Stockholm announces British author Kazuo Ishiguro, best known for his novel "The Remains of the Day" , has won the 2017 Nobel Literature Prize. The 69-year-old author reacts to the news in London.

A 13-year-old boy recounts how he swam for hours through choppy waters off western Australia to get help for his family. The boy, named in local media as Austin Appelbee, made it across four kilometres (2.5 miles) of ocean to raise the alarm after his mother and two younger siblings were swept out to sea off the tourist town of Quindalup. The boy said he was trying to think of happy things, at one point singing the "Thomas the Tank Engine" theme song to keep himself going.

Far from the fictional skies of Hogwarts, in a remote village in Uganda, a young woman sprints after a "snitch" during a game of quadball, an adapted version of Quidditch, the sport made famous by author JK Rowling's Harry Potter books. There are no magic broomsticks here, but instead, players run with sticks between their legs, united by the same ambition -- reaching the Quadball World Cup. "I will die a happy man when I see the team of Uganda going to the World Cup," says team founder, John Ssentamu.

Pope Leo XIV calls for an ancient Olympic truce ahead of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. "These major sporting events send a powerful message of brotherhood and rekindle hope for a peaceful world," the Pope says.

St Mark’s Square sees Venice's past brought back to life as Venetians and tourists in sumptuous 18th-century gowns, gothic dresses and ornate masks launch the city's 2026 carnival. Crowds pose for photos, browse mask stalls and celebrate with "no inhibitions, no restraints".

At the foot of skyscrapers on the southern tip of Manhattan, two excavators dump tons of snow into a steaming trailer. The goal: melting it in order to clear the streets of New York as soon as possible after last weekend's storm. The snow melters, which are used at other cities and airports across North America, have not been used at such a high scale in New York since 2021.