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COVID Protests Erupt in China’s Xinjiang after Deadly Fire 

Protests against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak measures in Urumqi city, Xinjiang, China in this screen grab obtained from a video?released November 25, 2022.(Video obtained by Reuters/via Reuters)
Protests against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak measures in Urumqi city, Xinjiang, China in this screen grab obtained from a video?released November 25, 2022.(Video obtained by Reuters/via Reuters)
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COVID Protests Erupt in China’s Xinjiang after Deadly Fire 

Protests against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak measures in Urumqi city, Xinjiang, China in this screen grab obtained from a video?released November 25, 2022.(Video obtained by Reuters/via Reuters)
Protests against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak measures in Urumqi city, Xinjiang, China in this screen grab obtained from a video?released November 25, 2022.(Video obtained by Reuters/via Reuters)

Rare protests broke out in China’s far western Xinjiang region, with crowds shouting at hazmat-suited guards after a deadly fire triggered anger over their prolonged COVID-19 lockdown as nationwide infections set another record. 

Crowds chanted "End the lockdown!", pumping their fists in the air as they walked down a street, according to videos circulated on Chinese social media on Friday night. Reuters verified the footage was published from the Xinjiang capital Urumqi. 

China has put the vast Xinjiang region under some of the country's longest lockdowns, with many of Urumqi's 4 million residents barred from leaving their homes for as long as 100 days. The city reported about 100 new cases each of the past two days. 

Xinjiang is home to 10 million Uyghurs. Rights groups and Western governments have long accused Beijing of abuses against the mainly Muslim ethnic minority, including forced labor in internment camps. China strongly rejects such claims. 

The Urumqi protests followed a fire in a high-rise building there that killed 10 on Thursday night. 

Authorities have said the building's residents had been able to go downstairs, but videos of emergency crews' efforts, shared on Chinese social media, led many internet users to surmise that residents could not escape in time because the building was partially locked down. 

Urumqi officials abruptly held a news conference in the early hours of Saturday, denying that COVID measures had hampered escape and rescue but saying they would investigate further. One said residents could have escaped faster if they had better understood fire safety. 

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World

Report: Russia Says It Is Tightening Its Encirclement of Ukrainian Forces in Pokrovsk 

Pilots from the Predator Brigade's unmanned vehicle unit of the Ukrainian Patrol Police in Donetsk assemble a GARA bomber drone on a nighttime strike mission against Russian forces on the Pokrovsk front line, Ukraine, 02 November 2025. (EPA)
Pilots from the Predator Brigade's unmanned vehicle unit of the Ukrainian Patrol Police in Donetsk assemble a GARA bomber drone on a nighttime strike mission against Russian forces on the Pokrovsk front line, Ukraine, 02 November 2025. (EPA)
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Report: Russia Says It Is Tightening Its Encirclement of Ukrainian Forces in Pokrovsk 

Pilots from the Predator Brigade's unmanned vehicle unit of the Ukrainian Patrol Police in Donetsk assemble a GARA bomber drone on a nighttime strike mission against Russian forces on the Pokrovsk front line, Ukraine, 02 November 2025. (EPA)
Pilots from the Predator Brigade's unmanned vehicle unit of the Ukrainian Patrol Police in Donetsk assemble a GARA bomber drone on a nighttime strike mission against Russian forces on the Pokrovsk front line, Ukraine, 02 November 2025. (EPA)

Russia's Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that its forces were tightening their encirclement of Ukrainian troops in the city of Pokrovsk, a transport and logistics hub they have been trying to capture for over a year.

In a statement carried by the state TASS news agency, the ministry said its forces had cleared 35 buildings in Pokrovsk of Ukrainian troops.

It said Russian forces were also tightening their encirclement of Ukrainian troops near the Kharkiv region town of Kupiansk.

Reuters was unavailable to verify the battlefield reports.

Ukraine has denied that its troops are surrounded in either location.

World

Afghans Begin Clean-up After Powerful Earthquake That Killed 20 

People stand on the debris of damaged buildings, in the aftermath of an earthquake, in Samangan province, Afghanistan November 3, 2025. (Reuters)
People stand on the debris of damaged buildings, in the aftermath of an earthquake, in Samangan province, Afghanistan November 3, 2025. (Reuters)
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Afghans Begin Clean-up After Powerful Earthquake That Killed 20 

People stand on the debris of damaged buildings, in the aftermath of an earthquake, in Samangan province, Afghanistan November 3, 2025. (Reuters)
People stand on the debris of damaged buildings, in the aftermath of an earthquake, in Samangan province, Afghanistan November 3, 2025. (Reuters)

Residents of northern Afghanistan began a clean-up operation on Tuesday after a powerful 6.3 magnitude earthquake left at least 20 dead and almost 1,000 injured.

The quake struck near the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif early on Monday, killing at least 20 people and damaging the city's historic Blue Mosque, authorities said.

Some 945 people have been injured, according to the latest figures from United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Afghanistan.

Hundreds of houses were either completely or partially destroyed, according to the Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority, a figure that aid groups said was concerning just ahead of the Afghan winter, where temperatures drop below freezing.

On Tuesday, residents in Tangi Tashqurgan, an area close to the quake epicenter, were digging out rubble and reinforcing affected buildings.

Mohammad Yasin, a local shopkeeper, said dozens of structures had been damaged or destroyed in the quake.

"If you go inside the shops, you feel afraid they might collapse any moment, maybe now or in 10 minutes," he said.

The disaster is the latest challenge for Afghanistan's Taliban administration, already grappling with crises including an earthquake in August that killed thousands in the east of the country, a sharp drop in foreign aid and mass deportations of Afghan refugees by neighboring countries.

The United Nations has pledged assistance, along with India, which is seeking to thaw ties with the Taliban government in Afghanistan, which is still under sanctions from many Western nations. China said on Tuesday it would also offer aid.

Hemmed in by rugged mountains, Afghanistan is prone to a range of natural disasters, but its earthquakes cause the most fatalities, killing about 560 people on average each year and causing annual damage estimated at $80 million.

Rudimentary building quality also contributes to the casualty figures, with experts recommending new structures be built in an earthquake-resistant way and existing buildings be retrofitted to reduce the chances of collapse.

World

Peru Breaks Diplomatic Relations with Mexico Over Asylum Claim of Former Prime Minister 

Members of the Peruvian police stand near a police patrol vehicle outside Mexico's Embassy, after Peru cut diplomatic ties with Mexico following Peru's former Prime Minister Betssy Chávez taking shelter in the embassy to request asylum, in Lima, Peru, November 3, 2025. (Reuters)
Members of the Peruvian police stand near a police patrol vehicle outside Mexico's Embassy, after Peru cut diplomatic ties with Mexico following Peru's former Prime Minister Betssy Chávez taking shelter in the embassy to request asylum, in Lima, Peru, November 3, 2025. (Reuters)
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Peru Breaks Diplomatic Relations with Mexico Over Asylum Claim of Former Prime Minister 

Members of the Peruvian police stand near a police patrol vehicle outside Mexico's Embassy, after Peru cut diplomatic ties with Mexico following Peru's former Prime Minister Betssy Chávez taking shelter in the embassy to request asylum, in Lima, Peru, November 3, 2025. (Reuters)
Members of the Peruvian police stand near a police patrol vehicle outside Mexico's Embassy, after Peru cut diplomatic ties with Mexico following Peru's former Prime Minister Betssy Chávez taking shelter in the embassy to request asylum, in Lima, Peru, November 3, 2025. (Reuters)

Peru’s government on Monday announced the country was severing diplomatic relations with Mexico over the asylum claim of former Peruvian Prime Minister Betssy Chávez, who is under investigation for rebellion.

Peruvian Foreign Minister Hugo de Zela told reporters that Mexico’s decision to grant Chávez asylum at its embassy in Peru's capital, Lima, constituted an “unfriendly act” that adds to the existing tensions between the two countries. The office of Peru’s President José Jerí in a statement then accused Mexico’s government of “repeated” interference with the internal affairs of the South American country.

Authorities have accused Chávez of participating in the 2022 failed effort by then-President Pedro Castillo to declare a state of emergency and dissolve Peru’s Parliament as legislators prepared an impeachment vote against him. Castillo failed to get the military’s support for his move, was swiftly deposed by Congress and then arrested after prosecutors accused him of trying to promote a coup.

The Peruvian Attorney General’s Office has accused Chávez of being an accomplice in the crime of rebellion against the powers of the state. It is seeking a sentence of up to 25 years in prison for Chávez, who served as Castillo’s prime minister.

“Today we learned with surprise and deep regret that former Prime Minister Betssy Chávez, the alleged co-author of the coup d’état attempted by former President Pedro Castillo, is being granted asylum at the residence of the Mexican Embassy in Peru,” de Zela told reporters.

The Mexican government said it regretted Peru’s decision, noting Mexico granted asylum to the former Peruvian prime minister in compliance with international law.

“Mexico rejects Peru’s unilateral decision as excessive and disproportionate in response to a legitimate act by Mexico consistent with international law, which in no way constitutes intervention in Peru’s internal affairs,” Mexico's Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a statement.

Castillo’s wife and children are currently in Mexico, where authorities have expressed sympathy for the former Peruvian president, who came to power on a leftist platform and was ousted by Parliament after announcing its dissolution in December 2022.

In October, left-leaning Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum reaffirmed her support for Castillo, who remains in custody, and insisted he was the victim of a “coup.” She called for his release from jail and that he “receive a fair trial.”

The Peruvian Foreign Ministry said in a statement Monday that since the events of December 2022, “the Mexican government has been interfering in an inadmissible and systematic manner in Peru’s internal affairs."

The ministry added that Mexico did not change its “unacceptable position” despite the Peruvian government repeatedly demanding respect for its sovereignty.