Czech freediver breaks world record for longest swim under ice

Militants killed at least 31 people in central Mali on Friday (December 3) when they fired upon a bus ferrying people to a local market, local authorities said - the latest deadly attack in a region racked by violent insurgency. The bus was attacked by unidentified gunmen as it travelled its twice-weekly route from the village of Songho to a market in Bandiagara, 10 kilometres (6 miles) away, said Moulaye Guindo, mayor of the nearby town of Bankass.

FRANCE 24 spoke to the EU's Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton about several issues, including the threat of the omicron Covid-19 variant worldwide; the possibility of easing intellectual property rules on vaccines to get more doses out to lower-income countries; and the state of relations between the European Union and the United Kingdom.

Citizens of Afghanistan were by far the biggest group of people applying for asylum in the EU, Switzerland and Norway in September 2021.

He's a relative political novice, but Péter Márki-Zay believes he can unseat one of Europe's longest-serving leaders: Viktor Orban. For the first time ever, all of Hungary's opposition parties have united to choose one candidate for the spring 2022 election via a primary. Márki-Zay, the mayor of Hódmezővásárhely (population 44,000), emerged as the winner in the second round run-off. He tells FRANCE 24 why he is standing and how he would lead Hungary.

Some people consider snakes as cursed, which motivates the capture of these reptiles for witchcraft rituals. It has led to the creation of a rescue group that's already making important discoveries with the recovered animals.

The Empire State building was lit up with the colours of the French flag this week, in honour of the American-French performer Josephine Baker, who was inducted into France's Panthéon mausoleum on Tuesday. In the US, Josephine Baker is just as beloved as she is in France, and nowhere more so than in Harlem, in New York City. Our correspondents Jessica Le Masurier, Yves Schaeffner and Fanny Chauvin met with New Yorkers to explore Baker's legacy.