Florida Keys residents say they feel a strong sense of community and see a fast recovery as restaurants reopen and cleanup crews remove debris caused by the powerful storm that struck the state on September 10.

Surrounded by well-wishers, British adventurer Karl Bushby hugs his mother, Angela, outside her home in the northern English city of Hull, after completing his 50,000-kilometre, 28-year trek from South America. The 57-year-old former paratrooper set off from Punta Arenas, Chile, in November 1998, vowing to reach his mother's home without travelling on standard modes of transport. Bushby returns to his 36-year-old son Adam and a 12-year-old granddaughter he has never met.

Londoners decked out in full suits of armour take to e-bikes to revive the medieval sport of jousting in front of a baying crowd of hundreds, with battery-powered speed making up for the momentum traditionally generated on horseback. "People want imagination," says one squire at the event, explaining why Lime bike jousting has taken off. "There's so much stuff that's false and made by robots, and this is something that's real."

Thai Red Cross Society's National Blood Centre deploys staff dressed as spirits and ghouls and offers limited-edition festive T-shirts in an attempt to turn Halloween into a life-saving drive and attract blood donors. The Thai Red Cross expects the turnout at the Bangkok centre to double with the holiday-themed event, reaching nearly 3,000, its head of donor recruitment says.

"We're going to act," says COP17 Executive Secretary Astrid Schomaker as the UN biodiversity conference closes in Armenia. "We are here at this COP going to adopt decisions that will change the course of this biodiversity trajectory," she adds. The summit saw nations commit to getting the UN's 2030 nature goals back on track, after recognising that they had missed opportunities to address humanity's destructive toll on nature.

Britain's Labour government will increase a surcharge on profits earned by banks operating in the country to help offset soaring energy bills, says finance minister John Healey in his budget announcement. The additional corporate tax rate will double to six percent to finance a one-off subsidy to millions of households struggling with higher energy costs, Healey tells parliament. This is Healey's first budget since becoming Chancellor of the Exchequer in July.