👋 Ki kati!*
Welcome to Friday, where Israel hands over the bodies of 30 Palestinians as part of the ceasefire agreement, Hurricane Melissa’s death toll climbs to 49, and today’s quiz question comes from Barcelona. Meanwhile, Vicente Palermo of Buenos Aires–based Clarín wonders whether the conditions may finally be ripe for real change in Argentine politics.
[*Luganda, Uganda]
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🗞️ FRONT PAGE
King Charles has stripped Prince Andrew of his royal title and ordered him to vacate his longtime Windsor residence. The move follows renewed scrutiny over Andrew’s association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and allegations of underage abuse in Virginia Giuffre’s posthumous memoir — accusations he continues to deny. Although no longer a prince, Andrew Mountbatten Windsor as he is to be called from now on, remains eighth in line to the British throne.
🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW
• Israel hands over bodies of 30 Palestinians, launches more strikes overnight. Israel has handed over the bodies of 30 Palestinians, hospital officials in Gaza announced on Friday, a day after Palestinian militants in the enclave turned over the remains of two hostages to Israel. The exchange is the latest indication that the fraught Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement is moving forward, even as the Israeli military carried out fresh strikes in Gaza for a third day on Thursday night, killing two people.
• Xi promises to protect free trade. China’s Xi Jinping took center stage at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea on Friday, promising to help to defend global free trade, as U.S. President Donald Trump snubbed the regional forum. Xi met with his Canadian and Japanese counterparts after securing a fragile trade truce with Trump on the summit’s sidelines. “The more turbulent the times, the more we must work together,” Xi said.
• Tanzania government downplays violent protests over disputed election. Tanzania’s government on Friday called protests that have rocked several cities for the past few days “isolated incidents,” as it deployed the military onto the streets and enforced an internet shutdown. Protests erupted on Wednesday after President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s two biggest challengers were excluded from a general election held on the same day. This comes after other recent elections in Cameroon and the Ivory Coast stirred deep-seated anger among citizens over longtime leaders clinging to power.
• Trump sets refugee admission cap at record low for coming year. U.S. President Donald Trump announced his administration will limit the number of refugees admitted to the U.S. to 7,500 over the next year — the lowest refugee admission cap in the country’s history. Priority for the available slots will be given to white Afrikaners from South Africa.
• Hurricane Melissa death toll rises, many still missing. Hurricane Melissa’s confirmed death toll climbed to 49 on Thursday, according to official reports, although that figure is expected to rise as search and rescue operations continue in the northern Caribbean. Authorities in Haiti reported at least 30 deaths and 20 more missing while Jamaica’s information minister confirmed at least 19 deaths. Hundreds of thousands of people remain without power across the region as the storm is heading past Bermuda in the North Atlantic.
• Latvia parliament votes to quit Istanbul Convention protecting women. Latvia’s parliament voted on Thursday to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention on preventing violence against women after a heated 13-hour debate. The decision would make Latvia the first European Union member to quit the treaty, which the same parliament ratified in November 2024. Opposition MPs claim the treaty, which is meant to standardize support for women who are victims of violence, including domestic abuse, promotes “gender” theories.
• News Quiz! Which world record did Barcelona’s Sagrada Família officially break on Thursday?
A. The most visited monument
B. The longest tourist queue
C. The tallest church
D. The most scaffolding ever used on a single site
[Answer below]
#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS
1,278.8 kg
Just in time for Halloween, UK twin brothers Ian and Stuart Paton have squashed two world records with their colossal pumpkin nicknamed “Muggle,” weighing 1,278.8 kg (about 2,819 pounds) and measuring 649.8 cm (21.4 ft) in circumference. Good luck carving that out…
📰 IN OTHER NEWS
💣 In recent days, both U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have been turning up the volume on nuclear rhetoric. Why this sudden spotlight on nuclear weapons?
— FRANCE INTER
🇦🇷 Perhaps the conditions are finally right for a shift in Argentine politics. Here are some reasons for hope — and reasons to fear.
— CLARÍN
📲 Nepal was late to adopt social media. Now that it’s arrived, cross-border traffickers have access to a much wider field of exploitation.
— GLOBAL PRESS JOURNAL
✍️ Newsletter by Anne-Sophie Goninet & Bertrand Hauger
Quiz Answer: C. Barcelona’s Sagrada Família became the world’s tallest church on Thursday, measuring 162.91 meters tall after workers placed the first part of a cross at the top of its central tower. Spain’s famous basilica, which has been under construction for more than a century, broke the record held by the Ulm Minster in Germany since 1890 and will extend it with the addition of the rest of the cross over the next few months, eventually standing at 172 meters.
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