that Israeli demands for Palestinian civilians to relocate to an “IDF-designated so-called ‘safe zone'” are alarming, casting doubt on the validity of such zones when “established unilaterally”.