Photos: Race to reopen Gaza schools
The ceasefire has led to an urgent push to reopen classes for 600,000 Gaza children who have missed two years of school.
![Brazilian Indigenous leader and environmentalist Chief Raoni displays a sign reading 'Climate emergency. The answer is us' during a news conference on board a protest vessel, on the sidelines of the COP30 UN Climate Change Conference in Belem, Para state, Brazil [Pablo Porciuncula/AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/AFP__20251112__83TY9TE__v4__HighRes__BrazilClimateCop30UnIndigenous-1763275270.jpg?resize=770%2C513&quality=80)
Advertisement
Content Feed
Indigenous demonstrators gather outside the venue for the COP30 UN climate change conference in Belem, Brazil. [Anderson Coelho/Reuters]
Dozens of Indigenous protesters tried on November 11, 2025, to enter the venue where COP30 negotiations are being held after hundreds of people participated in a march to the compound. [Anderson Coelho/Reuters]
On the evening of November 11, 2025, Indigenous demonstrators and their supporters breached security barriers at the main entrance to the conference hall in Belem and scuffled with security officers there. [Anderson Coelho/Reuters]
The incident caused "minor injuries to two security staff and minor damage to the venue", a UN spokesperson told reporters. [Anderson Coelho/Reuters]
"Brazilian and UN security personnel took protective actions to secure the venue, following all established security protocols," the spokesperson said. [Anderson Coelho/Reuters]
Security staff used tables and chairs to barricade the entrance to the high-level "blue zone" at the heart of the conference venue, and calm was quickly restored. [Anderson Coelho/Reuters]
Security inside the COP30 venue falls under the responsibility of the UN while local authorities are in charge of the surrounding area. [Anderson Coelho/Reuters]
An Indigenous demonstrator is held by a security staff member as protesters force their way into the COP30 venue. [Anderson Coelho/Reuters]
"The Indigenous movement wanted to present its demands inside the blue zone but were not allowed in," said Joao Santiago, a professor at the Federal University of Para. [Anderson Coelho/Reuters]
Maria Clara, a protester with the Rede Sustentabilidade Bahia association, told the AFP news agency that she wanted to draw attention to the plight of Indigenous peoples. "These voices are ignored," she said. [Anderson Coelho/Reuters]
+6
The remains of unidentified Palestinians returned by Israel are placed in a mass grave during burial in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. [Haitham Imad/EPA]
Some of the bodies returned by Israel are badly mutilated or bear marks of torture and execution. [Haitham Imad/EPA]
Members of the Palestinian Civil Defence carry a body at the cemetery in Deir el-Balah. [Haitham Imad/EPA]
Under the United States-brokered ceasefire deal, Israel agreed to return the bodies of 15 Palestinians for each deceased Israeli captive returned. [Haitham Imad/EPA]
People at the mass burial site in Deir el-Balah lay to rest unidentified Palestinian bodies returned by Israel. [Haitham Imad/EPA]
The process of identifying remains is hampered by decomposition and insufficient forensic equipment. [Haitham Imad/EPA]
It is reported that many of the remains returned from Israel show evidence of torture. [Haitham Imad/EPA]
There have been 12 exchanges of remains under the ceasefire deal. [Haitham Imad/EPA]
It was the 12th exchange of bodies under the deal, with 315 bodies returned to Gaza so far. However, only 92 have been identified. [Haitham Imad/EPA]
Gaza's Government Media Office says Israeli attacks have killed 242 people since the ceasefire took effect on October 10. [Haitham Imad/EPA]
+6
The optics are not great. US President Donald Trump tears down the White House’s East Wing, home to the first lady’s office, to build a grand ballroom while a government shutdown prevents public servants from being paid. So, is the ballroom a much-needed addition, or is Trump defacing a historical building?
The project at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the most famous address in the United States, bothers some Americans because Trump promised he would preserve the East Wing. As it turns out, that’s not how it went.
But first, it is not like the White House has never been renovated. Built between 1792 and 1800, it was burned down by the British in 1814. Its restoration was completed in 1817. In 1902, Theodore Roosevelt added the West Wing and the East Terrace, precursor to the East Wing, which was built under Franklin D Roosevelt in 1942.
The White House itself was a structural disaster, in danger of actual collapse, so President Harry S Truman had the entire interior gutted and rebuilt between 1948 and 1952.
Over the years, the East Wing has served many roles, but it came into existence to cover the president’s underground bunker, used by Vice President Dick Cheney during the September 11 attacks of 2001.
Since the 1970s, the East Wing has hosted the office of the first lady, among them Betty Ford, Michelle Obama and Jill Biden.
If you are not a Trump fan, you might see his decision to demolish the East Wing as brash, since he acted without approval from the National Capital Planning Commission. If you are a fan, you might say hosting large events under a tent, as has been done, is not worthy of a great nation.
Regardless, at almost twice the size of the White House, the $300m ballroom is expected to dwarf the president’s residence, much like "an aircraft carrier beside a yacht", as one critic put it. Completion is slated for 2029, before Trump leaves office.
This project was always going to be political fodder for the Democrats, who said Trump's focus was on his ballroom rather than the ongoing government shutdown. The East Wing is now gone, the ballroom is going up, but judging by some negative opinion polls, some Americans are in no mood to party.
+6
Ceverino Macob, 64, wades through the flood as he recovers a roof blown from his house (seen in the background) due to strong winds after Typhoon Fung-wong hit Dagupan City, Pangasinan, Philippines [Noel Celis/Reuters]
A man walks on debris washed ashore along a coastal village in Navotas. [Aaron Favila/AP Photo]
Residents survey a highway in Dipaculao, Aurora province. [Ezra Acayan/Getty Images]
Flooded houses in Tuguegarao City, Cagayan province, north of Manila after a river overflowed. [John Dimain/AFP]
A man cleans garbage along a flooded street in Navotas. [Aaron Favila/AP Photo]
Children sit with their belongings as Fung-wong hits in Dipaculao, Aurora province. [Ezra Acayan/Getty Images]
A resident reacts near her flood-hit house in Tuao town, Cagayan province, after a river overflowed. [John Dimain / AFP]
Residents stand beside a damaged house and toppled bridge in a coastal village in Navotas. [Aaron Favila/AP Photo]
Residents salvage their belongings from their home destroyed by storm surges in Dipaculao, Aurora province. [Ezra Acayan/Getty Images]
Residents stand on board a truck providing free transport following flooding in Macabebe town, Pampanga province, Philippines. [Lisa Marie David/Reuters]
+6
Demonstrators hold posters and shout slogans during a protest demanding the government take action to reduce air pollution in New Delhi [Sajjad Hussain/AFP]
Demonstrators wore masks and displayed slogans calling for action. [Sajjad Hussain/AFP]
Police detain demonstrators during the protest. Police confiscated placards and banners and asked protesters to disperse, saying they did not have permission to demonstrate. [Sajjad Hussain/AFP]
Hundreds of people, including parents and environmental activists, gathered at New Delhi’s India Gate. One placard read: “I miss breathing.” [Sajjad Hussain/AFP]
“I am here just as a citizen who cares and who is worried about the state of situation that we are in with respect to the lack of clean air to breathe,” said protester Meghna. [Sajjad Hussain/AFP]
Worsening air quality in the capital has prompted outrage from residents suffering from headaches and persistent coughs. [Sajjad Hussain/AFP]
Frustration is mounting towards politicians accused of trading blame instead of enforcing policies to combat what has become an annual health emergency. [Arun Sankar/AFP]
Home to more than 30 million people, New Delhi and its surrounding region routinely rank among the world’s most polluted cities. India has six of the 10 most polluted cities globally, and New Delhi remains the most polluted capital, according to a report from Switzerland-based air quality monitoring database IQAir earlier this year. [Arun Sankar/AFP]
Toxic particles linger because Delhi’s winters are often dry and windless, sometimes pushing pollution levels to 20 times the World Health Organization’s safe limit. [Sajjad Hussain/AFP]
Authorities have temporarily banned construction, restricted diesel generators and even tried using cloud seeding to promote rain, but critics say only long-term measures to cut emissions can bring real relief. [Sajjad Hussain/AFP]
+6
Life on Marajo island grows tougher with each rising tide, but the community remains rooted in the place they call home [Filipe Bispo/IOM]
Rising tides and coastal devastation have reshaped life in Marajo, washing away homes and livelihoods along the shore. [Filipe Bispo/IOM]
Ivanil stands near the mangroves where her stilt home once stood, remembering the night the tide swallowed her land. [Filipe Bispo/IOM]
“Even though we didn’t move far, it feels like a completely different world,” says Ivanil, now resettled less than a kilometre (half a mile) inland. [Filipe Bispo/IOM]
Though Jhonny moved with his mother, Ivanil, to higher ground, his thoughts remain with the families still living by the canal. [Filipe Bispo/IOM]
“The place where our houses used to be is now underwater,” says Jhonny. “For me, moving isn’t just about safety - it’s about protecting the people who shaped my life.” [Filipe Bispo/IOM]
Fishing remains the community’s lifeline - a trade passed down through generations, even as the tides claim more of the coast each year. [Filipe Bispo/IOM]
Along Marajo’s coast, areas that were once part of the village are now covered by water, showing how much the shoreline has moved in recent years. [Filipe Bispo/IOM]
What used to be a busy path to the beach is now a stretch of water that deepens with every season. [Filipe Bispo/IOM]
Benedito and Maria have chosen to remain by the shore, relying on fishing as their sole source of livelihood. [Filipe Bispo/IOM]
“It was a very strong tide, with a lot of current,” remembers Benedito. “We used to have sand dunes and trees all along the shore - now there’s nothing left.” [Filipe Bispo/IOM]
Pieces of furniture, fishing nets, and fence posts lie tangled in the mangroves - traces of homes the sea took away. [Filipe Bispo/IOM]
From her beachside restaurant, Enir watches visitors search for joy along a coastline that has lost much of its beauty. [Filipe Bispo/IOM]
Each storm reshapes the coast a little more, leaving fewer landmarks for those who once knew every curve of the shore. [Filipe Bispo/IOM]
Patricia, a community leader in Marajo, believes unity is key to recovery and hopes tourism will help families rebuild. [Filipe Bispo/IOM]
+11
A woman feeds children at an evacuation centre in Manila as the Philippines prepares for Super Typhoon Fung-wong. [Lisa Marie David/Reuters]
Residents line up to register at an evacuation centre, part of the nearly one million people who have fled their homes as Fung-wong approaches. [Lisa Marie David/Reuters]
The Philippines is bracing for its 21st storm of the year, less than a week after Tphoon Kalmaegi killed at least 224 people. [Handout/Jipapad Mayor Benjie Ver via AFP]
Fung-wong started battering the northeastern Philippines on November 9, 2025, before its expected landfall, knocking out power and prompting warnings from the weather bureau of a “high risk of life-threatening conditions” in many parts of the country. [Lisa Marie David/Reuters]
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has declared a state of emergency due to the extensive devastation caused by Kalmaegi and the expected calamity from Fung-wong, which is called Uwan in the Philippines. [Handout/Philippine Coast Guard via AP Photo]
Tropical cyclones with sustained winds of 185km/h (115mph) or higher are categorised in the Philippines as super typhoons, a designation adopted years ago to underscore the urgency of more extreme storms. [Lisa Marie David/Reuters]
Residents arrive at a Manila evacuation centre as they prepare for Super Typhoon Fung-Wong. [Lisa Marie David/Reuters]
More than 916,860 people have been evacuated from high-risk villages in northeastern provinces, including in Bicol, a coastal region vulnerable to cyclones and mudflows from Mayon, one of the country’s most active volcanoes. [Lisa Marie David/Reuters]
Authorities warned of a “high risk of life-threatening and damaging storm surge” of more than 3 metres (10ft) along the coasts of more than 20 provinces and regions, including metropolitan Manila. [Lisa Marie David/Reuters]
The Philippines is battered by about 20 typhoons and storms each year. The country is also often hit by earthquakes and has more than a dozen active volcanoes, making it one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries. [Lisa Marie David/Reuters]
+6
An Afghan man stands in front of his damaged house, in the aftermath of an earthquake at a village in the Khulm district of Samangan province. [AFP]
Survivors of a powerful earthquake in northern Afghanistan are digging through the rubble of their homes after spending bitterly cold nights outdoors. [AFP]
A magnitude 6.3 earthquake in northern Afghanistan has killed at least 27 people and injured nearly 1,000, the Health Ministry said on November 4, announcing the end of rescue operations. [AFP]
The tremor also damaged historical sites, including Afghanistan’s famed Blue Mosque in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, which is one of Afghanistan’s most revered religious landmarks. [Atif Aryan/AFP]
Afghan shopkeepers search the remains of their damaged shops along a highway, at Tang-e Tashkurgan in the Khulm district. [Atif Aryan/AFP]
Afghan men check a damaged truck along a highway, following an earthquake at Tang-e Tashkurgan in the Khulm district of Samangan province. [Atif Aryan/AFP]
Shopkeepers sit in front of their damaged shops in the Khulm district of Samangan province. [Atif Aryan/AFP]
Impoverished Afghanistan often faces difficulty in responding to natural disasters, especially in remote regions. Buildings tend to be low-rise constructions, mostly of concrete and brick, with homes in rural and outlying areas made from mud bricks and wood, many poorly built. [AFP]
Trucks drive along a highway past a mountain range, in the aftermath of an earthquake at Tang-e Tashkurgan in Khulm district, Samangan province. [AFP]
+5
Indian Sikh pilgrims wave as they head to Pakistan through the India-Pakistan Wagah-Attari border crossing. [Narinder Nanu/AFP]
More than 2,100 pilgrims were granted visas to attend Guru Nanak Gurpurab, the festival marking the guru's birth in 1469. [Narinder Nanu/AFP]
Sikh pilgrims queue at the India-Pakistan border, waiting to cross. [Narinder Nanu/AFP]
Security personnel guide Sikh pilgrims as they arrive in Pakistan. [Arif Ali/AFP]
Nasir Mushtaq, a senior official at Pakistan's Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony, said about 2,000 pilgrims crossed into Pakistan on November 4, 2025, the eve of Guru Nanak's birthday. [Narinder Nanu/AFP]
Indian Border Security Force personnel stand guard as Sikh pilgrims head to Pakistan through the Wagah-Attari border crossing. [Narinder Nanu/AFP]
The Wagah-Attari crossing, the only active land crossing between Pakistan and India, was closed to general traffic after the deadly conflict in May. [Arif Ali/AFP]
Sikhism is a monotheistic religion founded in the 15th century in Punjab, a region spanning parts of present-day India and Pakistan. [Arif Ali/AFP]
+4
Chess had a renaissance online during the COVID pandemic, spirited along in part by the charismatic streaming grandmaster, Daniel Naroditsky. Naroditsky, 29, was found dead on October 19, 2025. His family called it ‘unexpected’. The cause of death was not immediately known.
For the past year, Vladimir Kramnik, a Russian grandmaster and former world champion, had accused Naroditsky of cheating in online games, which the American denied. Some Naroditsky fans, including Anna Cramling, a YouTube chess star, have called Kramnik’s unproven allegations ‘cyberbullying’. Whatever they are, one thing is certain. Cheating in professional chess is a problem.
In one notorious case, the World Chess Federation (FIDE) found French grandmaster Sebastien Feller guilty of cheating at tournaments in 2010. Two accomplices used a computer, text messaging and a visual code to relay moves to Feller as he played.
In 2015, an opponent complained about the many bathroom breaks being taken by a Georgian grandmaster, Gaioz Nigalidze, at a tournament in Dubai. Turns out he had a smartphone hidden in a stall. FIDE banned him from competing for three years.
But things are not always as they may seem. In 2022, Hans Niemann became embroiled in a cheating scandal at the Sinquefield Cup in St Louis. His defeat of Magnus Carlsen, world champion at the time, led to cheating allegations. Today, it is generally believed Niemann did nothing wrong.
As with so many chess talents, Daniel Naroditsky showed promise early on. Born in California to immigrants from Ukraine and Azerbaijan, he learned to play from his brother at age 6. At age 11, he won the under-12 World Youth Championship, becoming a grandmaster at 18. In blitz chess, he was ranked among the world’s top 25.
In 2024, Naroditsky said Kramnik’s allegations were causing him anxiety. In his final YouTube video on October 18, 2025, he said he felt ‘better than ever’ but also seemed distraught.
FIDE is now considering disciplinary action against Kramnik, who strongly denies any role in Naroditsky’s death.
On the same day that Naroditsky’s body was found, Bodhana Sivanandan, 10, beat former Ukrainian world champion Mariya Muzychuk, 33. The precocious Briton played a ‘near perfect game’ in the European Chess Club Cup in Rhodes, Greece. It was an elegant win, everything the beautiful game should be, overshadowed by a week of ugly stories.
+6