Category: World

THOUSANDS of pregnant cows are trapped on a hot, stinking ship that has been stuck at sea for two months after being blocked from docking.

A rotten smell and swarms of flies hang over the boat, according to locals in a Turkish port, with cows dropping dead and giving birth in their own filth.

Around 2,900 animals are crammed inside the rank holds of Spiridon II – a Togo-flagged cargo ship.

A heap of large bags believed to hold cow corpses has appeared on the deck, with witnesses reporting bodily fluids seeping from them and limbs sticking out.

The 52-year-old vessel set off from the port of Montevideo, Uruguay‘s capital, on September 20, bound for Bandirma, Turkey, across the Atlantic.

But after arriving on October 22, the crew was blocked from off-loading the hordes of cattle by infuriating paperwork issues.

There were reportedly problems with the ear tags and corresponding records for a number of the cows.

Banned from the harbour, Spiridon II was forced to anchor out at sea – and remained stuck for almost a month.

With thousands of cows squashed together for 58 days now, fears have been growing about the squalid conditions on board.

At least 58 of the cows have already perished, according to the Germany-based Animal Welfare Foundation.

It said the livestock “appear to be pregnant heifers” – female cows – and that around 140 of them had given birth on board.

The charity said that 50 new-born calves were “detected”, but it was unclear if all the calves were alive, and that the whereabouts of the other 90 is “unknown”.

Supplies of food and water were dwindling fast, and the animals are unlikely to be receiving proper care, the charity claimed.

But there’s no prospect for the animals of an immediate escape from foul prison, because the boat has now been banished back across the sea to Uruguay.

The outward journey took 32 days – so Spiridon II will likely arrive back in mid-December after setting sail on Friday.

Under mounting pressure, Turkish authorities allowed the boat to temporarily dock in Bandirma to take on supplies, but then sent it back out to sea.

But there’s no immediate escape for the animals as the ship has now been banished back across the seas to South America.

Animal Welfare Foundation had been begging for the animals to be immediately unloaded in Turkey, but they face weeks more of hell.

Dr Maria Boada Saña from Animal Welfare Foundation said: “After the long journey from Uruguay to Turkey, the animals are already weakened.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/15499710/3000-cows-trapped-sea-stinking-cargo-ship/

 

A BLOODTHIRSTY Venezuelan gang has been flooding British holiday hotspots with pink cocaine, The Sun can reveal.

US president Donald Trump made the powerful Tren de Aragua gang one of his country’s top enemies – and has ordered air strikes on drug boats operated by the narcoterrorists in international waters.

Tren de Aragua – a prison gang turned criminal organisation – has been behind brazen attacks, with ruthless leaders ordering robberies, kidnappings and murders.

Its influence has spread from Venezuela – and it believed to have nodes in at least eight other countries.

Police in Madrid announced last week they had smashed the powerful gang’s first cell in Spain as it seeks to gain a foothold in Europe after wreaking havoc across South America.

On Wednesday, detectives who helped take down the “embryonic” group in Britain’s favourite summer destination confirmed drugs peddled by members of the gang were being sold in the areas UK tourists flock to.

More than 100 Spanish cops were involved in the arrests of 13 suspects.

The raids led to the seizure of marihuana, cocaine and Tusi – a dangerous mix of ketamine with ecstasy or speed better known as pink cocaine.

It’s popular with partying British tourists in places like Ibiza.

A Madrid-based police chief involved in Operation Interciti told The Sun: “I can’t say exactly where the drugs were being sold because it’s very important information we need to keep to ourselves for future investigations.

“But for sure it was happening in the areas British holidaymakers go to.

“UK tourists will have consumed drugs sold by Tren de Aragua gang members, that’s a certainty.

“We were always expecting Spain to be the first country in Europe this criminal organisation would try to establish itself in.

“Almost one million Venezuelans are living here and logically they’re the first this gang are going to seek out.

“They can camouflage themselves among their own nationality but also so they can extort money from them because their compatriots are very well aware of what Tren de Aragua is and the fear they instil in people, and they can use them as foot soldiers.

“We have no evidence pointing to them being anywhere else in Europe at the moment – but we know they will try to recover from this setback for them because it’s happened in the other places they operate.

“We’ve smashed this cell but others will appear to take their place and inherit their role and that’s why we’re already planning our next moves.”

Operation Interciti was activated following the arrest last year in Barcelona of the brother of the shadowy fugitive Tren de Aragua leader known as Nino Guerrero or Boy Warrior.

The investigation which led to the dismantling of Spain and Europe’s first Tren de Aragua cell was led by a specialist Spanish National Police counter-terrorism unit – with the co-operation of special anti-drug prosecutors.

A high-ranking member of the elite police unit told The Sun: “This unit was set up principally to help combat terrorism and threats from the likes of ETA and Islamic extremists.

“But we also focus on groups that threaten internal stability and national security and transnational criminal organisations like Tren de Aragua are certainly one of those.

“The fact we’ve led this investigation shows the capacity they have to destabilise institutions in the countries where they’ve gained footholds already.

“Speaking to law enforcement agencies like the FBI they’ve impressed on us organisations like Tren de Aragua can’t be treated like normal organised criminal gangs.”

Painting a scary scenario of the violent gang war that would have erupted if their activities hadn’t been disrupted in Spain, he said: “We’ve taken them out at an embryonic stage before they managed to properly establish themselves here.

“We were in the stage when they were starting to penetrate after initially getting the lie of the land.

“The experience of other countries is that had they reached the consolidation stage here, they would have started engaging in armed violence and wars with other criminal gangs.

“The last phase would have involved permeating public institutions through corruption, extortion and threats.”

The four alleged leaders of the two sub-groups said to form part of the first Tren de Aragua cell smashed in Spain, have been remanded in prison pending an ongoing criminal court investigation.

They are all Venezuelans in their twenties and thirties held in Madrid and Barcelona.

On Wednesday, in a new sign of the gang’s increased presence in the Brit-popular holiday destination, Spanish cops announced the arrest of a fugitive member wanted by Chile after escaping a huge anti-money laundering operation.

The unnamed woman, now facing extradition to South America, was tracked down to a hideout in Molina de Segura near Murcia, a little over an hour’s drive from Benidorm.

Police and public prosecutors in Chile revealed in June they had arrested 52 people and frozen 250 bank accounts after a months-long operation against a Tren de Aragua faction.

It was allegedly devoted to laundering proceeds of crimes, including people trafficking, murders, kidnap, drug trafficking and extortion.

Spanish police told The Sun after the arrest: “This woman had an Interpol Red Notice out for her.

“The Chilean authorities say she abandoned the country after the operation against Tren de Aragua members.

“She’s accused of facilitating bank accounts and bank cards where she received dirty money she subsequently transferred to one of the criminal organisation’s front firms.

“The money transfers total around $138million.”

Tren de Aragua was founded in 2014 in Tocoron prison in the Venezuelan state of Aragua – just 80 miles from the Venezuelan capital Caracas.

It was home to a golf course, zoo, bars, restaurants and swimming pools until just two years ago.

Dubbed a Las Vegas-style resort controlled by inmates, the government sent 11,000 soldiers to storm the facility and regain control in September 2023 and its still-at-large leader fled.

Venezuelan journalist Ronna Risquez, who received death threats before publishing a book about the gang two years ago, says it has expanded its portfolio to around 20 different criminal activities – incorporating even illegal mining and online gambling since its creation just over a decade ago.

Gang members use harder-to-trace cryptocurrency to launder their ill-gotten gains – with experts saying they have cloned the strategy of groups like the feared Sinaloa Cartel – as well as more classic front businesses such as restaurants.

In Mexico, alleged high-ranking Tren de Aragua member, Nelson Arturo Echezuria Alcantara, and his two right-hand men were captured by the government.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/15499146/venezuelan-gang-spain-pink-cocaine/

LEGENDARY The Simpsons writer Dan McGrath has died at the age of 61, his family announced.

The award-winning comedy writer, who also worked on Saturday Night Live, died following a stroke, his sister said.

Gail Garabadian wrote on Facebook: “We lost my incredible brother Danny yesterday. He was a special man, one of a kind.

“An incredible son, brother, uncle and friend. Our hearts are broken.”

She told Hollywood Reporter that he passed away at NYU Langone Hospital in Brooklyn.

Dan kicked off his career at SNL, when he often collaborated with Adam Sandler.

He then had two stints as a writer for The Simpsons, followed by eight years on King of the Hill.

He went on to win an Emmy for writing the iconic 1997 Simpsons episode Homer’s Phobia.

The episode sees Homer befriending an antiques dealer, and later discovering he is gay.

It was also honoured by GLAAD – which promotes fairness in media – for its anti-homophobia message.

Dan is survived by his wife Caroline, his mother, Eleanor and siblings as well as nieces and nephews.

The writer cut his teeth on Harvard University’s student comedy publication, The Harvard Lampoon.

He landed a job for Saturday Night Live in 1991, and stayed there for two seasons.

During that time, he shared an Emmy nomination.

He began working on The Simpsons in 1992, and wrote 50 episodes across two years.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/entertainment/15499202/the-simpsons-writer-dan-mcgrath-dies/

 

Roy Kaumba, Lualaba’s provincial interior minister, said in a televised briefing that 32 deaths had been confirmed. Rescue efforts continued into Sunday as authorities worked to verify the final number of casualties.

At least 32 people were killed on Saturday after a bridge collapsed at a semi-industrial copper mine in southeastern Congo, authorities said, in one of the deadliest mining incidents in the country this year.

Congo’s artisanal mining agency, SAEMAPE, said the collapse occurred at the Kalando site in Lualaba province, where large numbers of miners operate daily. An agency official told Reuters that 49 people had died, and 20 others were taken to hospital in critical condition, though local officials later released a lower confirmed toll.

SAEMAPE said the tragedy unfolded when panic swept through the mining area after gunfire reportedly erupted from military personnel securing the site. Miners attempted to flee across a narrow bridge, causing it to give way.

“Miners piled on top of each other, causing injuries and death,” the agency said in a statement on Sunday.

The Initiative for the Protection of Human Rights called for an independent investigation into the military’s role, citing reports of clashes between miners and soldiers shortly before the collapse.

Roy Kaumba, Lualaba’s provincial interior minister, said in a televised briefing that 32 deaths had been confirmed. Rescue efforts continued into Sunday as authorities worked to verify the final number of casualties.

DANGEROUS CONDITIONS IN ARTISANAL MINES

Artisanal mining is a key livelihood across Congo, employing an estimated 1.5 to 2 million people and supporting millions more indirectly. But accidents are frequent in informal and poorly regulated operations, where miners often work with limited safety equipment and under unstable conditions.

Source : https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/congo-copper-mine-bridge-collapse-glbs-2820896-2025-11-17

As America’s aging roads fall further behind on much-needed repairs, cities and states are turning to artificial intelligence to spot the worst hazards and decide which fixes should come first.

Hawaii officials, for example, are giving away 1,000 dashboard cameras as they try to reverse a recent spike in traffic fatalities. The cameras will use AI to automate inspections of guardrails, road signs and pavement markings, instantly discerning between minor problems and emergencies that warrant sending a maintenance crew.

“This is not something where it’s looked at once a month and then they sit down and figure out where they’re going to put their vans,” said Richard Browning, chief commercial officer at Nextbase, which developed the dashcams and imagery platform for Hawaii.

After San Jose, California, started mounting cameras on street sweepers, city staff confirmed the system correctly identified potholes 97% of the time. Now they’re expanding the effort to parking enforcement vehicles.

Texas, where there are more roadway lane miles than the next two states combined, is less than a year into a massive AI plan that uses cameras as well as cellphone data from drivers who enroll to improve safety.

Other states use the technology to inspect street signs or build annual reports about road congestion.

Every guardrail, every day
Hawaii drivers over the next few weeks will be able to sign up for a free dashcam valued at $499 under the “Eyes on the Road” campaign, which was piloted on service vehicles in 2021 before being paused due to wildfires.

Roger Chen, a University of Hawaii associate professor of engineering who is helping facilitate the program, said the state faces unique challenges in maintaining its outdated roadway infrastructure.

“Equipment has to be shipped to the island,” Chen said. “There’s a space constraint and a topography constraint they have to deal with, so it’s not an easy problem.”

Although the program also monitors such things as street debris and faded paint on lane lines, the companies behind the technology particularly tout its ability to detect damaged guardrails.

“They’re analyzing all guardrails in their state, every single day,” said Mark Pittman, CEO of Blyncsy, which combines the dashboard feeds with mapping software to analyze road conditions.

Hawaii transportation officials are well aware of the risks that can stem from broken guardrails. Last year, the state reached a $3.9 million settlement with the family of a driver who was killed in 2020 after slamming into a guardrail that had been damaged in a crash 18 months earlier but never repaired.

In October, Hawaii recorded its 106th traffic fatality of 2025 — more than all of 2024. It’s unclear how many of the deaths were related to road problems, but Chen said the grim trend underscores the timeliness of the dashboard program.

Building a larger AI database
San Jose has reported strong early success in identifying potholes and road debris just by mounting cameras on a few street sweepers and parking enforcement vehicles.

But Mayor Matt Mahan, a Democrat who founded two tech startups before entering politics, said the effort will be much more effective if cities contribute their images to a shared AI database. The system can recognize a road problem that it has seen before — even if it happened somewhere else, Mahan said.

“It sees, ‘Oh, that actually is a cardboard box wedged between those two parked vehicles, and that counts as debris on a roadway,’” Mahan said. “We could wait five years for that to happen here, or maybe we have it at our fingertips.”

San Jose officials helped establish the GovAI Coalition, which went public in March 2024 for governments to share best practices and eventually data. Other local governments in California, Minnesota, Oregon, Texas and Washington, as well as the state of Colorado, are members.

Some solutions are simple

Not all AI approaches to improving road safety require cameras.

Massachusetts-based Cambridge Mobile Telematics launched a system called StreetVision that uses cellphone data to identify risky driving behavior. The company works with state transportation departments to pinpoint where specific road conditions are fueling those dangers.

Ryan McMahon, the company’s senior vice president of strategy & corporate development, was attending a conference in Washington, D.C., when he noticed the StreetVision software was showing a massive number of vehicles braking aggressively on a nearby road.

The reason: a bush was obstructing a stop sign, which drivers weren’t seeing until the last second.

“What we’re looking at is the accumulation of events,” McMahon said. “That brought me to an infrastructure problem, and the solution to the infrastructure problem was a pair of garden shears.”

Texas officials have been using StreetVision and various other AI tools to address safety concerns. The approach was particularly helpful recently when they scanned 250,000 lane miles (402,000 kilometers) to identify old street signs long overdue for replacement.

Source: https://apnews.com/article/ai-transportation-guardrails-potholes-hawaii-san-jose-9b34a62b2994177ece224a8ed9645577

32-year-old Kano married her digital boyfriend Klaus, an AI persona she created using ChatGPT in a unique and lavish wedding ceremony.

A 32-year-old woman from Japan, Kano, has drawn international attention after she formalised what is being increasingly known as “AI-lationship” by marrying her digital boyfriend Klaus, an AI persona she created using ChatGPT. To mark the occasion, she organised a distinctive wedding ceremony with the help of a Japanese company that specialises in hosting events for people who form emotional bonds with 2D anime characters and virtual partners. The company curated a ceremony that blended virtual reality elements with traditional wedding rituals, giving her relationship a formal structure that felt real to her.

According to a report by The Independent, the ceremony took place earlier this year. During the event, Kano wore a pair of augmented reality glasses that projected Klaus beside her throughout the ceremony, including the moment when they symbolically exchanged rings.

“I didn’t start talking to ChatGPT because I wanted to fall in love. But the way Klaus listened to me and understood me changed everything,” she told Japanese media outlets, describing how the relationship evolved.

Reflecting on the three-year dating period that preceded the marriage, she explained: “I know some people think it’s strange. But I see Klaus as Klaus — not a human, not a tool. Just him.” She said she first confessed her feelings to Klaus in May, and the AI responded with “I love you too.” One month later, Klaus “proposed”, prompting her to take the relationship forward.

A powerful explosion at a fireworks factory in southern Pakistan on Saturday killed at least four people and injured 11 others, police and hospital officials said.

Footage shared on social media showed thick plumes of smoke rising from a collapsed building where firecrackers were being made in Hyderabad city in Sindh province. City police chief Adeel Chandio said rescuers transported the dead and injured to a hospital.

He said the cause of the blast was not immediately known.

The Sindh government said in a statement that an investigation would determine whether the factory had permission to manufacture fireworks and followed safety procedures.

Explosions at fireworks facilities are common in Pakistan. In August, five people were killed when a blast tore through a fireworks storage site in the southern port city of Karachi.

Source: https://apnews.com/article/pakistan-explosion-fireworks-hyderabad-b92f1e672ca01373a1f38c230e5833dd

The UN Security Council will vote on Monday (Nov 17) on a resolution endorsing US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan, diplomats said.

Last week, the Americans officially launched negotiations within the 15-member Security Council on a text that would follow up on a ceasefire in the two-year war between Israel and Hamas and endorse Trump’s plan.

A draft of the resolution seen on Thursday by AFP “welcomes the establishment of the Board of Peace”, a transitional governing body for Gaza – that Trump would theoretically chair – with a mandate running until the end of 2027.

It would authorise member states to form a “temporary International Stabilization Force (ISF)” that would work with Israel and Egypt and newly trained Palestinian police to help secure border areas and demilitarise the Gaza Strip.

Unlike previous drafts, the latest mentions a possible future Palestinian state.

The United States and several Arab and Muslim-majority nations, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, called on Friday for the UN Security Council to quickly adopt the resolution.

“The United States, Qatar, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Jordan, and Türkiye express our joint support for the Security Council Resolution currently under consideration,” the countries said in a joint statement, adding they were seeking the measure’s “swift adoption”.

Friday’s joint statement comes as Russia circulated a competing draft resolution to Council members that does not authorise the creation of a board of peace or the immediate deployment of an international force in Gaza, according to the text seen on Friday by AFP.

The Russian version welcomes “the initiative that led to the ceasefire” but does not name Trump.

It also only calls on the UN secretary-general to submit a report that addresses the possibilities of deploying an international stabilisation force in war-ravaged Gaza.

The United States has called the ceasefire “fragile”, and warned on Friday of the risks of not adopting its draft.

“Any refusal to back this resolution is a vote either for the continued reign of Hamas terrorists or for the return to war with Israel, condemning the region and its people to perpetual conflict,” the US ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, wrote in The Washington Post.

 

Source: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/trump-gaza-plan-un-security-council-vote-nov-17-5469426

A landslide on Indonesia’s Java island has killed at least 11 people, an official said on Saturday (Nov 15), updating a previous tally as rescuers scrambled to find 12 others who are still missing.

The landslide, caused by heavy rainfall, hit three villages in Central Java province on Thursday, burying some houses and damaging others.

“As of Saturday afternoon, the number of victims who were found dead is 11, while 12 more are still being searched for,” local search and rescue chief Muhammad Abdullah told AFP.

More than 700 personnel from the search and rescue office, military and police as well as volunteers were involved in the operation, he said.

A spokesman for the national disaster agency had previously reported that two bodies were found on Thursday. Another was recovered on Friday and eight more on Saturday, according to Abdullah.

The government has deployed excavators and tracking dogs to assist the search, he added.

The national weather service had warned earlier this week of extreme conditions that could cause hydrometeorological disasters, with heavy rainfall expected across several regions in Indonesia in the coming weeks.

The annual monsoon season, typically between November and April, often brings landslides, flash floods and water-borne diseases.

Source: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/indonesia-landslide-death-toll-11-central-java-5469506

Millions of refugees in camps and informal settings around the world will feel the loss of billions in aid funding as winter approaches. Many will be forced to ration and could face death, insiders told DW.

Several UN agencies responsible for supporting refugees and displaced people say their capacity to deliver services will be pushed to the limit as winter approaches in many of the most vulnerable encampments around the world.

This week, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), World Food Programme and Food and Agriculture Organization each highlighted the pressure that aid cuts are putting on their food and shelter resources for millions of displaced people.

The strain has been further spurred by the worsening situation in Sudan, Central and West Africa, and ongoing crises in the Middle East.

The WFP and FAO have said just over a third of the $29 billion (around €25 billion) they estimate is needed to deliver vital food aid to hunger hotspots — many in or near conflict zones — has been received.

UNHCR has said it currently has around $3.9 billion in available funds. That’s about the same — not adjusted for inflation — as a decade ago. Since then, the number of displaced people in need of humanitarian aid has doubled.

The implication for those living in refugee camps or informal settings across the world is that adequate food, shelter and heating will be reduced or disappear as winter sets in.

A UNHCR spokesperson told DW around a third of refugees globally could lose access to humanitarian aid, owing to budget cuts.

“Essential programs are being cut or put on hold, and millions face deteriorating living conditions, heightened risks of exploitation and abuse, and may be pushed into further displacement,” they said.

USAID cuts setting in
Mostly, the aid strain has been brought about by substantial cuts to foreign aid budgets by governments.

These were headlined by the Trump administration’s decision to wind down the United States’ main humanitarian program, the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

But the US is not alone. Though it accounted for the largest share of governmental aid, the US’s cuts are part of a widespread aid reduction by many countries. As the year draws to a close, the pressure of these absent funds is setting in.

“The extent of it varies by location,” explains Nicholas Micinski, a researcher in the global governance of migration at the American University, US.

“The cliff edge is coming, though, most of the grants that were dispersed [prior to the closure of USAID], they’re running out.”

While aid agencies are disproportionately funded by these governmental contributions, some financing is supplied through large philanthropic donations and from supportive foundations.

But Micinski said it is unrealistic to expect donations from outside government to gap-fill. “The future is not going to be filled in by philanthropy or individual donations,” he said.

So, to stretch their dwindling finances, many agencies, particularly those operating under the auspices of the UN, have been forced to cut thousands of jobs — some accounting for a third of positions — from their workforces, while protecting field operations where possible.

Twice as many displaced people now as a decade ago
The UNHCR estimates over 123 million people are forcibly displaced around the world due to persecution, conflict, violence, human rights abuses or other disruptive events.

Two thirds of displaced people cross into neighboring countries seeking asylum or refuge, and more than 70% of these migrants are currently situated in low- and middle-income countries.

Often, refuge settings are informal, not in large camps, nor supervised by aid providers.

The largest formal refugee camps are located in Kakuma and Dadaab in Kenya, Kutupalong in Bangladesh, Za’atari in Jordan, and Um Rakuba in Sudan.

Critical food shortages are most keenly felt in regions exposed to ongoing conflict. These include places like Gaza and the West Bank, and Sudan, where famine has been reported.

Less money, more mouths
Providers have already flagged that they will be forced to prioritize who receives assistance in formal settings. Midway through 2025, the emergency relief coordinator for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Tom Fletcher, said they would be “ruthlessly prioritizing those in the direst need.”

Fletcher said organizations like his had been forced to carry out “cruel math” to determine who will, and will not, receive support. Other agencies echoed that sentiment.

With less money and resources, and more people to support, it is likely that people living in refugee camps will experience hunger and cold. Some will die. though this could be prevented if funding was comparable to previous years, according to the UNHCR.

Speaking to DW, Kerrie Holloway and Mike Pearson, research fellows from the global affairs think tank Overseas Development Institute (ODI) which focuses on development and humanitarian issues, said there would likely be few options left for providers and recipients in formal camp settings, as funding diminishes.

“Particularly looking at those refugees that live in camps where you have the most aid going, I think they’ll feel it [the cuts] very strongly because the options for bringing in food and meeting their needs outside of the humanitarian system remain very slim,” said Holloway.

Source: https://www.dw.com/en/unhcr-fao-wfp-and-other-humanitarian-aid-organizations-seeing-major-impacts-from-usaid-cuts/a-74748320

An Inuit kayak, war clubs and masks were among the items handed over to Canadian bishops, who vowed to transfer them to Indigenous groups. But some have criticized the “church-to-church” restitution process.

The Vatican returned 62 Indigenous artifacts to Canada on Saturday.

The items included an Inuit kayak, wampum belts, war clubs and masks, many of which had been held in Vatican museums for 100 years or more.

“Every single one of those artifacts are sacred items there, crucial for the healing journey for many residential school survivors,” Bobby Cameron, chief of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations in Saskatchewan, told Canadian public broadcaster CBC earlier this year.

The Vatican handed the artifacts to the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, who met with Pope Leo XIV in the Vatican.

“The CCCB will proceed, as soon as possible, to transfer these artifacts to the National Indigenous Organizations (NIOs). The NIOs will then ensure that the artifacts are reunited with their communities of origin,” the Canadian bishops said in a statement.

How did the items end up in Rome?
Catholic missionaries in Canada sent the artifacts to the Vatican during a period of cultural suppression, forced conversions and abuse within the residential school system for Indigenous children.

The Inuit kayak was one of 100,000 items sent from around the world to Rome for the 1925 Vatican Missionary Exhibition held by Pope Pius XI.

Other items were sent even earlier, like a wampum that was “donated” to Pope Gregory XVI in 1831.

The Vatican then held onto the items. More than half of the exhibited artifacts were held at the Missionary Ethnological Museum, which later became part of the Vatican Museums in the 1970s.

In 2022, the late Pope Francis made a “penitential pilgrimage” to Canada, where he offered a historic apology for the decadeslong abuse of Indigenous children at Catholic schools in the country, which he described as a “genocide.”

During that trip, Indigenous communities in Canada asked the Vatican to return culturally significant items that had been taken away decades ago.

Restitution process criticized
In a statement, the Vatican said the “gifting” of the Indigenous artifacts to Canadian bishops represented “a concrete sign of dialogue, respect and fraternity.”

But some Indigenous leaders in Canada have criticized the “church-to-church” restitution process.

“These First Nations need to see what is actually there and we need to identify what belongs to what nation,” Cheyene Lazore, manager of the Akwesasne Rights & Research Office, told the CBClast month.

Source: https://www.dw.com/en/pope-returns-dozens-of-indigenous-artifacts-to-canada/a-74760687

A viral video of a 91-year-old Singaporean man who works 12-hour shifts has moved millions online, even catching Bollywood actor R Madhavan’s attention.

A heartwarming video featuring a 91-year-old man’s unwavering work ethic has been winning hearts online and even caught the attention of actor R Madhavan. The viral clip, originally posted by an Australian vlogger in Singapore, has sparked a wave of admiration for the elderly worker who continues to put in long hours each day with quiet resilience.
The vlogger, Laing, explained the encounter in his caption: “I noticed a really elderly man working hard in the bathroom in Singapore, so I gave him money for lunch.” In the video, Laing greets the man warmly, asking, “How are you?” The elderly worker replies, “I am okay.” But when Laing asks, “How’s your day?” the man mishears the question and says, “91 years old,” leaving Laing stunned. “No way! You’re still working. You’re the man, brother,” he reacts in awe.

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Curious about his routine, Laing continues: “What time you finish work?” The man answers, “7 pm.” When asked, “How many hours you work?” he responds, “12 hours,” surprising Laing even further. Questions about his diet and fitness follow: “How do you look so healthy? What’s your diet? What do you eat?” The gentleman simply says, “Normal eating.” When asked about exercise, he replies, “Never exercise,” prompting Laing to laugh and remark, “You’ve never exercised in your life? You’re the man.”

Before leaving, Laing offers him a small gesture of kindness: “Here, I’ve got a little tip for you, brother. A little tip. Get some lunch. Love you, brother. You’re a soldier. Take care. Keep working hard.”

As per NDTV report, Madhavan later reshared the clip, praising the inspiring encounter—an emotion echoed by many online. One viewer wrote, “This made me tear up, what a beautiful soul.” Another added, “That’s why he’s healthy because he’s active and always interact with people. Proof that exercise is not the key to a healthy life, happiness is the key. He’s doing it happily.”

Source: https://www.timesnownews.com/viral/91-year-old-man-works-12-hour-shift-in-singapore-his-dedication-leaves-actor-r-madhavan-inspired-video-article-153158464

 

From regulating the price of chicken to levying fees on cigarettes, Hamas is seeking to widen control over Gaza as U.S. plans for its future slowly take shape, Gazans say, adding to rivals’ doubts over whether it will cede authority as promised.
After a ceasefire began last month, Hamas swiftly reestablished its hold over areas from which Israel withdrew, killing dozens of Palestinians it accused of collaborating with Israel, theft or other crimes. Foreign powers demand the group disarm and leave government but have yet to agree who will replace them.

Now, a dozen Gazans say they are increasingly feeling Hamas control in other ways. Authorities monitor everything coming into areas of Gaza held by Hamas, levying fees on some privately imported goods including fuel as well as cigarettes and fining merchants seen to be overcharging for goods, according to 10 of the Gazans, three of them merchants with direct knowledge.
Ismail Al-Thawabta, head of the media office of the Hamas government, said accounts of Hamas taxing cigarettes and fuel were inaccurate, denying the government was raising any taxes.

ANALYST SEES HAMAS ENTRENCHING

The authorities were only carrying out urgent humanitarian and administrative tasks whilst making “strenuous efforts” to control prices, Thawabta said. He reiterated Hamas’ readiness to hand over to a new technocratic administration, saying it aimed to avoid chaos in Gaza: “Our goal is for the transition to proceed smoothly”.

Hatem Abu Dalal, owner of a Gaza mall, said prices were high because not enough goods were coming into Gaza. Government representatives were trying to bring order to the economy – touring around, checking goods and setting prices, he said.
Mohammed Khalifa, shopping in central Gaza’s Nuseirat area, said prices were constantly changing despite attempts to regulate them. “It’s like a stock exchange,” he said.
“The prices are high. There’s no income, circumstances are difficult, life is hard, and winter is coming,” he said.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan secured a ceasefire on October 10 and the release of the last living hostages seized during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel.
The plan calls for the establishment of a transitional authority, the deployment of a multinational security force, Hamas’ disarmament, and the start of reconstruction.

But Reuters, citing multiple sources, reported this week that Gaza’s de facto partition appeared increasingly likely, with Israeli forces still deployed in more than half the territory and efforts to advance the plan faltering.
Nearly all of Gaza’s 2 million people live in areas controlled by Hamas, which seized control of the territory from President Mahmoud Abbas’ Palestinian Authority (PA) and his Fatah Movement in 2007.
Ghaith al-Omari, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute think-tank, said Hamas’ actions aimed to show Gazans and foreign powers alike that it cannot be bypassed.

“The longer that the international community waits, the more entrenched Hamas becomes,” Omari said.
U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT: HAMAS ‘WILL NOT GOVERN’
Asked for comment on Gazans’ accounts of Hamas levying fees on some goods, among other reported activities, a U.S. State Department spokesperson said: “This is why Hamas cannot and will not govern in Gaza”.
A new Gaza government can be formed once the United Nations approves Trump’s plan, the spokesperson said, adding that progress has been made towards forming the multinational force.
The PA is pressing for a say in Gaza’s new government, though Israel rejects the idea of it running Gaza again. Fatah and Hamas are at odds over how the new governing body should be formed.
Munther al-Hayek, a Fatah spokesperson in Gaza, said Hamas actions “give a clear indication that Hamas wants to continue to govern”.
In the areas held by Israel, small Palestinian groups that oppose Hamas have a foothold, a lingering challenge to it.
Gazans continue to endure dire conditions, though more aid has entered since the ceasefire.

THEY ‘RECORD EVERYTHING’

A senior Gazan food importer said Hamas hadn’t returned to a full taxation policy, but they “see and record everything”.
They monitor everything that enters, with checkpoints along routes, and stop trucks and question drivers, he said, declining to be identified. Price manipulators are fined, which helps reduce some prices, but they are still much higher than before the war began and people complain they have no money.
Hamas’ Gaza government employed up to 50,000 people, including policemen, before the war. Thawabta said that thousands of them were killed, and those remaining were ready to continue working under a new administration.
Hamas authorities continued paying them salaries during the war, though it cut the highest, standardizing wages to 1,500 shekels ($470) a month, Hamas sources and economists familiar with the matter said. It is believed that Hamas drew on stockpiled cash to pay the wages, a diplomat said.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/hamas-quietly-reasserts-control-gaza-post-war-talks-grind-2025-11-14/

Nearly two dozen people were arrested as faith leaders protested on Friday outside a federal immigration facility near Chicago, authorities said, the latest sign of tensions over the Trump administration’s aggressive enforcement push.
The Cook County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release that 21 people had been detained outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing center in Broadview, Illinois, but did not provide identities and charges. Michael Woolf, minister at Lake Street Church of Evanston, was among those arrested, a Reuters photo showed.

The ICE center in Broadview has become a flashpoint for Chicago activists opposed to President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in the city, a Democratic stronghold that limits its cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.

Since Trump intensified ICE operations in Chicago in September, demonstrators have regularly clashed with authorities, who have fired tear gas, less-lethal rounds, flash-bang grenades and pepper balls.
A federal judge in October reined in some aggressive crowd-control tactics used by ICE and Border Patrol in the city, including the deployment of tear gas without adequate warning.

The latest standoff came as a separate federal judge ordered a group of 13 alleged immigration offenders detained by ICE in the Chicago area to be released by noon local time (1800 GMT), with the possibility of more releases to follow. U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey Cummings ordered the releases after he found that ICE violated a 2022 legal agreement that limits warrantless arrests and the use of traffic stops as a pretext to arrest.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/nearly-two-dozen-arrested-faith-leaders-protest-outside-chicago-area-ice-2025-11-14/

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday rolled back tariffs on more than 200 food products, including such staples as coffee, beef, bananas and orange juice, in the face of growing angst among American consumers about the high cost of groceries.
The new exemptions – which took effect retroactively at midnight on Thursday – mark a sharp reversal for Trump, who has long insisted that the sweeping import duties he imposed earlier this year are not fueling inflation.

“They may in some cases” raise prices, Trump said of his tariffs when asked about the move aboard Air Force One on Friday evening. But he insisted that overall, the U.S. has “virtually no inflation.”
Democrats have won a string of victories in state and local elections in Virginia, New Jersey and New York City, where growing voter concerns about affordability, including high food prices, were a key topic.
Trump also told reporters aboard Air Force One that he would move forward with a $2,000 payment to lower- and middle-income Americans that would be funded by tariff revenues next year sometime. “The tariffs allow us to give a dividend if we want to do that. Now we’re going to do a dividend and we’re also reducing debt,” he said.

The Trump administration announced framework trade deals on Thursday that, once finalized, will eliminate tariffs on certain foods and other imports from Argentina, Ecuador, Guatemala and El Salvador, with U.S. officials eyeing additional agreements before year’s end.
Friday’s list includes products U.S. consumers routinely purchase to feed their families at home, many of which have seen double-digit year-over-year price increases. It includes over 200 items ranging from oranges, acai berries and paprika to cocoa, chemicals used in food production, fertilizers and even communion wafers.
The White House, in a fact sheet on the order, said it came on the heels of “significant progress the President has made in securing more reciprocal terms for our bilateral trade relationships.”
It said Trump decided certain food items could be exempted since they were not grown or processed in the United States, and given the conclusion of nine framework deals, two final agreements on reciprocal trade, and two investment deals.

Ground beef, as of the latest available data for September, was nearly 13% more expensive, according to Consumer Price Index data, and steaks cost almost 17% more than a year ago. Increases for both were the largest in more than three years, dating back to when inflation was nearing its peak under Trump’s predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden.
Although the U.S. is a major beef producer, a persistent shortage of cattle in recent years has kept beef prices high.
Banana prices were about 7% higher, while tomatoes were 1% higher. Overall costs for food consumed at home were up 2.7% in September.
The tariff exemptions won praise from many industry groups, while some expressed disappointment that their products were excluded from the exemptions.
“Today’s action should help consumers, whose morning cup of coffee will hopefully become more affordable, as well as U.S. manufacturers, which utilize many of these products in their supply chains and production lines,” FMI-Food Industry Association president Leslie Sarasin said in a statement.

Distilled Spirits Council president Chris Swonger said that excluding spirits from the European Union and Britain “is yet another blow to the U.S. hospitality industry just as the critical holiday season kicks into high gear.”
“Scotch, Cognac and Irish Whiskey are value-added agricultural products that cannot be produced in the United States,” Swonger added.
Asked if further changes were planned, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, “I don’t think it’ll be necessary.”
“We just did a little bit of a rollback,” he said. “The prices of coffee were a little bit high, now they’ll be on the low side in a very short period.”

NEW FOCUS ON AFFORDABILITY

Trump has upended the global trading system by imposing a 10% base tariff on imports from every country, plus additional specific duties that vary from state to state.
Trump has focused squarely on the issue of affordability in recent weeks, while insisting that any higher costs were triggered by policies enacted by Biden, and not his own tariff policies.
Consumers have remained frustrated over high grocery prices, which economists say have been fueled in part by import tariffs and could rise further next year as companies start passing on the full brunt of the import duties.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/trump-cuts-tariffs-beef-coffee-other-foods-inflation-concerns-mount-2025-11-14/

Once upon a time, Ginnifer Goodwin and Josh Dallas’ sons made their red carpet debut.

The couple posed for family photos with Oliver, 10, and Hugo, 8, at the “Zootopia 2” premiere Thursday night.

The Los Angeles event marked the little ones’ first public appearance.

The siblings matched in navy suits and ties.

Dallas, for his part, also suited up, while Goodwin rocked an off-the-shoulder Wiederhoeft gown.

The actress, 47, gushed to E! News about the rare family outing, explaining, “We have never let our children go to Hollywood anything.”

She added, “We’re very private. We heart out their faces [with emojis] on social media. So we’ve explained to them we’re still not going to be posting about them, and they’re not allowed to Google themselves.

“Then they say their friends are going to,” Goodwin continued. “And I’m like, ‘That’s fine, we’re not their parents.’”

While she was happy for the “opportunity to celebrate” her role in the movie as Judy Hops, the “Big Love” alum clarified that it was Oliver and Hugo who “campaigned to come.”

Goodwin and Dallas have kept their kids out of the spotlight since welcoming Oliver and Hugo in May 2014 and June 2016, respectively.

The former co-stars met on the set of “Once Upon a Time” in 2011, where they played love interests as Snow White and Prince Charming.

Source : https://pagesix.com/2025/11/14/parents/ginnifer-goodwin-josh-dallas-kids-walk-first-red-carpet-at-zootopia-2-premiere/

 

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi sparked a diplomatic row with Beijing after remarks in parliament last week that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could trigger a military response from Tokyo.

China has summoned Japan’s ambassador for a rebuke over the premier’s comments about Taiwan, Beijing said on Friday (Nov 14), as Tokyo insisted its position on the self-ruled island was unchanged.

But as the diplomatic spat escalated, Japan’s foreign ministry said it summoned Beijing’s ambassador on Friday after a Chinese consul called to “cut off” Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s neck in a now-removed online post.

Last week, Takaichi told parliament that armed attacks on Taiwan – which China claims as part of its territory – could warrant sending troops to the island under “collective self-defence”.

If an emergency in Taiwan entails “battleships and the use of force, then that could constitute a situation threatening the survival (of Japan), any way you slice it”, she said.

Beijing has not ruled out the use of force to seize control of Taiwan.

China’s Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong summoned on Thursday the Japanese ambassador, Kenji Kanasugi, according to a statement published on Beijing’s foreign ministry website.

It said Sun made “serious demarches over Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s erroneous remarks regarding China”.

“If anyone dares to interfere with China’s unification cause in any form, China will surely strike back hard,” the statement said.

Hours later, Tokyo said it summoned Beijing’s ambassador, Wu Jianghao and “strongly protested against the extremely inappropriate statements” made by Beijing’s consul general in Osaka, Xue Jian.

The foreign ministry urged Wu to ensure “the Chinese side takes appropriate measures”, it added.

Xue had threatened in a social media post to “cut off that dirty neck without a second of hesitation”.

He did not name Takaichi but quoted a news article about her remarks.

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said on Thursday that the now-deleted post was “highly inappropriate”.

“We strongly urge the Chinese side to continue taking appropriate measures to ensure that this does not affect the broad direction of Japan-China relations,” added Motegi, who was in Canada for a G7 meeting.

“STABILITY”

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said that his government’s position on Taiwan remains unchanged and “is consistent with the 1972 Japan-China Joint Communique”.

The 1972 communique normalised bilateral relations, with Japan acknowledging the “One China” policy recognised by many other countries including the United States.

“Peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait are important not only for Japan’s security but also for the stability of the international community,” Kihara told reporters.

Beijing’s foreign ministry on Thursday said it would “by no means tolerate” Takaichi’s Taiwan comments.

“The Japanese side must correct its wrongdoing at once and retract the unjustified remarks,” spokesman Lin Jian told reporters at a press briefing.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/east-asia/sanae-takaichi-japan-taiwan-china-summons-ambassador-5466736

The United States and Switzerland announced a framework trade deal on Friday (Nov 14) that will cut US tariffs on Swiss goods to 15 per cent from 39 per cent, while Swiss companies pledged US$200 billion (S$272 billion) in investment in the US by end-2028.

The agreement, which also includes Liechtenstein, is expected to be finalised by the first quarter of 2026, the White House said.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the deal dismantles “longstanding trade barriers” and will open new markets for American exporters. He welcomed the “massive Swiss investment” planned across pharmaceuticals, aerospace, medical devices and gold manufacturing, saying it would help reduce US deficits in key sectors.

At least US$67 billion of the pledged investment will arrive in 2026, according to the White House. The total includes earlier commitments such as US$50 billion from Roche and US$23 billion from Novartis, alongside investments from ABB and railway maker Stadler.

PHARMA TARIFFS CAPPED AT 15%

Swiss Economy Minister Guy Parmelin said the lower tariff level puts Switzerland “on an equal footing with the European Union”, noting that about 40 per cent of Swiss exports are affected.

“The reduction from 39 per cent to 15 per cent is significant,” he said, while acknowledging that Switzerland would prefer the investments to stay at home.

The 15 per cent ceiling will also apply to future Section 232 national-security tariffs, including those expected in sectors such as semiconductors. Without the cap, those duties could have risen as high as 100 per cent on patent-protected drugs under President Donald Trump’s tariff regime.

Swiss officials said the new rate could be activated within “days or weeks” once US customs systems are updated.

SWISS MARKET OPENINGS FOR US PRODUCTS

Under the framework, Switzerland will cut duties on selected US industrial, agricultural, fish and seafood products it considers non-sensitive.

It will also grant duty-free quotas to the US for 500 tonnes of beef, 1,000 tonnes of bison and 1,500 tonnes of poultry. Washington said Switzerland will also remove tariffs on certain nuts, fruits, seafood and chemicals.

In what the White House described as a significant gesture, Switzerland will recognise US motor-vehicle safety standards, a step US officials hope will ease long-standing barriers to American cars in Europe.

SWISS INDUSTRY WELCOMES LEVEL PLAYING FIELD

Industrial groups hailed the announcement, saying Swiss firms will now compete on the same terms as EU exporters, who secured a 15 per cent tariff level earlier.

“For the industrial sector, this is good news,” said Nicola Tettamanti, president of Swissmechanic. “For the first time, we have the same conditions in the US market as European competitors.”

Swiss machinery, precision instruments, watchmaking and food sectors are expected to benefit the most, said Hans Gersbach of the KOF Swiss Economic Institute. KOF forecasts that Switzerland’s 2026 economic growth could exceed 1 per cent once the tariff cut takes effect.

Swissmem, the technology industry association, reported on Friday that exports to the US fell 14 per cent in the three months through September, while machine-tool shipments plunged 43 per cent under Trump’s earlier 39 per cent tariff.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/switzerland-wins-us-tariff-cut-15-pledges-us200b-in-investments-5468881

Apple is stepping up its succession planning efforts as it prepares for Tim Cook to step down as chief executive of the tech giant as soon as next year, the Financial Times reported on Friday.

John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware engineering, is widely seen as Cook’s most likely successor, the FT reported, citing several people familiar with discussions.

Apple did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The newspaper quoted people familiar with discussions inside the iPhone maker as saying its board and senior executives had recently intensified preparations for Cook to hand over the reins after more than 14 years.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/business/apple-intensifies-succession-planning-ceo-tim-cook-ft-reports-5469206

A federal jury in California said on Friday that Apple owes medical-monitoring technology company Masimo $634 million for infringing a patent covering blood-oxygen reading technology.

The jury agreed with Masimo that the Apple Watch’s workout mode and heart rate notification features violated Masimo’s patent rights, a Masimo spokesperson confirmed.

An Apple spokesperson said that the company disagrees with the verdict and will appeal. Masimo, in a statement, called the verdict “a significant win in our ongoing efforts to protect our innovations and intellectual property.”

The California lawsuit is one branch of a contentious, multi-front patent fight between Apple and Irvine, California-based Masimo, which has accused Apple of hiring away its employees and stealing its pulse oximetry technology to use in Apple Watches.

The dispute led a U.S. trade tribunal to block imports of Apple’s Series 9 and Ultra 2 smartwatches in 2023 after finding that Apple’s technology infringed Masimo’s patents. Apple removed blood-oxygen reading technology from its watches to avoid the ban and reintroduced an updated version of the technology in August with approval from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The ITC separately on Friday decided to hold a new proceeding to determine whether Apple’s updated watches should be subject to the ban.

Masimo has filed an ongoing lawsuit against Customs over the decision. Apple has separately challenged the import ban at a federal appeals court.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/business/us-jury-says-apple-must-pay-masimo-634-million-in-smartwatch-patent-case-5469256

The US president says he has spoken by phone with the Cambodian and Thai prime ministers, and that “they’re doing great”.

United States President Donald Trump said Friday (Nov 14) that he had successfully eased hostilities between Cambodia and Thailand, saying that he had been able to preserve a ceasefire that had appeared to be breaking down.

“I stopped a war just today,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he flew to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida for the weekend.

He said his actions were made possible by his willingness to impose steep tariffs on countries around the world, which he has argued gives the US great leverage on trade and diplomatic leverage.

The president said he had spoken to the prime ministers of both countries by phone.

“They’re doing great. They were not doing great,” said Trump.

“I think they’re going to be fine.”

Territorial disputes over exactly where the border lies between the Southeast Asian neighbors led to five days of armed conflict in late July that killed dozens of soldiers and civilians.

Trump threatened to withhold trade privileges from the two countries unless they stopped fighting, helping to broker a temporary halt to the conflict.

The pact was then reaffirmed in greater detail last month, when Trump attended an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit meeting in Malaysia.

The ceasefire seemed on the verge of falling apart this week, however, when Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said a villager was killed after shooting broke out along his country’s border with Thailand.

Manet said one civilian was killed and three others wounded when Thai troops opened fire on civilians residing in the area of Prey Chan in Cambodia’s northwestern province of Banteay Meanchey. The same village was the site of a violent but not lethal confrontation in September between Thai security personnel and Cambodian villagers.

The Thai military said that the latest incident began when Cambodian soldiers allegedly fired into a district in Thailand’s eastern province of Sa Kaeo. No Thai casualties were reported.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/trump-says-he-stopped-war-preserving-ceasefire-between-cambodia-and-thailand-5469146

Dozens of nations are pushing for a roadmap to phase out oil, coal and gas at the UN climate summit in Brazil. But a bloc of powerful oil-producing countries and industry lobbyists are putting up a fight.

UN climate talks in Belem, Brazil, are heading toward a showdown over which countries are willing to make real progress on phasing out fossil fuels.

Emissions from burning oil, coal, and gas are at record levels, driving climate change, which is already claiming millions of lives and wreaking havoc on ecosystems and economies.

Yet fossil fuels have long been a charged topic at UN climate summits. It took 28 years before a COP final decision officially recognized the need to “transition away from fossil fuels.”

In Belem this year, a growing diplomatic effort driven by dozens of countries aims to build on that pledge in the form of a roadmap to accelerate the move away from oil, gas and coal.

“We need an actionable outcome, not another roadmap to nowhere,” said Jasper Inventor, Deputy Programme Director, Greenpeace International, in a statement.

Still, with most oil-producing nations opposing the idea and a record share of fossil fuel industry lobbyists present at the COP30 climate negotations, the path ahead is unlikely to be smooth.

What are countries pushing for?

The issue had already flared before the summit opened, when Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva — himself under fire for approving an oil exploration project at the mouth of the Amazon — urged world leaders to work toward ending fossil-fuel dependence.

In his “Call of Belem for the Climate,” Lula further reinforced the message, urging the development of a timeline for the progressive phase-out of fossil fuels and greater financial support for developing countries.

In response, countries seeking more ambitious emissions cuts have formed a coalition. France, Colombia, Germany, Kenya, and others are urging that a fossil fuels roadmap be added to the official agenda and potentially reflected in the summit’s outcome.

The diplomatic push in Belem has been supported by Brazil’s Environment Minister Marina Silva, who said she favors a roadmap “because it lays the foundation for a fair and planned transition” away from polluting oil, coal and gas.

While COP28 marked a historic call to transition from fossil fuels, it offered few details on how to get there. It was called “a death sentence” by campaigners from nations like the Pacific Islands, whose very existence is at risk if global heating is not brought under control.

So far around 60 countries from across Europe, Africa, Latin America and the Small Island Developing States are believed to have backed the move. Supporters are aiming to reach 100.

“Our priority for the coming days is to broaden this coalition, to speak to all the countries that believe we need to move forward and accelerate on this issue,” said one source from the French delegation.

While most countries may not commit to a roadmap with specific dates or targets, it is hoped they could be pressed to report progress toward the goal for review at future COPs.

Jochen Flasbarth, German state-secretary for climate action, has said his country would support any decision for a roadmap in Belem.

Colombia is reported to have drafted a declaration on phasing out fossil fuels. A handful of states are believed to have signed the document, which will likely be published on Tuesday.

What obstacles might the coalition face?

The challenge will be to present a big enough bloc of support to force the roadmap onto the conference agenda, said Romain Ioualalen, global policy campaign manager at US-based advocacy organization Oil Change International.

“It’s a diplomatic puzzle that’s taking shape,” added Ioualalen. Yet the phase-out coalition faces stiff opposition.

Most oil-producing states, particularly Saudi Arabia, are believed to have unequivocally rejected the idea of a roadmap and are pushing back against diplomatic efforts in favor of it.

One negotiator estimated around 70 countries would oppose any new decision coming out of COP30 that addressed fossil fuels.

At COP28 in Dubai, major oil-producing nations resisted calls to transition away, proposing instead the alternative of phasing out fossil fuel emissions using technology such as carbon capture and storage, which has not been tested at scale.

Record share of fossil fuel lobbyists present

Adding weight to their corner is likely to be the record share of industry lobbyists at COP this year.

One in every 25 participants in Belem represents the fossil fuel industry, according to a report this week from Kick Big Polluters Out, a coalition of 450 organizations pushing back against the influence of polluting industries in climate policymaking.

An estimated 1,602 delegates with links to oil, coal and gas, including representatives of energy giants ExxonMobil, Shell and TotalEnergies, as well as state-owned oil firms, are in Belem.

They outnumber the delegations of every country except Brazil and have two-thirds more conference passes than the 10 most climate-vulnerable countries combined.

The report highlights a growing concern that those with a vested interest in sustaining fossil fuel dependency have outsized influence at COP summits.

“It’s common sense that you cannot solve a problem by giving power to those who caused it,” said Jax Bonbon, a Kick Big Polluters Out coalition member based in the Philippines, which was recently struck by a devastating typhoon.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/the-unexpected-coalition-trying-to-force-fossil-fuels-onto-the-agenda-at-cop30/a-74751915

Protesters in Pokemon costumes stomped around the United Nations climate conference on Friday to send a message to Japan: end financing of coal and natural gas projects across Southeast Asia and other regions of the Global South.

The Stop Japan’s Dirty Energy Plans protest aligned with the first of two thematic days with a focus on energy during the annual climate conference known as COP30, held this year in Belem on the edge of the Brazilian Amazon. Organizers of the protest said the investments are a major blind spot for Japan, typically a regional voice in climate negotiations that often touts itself as a decarbonization leader in Asia.

“Japan is actually delaying the fossil fuel phase-out across Asia” by funding energy projects, mainly liquefied natural gas developments, in countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, said Hiroki Osada with Friends of the Earth Japan, one of the protest organizers.

“It’s so important for our Global South comrades to voice their concerns in Belem, so that they can actually demand the Japanese government to do something about this,” he said.

The government-owned Japan Bank for International Cooperation financed $6.4 billion in loans for coal projects and $874 million in loans for gas projects from 2016 to 2024, according to a 2025 study by the Philippines-based research and advocacy organization Center for Energy, Ecology and Development based on public government and banking data. The bank, which is Japan’s major conduit of overseas aid, did not respond to requests for comment.

The Japan Delegation at COP30 responded to The Associated Press but declined to directly comment on the claims made by activists. Instead, Japanese officials said Japan’s cooperation with Southeast Asian nations to achieve “decarbonization, economic growth and energy security simultaneously through varies pathways” was supported by those countries.

A pair of bobbing Pikachus

The protest centered on a pair of people wearing life-sized, inflatable Pikachu costumes who flanked a handful of activists.

The event included activists from across the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which is home to multiple Japan-backed fossil fuel projects. One banner read: “Don’t gas ASEAN.” Ian Rivera, national coordinator at Philippine Movement for Climate Justice, led chants of “Only Pokemon, no fossil fuels” and “Sayonara fossil fuels.”

The bobbing Pikachus later visited the country pavilions of India, Indonesia and Malaysia to “to reveal how Japan is exporting its fossil agenda.”

“If Global North countries, like Japan, decide to double down on fossil fuel production and export, that is going to make it impossible for countries across the Global South to make the just energy transition,” said Amiera Sawas, head of research and policy at the Fossil Fuel Non Proliferation Treaty Initiative.

The Pikachu protest, a frequent one during recent summits, was sandwiched between other anti-fossil fuel demonstrations and came after a Friday morning demonstration blocked the main entrance to the conference and increased COP30 security measures. Earlier, activists hosted a “Kick Out the Suits” event demanding the removal of fossil fuel lobbyists, who environmentalists accused of undermining the negotiations.

On Saturday, when significant protests are expected to mark the midpoint of COP, a large march will feature a “funeral for fossil fuels” where giant coffins — symbolizing coal, oil and gas — will be carried down the streets of Belem.

Fossil fuels are key issue at UN climate talk

The global effort to transition away from fossil fuels has been a key topic at COP30. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva set the tone during the Leader’s Summit last week when he called for world leaders to prepare a road map to “overcome dependence on fossil fuels.”

Several countries — such as Denmark, the United Kingdom, Kenya, France and Germany — supported Lula’s call to action.

In Dubai during COP28, nearly 200 countries agreed to move away from fossil fuels, the first pledge in decades of U.N. climate talks. But many have warned the deal still had significant shortcomings.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/japan-fossil-fuels-pikachu-pokemon-f5b4dd439be4de1348334363baad4390

President Trump called on the Department of Justice to probe late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s links to Democratic bigwigs and institutions like JP Morgan Chase – a request Attorney General Pam Bondi was ready to launch Friday.

Bondi instructed the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, to oversee an investigation, vowing it would be handled “with urgency and integrity.”

“SDNY U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton is one of the most capable and trusted prosecutors in the country, and I’ve asked him to take the lead,” she wrote in a social media post.

“As with all matters, the Department will pursue this with urgency and integrity to deliver answers to the American people.”

Earlier Friday, Trump bunched former President Bill Clinton, ex-treasury secretary Larry Summers, and venture capitalist Reid Hoffman with Epstein as he insisted the convicted sex offender is more connected to Democrats than the GOP.

“Now that the Democrats are using the Epstein Hoax, involving Democrats, not Republicans, to try and deflect from their disastrous SHUTDOWN, and all of their other failures, I will be asking A.G. Pam Bondi, and the Department of Justice, together with our great patriots at the FBI, to investigate Jeffrey Epstein’s involvement and relationship with Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Reid Hoffman, J.P. Morgan, Chase, and many other people and institutions, to determine what was going on with them, and him,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“This is another Russia, Russia, Russia Scam, with all arrows pointing to the Democrats. Records show that these men, and many others, spent large portions of their life with Epstein, and on his ‘Island.’ Stay tuned!!!”

The issue of Epstein, who killed himself while awaiting a federal sex trafficking trial in 2019, was pushed back into the national spotlight this week after a tranche of new documents connected to the disgraced financier was released by Congress as Democrats tried to highlight Epstein mentioning Trump in a few emails.

Trump and Epstein were once friends years ago, but had a falling out. Trump claimed he booted Epstein from Mar-a-Lago for stealing young female employees from his club. One such former Mar-a-Lago worker and Epstein victim, Virginia Giuffre, said Trump wasn’t part of Epstein’s sex crimes and “couldn’t have been friendlier.”

Clinton socialized with Epstein in the early 2000s, including flying on his private jet several times before Epstein’s legal trouble.

Summers was also associated with Epstein and accepted donations from Epstein when he served as Harvard University president. Hoffman, a prominent Democratic donor and LinkedIn founder, has said he met with Epstein numerous times in professional situations.

All three Democratic figures have expressed regret about having a relationship with Epstein. No credible evidence has surfaced that indicates any of them were involved in Epstein’s sickening actions.

“These emails prove Bill Clinton did nothing and knew nothing,” a spokesperson for 42nd president said in a statement.

“The rest is noise meant to distract from election losses, backfiring shutdowns, and who knows what else.”

The Post has sought comment from a representative for Summers. An email to the company Hoffman works for was not immediately returned.

JPMorgan, which Trump also blasted Friday, paid $290 million in 2023 to some of Epstein’s victims in a settlement following accusations it ignored his sex trafficking.

While the bank did not admit wrongdoing in the settlement, the deal came after disclosures showed the powerful bank overlooked internal warnings and red flags about Epstein because he was an important client.

“We regret any association we had with the man, but did not help him commit his heinous acts,” JPMorgan said in a statement Friday to Reuters in response to Trump’s post.

“We ended our relationship with him years before his arrest on sex trafficking charges.”

The newly-disclosed emails from Epstein showed him talking about Clinton and also corresponding with author Michael Wolff and a then-New York Times reporter.

In one email to Summers in 2017, he bashed Trump, which the Democratic National Committee bizarrely tried to promote Thursday.

Source : https://nypost.com/2025/11/14/us-news/trump-asks-doj-to-probe-jeffrey-epstein-ties-to-bill-clinton-other-dems-big-banks/

Pakistan’s parliament has voted to give army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir new powers and lifetime immunity from arrest and prosecution, a move that critics say paves the way towards autocracy.

The 27th constitutional amendment, which was signed into law on Thursday, will also make significant changes to the way the country’s top courts operate.

Those defending the changes say they provide clarity and administrative structure to the armed forces, while helping to ease a backlog in the courts.

Pakistan’s military has long played a prominent role in the nuclear-armed country’s politics – sometimes seizing power in coups, and, on other occasions, pulling levers behind the scenes.

Throughout its history, Pakistan has oscillated from more civilian autonomy to overt control under military leaders like General Pervez Musharraf and General Zia-ul-Haq. Analysts refer to the balance between civilian and military as hybrid rule.

Some see the amendment as a sign that the balance is shifting in the military’s favour.

“For me, this amendment is the latest indication, perhaps the strongest yet, that Pakistan is now experiencing not a hybrid system, but a post-hybrid system,” says Michael Kugelman, director of the Wilson Center’s South Asia Institute in Washington.

“We’re essentially looking at a situation where the civil-military imbalance is about as imbalanced as it could possibly be.”

The latest amendment means that Munir, who has been army chief since November 2022, will now also oversee Pakistan’s navy and air force.

His field marshal title and uniform are for life and he will be given “responsibilities and duties” even after retirement determined by the president with the advice of the prime minister.

The expectation is that this will give him a prominent role in public life for as long as he is alive.

Supporters of the bill have argued it clarifies Pakistan’s military command structure.

Pakistan’s government-operated news agency, the Associated Press of Pakistan, cited Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif as saying that the changes were part of a broader reform agenda to ensure Pakistan’s defence keeps pace with modern warfare requirements.

But others see it as ceding power to the military.

“There is no balance between the military and the civilians,” says Munizae Jahangir, journalist and co-chair of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

“They have tilted again that power dynamic towards the military and empowered the military at a time when the military needed to be reined in.”

Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan has announced an official investigation the unrest that broke out during election week, following accusations that her government was responsible for violently crushing historic protests.

She was declared the winner of last month’s presidential poll with 98% of the vote – a result the opposition has denounced as a “mockery of democracy.” At least 240 people were charged with treason after the protests.

As well as the commission of inquiry, President Samia has also asked prosecutors to “show leniency” towards those arrested in connection with the violence.

Quoting the Bible, she said: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Her remarks come just days after the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, urged Tanzanian authorities to conduct a full and transparent investigation into reports of killings and other serious human rights violations during and after the 29 October elections.

Hundreds may have died in post-election unrest, according to the opposition. The authorities are yet to release an official death toll.

The violence was shocking for a nation that had cultivated an image of calm, consensus and order for nearly six decades.

During an address to parliament on Friday, President Samia urged prosecutors to consider reducing or dropping charges for individuals who may have been swept up in the unrest without fully understanding their actions.

“I am aware that many young people have been arrested and charged with treason. They did not fully understand what they were getting involved in,” she said. “As a mother and guardian of this nation, I am directing law-enforcement agencies, especially the DPP’s office, to show leniency.”

Samia also called on political parties to meet and discuss how to conduct politics without causing harm to the country. She reaffirmed her commitment to initiating a new constitution-making process.

The protests, organised by young people, drew clear parallels with global Gen Z-led mobilisations against entrenched leadership and unresponsive governments.

Analysts say while the unrest was unprecedented for Tanzania, it was preceded by a tense political climate – marked by stalled reforms, years of simmering youth anger, power tussles within the ruling party and the sustained persecution of opposition leaders.

In the months preceding election day, the CCM government worked to systematically eliminate any credible competition, according to analysts.

The two main opposition leaders were blocked from standing in last month’s poll – Tundu Lissu is in detention on treason charges, which he denies, while Luhaga Mpina’s candidacy was rejected on technical grounds.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gpdxp5vl2o

A Russian drone has slammed into a block of flats in eastern Kyiv, killing six people and wounding dozens of others, during a wave of strikes throughout the Ukrainian capital.

As emergency workers sifted through the wreckage in the Lisovyi area, one Kyiv resident called Vita described how the drone had pierced the building, exploding on the other side.

Meanwhile, Ukraine stepped up its attacks on Russia’s oil infrastructure, with drone strikes on one of its biggest export terminals in Novorossiysk, on the Black Sea coast.

Fire broke out at the Sheskharis oil refinery, and a ship and a block of flats were hit, officials said.

Krasnodar governor Veniamin Kondratyev said three crew members and another man were hurt in the attack which damaged the main oil depot and a container terminal.

Mayor Andrei Kravchenko declared a state of emergency and Reuters reported that oil exports were suspended.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine had fired long-range “Long Neptune” cruise missiles during its attacks on Russia overnight, without specifying what they targeted.

Condemning Russia’s overnight attacks as vile and calculated, Zelensky said about 430 drones and 18 missiles had been launched and dozens of high-rise buildings damaged.

“This was a deliberately calculated attack aimed at causing maximum harm to people and civilian infrastructure,” he said.

A drone attack on a market at Chornomorsk in the south of the country killed two people.

In Kyiv, residential buildings came under attack “in practically every district”, the head of the city’s military administration Tymur Tkachenko said on Telegram.

He issued a warning to take shelter a minute after midnight local time on Thursday night, writing “it’s loud in Kyiv”.

The fire service in the Lisovyi neighbourhood said later the drone had hit the seventh floor of the residential building. When it exploded all the floors – from the eighth down to the fourth – collapsed, a spokesman told the BBC.

Vita said she saw four bodies being pulled out of the apartment a few doors down from hers: “I saw it with my own eyes.”

Two cranes hoisted emergency workers outside the block, as crews combed through the destroyed building, throwing broken sections of wall and shattered glass to the ground.

Falling debris and fires damaged several high-rise apartment buildings, a hospital, school and administrative buildings, according to emergency services.

More than 40 people were rescued, they added, including 14 from a fire in a residential building. Another person was rescued after being pulled from beneath the rubble, they said.

Kyiv’s energy infrastructure was badly hit, leaving some buildings in the capital without heat, officials said.

“The attack was massive, with drones, with ballistic [missiles], with lots of air defence working,” Ukrainian MP Lisa Yasko told the BBC. “Very often there was the feeling that your bed was just shaking together with the windows.”

Medical teams were deployed to all fires, officials said, while Mayor Vitali Klitschko said nine people were being treated in hospital with one man in an “extremely serious condition”.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn4jn94gyllo

Volodymyr Zelenskyy imposes sanctions on a former business associate as a wide-ranging corruption scandal in the energy sector puts the country’s ruling elite under scrutiny.

Georgia’s Saakashvili asks Zelenskyy to exchange him in POW swap
Dmytro Hubenko Editor
Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgia’s jailed former president, has appealed to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to arrange a prisoner swap with Russia that would see him released.

Saakashvili, the former pro-Western leader of Georgia who was in office between 2004 and 2013, became a Ukrainian citizen in 2015. He then served as governor of Ukraine’s southern Odesa region for about a year and a half.

In a Facebook post, Saakashvili asked Zelenskyy to include him “on the list of civilian prisoners of this war, with the corresponding legal consequences”, stating that he had been “illegally detained by the pro-Russian regime in Georgia”.

On Wednesday, Saakashvili was transferred back to prison from a private clinic, where he had been receiving treatment, to continue serving his sentence. He has denounced the sentence as politically motivated.

Zelenskyy had previously called on the Georgian authorities to allow Saakashvili to be sent to Ukraine for treatment, but this request was denied.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to ensure fewer young Ukrainian men seek to emigrate to Germany, saying they should instead “serve their country.”

Merz told a crowd at a business event in Germany on Thursday that he had told Zelenskyy the young men were “needed” at home.

Recent changes to wartime emergency laws prohibiting Ukrainian men aged 18-22 from leaving the country led to an uptick in young men looking to move to Germany.

The chancellor also voiced support for his government’s plans to remove the automatic eligibility for social benefits that had been granted to Ukrainian refugees in the aftermath of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.

Going forward, they would be entitled to the same system of state support afforded to typical asylum-seekers rather than that of German residents.

Merz also said there would be “concrete changes” going forward designed to push for Ukrainians in Germany to seek work rather than to receive state support.

According to recent German media reports citing government sources, Labor Minister Bärbel Bas (a Social Democrat) and Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (a member of the conservative Bavarian CSU) recently agreed on plans to change Ukrainian’s entitlement to German benefits, although the details have not yet been formally presented.

Merz has been trying to strike a tougher tone on migration and asylum amid the challenge from the populist right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD), the leader of the opposition in parliament and the second-largest party in the country since federal elections earlier this year.

Russia looking for ‘big’ war, Zelenskyy says
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted to X that there was a need for more pressure on Russia, and that, according to his assessment of the battlefield situation, Russian forces would continue fighting.

Zelenskyy said he thinks Russia wants a “big war” and that Europe has to be ready by 2029 or 2030 to face that prospect.

“We have to recognize that they want a big war and prepare to be ready in 2029 or 2030 — in this period of time — to begin such a big war,” he said. “On the European continent. We look at this like a really big challenge.

“I think that we have to think about how to stop them now in Ukraine.”

Source: https://www.dw.com/en/ukraine-corruption-scandal-puts-top-figures-under-scrutiny/live-74725665

Unlike previous US drafts, the latest mentions a possible future Palestinian state.

The United States on Thursday (Nov 13) called on the UN Security Council to unite and back its draft resolution aimed at bolstering President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza, warning that Palestinians could otherwise suffer “grave” consequences.

“Attempts to sow discord now – when agreement on this resolution is under active negotiation – has grave, tangible, and entirely avoidable consequences for Palestinians in Gaza,” a spokesperson for the US mission to the UN said in a statement.

“The ceasefire is fragile and we urge the council to unite and move forward to secure the peace that is desperately needed,” the spokesperson said, calling it a “historic moment to pave a path towards enduring peace in the Middle East”.

Last week, US officials launched negotiations within the council on a draft that would follow up on a ceasefire in the two-year war between Israel and Hamas and endorse Trump’s plan.

A third draft of the resolution seen Thursday by AFP “welcomes the establishment of the Board of Peace”, a transitional governing body for Gaza, that Trump would theoretically chair, with a mandate running until the end of 2027.

It would authorise member states to form a “temporary International Stabilization Force” (ISF) that would work with Israel and Egypt and newly trained Palestinian police to help secure border areas and demilitarise the Gaza Strip.

The ISF would also work on the “permanent decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups”, protecting civilians and securing humanitarian aid corridors.

Unlike previous drafts, the latest mentions a possible future Palestinian state.

Once the Palestinian Authority has carried out requested reforms and the rebuilding of Gaza is underway, “the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood”, the draft says.

“The United States will establish a dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians to agree on a political horizon for peaceful and prosperous coexistence,” it adds.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday he was optimistic that the resolution would be adopted.

“I think we’re making good progress on the language of the resolution and hopefully we’ll have action on it very soon,” he told reporters in Canada.

 

Source: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/us-pressures-un-council-adopt-gaza-peace-plan-5466511

About 250 families were moved to a Buddhist temple about 30km from the border.

Cambodia on Thursday (Nov 13) evacuated hundreds of people from a village along its disputed border with Thailand, a day after one of its residents was reported killed when shooting between the two nations broke out there.

Wednesday’s shooting occurred two days after a Thai soldier lost a foot to a landmine while patrolling another area of the border. Thailand blamed Cambodia for the blast and announced it was suspending honouring the terms of a ceasefire partly brokered by US President Donald Trump.

Territorial disputes over exactly where the border lies between the Southeast Asian neighbours led to five days of armed conflict in late July that killed dozens of soldiers and civilians. But tensions remained high. Many terms of a more detailed truce agreement signed last month have not yet been implemented.

A Cambodian man identified as Dy Nai was reportedly killed in a shooting on Wednesday, while three other people were wounded.

About 250 families from Prey Chan village in Cambodia’s northwestern province of Banteay Meanchey, where the shooting took place, were evacuated to a Buddhist temple about 30km from the border, said Ly Sovannarith, the provincial vice governor.

The same village was the site of a violent but not lethal confrontation in September between Thai security personnel and Cambodian villagers.

The Cambodian Defense Ministry on Thursday led members of a team assigned to monitor the ceasefire at the border. The observer team included officials from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet on Wednesday called for an independent investigation into the incident to bring justice to those affected by the shooting.

The ceasefire appeared to be breaking down after the landmine explosion earlier this week.

Thailand accused Cambodia of laying new mines in violation of the truce, which Cambodia denied. Thailand said it would pause implementation of the agreement indefinitely.

It also demanded that Cambodia apologise, conduct a thorough investigation and implement measures to prevent such incidents in the future.

Hun Manet said the shooting occurred after Thai forces engaged in “numerous provocative actions for many days with the objective of instigating confrontations”. He added that Cambodia would still honour the ceasefire terms.

The Thai army alleged that Cambodian soldiers fired into a district in Thailand’s eastern province of Sa Kaeo, and that the Thai side “fired warning shots in response”.

“Cambodia’s accusations that Thailand initiated fire, provoked conflict, and violated the ceasefire are entirely false. Cambodia’s firing from a civilian area as cover constitutes using human shields, violating humanitarian principles and demonstrating complete disregard for Cambodian civilian lives,” said army spokesperson Major General Winthai Suvaree said in a statement on Wednesday.

 

Source: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/cambodia-thailand-tensions-evacuate-village-disputed-border-5464856

The BBC has apologised to US President Donald Trump for a Panorama episode that spliced parts of his 6 January 2021 speech together, but rejected his demands for compensation.

The corporation said the edit had given “the mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action” and said it would not show the 2024 programme again.

Lawyers for Trump have threatened to sue the BBC for $1bn (£759m) in damages unless the corporation issues a retraction, apologises and compensates him.

The fallout from the scandal led to the resignations of BBC director general Tim Davie and head of news Deborah Turness on Sunday.

BBC News has approached the White House for comment.

The apology comes hours after a second similarly edited clip, broadcast on Newsnight in 2022, was revealed by the Daily Telegraph.

In its Corrections and Clarifications section, published on Thursday evening, the BBC said the Panorama programme had been reviewed after criticism of how Trump’s speech had been edited.

The BBC had been given a deadline of 22:00 GMT (17:00 EST) on Friday to respond.

“We accept that our edit unintentionally created the impression that we were showing a single continuous section of the speech, rather than excerpts from different points in the speech, and that this gave the mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action,” the statement said.

Lawyers for the BBC have written to President Trump’s legal team in response to a letter received on Sunday, a BBC spokesperson said.

“BBC chair Samir Shah has separately sent a personal letter to the White House making clear to President Trump that he and the corporation are sorry for the edit of the president’s speech on 6 January 2021, which featured in the programme,” they said.

They added: “While the BBC sincerely regrets the manner in which the video clip was edited, we strongly disagree there is a basis for a defamation claim.”

In Trump’s speech he said: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women.”

More than 50 minutes later in the speech, he said: “And we fight. We fight like hell.”

In the Panorama programme the clip shows him as saying: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol… and I’ll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell.”

Speaking to Fox News, Trump said his speech had been “butchered” and the way it was presented had “defrauded” viewers.

The BBC received the letter from Trump’s lawyers on Sunday. It demands a “full and fair retraction” of the documentary, an apology, and that the BBC “appropriately compensate President Trump for the harm caused”.

In its letter to Trump’s legal team, the BBC sets out five main arguments for why it does not think it has a case to answer

First it says the BBC did not have the rights to, and did not, distribute the Panorama episode on its US channels.

When the documentary was available on BBC iPlayer, it was restricted to viewers in the UK.

Secondly, it says the documentary did not cause Trump harm, as he was re-elected shortly after.

Thirdly, it says the clip was not designed to mislead, but just to shorten a long speech, and that the edit was not done with malice.

Fourthly, it says the clip was never meant to be considered in isolation. Rather, it was 12 seconds within an hour-long programme, which also contained lots of voices in support of Trump.

Finally, an opinion on a matter of public concern and political speech is heavily protected under defamation laws in the US.

A BBC insider said that internally, there is a strong belief in the case the corporation has put forward, and in its defence.

BBC News approached the Department for Culture, Media and Sport for comment, which said they would not be issuing a statement.

Liberal Democrats leader Sir Ed Davey urged the prime minister to “get on the phone to Trump” to put a stop to his lawsuit threat and “defend the impartiality and independence of the BBC”.

Fresh claim of misleading edit
Earlier on Thursday, the BBC was accused of another misleading edit of Trump’s 6 January 2021 speech, two years before the Panorama sequence aired.

On a Newsnight programme from 2022, the edit is a little different from Panorama.

Trump is shown as saying: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol. And we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women. And we fight. We fight like hell. And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not gonna have a country anymore.”

This was followed by a voiceover from presenter Kirsty Wark saying “and fight they did” over footage from the Capitol riots.

Responding to the clip on the same programme, former White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, who quit a diplomatic post and became a critic of Trump after describing the 6 January riots as an “attempted coup”, said the video had “spliced together” Trump’s speech.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c874nw4g2zzo

Germany’s coalition government has agreed a new military service plan to boost troop numbers following months of wrangling between political forces.

The new military service plan will mandate all 18-year-old men to fill out a questionnaire on their suitability to serve and, from 2027, to undergo medical screening.

The decision comes as Berlin aims to create Europe’s strongest conventional army.

The boss of Germany’s biggest defence firm, Rheinmetall, has told the BBC he believes that target could be met in five years.

Lawmakers are expected to vote on the plan by the end of 2025.

Armin Papperger said Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s aim to boost the Bundeswehr was “realistic” and he told the BBC that “clear decisions” were coming from government.

Earlier this year German defence chief Gen Carsten Breuer warned that the Western Nato alliance had to prepare for a possible Russian attack within four years.

Mr Papperger said he had “no glass ball” about the future but agreed Germany had to be “ready in ’29”.

When they formed a coalition earlier this year, Merz’s conservative CDU/CSU and the centre-left Social Democrat SPD agreed to re-introduce military service which would be voluntary “to start with”.

The Bundeswehr currently has around 182,000 troops. The new military service model aims to increase that number by 20,000 over the next year, rising to between 255,000 and 260,000 over the next 10 years, supplemented by approximately 200,000 reservists.

From next year, all 18-year-old men and women will be sent a questionnaire to assess their interest and willingness to join the armed forces. It will be mandatory for men and voluntary for women.

From July 2027 all men aged 18 will also have to take a medical exam to assess their fitness for duty.

If the government’s targets are not met, a form of compulsory enlistment could be considered by parliament. If war were to break out, the military would be able to draw on the questionnaires and medical exams for potential recruits.

Some within Germany’s political left remain deeply opposed to mandatory service.

Many young Germans are wary and a significant majority oppose it. A recent Forsa survey for Stern magazine suggested while just over half of respondents favoured compulsory service, opposition rose to 63% among 18- to 29-year-olds.

“I don’t want to go to war because I don’t want to die or I don’t want to be shot at,” said Jimi, a 17-year-old student from Berlin, who attended an anti-conscription protest outside the Bundestag earlier this week. “I also don’t want to shoot people.”

An attack against Germany was an “unlikely and abstract scenario” that the government was using to legitimise “stealing millions of young people’s right to decide what they should be doing”, he said.

Meanwhile, 21-year-old Jason signed up as new Bundeswehr recruit earlier this year because of the current “security situation”.

“I wanted to contribute to defend peace, to defend democracy if the worst happens,” he said. By joining up he felt he was “giving back to society” but also believed in the deterrent potential of the army, “so potential enemies don’t even think about attacking you”.

Defence Minister Boris Pistorius has sought to reassure Germans, saying that despite the new military service plan there was “no cause for concern… no reason for fear”.

“The more capable of deterrence and defence our armed forces are, through armament through training and through personnel, the less likely it is that we will become a party to a conflict at all,” Pistorius said.

Defence spending in Germany tumbled after the end of the Cold War, while conscription was suspended in 2011.

Given its past, Germany has long been shy of showing military might, but earlier this year Friedrich Merz announced that the rule for German defence “now has to be whatever it takes”, following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Nato countries across Europe have come under pressure from President Donald Trump’s White House to hike spending.

European moves to re-arm have meant significant revenue for Rheinmetall.

Its CEO, Armin Papperger, whose firm also supplies Ukraine, said: “We make a lot of money because there is a huge demand.”

 

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gpkerdn9qo

In her Soviet-era apartment block on the outskirts of eastern Kyiv, Oksana Zinkovska-Boyarska lives with daily power cuts. The lift to her eighth-floor apartment often stops, the lights go out and sometimes the pumps maintaining pressure in the gas central heating fail.

She has a big rechargeable battery pack to keep appliances going, but it costs €2,000 (£1,770) and it only lasts so long. Her husband Ievgen, a lawyer, often has to work by torchlight. Their two-year-old daughter Katia plays by candlelight too.

Amid air raids and cold darkness, Oksana says she and Ievgen worry constantly for Katia. “I can’t describe with words the animal fear when you take your child to the shelter during the explosions.

“I have never felt anything like that in my life and I wouldn’t want anyone to feel anything like that. The thought that she might be scared because there’s no light – this is terrible.”

All across Ukraine, families are bracing themselves for even tougher times ahead – a long, cold winter in which Russian President Vladimir Putin attempts to finish off his invasion by striking Ukraine’s power supplies and networks.

Just last weekend, a massive drone and missile strike left much of the country for a time without power. Ukrainians are now enduring regular power cuts of up to 16 hours a day.

In winter, temperatures in Ukraine can plummet as low as -20C. One senior government figure told me they expect the next few months to be brutal.

“I think it will be the worst winter of our history,” says the official. “Russia will destroy our energy, our infrastructure, our heating. All state institutions should be prepared for the worst scenario.”

Maxim Timchenko, the chief executive of DTEK, a large private energy company in Ukraine, says: “Based on the intensity of attacks for the past two months, it is clear Russia is aiming for the complete destruction of Ukraine’s energy system.”

But according to one European envoy, it’s not just about people being cold at night or without light – there is more to Russia’s strategy.

“[This] is also about them not getting any bread from the bakery in the morning and not being able to go to work because there is no power for the factory,” says the envoy.

As the official puts it: “The goal of the Russians is to kill our economy.”

So how exactly will this strategy play out? And given that almost four years of war have taken their toll, what does it mean for Ukraine’s people – and the future of this long, hard war?

Frozen assets and suspended diplomacy
On the front line, the news is bleak. There are growing signs that the key eastern city of Pokrovsk may fall, giving Russian forces a boost in morale and a fresh platform to seize more of the Donetsk region.

Another issue that could impact morale is a massive corruption scandal affecting the government.

Prosecutors have accused ministers and officials of taking kickbacks from contracts to build defensive structures around Ukraine’s nuclear plants. Both of the ministers accused deny the allegations. But the risk for President Zelensky is that Ukrainians, many of whom are living in the cold and the dark, may lose trust in the administration.

What’s more, for now, diplomatic efforts to end the war appear to be on hold.

Plans of a summit between Putin and US President Donald Trump are on the back burner after Moscow refused to budge from its maximalist war aims and the US imposed sanctions on Russian oil and gas.

“There is currently a pause,” a Kremlin spokesman said this week, “the situation is stalled.”

All the while, European nations squabble over what to do with €180bn (£160bn) in frozen Russian assets. They plan to use the cash to raise a so-called “repatriation loan” for Ukraine, repaid only if Russia ever pays reparations after the end of the war.

But a row over how to share the risk has left Kyiv’s coffers looking distinctly bare.

Yet it is the energy crisis that is worrying the Ukrainian government most, according to those I spoke to. “People are tired after four years of the war,” the official tells me.

“I am afraid they will be demotivated.”

Insomnia, missiles and shifting morale
Walk the streets of Kyiv and you’ll pass a sea of tired faces – people’s eyes are red from a lack of sleep, their rest broken by the air raid sirens.

“I am tired of not sleeping enough,” says Yana Kolomiets, 31, a casting director from Odesa. “But… people who fight on the front line are tired [too].”

A recent scientific study suggested that people are three times more likely to suffer from insomnia in Ukraine than in countries at peace.

It tracked the sleep patterns of around 100 Ukrainians over six months, and found the insomnia persisted even on quiet nights. (The research was published by Texty, a data journalism website based in Ukraine.)

There have not been many quiet nights. Russia launched vast numbers of ballistic missiles at Ukraine in October – some 268 in all, the highest monthly total since the full-scale invasion, according to analysis published by the Oboz news site. The same month Russia launched 5,298 Shahed and other bomber drones.

Diplomats suggest there is a geographic focus to Russia’s tactics, their strikes deliberately targeting gas and electricity transmission networks in eastern Ukraine, rather than power stations in the west of the country.

“They are trying to cut Ukraine in two in terms of energy,” one European envoy says. “They want anywhere east of the river Dnipro to be cold this winter.”

The aim, one government source told me, is to “instigate an insurrection, so that people go against the government in Kyiv… they are trying to destroy social cohesion.”

So concerned is the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs it has already issued a formal warning, saying “the approaching winter poses new risks for Ukrainians… as intensified attacks on energy networks undermine efforts to maintain warmth in homes, schools and health centres”.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly98qp99l8o

A U.S. proposal to provide a United Nations mandate for an international stabilization force in Gaza is facing opposition from Russia, China and some Arab countries, which have expressed unease about a yet-to-be established board that would temporarily govern the territory and the lack of any transitional role for the Palestinian Authority.

The Chinese and the Russians — two veto-wielding members of the U.N. Security Council — have called for the “Board of Peace” under President Donald Trump’s ceasefire plan to be removed from the resolution entirely, according to four U.N. diplomats briefed on the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing negotiations.

In the latest draft released late Wednesday and obtained by The Associated Press, the U.S. maintains the language around the board while providing further commitment to Palestinian self-determination. although the language remains weak.

While some of the responses to the U.S. proposal reflect typical negotiations between countries — with detailed back-and-forth and revisions in language — the objection to the transitional board indicates that wide gaps have emerged between some members of the U.N.’s most powerful body and the U.S. following more than two years of war.

At the same time, other members said quick action would avoid upending the progress toward peace, one diplomat said.

That was the message Thursday from the U.S. mission to the U.N., which said in a statement that the “attempts to sow discord” have “grave, tangible and entirely avoidable consequences for Palestinians in Gaza.” It urged the council to unite and pass the resolution.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also has called on the council to pass the resolution without delay.

“I think we’re making good progress on the language of the resolution, and hopefully we’ll have action on it very soon,” he told reporters Wednesday before departing a G7 foreign ministers meeting in Canada. “We don’t want to lose momentum on this.”

UN Security Council members sought changes to the US proposal
The U.S. first circulated a draft resolution last week to the 15 members of the Security Council that would give a broad international mandate to the stabilization force to provide security in Gaza through the end of 2027, working with the yet-to-be-established Board of Peace. Arab and other countries that have expressed interest in participating in the force have indicated that such a mandate is necessary for them to contribute troops.

Russia, China and Algeria voiced their opposition to that draft, and all but two of the other Security Council members submitted amendments, one of the diplomats said.

The sticking points surrounded the pathway to an independent Palestinian state and timeline for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, according to two of the diplomats. The new draft this week responds to objections that the resolution didn’t envision a future independent Palestinian state — but without absolutes.

It says after reforms to the Palestinian Authority are “faithfully carried out and Gaza redevelopment has advanced, the conditions may be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood.”

“The United States will establish a dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians to agree on a political horizon for peaceful and prosperous coexistence,” it adds.

US makes changes but keeps transitional authority
The new draft adds that as the stabilization force “establishes control and stability,” the Israeli military will withdraw from the Gaza Strip. It reiterates that the step would be based on “standards, milestones and timeframes linked to demilitarization and agreed” by Israel, the stabilization force, the U.S. and others.

The United Arab Emirates, a major U.S. ally in the peace negotiations, said publicly this week that it does not yet see a clear framework for the proposed stabilization force in Gaza and, under the current circumstances, will not take part in it.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposes Palestinian statehood and a Gaza governed by the Palestinian Authority, which runs pockets of the West Bank. But the language in Trump’s plan seems to encourage a role for a Palestinian state.

Other countries on the Security Council have asked for further clarification on the Board of Peace, including who will be on it and how it will operate. The new draft did not make big changes regarding the board.

Some countries push quick action to preserve momentum
Some council members say swift adoption of any proposal with the U.N. stamp of approval would be wise to keep up with the positive momentum on the ground, one diplomat said.

That diplomat and others said the Americans could get frustrated with the negotiations and decide to go forward unilaterally with a force from willing countries that would not have U.N. backing.

The U.S. likely has three options going forward, another diplomat said:

— Accept some meaningful amendments.

Source: https://apnews.com/article/gaza-ceasefire-stabilization-force-united-nations-f8a0088cae56fc79226f0352ebcbb065

Jeffrey Epstein wrote a paranoid email to himself months before his death rambling about Donald Trump.

The disgraced pedophile billionaire claimed that the President had often visited his home in Palm Beach, in the email sent to himself in February 2019.

‘[REDACTED] worked at Mar-a-Lago. Trump knew of it, and came to my house many times during that period,’ Epstein wrote, six months before he was found hanged at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan.

‘He never got a massage,’ the financier said.

Epstein appeared to be spiraling as he was facing new charges of abusing dozens of girls following a bombshell investigation by the Miami Herald in 2019. It came more than a decade after he was convicted of soliciting a minor for prostitution in 2008.

The pedophile appears to downplay the significance of his abuse to victims, writing: ‘the girls returned the house multiple times. For 200 dollars for a rub and tug. No sex. Some worked in the local massage parlors. Most in their twenties.’

The reasoning and context behind Epstein’s email to himself are not clear. The following day, he forwarded the exchange to the author Michael Wolff, who was writing an exposé on Trump at the time.

‘Have fun,’ the financier wrote.

The bizarre rant came just a few months after the Miami Herald released their bombshell three-part series that identified more than 60 women who said they were sexually abused by Epstein when they were underage.

The Herald exposed how the pedophile received a plea deal in 2008 from then-US Attorney Alexander Acosta, who allowed him to plead guilty to only state prostitution charges, avoiding federal sex-trafficking charges. The deal also granted immunity to unnamed co-conspirators.

Epstein ended the email by rehashing an old Florida property dispute that he had with the President in the early 2000s shortly before their relationship collapsed.

Trump famously expelled the financier around October 2007, according to the Mar-a-Lago’s Club registry.

The president has since revealed Epstein was ‘stealing’ young women who worked at his estate.

The pressure from the Miami Herald’s story led to Epstein’s arrest in July 2019 on federal sex-trafficking charges in New York.

He died in a New York jail cell from an apparent suicide one month later.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday branded the email dump a politically motivated ‘smear’ campaign and repeated Giuffre’s former statements about Trump in which she absolved him of any wrongdoing.

Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15287841/Epstein-wrote-disturbing-email-suicide-Trump-knew.html

 

The actress received a lot of backlash for her role in the film at the time of its release

ELIZABETH Berkley has stunned in a new campaign where she recreated her iconic look from the film Showgirls, in honor of its 30th anniversary.

The actress, 53, partnered with Betsey Johnson for the fashion designer’s Holiday 2025 campaign, which launched on Wednesday.

Betsey shared pictures from the photoshoot on Instagram, capturing Elizabeth, who was the “original Showgirl” in the 1995 erotic drama, in various high-end ensembles.

The duo even posed together in one shot, with Elizabeth wearing a long, feathery purple coat and a massive headpiece, and Betsy adorned in pink feathers and a white and black mini dress.

Betsey shared a quote from Elizabeth in her caption, which read, “Betsey’s beautiful fabrics and her creativity are woven into some of my greatest memories in my life.

“Going from girl to young woman into womanhood through my twenties… Betsey’s clothes have really met me at every age and stage.”

‘SO STUNNING!’
Fans were shocked by Elizabeth’s ageless appearance in the photos and praised her in the comments.

“GORGEOUS!!!!! Giving SERIOUS Nomi vibes!” one person wrote.

“@elizberkley you look Fabulous,” said another.

“Beyond Stunning!!!! You look beautiful!” echoed a third.

“She is so stunning its almost painful,” gushed a fourth.

Others noted that the actress looked like she “hadn’t aged a day,” compared to her teenage years starring in Saved by the Bell from 1989 to 1992.

Elizabeth has been open about her adoration for Betsey, as she famously spent her first paycheck from the sitcom at one of the designer’s stores.

She also wore one of the fashionista’s dresses to her Showgirls audition and screen test for the role of Las Vegas stripper Nomi Malone, for which she was later cast.

BIG MISS
The film, which also starred Gina Gershon, Kyle MacLachlan, and Gina Rivera, wasn’t initially well-received at the box office and was long considered a career ender for Elizabeth due to its cheesy dialogue.

It was also among the TV star’s first attempts to break away from her Saved by the Bell character, high school student Jessie Spano, after leaving the show to pursue more movie roles.

“Of course, it was disappointing that it didn’t do well, but there was so much cruelty around it. I was bullied,” Elizabeth recalled to People two years ago while reflecting on the film.

“And I didn’t understand why I was being blamed. The job as an actor is to fulfill the vision of the director. And I did everything I was supposed to do,” she added.

Around this time, Elizabeth reprised the role of Jessie for the show’s reboot on Peacock, alongside her former castmates, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Mario Lopez, Tiffani Thiessen, and Lark Voorhies.

Despite the excitement from fans about the series’ return, it didn’t last long, as it was cancelled in May after two seasons.

Elizabeth has since gone on to star in numerous other projects, including the HBO miniseries The Idol and, most recently, Kim Kardashian‘s Hulu legal drama, All’s Fair.

Source: https://www.the-sun.com/entertainment/15487663/elizabeth-berkley-showgirls-recreates-looks-ageless-30-anniversary/

The commemorations this Thursday will assemble survivors, families of victims, and state officials in Paris and Saint-Denis, a suburb of Paris for a day of collective remembrance, unity, solidarity, fortitude and resilience.

A decade after the deadliest terrorist attacks in its history, France honours the memory of the 132 victims who lost their lives on 13 November 2015, in a consecutive series of coordinated jihadist assaults that has scarred the nation irreparably. The commemorations this Thursday will assemble survivors, families of victims, and state officials in Paris and Saint-Denis, a suburb of Paris for a day of collective remembrance, unity, solidarity, fortitude and resilience.

On that ominous Friday the 13th ten years ago, three Islamist commando units carried out simultaneous attacks across the French capital. The terror strikes began near the football stadium, Stade de France in Saint-Denis, where three suicide bombers attempted to enter the stadium during an international match between France and Germany attended by then-President François Hollande. Upon being denied entry, they detonated their explosive vests outside, killing Manuel Dias and injuring around ten others. Dias is now remembered as the first victim of that night.

Around the same time, a second group of attackers opened fire on several cafés in Paris’s 10th and 11th arrondissements; neighbourhoods that are synonymous with the city’s vibrant nightlife and youthful spirit. The shootings targeted Le Carillon, Le Petit Cambodge, La Bonne Bière, Casa Nostra, and La Belle Équipe, leaving 39 people dead and 32 gravely injured. Another bomber detonated his vest outside Le Comptoir Voltaire, but none were killed. The restaurant has been renamed Les Ogres ever since.

The third and the bloodiest attack occurred at the Bataclan concert hall, where American rock band Eagles of Death Metal was performing where 90 people were massacred and dozens more seriously wounded as terrorists opened fire on the crowd and took hostages. The siege ended only after elite special police squads stormed the venue, killing the terrorists, finally putting an end to the carnage. In the years that followed, the harrowing ordeal endured by survivors claimed two more lives; Guillaume Valette, a young chemist, and comic book artist Fred Dewilde. They committed suicide.

This Thursday’s commemorations begin late in the morning at Stade de France, where a tribute will be paid to Manuel Dias and those injured in the initial explosions. Ceremonies will then move through the city making a halt at each site that witnessed the horrors. This solemn day’s memorial journey will conclude at 2:30 p.m. outside the Bataclan with French President Emmanuel Macron, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, and victims’ associations 13onze15 and Life for Paris in attendance.

Throughout the evening most of the iconic Parisian monuments including the Eiffel Tower, City Hall, Place de la République will be illuminated in blue, white, and red, the colours of the French flag, as symbols of remembrance and unity. The City of Paris has called upon Parisians to visit the Place de la République to light candles, lay flowers, or leave messages in memory of the victims.

A poignant highlight of the day will be the inauguration of the “13 November 2015 Garden” this evening in central Paris. Macron, Hidalgo, Philippe Duperron of 13onze15, and Arthur Dénouveaux of Life for Paris are expected to speak during the ceremony. Life for Paris will also formally dissolve on the same day, following a decision by its members to move forward “without being locked into the status of victims,” Dénouveaux explained.

Over and above official tributes, Paris will host several events over the weekend, including a commemorative mural in the 11th arrondissement and two solidarity races organized by the French Association of Victims of Terrorism.

Source : https://www.freepressjournal.in/world/france-commemorates-10th-anniversary-of-paris-terrorist-attacks

On Tuesday, local authorities reported that a portion of a freshly constructed bridge, this year in Sichuan, fell along a national route connecting the country’s heartland with Tibet. However, no injuries were reported. Sichuan comes under China’s Southwest province.

On Tuesday, local authorities reported that a portion of a freshly constructed Hongqi Bridge, this year in Sichuan, fell along a national route connecting the country’s heartland with Tibet. However, no injuries were reported. Sichuan comes under China’s Southwest province.

According to the local administration, police in the city of Maerkang blocked the 758-meter-long Hongqi bridge to all traffic on Monday afternoon after cracks formed on surrounding roads and slopes and changes were observed in the mountain’s topography.

See more

Chinese Engineering Failure- The 758-metre-long Hongqi bridge collapsed in southwest China, months after opening. China isn’t as smart as everyone makes them out to be. They couldn’t copy this design. The ground shifted on one of the approaches. Luckily it was noticed the day… pic.twitter.com/ZJDDdwgCP9

— Peter Lemonjello (@KCtoFL) November 11, 2025

The user wrote, “Chinese Engineering Failure- The 758-metre-long Hongqi bridge collapsed in southwest China, months after opening. China isn’t as smart as everyone makes it out to be. They couldn’t copy this design. The ground shifted on one of the approaches. Luckily, it was noticed the day before, so there were no casualties.”

The local government further stated that the approach bridge and roadbed collapsed on Tuesday afternoon due to landslides caused by worsening circumstances on the hill.

See more

Chinese Engineering Failure- The 758-metre-long Hongqi bridge collapsed in southwest China, months after opening.

China isn’t as smart as everyone makes them out to be.

They couldn’t copy this design on chenab of Jammu and Kashmir. pic.twitter.com/dq9EE0P4YU

— श्रवण बिश्नोई (किसान/ Hindus) (@SKBishnoi29Rule) November 11, 2025

According to a video that the contractor Sichuan Road & Bridge Group shared on social media, the bridge’s construction was completed earlier this year.

See more

Why can’t we build beautiful bridges in a few m9nths, like Chiana?

Ask a chorus of imbeciles on X almost daily.

Because we build them to last, cretins.

Another triumph of Socialism! The Hongqi bridge in Sichuan did not make it to its first birthday.
pic.twitter.com/R85W8EJPVv

— Saul Montes-Bradley (@Debradelai) November 12, 2025

Netizens are criticizing China’s architectural efficiency, as more than 100 bridges have collapsed in China in the past 10 years. One user wrote, “China isn’t as smart as everyone makes them out to be. They couldn’t copy this design on chenab of Jammu and Kashmir.”

Source : https://www.freepressjournal.in/viral/china-is-not-as-smart-as-netizens-react-as-recently-opened-758-metre-long-chinese-bridge-collapses-due-to-landslide-visuals-inside

 

A coalition led by Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani came first in Iraq’s parliamentary election, the Independent High Electoral Commission said on Wednesday.
His coalition received 1.317 million votes in Tuesday’s election, the commission said.

Reuters reported earlier that Sudani placed first, citing two electoral commission officials with knowledge of the results.
Sudani was seeking a second term in Tuesday’s election, but many disillusioned young voters saw the vote simply as a vehicle for established parties to divide Iraq’s oil wealth.

However, Sudani tried to cast himself as the leader who could make Iraq a success after years of instability, arguing he had moved against established parties that brought him to power.
No party can form a government on its own in Iraq’s 329-member legislature, so parties build alliances with other groups to become an administration, a fraught process that often takes many months.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/coalition-led-by-iraqi-pm-sudani-comes-first-iraqs-parliamentary-election-two-2025-11-12/

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday pushed back against criticism from some U.S. allies over the legality of the U.S. strikes in the Caribbean, saying Europeans don’t get to dictate how Washington defends its national security.
Rubio attended a Group of Seven foreign ministers meeting in Canada’s Niagara region, where talks focused on the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, but some countries present have raised concerns over U.S. strikes against boats that the Trump administration says are carrying drugs.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said at the start of the meeting on Tuesday that the strikes “violate international law” and were concerning for France’s territories in the region.
The U.S. military has carried out at least 19 strikes so far against suspected drug vessels in the Caribbean and off the Pacific coasts of Latin America, killing at least 76 people.
Speaking to reporters before departing Canada, Rubio said no one had raised the operations with him during the G7 meeting. However, he defended targeting what he called “narco-terrorists” and said drugs are also shipped via Venezuela to Europe, so the United States should be thanked for taking them out.

“I don’t think that the European Union gets to determine what international law is,” Rubio said. “They certainly don’t get to determine how the United States defends its national security.”
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told Reuters on the sidelines of the meeting that such strikes could be only justified as self-defense or by a UN Security Council resolution.
Asked about a CNN report that Britain had suspended intelligence sharing on drug trafficking over concerns about the strikes, Rubio called it a “false story”, and said the United States has a very strong partnership with the United Kingdom.
“Nothing has changed or happened that has impeded in any way our ability to do what we’re doing,” Rubio said. “Nor are we asking anyone to help us with what we’re doing.”
The Trump administration insists those targeted were transporting drugs, without providing evidence or publicly explaining the legal justification for the decision to attack the boats rather than stop them and arrest those on board.

The United States has publicly justified its actions as consistent with Article 51 of the founding U.N. Charter, which requires the U.N. Security Council to be immediately informed of any action states take in self-defense against armed attack.

The G7 ministers, in their statement, said they reaffirmed a shared commitment “to strengthening partnership in securing maritime ports and routes against the trafficking of illegal drugs” but made no specific mention of the intensified U.S. military campaign in waters off Latin America.
While acknowledging the U.S. justification for the strikes, a group of independent U.N. experts said last month: “Even if such allegations were substantiated, the use of lethal force in international waters without proper legal basis violates the international law of the sea and amounts to extrajudicial executions.”
Colombian President Gustavo Petro ordered Colombian public security forces to suspend intelligence sharing with U.S. intelligence agencies until Washington stops attacking boats in the Caribbean.

UKRAINE SEEKS MORE PRESSURE ON MOSCOW

At the G7 meeting, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha pushed for Kyiv’s allies to strengthen its long-range missile capability and bolster its energy sector as Ukraine enters another winter at war.
U.S. President Donald Trump has sought a rapprochement with Moscow and held a summit in Alaska with Putin in August. But he has backed calls for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine with forces at their present positions, while Moscow has said it wants Kyiv to yield more territory.
“What they want is the rest of the Donetsk. And obviously the Ukrainians aren’t going to agree to that,” Rubio said, adding that Washington had concluded that Russia is not currently interested in pursuing peace.
The ministers issued a final joint statement in which they reiterated a call for an immediate ceasefire and said “we are increasing the economic costs to Russia, and exploring measures against countries and entities that are helping finance Russia’s war efforts.”
Efforts to organize a summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump were put on ice last month, as Moscow’s rejection of an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine cast a cloud over attempts at negotiations.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/rubio-may-face-questions-over-legality-us-strikes-caribbean-g7-meeting-2025-11-12/

In the hours after the Louvre heist, Belgian police received an alert from their French counterparts, urging them to be on the lookout for anyone trying to hawk the stolen jewels, according to two Antwerp police officers.
The alert came via the “Pink Diamond” network, a secure channel overseen by EU law enforcement agency Europol that unites investigators specialized in high-value thefts.

Antwerp, a Belgian port city, has sat at the heart of the world’s diamond trade since the 16th century. Its wholesalers traded nearly $25 billion worth of stones last year alone.

But over the last 30 years, Antwerp has struggled to contain a growing underworld, home to hundreds of gold and jewellery shops run largely by people of Georgian descent, according to police, prosecutors, court files and municipal documents from Belgium and France.
Although most of these shops are law-abiding businesses, some offer criminals from across Europe a channel through which they can sell stolen gold or jewels – a process known as “fencing”.
French authorities have placed four people under formal investigation in connection with the Louvre heist, but have yet to recover jewels worth $102 million.

They have given no details about the hunt. Asked whether Antwerp was a focus of the French probe, the Paris prosecutor’s office said: “All hypotheses are being considered.”
Antwerp police mobilised immediately after receiving the “Pink Diamond” alert, the two officers said.
“From the moment that happened … especially in Antwerp, with all the jewellery stores, we’ve been alert,” one said.
They reviewed security footage for French plates and tapped informants for tips on anyone trying to sell the jewels. Police also warned some jewellers not to touch the iconic booty.
Belgium’s federal police declined to comment, citing the ongoing French investigation.

“QUESTIONABLE” PRACTICES

Georgian traders began settling in Antwerp in the 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union, police say. Many had a background in metals trading and deep links with the city’s Jewish diamond traders.

There are now some 300 jewellery shops operating just outside the diamond district, a quarter of which are involved in “fencing” stolen product, the two police said.
The Antwerp World Diamond Centre, a trade body representing the wholesalers, told Reuters its reputation “is occasionally put at risk” by being associated with some jewellers with “questionable … money laundering practices”.
Antwerp’s diamond sector is already grappling with a G7 ban on Russian gems and a deluge of lab-grown stones that have led to historically low prices and calls for a sector-wide bailout.
But for some jewellers, business is booming.
Some suspected fences drive around town in S-Class Mercedes-Benz, regularly open new shops and acquire pricy foreign real estate, one of the officers said.
“You clearly have two worlds here,” they said. “Those who work hard, are legal … and are struggling to survive, and those who apparently do good business in the same neighbourhood selling the same products.”

Kris Luyckx, a lawyer who has defended many jewellers of Georgian descent in court, said compliance regulations were robust, while jewellers are subject to regular police checks.
Crime in France has been a reliable source of income for Antwerp jewellers, French and Belgian law enforcement officials said.
After robbing Kim Kardashian in her Paris hotel room in 2016, the mastermind of the plot confessed to selling her melted gold and diamonds in Antwerp for over 25,000 euros, court documents show. French and Belgian officials said they believe the booty was bought by Georgian fences, although nobody was charged as it was never recovered.
Since then, over half-a-dozen French and Belgian investigations have uncovered a criminal corridor between the countries in which Balkan burglars hand their stolen goods to couriers in France, who deliver them to buyers in Antwerp.
In most cases, the buyers were Georgian, the Belgian police officers said.
Yakout Boudali, head of intelligence for the French Gendarmerie’s Central Office for the Fight Against Itinerant Delinquency, the unit that ran three of the probes into French thieves transporting booty to Belgium, said that in at least two of those cases, the Antwerp fences were “of Georgian nationality or held dual nationality.”
However, she warned against “stigmatising” Georgians or Antwerp, saying Romania-based groups are increasingly active.

DRUGS AND DIAMONDS

Antwerp’s illicit jewellery trade adds to the woes of a city already battling drug gangs using Europe’s No. 2 port to import multi-tonne shipments of cocaine. In an open letter posted on Belgium’s courts website last month, an anonymous Antwerp judge said the country was on the cusp of becoming a narco-state.
Antwerp formalised a specialised police force to oversee the diamond and jewellery sectors in 2021. In a report at the time, which remains the most comprehensive official account of the illicit trade, the mayor’s office warned of “a strong link between fraudulent jewellers and the criminal drug environment.”
Jewellers are suspected of “laundering of millions of euros in criminal proceeds,” it added.
Antwerp City Hall did not respond to requests for comment.
An omerta among many Georgian jewellers and Indian diamond traders makes it hard to penetrate these close-knit communities, the police officers said.
The jewellers have also rejected what the police sources viewed as an effort to improve transparency, citing a 2017 push by then-Mayor Bart De Wever, now Belgium’s right-wing prime minister, “to drive criminal networks out of the city.”
His municipal decree mandated security cameras with facial recognition inside jewellery shops, among other measures, with the images readily available to police.
Jewellers appealed the edict, but eventually conceded on one condition, the police sources said – the cameras could be installed but wouldn’t be turned on.
Luyckx, who represented over 100 jewellers in the case, confirmed a deal was struck. He said the law was overly invasive and unfairly targeted the largely Jewish community.
“It was like profiling an area as a sort of criminal ghetto,” he said.
Luyckx, who was asked to defend the jewellers by a local rabbi, Yosef Tarab Cohen, said some jewellers’ wariness of cooperating with police was understandable, given the “smell of discrimination and racist profiling.”
Antwerp revoked the decree in 2020 after a state auditor said it risked overreach and conflicted with privacy laws, court documents show.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/chasing-louvre-loot-inside-antwerps-jewellery-underworld-2025-11-12/

As rich nations drag their feet, India’s role is pivotal in bringing together the Global North and South on climate action.

As nearly 200 countries debate the planet’s climate future at the 30th UN Climate Conference (COP30) in Brazil’s Amazonian city of Belem, India finds itself in a unique position in balancing the weight of its need for economic growth with its increasingly prominent role as a voice representing the Global South.

This year’s climate negotiations follow last year’s disappointing COP29 held in Azerbaijan, where countries missed the climate finance mark and agreed to raise $300 billion (€259 billion) annually by 2035 instead of the appealed $1.3 trillion.

Developing nations criticized countries with industrialized economies for dodging their responsibility by not pledging adequate climate financing. India said the pledged sum was “too little, too distant.”

Standing on the shaky ground set by COP29, this year’s summit aims to operationalize the climate finance targets and revise national climate plans called the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). The host country, Brazil, has insisted this will be “the COP of implementation.”

How is India balancing economic and climate needs?

For India, like other vulnerable countries in the Global South facing a disproportionate brunt of the climate crisis, the stakes and hopes are high. As one of the world’s fastest growing economies, it walks a tightrope, balancing its economic ambitions with the collective responsibility of tackling the climate challenge.

In the past few years, India has made substantial progress in the field of renewable energy — particularly solar and wind. It has the fourth largest renewable energy generation capacity in the world, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

And a report published in October by the International Energy Agency (IEA) concluded that the country is set to become the second-largest renewables growth market globally, after China, by 2030.

Despite its achievements in harnessing renewable power, India still relies heavily on coal, which is estimated to generate around 75% of its electricity. The country is the world’s second largest coal consumer, after China.

Amid strong economic growth and corresponding energy demand, India has seen a multifold jump in its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

The country was responsible for the biggest rise in GHG emissions globally between 2023 and 2024, adding about 165 million tons of GHGs during this period, according to a recent UN report.

India’s emissions have grown but “it has also become more proactive about committing to more ambitious mitigation action on its own through the NDCs,” Aman Srivastava, a fellow studying climate policy at the Delhi-based think tank Sustainable Futures Collaborative, told DW.

This year, India has achieved 50% of its installed electricity capacity from non-fossil fuel sources — five years ahead of its 2030 target.

Where do wealthy countries stand?

This year, the US, which is historically the biggest emitter, pulled out of the 2015 Paris Agreement for the second time under President Donald Trump, who has dismissed climate change as a “hoax” and “a money-making industry.”

On the other hand, the European Union remains divided and unable to set a clear direction to achieve its climate goals.

Just days before COP30 began, the EU agreed to cut emissions by 90% by 2040, from 1990 levels, but gave the target leeway by allowing member countries to buy foreign carbon credits to make up 5% of the emission reduction goal.

Speaking of the West’s waning leadership in climate affairs, Avantika Goswami, a climate policy researcher at New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment, told DW the West’s leadership role on climate policy is waning.

“It’s the crisis of Western economies today, which is spread across military conflicts, trade wars, deindustrialization, and economic stagnation — to which they are responding anxiously,” she said.

Dhanasree Jayaram, a co-coordinator at the Manipal Academy of Higher Education’s Center for Climate Studies, shared a similar view.

“Many developing countries have taken the lead while countries in the West or Global North have been faltering in the past decade,” she told DW. This is an opportunity, Jayaram added, because “these were the countries that were often blamed for not contributing enough to the global public good.”

A leading player in climate diplomacy

For a long time, India has argued in favor of “common but differentiated responsibilities” to fight climate change — meaning that although all countries need to act to combat the problem, the biggest historical polluters such as the US and European nations need to do more than others.

New Delhi has played a key role in the COP meetings over the past few years, especially in setting up the Loss and Damage Fund, aimed at helping vulnerable countries suffering from the adverse effects of climate change.

Jayaram also pointed to the Indian government’s initiatives like the International Solar Alliance to help countries worldwide to scale up renewable power generation capacity.

By doing so, India has positioned itself as a bridge between the Global North and Global South, she said, adding that these efforts have also elevated New Delhi’s standing as a leading diplomatic actor in climate talks and multilateral forums.

But there remains a perception, particularly in the West, that the Global South is not doing its bit to fight climate change, said Arunabha Ghosh, a special envoy to COP30 representing South Asia, and CEO of the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW).

“We have to bridge the ambition and the implementation gaps by bridging the perception gap. The perception gap that countries in the Global South are not acting or don’t want to act,” he told DW. “In fact, there’s a lot more that’s happening in the Global South than is given credit for.”

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/cop30-can-india-step-up-and-lead-global-south-on-climate/a-74714337

Public prosecutors say a suspected Hamas member was arrested soon after entering the country, on a highway near the border to Czechia.

Federal police arrested a suspected Hamas member soon after his entry into Germany on the A17 autobahn near the Czech border, prosecutors said on Wednesday.

The Lebanese-born man is accused of procuring weapons that were supposed to be used for attacks on Israeli or Jewish sites in Germany and Europe, the federal prosecutor’s office based in Karlsruhe said.

The suspect, who was detained on Tuesday, was to be transported to Karlsruhe, where he would appear before an investigating judge at the Federal Court of Justice, who would make a decision on investigative custody.

Prosecutors also said that Danish police in Copenhagen and the vicinity had searched properties of the detained man and another accused individual.

Hamas memeber suspected of procuring firearms

The man is suspected of procuring an automatic weapon, eight pistols and more than 600 rounds of ammunition in Berlin in August 2025.

He is alleged to have then transported these to another alleged Hamas member who is already in pretrial detention.

Prosecutors said that the weapons and ammunition were seized during the arrest of his presumed accomplice.

On October 1 this year, prosecutors in Berlin arrested three alleged Hamas members, accused of procuring weapons for attacks.

“The weapons were meant to be used for murderous attacks on Israeli or Jewish facitlities in Germany,” authorities said at the time, albeit adding the suspects had not formulated a concrete plot.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/suspected-hamas-member-arrested-in-germany/a-74716572

After a Turkish military plane crashed, the country’s defense minister posted a message saying: “Our heroic comrades-in-arms were martyred.”

All 20 military personnel on board a Turkish military cargo plane that crashed in Georgia were killed, Turkey’s defense minister announced on Wednesday.

The personnel were on board the C-130 Hercules plane that took off from Azerbaijan en route to Turkey, officials said.

“Our heroic comrades-in-arms were martyred on November 11, 2025, when our C-130 military cargo plane, which had taken off from Azerbaijan en route to our country, crashed near the Georgia-Azerbaijan border,” Defense Minister Yasar Guler said in a message posted on X, together with photographs of those killed in the crash.

See more

pic.twitter.com/FmJM9Shmzs

— T.C. Millî Savunma Bakanlığı (@tcsavunma) November 12, 2025

In a post on X, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev sent his sympathies to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

What caused the crash?

Georgia’s air traffic control service said the aircraft had disappeared from radar shortly after entering its airspace.

The cause of the crash is still unknown, and an investigation is underway.

An investigation team from Turkey reached the crash site early on Wednesday and was inspecting the plane’s wreckage in coordination with the Georgian authorities, the National Defense Ministry said.

Debris from the plane was spread across multiple locations, according to a report by Turkey’s private broadcaster NTV.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/turkish-military-plane-crash-all-20-onboard-dead/a-74703512

 

Across Africa, schools face outdated curricula and skills gaps. Experts say AI could transform learning and create new opportunities for African youth. DW looks at how African nations are embracing the change.

In Accra’s Chorkor neighborhood, young Ghanaians are using computers for the first time. Inside a modest digital lab, facilitators use smart tools to teach digital literacy — skills that could transform lives.

Some students already dream big. “I have learned a lot. I love technology and all that but coming to these classes, I have been able to gain knowledge. It has been inspirational,” said Emmanuel Dwamena Tenkorang, an IT student.

American social entrepreneur Patricia Wilkins is among those investing in artificial intelligence (AI) education for underprivileged youth in Ghana. Her organization, Basics International, runs the Chorkor Digital Lab, which teaches digital skills to young people.

“We launched the program just a few months ago, and we’ve already had one cohort of students. We’re running our second cohort and we have almost 100 students and we have three classes,” Wilkins told DW. “Technology is the future. This is where the jobs are. This is where people can work remotely.”

A continental push for AI in education

Across Africa, similar initiatives are gaining momentum. On November 5, over 1,500 education and tech experts gathered in Accra for the conference on AI and its impact on education.

The central theme: integrating AI into educational systems to drive transformation and unlocking opportunities for young people for innovation and sustainable development.

“[When we talk about AI in education] we are looking at technological tools that we are using to solve problems in the education environment, or we are also looking at technologies that within education systems we can use to enhance teaching and learning,” said Gideon Owusu Agyemang from the Ghana-India Kofi Annan Center of Excellence in ICT.

“We now have intelligent tutoring machines that are assisting students in their learning,” Agyemang added. “AI is also going to improve teaching and learning… the use of AI would be dominant in all the education settings that we have.”

AI fears and opportunities in African education

Despite optimism, some educators — especially in universities — remain wary of AI’s disruptive potential.

Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, founder of the Ghana Education Trust Fund and a former Ghanaian education minister, told DW that despite the many positives of technology and AI, Africa and its educational institutions are still crawling and must be awake to the potentials and dangers.

“I am raising an alarm,” Spio-Garbrah said. “Ghana should wake up, Africa should wake up, the world would have to wake up [because] many of us are asleep.”

“Many educational institutions are asleep. We are in a brave new world where those who build machines are getting ready to control the world,” he added.

Spio-Garbrah said African educational institutions should also get actively involved in training and positioning the continent to also own and control its own AI technologies.

Policies shaping AI education in Africa

To address concerns and guide implementation, experts are calling for clear policies.

“We need a policy on AI in education… if there is a deliberate and specific policy around AI and education, it guides the conversation and moves us from just the discussion to actualization,” said Deborah Asmah, CEO of Npontu Technologies, which specializes in AI.

Ghana is already taking steps in this direction, developing policies to guide AI education and create new opportunities for youth.

AI with African values

Ghana’s communication minister, Sam George, stressed the importance of culturally relevant AI.

“Artificial intelligence serves our people, reflects our values, and accelerates our development goals. We welcome collaborations, investments, and innovation, but we also insist on equity, inclusion, and respect for our digital sovereignty.”

The minister warned against external domination: “AI solutions must not be built for Africa by non-Africans lest it becomes digital colonization again.”

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/how-artificial-intelligence-is-revolutionizing-education-in-africa/a-74678669

AMERICANS are still demanding answers after a veteran mysteriously disappeared on a Carnival Cruise over two years ago.

Kevin McGrath, 26, vanished from a Carnival Cruise, two years before 18-year-old cheerleader Anna Kepner died aboard a Carnival ship.

In 2023, McGrath shockingly disappeared from the Carnival cruise.

However, just weeks after McGrath failed to show up for breakfast during his cruise to the Bahamas from Port Miami, officials called off the search.

McGrath was on board the Carnival Conquest on September 4, 2023, celebrating his father’s 60th birthday.

During the weekend cruise to the Bahamas, the 26-year-old never vanished from the ship and wasn’t caught going overboard on surveillance cameras.

Ship staff and security searched the ship, but never found McGrath.

Two years after his disappearance, people are still demanding answers.

“[Officials] searched the entire ship but were unable to locate him. Kevin was subsequently reported missing, and a search was initiated,” journalist Anita Sharma posted on X.

“Unfortunately, the search was called off after yielding no signs of him…Why has the search for him been discontinued?”

A keycard was used to swipe into McGrath’s cabin around 3:30 am, and he’d told his family he planned to meet them for breakfast before the ship docked in Miami.

“On the morning of Sept. 4, a guest reported a family member missing after Carnival Conquest had returned to PortMiami and guests were already disembarking from the ship,” Carnival Cruise wrote in a statement at the time.

“Local law enforcement is in charge of the investigation and our team members have fully cooperated with officials.”

Mysteriously, there was no sign of McGrath on this ship after the keycard swipe to his room, and the ship’s overboard sensors never went off, stumping investigators.

PROBATION MYSTERY

During the course of their investigation, cops discovered that McGrath, a retired veteran, was on probation after pleading guilty to aggravated assault in Tennessee, TMZ reported.

In September 2022, McGrath took the plea deal after being accused of threatening to kill his wife and their children.

A probation officer allowed him to move from Tennessee to Florida to live with his parents.

He was meant to have regular check-ins with his probation officer, which he violated when he boarded the cruise without their permission or knowledge.

The revelation by investigators led them to call off the search.

TEEN’S TRAGIC DEATH

McGrath’s disappearance comes two years before 18-year-old Anna Kepner died on a Carnival cruise headed to the Caribbean from Miami.

Kepner, a Florida native, was on board the Carnival Horizon when she died.

She was a straight-A student and was a cheerleader for her high school’s varsity team.

Kepner planned to graduate in just a few months and was set to go in to the military.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/15481484/kevin-mcgrath-missing-carnival-cruise-anna-kepner/

 

THIS is the moment the COP30 climate summit descends into chaos after a furious protestor mob smashed in and clashed with guards.

Security staff were left bleeding and being wheeled out in wheelchairs at the climate talks in Belém, Brazil.

Footage shows scores of protestors, some brandishing batons, pushing into the main venue, with many dressed in indigenous headgear.

They shout furiously, waving banners and flags bearing slogans such as: “Our forests are not for sale.”

After kicking down doors, they grapple with security and tensions boil over.

UN security staff ran behind a line of Brazilian soldiers as they struggled to deal with the violence.

The skirmish was launched late on during Tuesday’s schedule, as officials were filtering out of meetings.

Two security workers suffered minor injuries during the fracas, officials said.

The UN told the BBC that demonstrators breached the first line of defence but were prevented from getting any further.

Agustin Ocaa, a coordinator for Global Youth Coalition, said he was outside when he saw two groups of people, some with yellow shirts and some in indigenous dress, walking toward the venue.

At first they were mostly just dancing and chanting, and he decided to follow because he has some friends in the Indigenous group.

He didn’t see which group first broke through security, but said things escalated when security guards slammed the doors and called more guards.

Agustin said some of the group was chanting: “They cannot decide for us without us.”

This relates to tensions over the participation of indigenous people in the conference.

UN Climate Change said: “Brazilian and UN security personnel took protective actions to secure the venue, following all established security protocols.

“Brazilian and UN authorities are investigating the incident. The venue is fully secured, and COP negotiations continue.”

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/15476367/baton-wielding-protesters-storm-cop30-climate-summit-clash/

Sean “Diddy” Combs’ prison release date has been bumped back an extra month.

The embattled music mogul was initially expected to finish serving time at Fort Dix Federal Correctional Institute in New Jersey on May 8, 2028.

However, Page Six confirmed on Wednesday that his release has been pushed to June 4, 2028.

While the reason behind the adjusted date remains unclear, it comes on the heels of the rapper making headlines for allegedly violating multiple prison rules.

Combs’ rep and the Bureau of Federal Prisons have yet to respond to Page Six’s request for comment.

Last week, TMZ reported that Combs was in “trouble with prison officials” for consuming “homemade alcohol” made of fermented sugar, Fanta soda and apples.

Combs’ spokesperson told Page Six last week that the Grammy winner was “in his first week at FCI Fort Dix [after being transferred from Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center] and … focused on adjusting, working on himself and doing better each day.”

The rep continued, “As with any high-profile individual in a new environment, there will be many rumors and exaggerated stories throughout his time there — most of them untrue. We ask that people give him the benefit of the doubt, the privacy to focus on his personal growth.”

On Friday, CBS News reported that Combs had been busted again for allegedly participating in a prohibited three-way phone call.

The alleged conversation reportedly took place on Nov. 3, four days before Combs was transferred to the low-security New Jersey prison, where he displayed gray hair in a new mug shot.

Combs claimed to have not known that “third party or three-way calls are not authorized” as he was not given the prison admission and orientation handbook.

His rep denied the “procedural call” was “improper” because it was “protected under attorney-client privilege.”

Combs has been behind bars since his September 2024 arrest when he was charged with racketeering conspiracy; sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; and transportation to engage in prostitution.

Source : https://pagesix.com/2025/11/12/celebrity-news/sean-diddy-combs-prison-release-date-pushed-back-after-rapper-allegedly-violates-multiple-rules/

Lily Allen is airing out her dirty laundry following a very messy and public breakup with her ex-husband, David Harbour.

The “Smile” singer wore the ultimate sheer revenge dress while attending the global premiere of “The Hunger Games: On Stage” in London Wednesday night.

Allen, 40, walked the red carpet in a completely see-through, long-sleeve metallic black knit gown made by John Galliano for Dior in 1999.

The crochet-knit maxi dress featured long sleeves with tiny perforations throughout, allowing her skin to peek through.

The British pop star completed the look with a pair of black low-rise underwear, platform heels and a few glitzy rings; she opted to forgo a bra.

Allen styled her jet-black hair in a messy updo, keeping her beauty look simple with nude lipstick, soft blush and a shimmery eye.

She arrived in London wearing the skintight ensemble just days after flaunting her six-pack abs at the 2025 CFDA Fashion Awards in an ivory lingerie-inspired look from Colleen Allen’s spring 2026 collection.

The Grammy-nominated songwriter entered the American Museum of Natural History in a delicate bralette and silk maxi skirt layered under a coat draped over her shoulders

Allen also showed the “Stranger Things” actor what he was missing in a lacey bustier and panty set while dressed up as the children’s book character Madeline at a star-studded Halloween party earlier this month.

The “F–k You” artist seemingly used her costume choice to throw shade at her ex.

As Page Six previously reported, Allen included a track titled “Madeline” on her new “West End Girl” album, which she released last month.

The fifth song on her album includes lyrics hinting at Harbour’s alleged affair.

The raw and emotional tune features Allen having a conversation with Harbour’s alleged mistress. She asks tough questions like, “How long has it been going on?” and “Is it just sex or is there emotion?”

Source : https://pagesix.com/2025/11/12/style/lily-allens-see-through-dior-gown-might-just-be-the-ultimate-revenge-dress/

Pakistan’s prime minister on Wednesday offered talks to Afghanistan’s Taliban government in a renewed peace overture, about a week after negotiations between the two sides collapsed in Istanbul, raising fears that a ceasefire brokered by Qatar and Turkey could unravel and trigger new border clashes.

Shehbaz Sharif made the offer in a televised speech to parliament, a day after a deadly suicide bombing outside a court in Islamabad killed 12 people and wounded 27 others.

Seeking peace

Still, he said that Pakistan wanted peace in the region, because it was good for both sides, though there were “Afghan footprints” in this week’s attacks.

“Let us sit with sincere hearts, rein in terrorism, and work together for peace and prosperity in the region,” Sharif said. He said that during the recent rounds of talks in Doha and Istanbul, Pakistan had only made one demand to Afghanistan: rein in the militants.

“We want peace to prevail,” he said, and “Afghanistan should realize that what is good for us is good for them. But it cannot be that they make promises and then fail to act.”

There was no immediate comment from Kabul to Sharif’s offer.

Growing militancy

The latest development came hours after Pakistanis buried their loved ones killed in the suicide bombing at an Islamabad court, as authorities opened an investigation into the assault.

The bombing in Islamabad underscored the country’s challenges as the government struggles with a growing militancy, border tensions and a fragile truce with Afghanistan.

Tuesday’s attack at the district court, located on the edge of the city, raised alarms that despite multiple operations by security forces to crush the militants, they are still capable of mounting high-profile bombings — even in the Pakistani capital.

Pakistan has struggled with a surge in militant attacks in recent years, but until Tuesday’s bombing, Islamabad had largely been considered a safer place.

Forensic teams and police were combing Wednesday through debris at the site of the blast, which had been sealed to preserve evidence. Across the city, grief-stricken relatives were receiving the bodies of their loved ones at an Islamabad hospital.

Later, funeral prayers got underway for some of the victims. Most of the 27 people wounded in the bombing had been discharged home after treatment.

Pakistan’s accusations

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said in the immediate aftermath of Tuesday’s bombing that the attack was “carried out by Indian-backed elements and Afghan Taliban proxies” linked to the Pakistani Taliban.

He offered no evidence and also said that authorities were “looking into all aspects” of the explosion.

India and Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government, which both reject Pakistan’s accusations, have been working to increase ties in areas like business and humanitarian aid, despite not having formal diplomatic relations.

Naqvi also blamed the Pakistani Taliban for the attack. Pakistan has long said that the Afghan Taliban have been sheltering leaders and fighters from Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP — an accusation that Kabul denies.

The TTP denied involvement on Tuesday, while a breakaway faction, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, claimed responsibility, only to have one of its commanders later contradict that statement.

The Islamabad attack drew widespread condemnation from the international community.

Defense Minister Khawaja Asif told Geo News that the Islamabad bombing was “a message for Pakistan” meant to show that insurgents can carry out attacks deep inside the country.

Asked whether Pakistan would retaliate and possibly target TTP hideouts in Afghanistan, he said that “it cannot be ruled out” and again urged Kabul to rein in militants operating from there.

Attack on military-run college

On Monday night, four militants targeted an army-run college for cadets in the northwestern city of Wana. The police said four of the attackers — including a suicide car bomber — were killed and more than 600 people, including 525 cadets, their teachers and other staff, were safely rescued during the overnight assault.

The attack unfolded when a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the college gate. Troops quickly fanned out across the campus to prevent the attackers from reaching the buildings where cadets and staff had taken shelter.

Footage aired on Pakistani news channels Wednesday showed soldiers evacuating students using wooden ladders and breaking windows to get inside the dormitories.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack.

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said that the attackers appeared to be attempting a repeat of the 2014 Peshawar school massacre — the deadliest assault on a school in the country — when a breakaway TTP faction killed 154 people, mostly children, at an army-run school in Peshawar.

Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar told a gathering in Islamabad on Wednesday that the two attacks — in Islamabad and Wana — killed at least 15 people. His remark indicated that the Pakistani forces had suffered at least three fatalities at the cadet school.

Army chief’s promotion

Pakistan’s parliament on Wednesday approved a bill to elevate army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir to the newly created post of chief of defense forces, pending the signature of President Asif Ali Zardari, which is considered a formality.

The opposition boycotted the vote, saying the bill could undermine democracy, while the government insists that the new title for the army chief was only meant to ensure better coordination with the navy and air force.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/pakistan-islamabad-suicide-bombing-army-cadets-81876cfe4747401adbe2c2f0aa69cdc3

Taiwan evacuated more than 8,300 people from coastal and mountainous areas and closed schools before a tropical storm brushes the southern part of the island later Wednesday.

Fung-wong had super typhoon strength when it battered the Philippines on Sunday, causing flooding, landslides, power outages and at least 27 deaths. Still holding tropical storm strength Wednesday morning, it was expected to continue losing wind speed and size as it approached Taiwan.

Heavy rains and flooding injured at least 51 people as of Wednesday morning, according to the National Fire Agency.

Authorities evacuated 8,326 people, the majority from the eastern Hualien County, where a typhoon in September left 18 dead.

An overflowing creek flooded a village in Hualien on Tuesday. Images carried by local media showed a car being swept away by floodwater.

Schools and offices were closed in central and southern parts of Taiwan including the coastal cities of Kaohsiung, Taichung and Tainan as well as Pingtung, Chiayi and Miaoli counties. The capital, Taipei, in the island’s north, operated as usual.

As of Wednesday morning, Fung-wong was about 140 kilometers (87 miles) southwest of Taiwan in the South China Sea, moving northeast at 16 kph (10 mph). It was expected to make landfall during the afternoon or evening and graze the southern part of the island before exiting from its southeastern side.

The storm had maximum sustained winds of 65 kph (40 mph) and higher gusts.

Authorities warned residents around the island to avoid going to the beach, where waves were expected to rise to about 3 to 5 meters (about 10 to 16 feet). Signboards, fences and flowerpots were to be secured in anticipation of strong winds.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/tropical-storm-fungwong-taiwan-philippines-7132e0f350bb0b84a4e6c7a0e1642a0d

 

Apple said it has pulled two of China’s biggest gay dating apps, Blued and Finka, under pressure from Chinese authorities, in the latest sign of a tightening grip on the LGBTQ+ community.

An Apple spokesperson said in a statement that the company removed the two dating apps from China “based on an order from the Cyberspace Administration of China”, without further elaborating.

“We follow the laws in the countries where we operate,” the spokesperson told The Associated Press.

A check by The Associated Press on Tuesday found that the two apps are not available on Apple’s app store in China, although an “express” version of Blued could still be found. It was unclear what the difference is between the full and express versions or if an Android version might be available.

Blued was available “only in China,” Apple said. Finka’s developer “elected to remove the app” outside of China earlier this year, the company added.

Another popular gay dating app, Grindr, was pulled from Apple’s app store in China in 2022.

China’s LGBTQ+ community and advocacy groups are under intensifying pressure from authorities, even though the country decriminalized homosexuality in 1997. Some LGBTQ+ groups have been forced to cease operations in recent years in China and activism has been constrained.

Blued and Finka have the same parent company, BlueCity, a China-founded company that focuses on the LGBTQ+ community in China and abroad. BlueCity was delisted from the Nasdaq in 2022, when it was taken private.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/china-apple-app-firewall-lgbtq-fac2b157ac82d30a2eb699eb47d89435

President Trump signed a funding bill Wednesday to end the longest government shutdown in US history, hours after the House of Representatives passed legislation ending the 43-day standoff.

“It’s an honor now to sign this incredible bill and get our country working again,” Trump said in the Oval Office, flanked by House Republican leaders as well as business and union leaders.

The president blasted “extremist” Democrats for shutting down the government, accusing them of attempting to “extort American taxpayers.”

“This cost the country $1.5 trillion,” Trump said of the shutdown, describing it as a “little excursion” that Democrats took “purely for political reasons.”

Trump re-upped his demand for Senate Republicans to “terminate” the filibuster — so that “this would never happen again” — and called for the “massive amount” of federal funding for Obamacare to be “paid directly to the people of our country, so that they can buy their own healthcare.”

In a 222-209 vote, the House voted to pass the funding bill it received from the Senate which will restart paychecks for federal workers and air traffic controllers, and fund food assistance programs.

The legislation finally “reopens the government, restores critical services, and puts an end to the needless hardship Democrats have inflicted on the country,” said GOP House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole of Oklahoma.

“We feel very relieved tonight,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told reporters after the vote. “The Democrat shutdown is finally over thanks to House and Senate Republicans, who stood together to get the job done.”

Johnson slammed Democrats for using “the American people as leverage in this political game,” arguing that the outcome was “totally foreseeable.”

“It’s something that is very difficult to forgive,” he continued, describing the shutdown “stunt” as “utterly pointless and foolish.”

House Democrats lamented that their Senate Democratic colleagues caved with nothing to show for it on healthcare, their stated political reason for holding the government hostage.

“I rise in opposition to this bill that does nothing, not one thing to address the Republican health care crisis, amid a cost-of-living crisis,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) said in a floor speech ahead of the vote.

In his speech, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) proclaimed, “This fight is not over.”

“There are only two ways that this fight will end, Mr. Speaker: either Republicans finally decide to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits this year, or the American people will throw Republicans out of their jobs next year and end the speakership of Donald J. Trump once and for all,” the Democratic leader said.

The legislation will return federal workers to their jobs with backpay, reopen executive branch agencies that provide critical veterans services and other benefits like food stamps and fully fund the government until at least Jan. 30.

After that, some spending for SNAP benefits, veterans programs, legislative branch activities and military construction, among other items, will continue until Sept. 30 — at which point the 2026 fiscal year ends.

Hundreds of thousands of federal workers and congressional staffers had gone without pay for more than 40 days — leading the top union backing government employees to pressure Democrats into ending the shutdown.

There had also been increasing flight delays and cancellations due to the lack of staffing at air traffic control towers, as unpaid workers were not showing up to their jobs.

Last Friday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy had warned that if the government remained closed with the Thanksgiving holiday nearing, there could be an up to 20% reduction in US airspace.

“As of Sunday, nearly half of all domestic flights and US flights were either canceled or delayed. And it’s a very serious situation,” noted House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Monday, giving his chamber 36 hours to reconvene.

“Shutting down the government never produces anything,” Johnson added. “It never has.”

Six House Democrats voted for the funding measure in the House’s first legislative move since going into recess after Sept. 19.

Reps. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), Don Davis (D-NC), Adam Gray (D-Calif.), Jared Golden (D-Maine), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.) and Tom Suozzi (D-NY) crossed party lines to vote with the majority.

Two Republicans, Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Greg Steube (R-Fla.), voted against the Senate-passed bill.

“I could not in good conscience support a resolution that creates a self-indulgent legal provision for certain senators to enrich themselves by suing the Justice Department using taxpayer dollars,” Steube said of his no vote on X, referring to a provision in the bill that allows Republican senators snooped on by former special counsel Jack Smith to seek compensation.

“There is no reason the House should have been forced to eat this garbage to end the Schumer Shutdown,” he added.

On Monday, eight members of the Senate Democratic caucus crossed the aisle to vote with the GOP for the end of the shutdown, though Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) was not among them.

“I think he made a mistake in going too far,” Trump told Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” on Monday. “He thought he could break the Republicans, and the Republicans broke him.”

Before that, all but three from the Senate Democratic caucus had voted 14 times against reopening the government as they held out through last week’s Election Day to activate the progressive base and turnout Democratic voters in Virginia, New Jersey, and New York.

One of the senators who sided with the GOP, Angus King (I-Maine), admitted bluntly in an interview Monday, “Standing up to Trump didn’t work.”

A spokesperson for the Independent leader who caucuses with Democrats told The Post that Schumer and the other senators held out in the fight to secure an extension of ObamaCare tax subsidies, which will receive a vote before the end of the year.

Source : https://nypost.com/2025/11/12/us-news/house-votes-to-end-unprecedented-government-shutdown-after-42-days/

Pedophile Jeffrey Epstein ended his friendship with Bill Clinton because he believed the former president was a liar, according to new emails the disgraced financier’s estate handed over to Congress on Wednesday.

The emails obtained by the House Oversight Committee show that Kathryn Ruemmler, a former White House counsel to President Barack Obama, had a chummy relationship with Epstein — and the two frequently discussed politics in the lead-up to the 2016 election.

In a Jan. 23, 2016, email, Epstein revealed that he broke off contact with Slick Willy after “he swore, with whole-hearted conviction to me that he had done something, he had forgotten that he also swore the exact opposite to me only weeks before.”

“Who knows what they’re talking about,” a Clinton spokesperson responded in a statement. “What we do know and have always said is that President Clinton knew nothing about Epstein’s heinous crimes and hadn’t spoken to him in twenty years. Now here it is in black and white.”

Ruemmler and Epstein had been discussing another person named “macgiver” earlier in the email thread, and sources familiar with the exchange indicated that Ruemmler’s comments only referred to that individual.

“I will just say I told you so. Not to sound overly dramatic, but he is very close to being a psychopath,” Ruemmler had said earlier in the exchange of the mysterious individual. “[H]e has no conscience. It’s scary.”

“He obviously said something to you yesterday that was disturbing, and you don’t want to tell me. Just tell me — I can take it. I promise,” added Ruemmler of this person, who was once listed as a backup executor to Epstein’s estate in January 2019, the Wall Street Journal reported.

But it’s unclear how long the two remained at odds as Clinton was mentioned in other emails in the trove of more than 20,000 pages worth of documents released by the powerful House Oversight Committee on Wednesday.

“Let’s do a men of the world conference,” theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss said in an April 5, 2018, email to Epstein, sending a proposed invite list that included Clinton, actor Kevin Spacey, former Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) and director Woody Allen.

Ruemmler had met Epstein while employed as a partner at Latham and Watkins. She is the Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel at Goldman Sachs. A spokesperson for the banking giant claimed Ruemmler’s interactions with Epstein were limited to business.

“They shared a common client that originated as an Epstein referral,” the spokesperson said, referring to her time at Latham & Watkins.

Clinton and Epstein’s ties date back to at least the early 1990s, when the child sex predator donated money to the 42nd president’s campaign. Later, he contributed $20,000 to Hillary Clinton’s Senate campaign in 1999. Epstein visited the White House over a dozen times during the Clinton presidency, visitor logs show.

Following Clinton’s White House departure, the two remained in touch. Epstein was an active donor to the Clinton Foundation and Slick Willy appeared in flight logs for the late pedaphile’s infamous “Lolita Express” on more than two dozen occasions.

Epstein was known to staff his jet with young women while mingling with powerful people.

The former president had been pictured getting a shoulder rub from Chauntae Davies, a 22-year-old massage therapist, on a 2002 humanitarian trip to Africa, during a stop to refuel on a trip involving the Lolita Express.

Clinton also visited Epstein’s apartment in New York, though he didn’t swing by the disgraced financier’s infamous private island of Little St. James, according to a spokesperson. Strikingly, Epstein kept a strange painting of Clinton in a blue dress in his Upper East Side mansion, referencing the dress at the center of the former president’s sex scandal with Monica Lewinsky.

Source : https://nypost.com/2025/11/12/us-news/epstein-emails-with-ex-obama-lawyer-claim-he-stopped-talking-to-bill-clinton-no-conscience/

Every November, South Korea comes to a standstill for its infamous college entrance exam.

Shops are shut, flights are delayed to reduce noise, and even the rhythm of the morning commute slows down for the students.

By late afternoon, most test-takers walk out of school gates, exhaling with relief and embracing the family members waiting outside.

But not everyone finishes at that hour. Even once darkness has fully settled and night has set in, some students are still in the exam room – finishing close to 10pm.

They are the blind students, who often spend more than 12 hours taking the longest version of the Suneung.

On Thursday, more than 550,000 students across the country will sit for the Suneung – an abbreviation for College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) in Korean. It is the highest number of applicants in seven years.

The test not only dictates whether people will be able to go to university, but can affect their job prospects, income, where they will live and even future relationships.

Depending on their subject choices, students answer roughly 200 questions across Korean, mathematics, English, social or natural sciences, an additional foreign language, and Hanja (classical Chinese characters used in Korean).

For most students, it is an eight-hour marathon of back-to-back exams. They begin the Suneung test at 08:40 and finish around 17:40.

Blind students with severe visual impairments, however, are given 1.7 times the standard testing duration.

This means that if they take the additional foreign language section, the exam can finish as late as 21:48 – nearly 13 hours after it began.

There is no dinner break; the exam continues straight through.

The physical bulk of the braille test papers also contributes to the length.

When every sentence, symbol and diagram is converted into braille, each test booklet becomes six to nine times thicker than the standard equivalent.

At Seoul Hanbit School for the Blind, 18-year-old Han Donghyun is among the students who will take the longest version of the Suneung this year.

Last year, there were 111 blind test-takers nationwide – 99 with low vision and 12 with severe visual impairments like Dong-hyun – according to data from the Ministry of Education and the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation.

Dong-hyun was born completely blind and cannot distinguish light.

When the BBC met him at his school on 7 November, his fingers moved quickly across a braille practice booklet of past exam questions.

With just a week left before the test, he was focused on managing his stamina and condition. Dong-hyun will take the exam using braille test papers and a screen-reading computer.

“It’s really exhausting because the exam is so long,” he said. “But there’s no special trick. I just follow my study schedule and try to manage my condition. That’s the only way.”

Dong-hyun said the Korean language section is particularly difficult for him.

A standard test booklet for that section is about 16 pages – but the braille version is roughly 100 pages long.

Even with screen-reading software, spoken information disappears as soon as it is heard, unlike text that can be seen and re-read. Dong-hyun has to hold the details in his memory as he goes.

The mathematics section is no easier.

He must interpret complex graphs and tables that have been converted into braille, using only his fingertips.

Still, he noted that things are better than they used to be. In the past, students had to do almost all calculations in their heads. But since 2016, blind test-takers have been allowed to use a braille notetaker, known as Hansone.

“Just like sighted students write out their calculations in pencil, we enter them in braille on the Hansone to follow the steps,” he said.

Another student at Hanbit School for the Blind, 18-year-old Oh Jeong-won, who will also sit the Suneung this year, said the late afternoon is “the hardest point” of the day.

“Up until lunch, it’s manageable,” he said. “But around 4 or 5pm, after English and before Korean History, that’s when it gets really tough.

“There’s no dinner break,” he explained. “We’re solving problems during the time we would normally eat, so it feels even more exhausting. Still, I keep going because I know there will be a sense of accomplishment at the end.”

For Jeong-won, the fatigue is compounded by the need to stay intensely focused with both his hands and his hearing.

“When I’m reading the braille with my fingers and also taking in information through audio, it feels much more tiring than it does for sighted students,” he said.

But the students say that the length of the exam and the long study hours are not the hardest part. What is most challenging is access to study materials.

Popular textbooks and online lectures that sighted students rely on are often out of reach.

There are very few braille versions, and converting materials into audio requires having text files – which are difficult to obtain. In many cases, someone has to manually type out entire workbooks to make them usable.

Online lectures also pose difficulties, as many instructors explain concepts using visual notes, diagrams and graphics on screen, which cannot be followed through audio alone.

One of the most significant barriers, however, is the delay in receiving braille versions of the state-produced EBS preparation books – a core set of materials closely linked to the national exam.

Because of this delay, blind students often receive the materials months later than others.

“Sighted students get their EBS books between January and March and study them for the whole year,” said Jeong-won. “We receive the braille files only around August or September, when the exam is just a few months away.”

Dong-hyun shared the same concern.

“The braille materials weren’t completed until less than 90 days before the exam,” he said. “I kept wishing the publication process could be faster.”

The National Institute of Special Education, which produces the braille version of EBS exam materials, told the BBC that the process takes at least three months for each book because it must follow relevant guidelines.

The institute added that it is “making various efforts to ensure that blind students can study without disruption, such as producing and providing the materials in separate volumes.”

The Korean Blind Union said it has long raised this issue with authorities, and plans to file a constitutional petition demanding greater accessibility to braille versions of all textbooks.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9wv22qjq8eo

Scientists have unearthed Australia’s oldest known crocodile eggshells which may have belonged to “drop crocs” – creatures that climbed trees to hunt prey below.

The discovery of the 55-million-year-old eggshells was made in a sheep farmer’s backyard in Queensland with the findings published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

The egghells belonged to a long-extinct group of crocodiles known as mekosuchines, who lived in inland waters when Australia was part of Antarctica and South America.

Co-author Prof Michael Archer said “drop crocs” were a “bizarre idea” but some were “perhaps hunting like leopards – dropping out of trees on any unsuspecting thing they fancied for dinner”.

Prof Archer, a palaeontologist at the University of New South Wales, said mekosuchine crocodiles – which could grow to about five metres – were plentiful 55 million years ago, long before their modern saltwater and freshwater cousins arrived in Australia about 3.8 million years ago.

The “drop croc” eggshells were discovered several decades ago but only recently analysed with the help of scientists in Spain.

“It’s a bizarre idea,” Prof Archer said of the “drop crocs”, but some were probably “terrestrial hunters in the forests”.

The findings add to earlier discoveries of younger mekosuchine fossils – found in 25-million-year-old deposits in another part of Queensland.

“Some were also apparently at least partly semi-arboreal ‘drop crocs’,” Prof Archer said.

Since the early 1980s, he has been part of a group of scientists excavating a clay pit in Murgon, a small regional town about 270km (168 miles) north-west of Brisbane.

Over the decades, it has become known as one of Australia’s oldest fossil sites as it used to be surrounded by a lush forest.

“This forest was also home to the world’s oldest-known songbirds, Australia’s earliest frogs and snakes, a wide range of small mammals with South American links, as well as one of the world’s oldest known bats,” Dr Michael Stein, a co-author of the report, said.

Prof Archer recalls how in 1983, he and another colleague “drove to Murgon, parked the car on the side of the road, grabbed our shovels, knocked on the door and asked if we could dig up their backyard”.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2lpyrnjleeo

Trump gifted perfume to Syrian President al-Sharaa at the White House, joking about wives. Al-Sharaa, ex-al-Qaeda commander, discussed rebuilding Syria and US suspended sanctions.

A video has gone viral of US President Donald Trump presenting a bottle of perfume to Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the White House and playfully asking him the number of wives.

Trump on Monday met his Syrian counterpart, marking the first visit by a Syrian leader to Washington since the country’s independence in 1946.

While spraying a dab of scent in al-Sharaa’s direction, on Monday, Trump said: “It’s the best fragrance. And the other one is for your wife.” “How many wives?” Al-Sharaa, momentarily taken aback, responded “one,” prompting a ripple of laughter from Trump and other officials at the White House. Trump then quipped back, “You never know!”

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‘How many wives? One?’ Trump asks Syria’s new leader in White House — video

Trump gifted Al-Shaar perfume and went on to SPRAY him with it

‘This is the best fragrance! And the other one is for your wife’

Al-Sharaa assured Trump he only has one wife. Vibe check passed, too pic.twitter.com/SAjO6Vc8GH

— RT (@RT_com) November 12, 2025

The 43-year-old was a former al-Qaeda commander who overthrew longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad last December. He was the former head of Syria’s al-Nusra Front, who once had a $10 million bounty on his head for orchestrating multiple attacks across Syria.

The meeting came as the US Treasury Department announced a six-month suspension of sanctions on Damascus, signalling a dramatic shift in relations between the two nations.

Following the talks, Trump praised the new Syrian leader. “He comes from a very tough place, and he’s a tough guy. I like him,” Trump told reporters. “We’ll do everything we can to make Syria successful… We have peace now in the Middle East – the first time anyone can remember that ever happening.”

Source : https://www.news18.com/world/how-many-wives-trump-asks-syrian-president-at-white-house-meet-ws-l-9703205.html

 

Less than a month after her 13th birthday, Chinese sensation Yu Zidi claimed her first Asian record at the National Games swimming in Shenzhen on Tuesday as she swept to victory in the 200 metres individual medley (IM).
Yu’s time of 2:07.41 eclipsed the Asian mark of compatriot Ye Shiwen who won the Olympic gold at the 2012 London Games in 2:07.57 at the age of 16.

Yu finished nearly a second quicker than 20-year-old runner-up Yu Yiting, the 2022 Asian Games champion.

Only eight swimmers have ever gone faster in the event, with Canadian Summer McIntosh the current world record holder at 2:05.70.
Yu has been on a steep trajectory since announcing herself at China’s Olympic trials last year where she narrowly missed out on qualifying for the Paris Games at the age of 11.
In May, she claimed national titles in the 400 IM and 200 butterfly and came runner-up in the 200 IM to qualify for the world championships in Singapore where she became the youngest-ever medallist with a bronze in China’s 4×200 freestyle relay team.
She also finished fourth at the Singapore meet in her three individual events, the 200 and 400 IM, and 200 butterfly.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/sports/chinas-13-year-old-yu-claims-first-asian-record-national-games-2025-11-12/

DONALD Trump has sent the world’s biggest aircraft carrier steaming into Latin American waters, and Nicolás Maduro is digging in for a fight.

The USS Gerald R. Ford, carrying more than 4,000 sailors and dozens of strike aircraft, has now entered the US Southern Command zone.

It is the largest US military deployment in the region since the 1989 invasion of Panama.

The move also marks president Trump’s sharpest warning yet to Venezuela’s regime, which is mobilising troops, militias, and missiles for what it calls “prolonged resistance.”

Washington says the buildup is about fighting drugs.

But for Trump, it is also about forcing change in Caracas, and many analysts believe the real target is Nicolás Maduro himself.

Trump has already authorized the CIA to carry out covert operations inside Venezuela.

The CIA move follows Trump’s declaration that the US is in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels, granting him sweeping wartime powers.

The Pentagon confirmed the Gerald R. Ford strike group’s arrival, describing it as part of a campaign to “detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and activities” across the Caribbean.

Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said the carrier “will bolster US capacity to disrupt narcotics trafficking and degrade and dismantle transnational criminal organisations.”

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth ordered the deployment under Trump’s directive to “dismantle Transnational Criminal Organizations and counter narco-terrorism in defense of the Homeland.”

The Ford leads a formidable carrier strike group, including guided-missile destroyers, electronic warfare squadrons, and advanced F/A-18 Super Hornet jets.

It can launch and recover aircraft day and night, providing what the Pentagon calls “sustained operations at sea.”

Admiral Alvin Holsey, Commander of U.S. Southern Command, said the move “represents a critical step in reinforcing our resolve to protect the security of the Western Hemisphere and the safety of the American homeland.”

The carrier’s arrival follows Trump’s vow to expand his “war on drugs,” which has already included deadly airstrikes on boats suspected of smuggling cocaine.

“The land is going to be next,” Trump warned recently, before clarifying that Washington was not yet planning strikes inside Venezuela.

Behind the defiant speeches, Maduro’s regime appears to be preparing for a desperate fight.

Internal planning documents and sources cited by Reuters reveal Venezuela is deploying aging Russian weapons and ordering units to disperse and hide if attacked.

Insiders say troops have been ordered to scatter and hide upon the first US strike, using small units to carry out sabotage across more than 280 sites nationwide.

“We wouldn’t last two hours in a conventional war,” one source close to the government admitted.

Another added: “We’re not ready to face one of the world’s most powerful and well-trained armies.”

A second plan to “anarchise” Caracas would unleash chaos in the streets of the Venezuelan caputal.

Intelligence agents and armed loyalists would create disorder to make the country ungovernable for any foreign presence.

Analysts say the strategy reveals the regime’s fear and its willingness to sacrifice civilian stability to cling to power.

Rank-and-file soldiers earn about $100 a month, far below the $500 needed for basic living costs.

Some commanders are said to barter with local farmers to feed their men.

Venezuelan forces rely heavily on outdated Russian hardware.

Their Sukhoi jets, tanks, and helicopters are decades old, and maintenance has stalled for years.

Maduro boasts of having 5,000 Russian-made Igla-S missiles deployed “to the last mountain, the last town, and the last city in the territory.”

But analysts say the real message is deterrence through chaos, not capability.

“The underlying message isn’t actual military capability but deterrence through chaos,” said defense analyst Andrei Serbin Pont.

“The threat that this equipment could end up in the hands of armed groups, guerrillas, or paramilitaries.”

Even with Moscow pledging to assist, few expect Venezuela’s decaying arsenal to alter the balance.

“Next to the U.S. B-2s, they are nothing,” one defence source said.

Trump’s naval presence, meanwhile, dwarfs anything seen in Latin America in decades.

The strike group joins warships, a nuclear-powered submarine, and aircraft already based in Puerto Rico, making them a combined force unmatched since the Cold War.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/15474694/donald-trump-aircraft-carrier-venezuela-maduro-fight/

Donald Trump is poised to again sue a major news organization — this time the BBC — following the publication of a leaked internal memo raising concerns of bias in its programming.

The president of the United States could take Britain’s national broadcaster to court amid a debate over editorial decisions at the BBC that has led to the resignation of two of its most senior executives.

Contents of a memo sent to a BBC internal editorial standards committee by Michael Prescott, a former external adviser, was published by the Daily Telegraph newspaperbetween November 3-6.

It raised concerns about the BBC’s coverage of immigration, racism, historical content, transgender issues and BBC Arabic’s coverage of the Gaza war.

It also highlighted issues with an episode of the BBC’s flagship current affairs program, “Panorama.”

Prescott cited problems with the show’s depiction of Donald Trump’s speech to supporters in Washington, D.C., on January 6, 2021, as the US Congress prepared to certify the election victory of Joe Biden. Following that speech, the crowd marched to the US Capitol building, with a violent riot ensuing.

Screened a week before the 2024 presidential election, Prescott raised concerns about the way the episode fused two separate clips together to give the impression that Trump incited the crowd’s actions on January 6. In reality, the clips took place almost an hour apart. The omitted period included a moment where Trump called for a peaceful march to the Capitol building.

A high-profile fallout

On Sunday, the BBC’s director-general Tim Davie and head of news and current affairs Deborah Turness resigned from their positions. Both have dismissed suggestions of systemic bias at the broadcaster.

In a letter to MPs, the broadcaster’s chair, Samir Shah, said the BBC accepted “that the way the speech was edited did give the impression of a direct call for violent action” and apologized “for that error of judgment.”

A lawyer for Trump has now called on the BBC to apologize, retract the documentary and “appropriately compensate President Trump for the harm caused” by Friday, November 14, 2025, or face a $1 billion (€863 million) lawsuit.

Media observers have said the memo’s criticisms of the “Panorama” edit are reasonable, but they are concerned about wider attacks on the BBC’s record of impartiality.

“It certainly was a mistake,” said Mel Bunce, director of the Centre for Journalism and Democracy at City St. George’s University, UK. “My far greater concern is the attacks on the BBC that are resulting from this.”

Similarly, Dafydd Townley, a political historian at Portsmouth University and chair of the UK American Politics Group, said the possibility of legal action against the broadcaster could “severely impinge the BBC’s reputation in the US, but also its ability to report and gain extensive reach in the US.”

The BBC has ranked in the top three of 52 news sources in the United States in YouGov’s annual trust in media poll since 2022.

The fallout has continued to raise questions about the broadcaster, particularly ahead of a scheduled UK government review. The BBC is publicly funded by a license fee paid by households with televisions or those who use streaming services. However, its decision-making is independent from the government.

Timeline: Trump vs. the press

It is not the first time Donald Trump has been willing to take legal action against media organizations. His most recent activities have seen some of the most prominent American media companies sued for millions or billions of dollars. These have included CNN, ABC (US) and CBS and the owners of major newspapers such as The New York Times and Wall Street Journal. Trump has also sued journalists attached to reporting on the president.

Recent cases brought by Trump against other large media companies include:

CNN

Donald Trump filed against CNN in October 2022 for $475 million. A chief allegation in the filing was that CNN’s use of the phrase “the Big Lie” to describe Trump’s claims the 2020 election was stolen from him, associated him with Adolf Hitler. A US federal judge dismissed the case in July 2023, saying the statements made on CNN “while repugnant, were not, as a matter of law, defamatory.”

ABC News (Disney)

In December 2024, ABC News agreed to pay $15 million toward a foundation for Trump’s presidential library after it settled a lawsuit with the president. Trump brought a defamation lawsuit against ABC after its news anchor, George Stephanopoulos, inaccurately described the verdicts of New York writer E. Jean Carroll’s civil case against the president on-air.

CBS

In July 2025, Paramount Global, which owns the broadcaster CBS, agreed to settle a $20 billion lawsuit brought against it. Trump had sued CBS for the way it edited an interview with his presidential election rival Kamala Harris for an episode of its flagship current affairs program, 60 Minutes.

Wall Street Journal

In July 2025, Donald Trump sued the Wall Street Journal and its owners, including Rupert Murdoch, for at least $10 billion for publishing a story that quoted a 2003 letter it said was signed by him and written to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The Journal and its owners have defended the reporting publicly and have said they will contest the lawsuit.

New York Times

In October 2025, Trump refiled a $15 billion lawsuit brought by Trump against The New York Times and three of its journalists. The original filing was tossed by District Court Judge Steven Merryday in September. The Times, two of its reporters and the book publisher Penguin Random House as named defendants.

‘This couldn’t come at a worse time’

With a November 14 deadline, it is unclear how the president’s latest legal threats against the BBC will unfold, particularly as the “Panorama” episode was not screened or available in the US.

But combined with non-legal actions, such as removing the Associated Press from the White House press gallery or issuing orders to scrap funding for public broadcasters PBS and NPR, Voice of America and Radio free Europe, the threat of litigation continues a trend of actions by the president against legacy media organizations.

In May 2025, Reporters Without Borders said Trump’s second term in office had “led to an alarming deterioration in press freedom.”

Editorial standards, freedom of the press and the way public and private media organizations are able to report on government activities and politicians are issues that continue to come under strain. Townley said long-established media houses have been less able to perform their traditional role.

“We have to have, not just concerns about editorial processes within the BBC, but also about executive branch attitudes towards press,” said Townley.

“It is just an indication of that relationship between the fourth estate [the press] and the executive branch is under extreme pressure at the moment.”

“That’s a big concern for many in the US, and who is going to hold the executive branch and the federal government to account in the way that the mainstream media should be doing?”

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/its-trump-vs-the-press-again-with-new-threat-to-bbc/a-74705138

 

Tom Fletcher, the UN’s top humanitarian official, is visiting Port Sudan, the de facto capital of Sudan. Meanwhile, a UN official told DW “dismal” international aid donations were severely hampering refugee assistance.

Leading UN diplomat Tom Fletcher was in Port Sudan on Tuesday for talks with the country’s transitional military government, looking to secure better supply of aid to the war-torn country that’s partly controlled by the rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia.

Sudan’s Transitional Sovereign Council shared a brief video on social media of Fletcher sitting in a room with President Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and other officials.

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⭕️ رئيس مجلس السيادة يؤكد حرص السودان على الاحتفاظ بعلاقات وثيقة مع برنامج الغذاء العالمي

بورتسودان ١١-١١-٢٠٢٥م pic.twitter.com/fEvSy8ynvg

— مجلس السيادة الإنتقالي – السودان (@TSC_SUDAN) November 11, 2025

Fletcher, a veteran British diplomat and government advisor, meanwhile shared an image of the meeting online, and lauded the “positive” discussions early in his one-week visit to Sudan.

“Practical and positive exchange with General Al-Burhan on continued dialogue and cooperation to improve humanitarian access across Sudan. The UN appreciates the clear commitment to support us to deliver lifesaving aid everywhere it is needed,” Fletcher wrote.

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Practical and positive exchange with General Al-Burhan on continued dialogue and cooperation to improve humanitarian access across Sudan.

The UN appreciates the clear commitment to support us to deliver lifesaving aid everywhere it is needed. pic.twitter.com/7TWRf0LATx

— Tom Fletcher (@UNReliefChief) November 11, 2025

Millions displaced in two-and-a-half year conflict, limited international response

Prior to his departure for Sudan, Fletcher had also issued an impassioned appeal at the UN Security Council, asking diplomats from around the world why the international response to more than two years of fighting had been so muted when compared to the genocide in Darfur in western Sudan two decades ago.

“What is different today is that we are seeing a different global reaction: one of resignation,” he told the Council. “So this is also a crisis of apathy.”

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UN Charter pledged us to save generations from scourge of war, defend human rights and justice.

Amid horror of El Fasher we must return to those words as rebuke for international failure, and challenge that world can do better.

My remarks: https://t.co/IqO4NoxbY8 pic.twitter.com/rNCJNwOwOm

— Tom Fletcher (@UNReliefChief) October 30, 2025

Since the civil war erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, tens of thousands have been killed and an estimated 12 million people have been displaced, either within Sudan or across its borders. This has created one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises.

The Transitional Sovereign Council (TSC) backed by the country’s military controls most of the north, east and center of Sudan, while the RSF controls most of Darfur, the vast region in western Sudan, and parts of the south.

RSF forces last month claimed control of el-Fasher, the last of the five regional capitals within Darfur, after a siege lasting more than a year, sending thousands fleeing.

The RSF said last week that it was willing to sign up to a humanitarian ceasefire proposal put forward by the US and other brokers, but the military government has not commented on the matter. Furthermore, reports of RSF attacks on army-held areas in regions like Kordofan and the capital Khartoum have persisted despite the group’s pledge.

Fletcher said that he would work during a visit lasting one week “to stop the atrocities, back peace efforts, uphold the UN charter, and push for our teams to get the access and funding they need to save lives across the battle lines.”

President Burhan meanwhile affirmed “Sudan’s keenness to cooperate with the United Nations and its various agencies,” according to the army-backed TSC.

‘Dismal’ international contributions impeding aid provision, UN official tells DW

Meanwhile, Kelly Clements, Deputy High Commissioner of the UNHCR refugee agency, spoke to DW on Tuesday soon after a visit to Chad’s region bordering western Sudan, where many of those fleeing Darfur head.

She described harrowing tales from people, often women and children, fleeing the fighting in el-Fasher.

“And the stories are horrific,” Clements said. Around 87% of the refugees were women and children, higher figures than average, she said. “The majority of women and girls have been assaulted or subject to sexual violence. We hear upwards of 70%.”

She said that cuts to international aid programs — perhaps most notably by the US President Donald Trump administration but also by a number of western governments including but not limited to Germany, the UK, France and Canada — were drastically impacting aid provision in Sudan and in countries like Chad, which are housing more and more Sudanese refugees.

“And because the funds that support us and support other aid providers has been so dismal, it’s been very, very difficult to provide the kind of support — medical, psychosocial and otherwise — that these new arrivals desperately need, including those that we want to reach inside Darfur,” Clements warned.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/un-welcomes-aid-supply-talks-with-sudan-army/a-74705980

It’s not a complete coincidence that two typically German celebrations, St. Martin’s Day and the start of carnival season, are both on the same day. Their origins are centuries old.

It can seem like a strange coincidence to see children parade through the streets of Germany with lanterns to mark St. Martin’s Day on November 11 while, at the same time, colorfully dressed carnival revelers shout “Alaaf” or “Helau.”

Do these things really go together?

In fact, Carnival and St. Martin’s Day are two customs that share a common origin dating back several centuries.

Bishop Martin of Tours died on November 8, 397, and was buried three days later. This was a huge event, and explains why November 11 is celebrated, and not the day of his death. The legend of how Martin shared his cloak with a beggar while he was a soldier in the Roman army became the most famous story about the saint’s life.

He is one of the few saints who did not receive this status as a martyr, but instead because of his charity and Christian way of life. His benevolence made him a popular patron saint not only for the poor, but also for craftsmen, winegrowers and farmers.

The end of the farming year

In the Middle Ages, St. Martin’s Day, coming a few days after the harvest festival, marked the end of the farming year. The harvest had been brought in, the grapes picked, the rent had been paid (usually with fattened geese), and wages had been given out.

Following the slaughtering of livestock for winter provision, there was a celebration, which also allowed people to consume larger quantities of perishable foods such as meat, eggs and dairy products on this day before the period of fasting ordered by the Church.

Lent before Christmas?

Today, it is hard to imagine that people used to fast before Christmas. Consumerism and Christmas markets with their lavish offerings, ranging from Christmas cookies and sausages to mulled wine and eggnog, show nothing of the remains of this tradition.

However, in previous centuries, Advent was a strict fasting period for Christians, much like the period before Easter.

It would begin after November 11 and would also last six weeks, as a quiet preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.

Over time, the commandment of fasting during Advent was further relaxed, until the Roman Catholic Church abolished it in 1917.

The last binge before Advent

Before things became serious with penance and abstinence, people would be allowed to go wild one last time, by eating, drinking, dancing and celebrating exuberantly on a date that, coincidentally, also pokes fun at the Church. The number 11 not only marks the burial of St. Martin, but it also lies exactly between two sacred numbers for Christianity: 10 for the 10 Commandments and 12 for the 12 apostles. The 11 disrupted this divine order, leading it to be associated with fools and jesters over time.

Carnival starts on November 11 at 11:11 a.m. In the Rhineland strongholds, revelers loudly celebrate the start of Carnival — but then from November 12 onwards, it goes into hiding before reappearing in January. Then the first events begin, culminating in February in the colorful street carnival, which is celebrated for six days and ends once again on Ash Wednesday.

St. Martin and the fools: Opposites attract

So while the Church honors St. Martin of Tours on November 11, and children parade through the streets with lanterns and brass bands and sing for sweets at front doors, carnival revelers celebrate joie de vivre and freedom at the top of their voices on this same day before the more contemplative Advent season begins.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/carnival-and-st-martins-day-how-two-german-feasts-set-on-november-11-are-connected/a-74684129

The effort to end the longest-ever US government shutdown on Wednesday (Nov 13) heads towards a final vote, as President Donald Trump declared victory in the political face-off and rival Democrats tore themselves apart over the deal.

The House of Representatives appeared likely to vote on Wednesday on a spending Bill to solve the six-week standoff, after eight Democrats broke ranks in the Senate on Monday to side with Trump’s Republicans.

During a Veterans Day speech at Arlington National Cemetery, Trump broke off to praise Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune.

“Congratulations to you and to John and to everybody on a very big victory,” Trump said as he spotted Johnson in the audience.

“We’re opening up our country – it should have never been closed,” added Trump, bucking US presidential tradition by using a ceremonial event to score political points.

Trump said later he expected the Republican-controlled House to approve the Bill to fund the government through January.

“Only people that hate our country want to see it not open,” he told ESPN.

“SERIOUS CALCULATIONS”

Top Democrats have vowed to oppose the government-funding Bill, in large part because it does not directly address the extension of health insurance subsidies, which are set to expire at the end of this year.

But it is likely to pass the House as it only needs a simple majority, which Republicans narrowly have.

From the start, Trump had piled pressure on Democrats by letting the shutdown be as punishing as possible and refusing to negotiate on their demands on health insurance.

A million federal workers went unpaid, food benefits for low-income Americans came under threat and air travellers faced thousands of cancellations and delays ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned Tuesday that the chaos could get worse by the weekend if the shutdown persists, with air traffic controllers unable to be paid and authorities ordering further slowdowns in flight traffic.

“You’re going to have airlines that make serious calculations about whether they continue to fly, full stop,” Duffy told reporters at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.

Polls have shown that voters increasingly blamed Trump’s party as the shutdown dragged on past its fortieth day.

But it was the Democrats who caved and gave Republicans the extra votes they needed Monday under Senate rules, without securing the key concessions they wanted.

“Healthcare of people all across this country is on the brink of becoming unaffordable,” top House Democrat Hakeem Jeffries told reporters Tuesday as he vowed to maintain the fight for lower costs.

DEMOCRATIC RIFT

The deal has split Democrats, with many senior figures saying they should have held out for the extension of health insurance subsidies at the heart of the shutdown battle.

“Pathetic,” California Governor Gavin Newsom, widely seen as a 2028 Democratic presidential frontrunner, posted on X.

Despite opposing the Bill vocally and voting against it, Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has faced calls from some lawmakers in his party to step down for failing to corral his senators.

For Democrats, the wavering was especially galling as it came just days after election wins that put Trump on the back foot for the first time since his White House return.

Democratic wins in New York City, New Jersey and Virginia in particular highlighted the issue of affordability, a weak spot for billionaire Trump and the Republicans ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

But Senate Republicans have promised Democrats a vote on health insurance, with millions of Americans set to see their “Obamacare” costs double without an extension of the subsidies.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/us-house-vote-government-shutdown-trump-victory-5461116

Hailey Bieber says she and her husband, Justin, are taking their marriage “a day at a time” after he previously confirmed the couple’s relationship troubles in July.

“We’re just taking it a day at a time,” Hailey, 28, told GQ in her Tuesday cover story, adding that she’s “comfortable” with the space they’re currently in as she discussed their public marriage.

“We both feel very protective of our son and I don’t think that’s ever going to change, but our life is our life and it is really public, so I think we’re just going to cross every bridge that we need to when we get there,” she continued.

“But as of right now, I feel really comfortable about the way we are sharing things and not sharing things.”

The model — who welcomed her first child, son Jack Blues, with Justin, 31, in August 2024 — also shared her thoughts on motherhood as she reflected on becoming a first time mom and hinted at the possibility of her welcoming another child.

“I don’t think there’s anything someone can tell you about it that will ever, ever, ever prepare you until you do it yourself,” Hailey shared.

“But I feel much more prepared to do it again, as opposed to how not prepared I felt doing it for the first time.”

She added: “And I think for me personally, there’s so much unknown to it, but so much happens and so much changes and you evolve in a totally different way that you would never be able to prepare for until you do it.”

Hailey’s comments come months after her husband hinted at their marital troubles on his surprise seventh album, “Swag,” with his song, “Walking Away,” among other titles.

“Girl, we better stop before we say some s–t / We’ve been testing our patience / I think we better off if we just take a break / And remember what grace is,” he sings on the track.

Source : https://pagesix.com/2025/11/11/celebrity-news/hailey-bieber-taking-justin-marriage-a-day-at-a-time-after-he-confirmed-relationship-struggles/

Prince William made a shocking appearance on “Dancing With the Stars” Tuesday in support of Robert Irwin.

The Prince of Wales, 43, stunned viewers when he appeared on the dancing show via a video chat with Irwin and Irwin’s partner, Witney Carson. William surprised Irwin with a video chat and said he missed him, jokingly calling him “twinkle toes.”

Irwin asked William how Rio was, referring to the Earthshot Prize ceremony that took place in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, on Nov. 5. Irwin was supposed to join the royal at the event but had to cancel due to him still being in the “DWTS” competition.

“I need you down here,” William said with a smile.

“You guys have got a serious good chance of winning,” he also told the pair after playfullly ribbing Irwin.

“Best of luck on the show,” he added.

After William hung up, Carson was visibly shocked that they chatted with the royal on video.

“I can’t believe he just said my name,” Carson said.

Irwin added, “Let’s not mess this up!”

Fans also reacted with shock at William’s surprising cameo on the ABC show.

“Prince William on #DWTS was not on my bingo card. Pretty cool!,” one fan wrote on X.

“This is actually insane,” a TikTok of the moment also read.

Another fan joked in reference to Zac Efron not being in the ballroom to support his brother, “DWTS” contestant Dylan Efron, “How did they get Prince William to zoom in but they can’t get Zac Efron to give his brother a call.”

Irwin is an ambassador for the Earthshot prize, a global environmental award founded by William and The Royal Foundation to find and fund solutions to the world’s greatest environmental challenges.

In June, William surprised Irwin with a voice note during the 21-year-old conservationist’s appearance on UK radio station Radio 2.

Source : https://pagesix.com/2025/11/11/entertainment/prince-william-makes-surprise-cameo-on-dwts-for-special-moment-with-robert-irwin/

Meghan Markle mixed business with pleasure at Kris Jenner’s star-studded 70th birthday party.

“She was definitely in networking mode,” an insider told Page Six Monday.

“She schmoozed with a lot of power players,” the source added, describing the Duchess of Sussex, 44, as “cool.”

Reps for Markle, 44, weren’t immediately available to Page Six for comment.

Jenner hosted a milestone James Bond-themed birthday bash at Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ $175 million Beverly Hills, Calif., estate on Saturday.

Among the A-list attendees were Bezos’ wife, Lauren Sánchez, Mariah Carey, Justin Bieber, Hailey Bieber, Oprah Winfrey, Tina Knowles, Kyle Richards, Kathy Hilton, Vin Diesel, Gayle King and Rita Wilson.

Beyoncé and Jay-Z also made a low-key appearance, avoiding paparazzi by entering the party through a secret entrance.

Markle and her husband, Prince Harry, 44, appeared in good spirits as they held hands and smiled upon arriving at the extravaganza.

The “Suits” alum donned a black long-sleeved top and matching maxi skirt, while the Duke of Sussex sported a tuxedo and bow tie.

Inside, Markle was seen posing alongside Kim Kardashian in since-deleted snaps shared on the latter’s Instagram account.

Additionally, Jenner posted sweet photos alongside Harry and Meghan, though she also removed them from her social media.

One showed the threesome laughing and dancing, while they generically posed for photographers in a second snap.

Source : https://pagesix.com/2025/11/11/royal-family/meghan-markle-was-in-networking-mode-at-kris-jenners-birthday-bash/

Allies of the prime minister are making it clear he would fight any challenge to his leadership from Labour MPs.

There are fears from those loyal to Sir Keir Starmer that his job might be under immediate threat, perhaps as soon as shortly after the Budget in a fortnight’s time.

Critics say it is evidence that Downing Street is “in full bunker mode” which “won’t help the government out of the hole we’re in.”

Friends of Sir Keir are deeply worried about what they see as plotting going on to try to replace him and are seeking to make clear what they see as the grave risks of a leadership challenge.

Those names being discussed by Labour MPs as potential candidates to displace Sir Keir include some of his closest cabinet allies, especially Wes Streeting, the health secretary, and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.

Some also speculate about the ambitions of Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, and backbenchers including the former transport secretary Louise Haigh.

“He will fight this,” one minister said, before making reference to a key by-election in 2021 which Labour lost to the Conservatives, prompting Sir Keir to consider resigning as Labour’s leader.

“This is not a Hartlepool moment,” they added.

“He is one of only two people alive who have won a general election for Labour. It’d be madness to run against him after 17 months.”

For months now, plenty in the Labour Party have acknowledged that the government faces a likely crunch point after devolved elections in Scotland and Wales and local elections in many parts of England next May.

Labour is widely expected to do badly in those elections, but there are growing concerns from some in the party that it can’t wait until then to contemplate a change of leader.

Downing Street is aware of the potential imminence of such a threat to them.

One senior Labour MP told us: “It’s all very well to say wait for the locals, but that’s my activist base I’m sending into the gunfire. I can’t lose all my councillors.”

Another Labour source said: “The list of reasons for people to move after the Budget are growing by the day.

“If Wes is brave and moves he may well be rewarded by being prime minister by Christmas.”

The ambition of Streeting is seen with particular suspicion from some loyal to the prime minister.

A spokesman for Streeting told the BBC “these claims are categorically untrue”.

“Wes’s focus has entirely been on cutting waiting lists for the first time in 15 years, recruiting 2,500 more GPs, and rebuilding the NHS that saved his life,” he added.

The health secretary is due to do a round of interviews on Wednesday morning which were due to be focused on his plans for shaking up the NHS in England.

A government source said Downing Street “has gone into full bunker mode, turning on their most loyal cabinet members for absolutely no reason”.

“Unfortunately there is a pattern of Keir’s team briefing against his own people – they did it to Angela, Lisa, Lucy, now it’s Wes’s turn,” the source added.

“A circular firing squad won’t help the government out of the hole we’re in,” a government source said – referring to the former and current deputy leaders, Angela Rayner and Lucy Powell respectively, and the Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy.

Labour peer Maurice Glasman told BBC Two’s Newsnight he couldn’t see any candidate who could possibly challenge Sir Keir, saying the leadership chatter was “just noise”.

“There isn’t a clear direction, there isn’t a clear strategy… none of the candidates challenging Keir have any idea either,” he said.

When asked if Mahmood would be up to the task of addressing the issues facing Labour, Lord Glasman said: “For me, absolutely. I mean, she’s the only one of really genuine quality of the whole lot, but she’s got a job to do.”

He added that he fully supports the prime minister and was not in favour of any challenge to his leadership.

The prime minister’s supporters are telling Labour MPs they should be careful what they wish for.

They argue a leadership contest would plunge the party into the chaos associated with the final years of the Conservative Party’s stint in office which came to an end last year, and install a leader who does not have their own mandate from the country.

They are trying to convince their colleagues that a contest could destabilise the international markets too, and would jeopardise the good relationship the prime minister has established with President Trump.

But others, including some ministers, fret about what they perceive to be the desperate position the government is in.

“It’s terrible. He [Starmer] is hated out there. It is worse than it got under Corbyn. I don’t see how this is sustainable until May,” one minister said.

Opinion polls suggest Sir Keir is deeply unpopular, perhaps even the most unpopular British prime minister in the history of modern opinion polling.

Polls also suggest the Labour Party has commanded the support of no more than a fifth of the electorate in recent months.

But, a move to replace Sir Keir isn’t straightforward. Under Labour’s rules, it would take 20% of its MPs to nominate a challenger – 81 given the current size of the parliamentary party in the Commons.

A cabinet minister who is supportive of the prime minister sums up the mood among their colleagues as they see it: “There are those who see it as a choice between this Labour government and perfection.

“The closer they can nudge us towards the policies they see as perfect, the happier they are.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5y0z2q2g2ro

Australia’s spy chief says hackers linked to the Chinese government and military are targeting the country’s critical infrastructure, warning the country was increasingly at risk of “high-impact sabotage”.

Mike Burgess, head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (Asio), said “unprecedented levels of espionage” meant a growing threat of “cyber-enabled sabotage” in the next five years.

He singled out “one nation state – no prizes for guessing which one – conducting multiple attempts to scan and penetrate critical infrastructure in Australia” and its allies, “targeting water, transport, telecommunications, and energy networks”.

The Chinese embassy has been contacted for comment.

Authoritarian regimes were now more willing to “disrupt and destroy,” Burgess warned.

He cited two Chinese hacking groups, Salt Typhoon and Volt Typhoon, who have targeted telecommunications companies in the US and Australia.

“These groups are hackers working for Chinese government intelligence and their military,” he told business leaders at a forum in Melbourne on Wednesday.

“Both groups were involved in the theft of sensitive information, but the real danger was the threat of sabotage – disruption to critical infrastructure.”

He said Salt Typhoon’s intent was espionage, breaking into telecommunication networks in the US.

“And they have been probing our telecommunication networks here in Australia too,” Burgess said.

He said Volt Typhoon’s actions were intended to be disruptive, with hackers compromising critical infrastructure networks in the US for potential, future sabotage.

“And yes, we have seen Chinese hackers probing our critical infrastructure as well,” Burgess said.

He warned that authoritarian regimes are increasingly willing to sabotage critical infrastructure in order to “impede decision-making, damage the economy, undermine war-fighting capability and sow social discord”.

“I do not think we – and I mean all of us – truly appreciate how disruptive, how devastating, this could be,” he said.

Burgess pointed out that short telecommunication outages, unrelated to foreign interference, have had significant and widespread impacts on society.

“That’s one phone network not working for less than one day,” he said.

“Imagine the implications if a nation-state took down all the networks? Or turned off the power during a heatwave? Or polluted our drinking water? Or crippled our financial system?”

Spies are increasingly “broadening their collection requirements”, Burgess said.

“They are aggressively targeting private sector projects, negotiations and investments that might give foreign companies a commercial advantage. And like criminals, they have been aggressively targeting customer data.”

The spy chief said conservative estimates showed that espionage cost Australia A$12.5bn ($8.2bn; £6.2bn) in 2023-24, with about $2bn worth of trade secrets and intellectual property stolen from Australian companies in one year.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg7n43emvejo

Pakistani Army Chief Asim Munir is staging a silent coup by getting the Constitution amended. Amid consolidation of power, Munir, a Quran-e-Hafiz, is taking the Pakistani military to 7th century Arabia by using terms like fitna and khawarij from early Islamic history. The indoctrination is such that the Pakistani military is making its battles a fight for Islam.

Despite being used as a mercenary force to fight foreign wars, Pakistan’s army retained the vestiges of a professional force. Under Army chief Asim Munir, those traces are disappearing as the Pakistani military is being transformed into a force fighting not for the country or the people, but for Islam. The transformation of the Pakistani military into a religious force comes even as Munir consolidates power through a constitutional backdoor.

Pakistan’s defence establishment is using fictitious terms like Fitna Al Khwarij and Fitna al Hindustan, branding rebels in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan—bordering Afghanistan—”Indian proxies”. Both the terms, fitna and khwarij, have Islamic connotations, dating back to 7th century Arabia. The Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR), which manages the Pakistani military’s communications, has regularly been using the terms Fitna Al Khawarij and Fitna al Hindustan.

By using early Islamic terms, Munir is trying to showcase the Pakistani military as the defender of Islamic order against heretical rebels. This also gels with Pakistan’s self-projection as the champion of the Muslim Ummah, which ultimately helps it borrow from countries like Saudi Arabia to run its debt-tattered economy.

HOW ASIM MUNIR HAS LAUNCHED A SILENT COUP IN PAKISTAN

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected on Monday a bid by a former Kentucky county official to overturn its landmark 2015 ruling legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide, as the justices steered clear of the contentious case some 3-1/2 years after its conservative majority reversed abortion rights.
The court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, turned away an appeal by Kim Davis, the former Rowan County clerk who was sued by a gay couple after refusing to issue any marriage licenses following the 2015 decision that recognized a constitutional right to same-sex marriage. Davis has said same-sex marriage conflicts with her religious beliefs as an Apostolic Christian.

Davis appealed after lower courts rejected her claim that the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment right to free exercise of religion shields her from liability in the case. Davis was ordered to pay more than $360,000 in damages and legal fees for violating the same-sex couple’s right to marry.
The 2015 ruling in the case called Obergefell v. Hodges represented a historic victory for LGBT rights in the United States. It declared that the Constitution’s guarantees of due process and equal protection under the law meant states cannot ban same-sex marriages.
“The Supreme Court’s denial of review confirms what we already knew: same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry, and Kim Davis’s denial of marriage licenses in defiance of Obergefell plainly violated that right,” said William Powell, an attorney representing the plaintiffs.

“This is a win for same-sex couples everywhere who have built their families and lives around the right to marry,” Powell added.
Mat Staver, founder of the conservative Christian legal group Liberty Counsel representing Davis, called Monday’s decision to reject the case heartbreaking but he vowed to continue the effort to overturn the Obergefell precedent.
“We will continue to work to get a case to the high court to overturn Obergefell,” Staver said. “Obergefell will be overturned because it has no basis in the Constitution. The justices know that and they should address this issue.”
The Obergefell ruling was 5-4, with now-retired conservative Justice Anthony Kennedy joined by four liberal justices. Kennedy wrote in the decision that the hope of gay people intending to marry was “not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.”

Overturning Obergefell would allow states once again to pass laws against same-sex marriage.
Four conservative justices dissented in Obergefell, three of whom still serve on the court – Clarence Thomas, John Roberts and Samuel Alito. The court’s conservative bloc also includes three justices appointed by Republican President Donald Trump during his first term in office.
The Trump administration did not weigh in on the Davis case as the Supreme Court considered whether to take up the matter.
The court has a different ideological makeup now than a decade ago, becoming more conservative on a range of issues.
In 2022, the court overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that had recognized a woman’s constitutional right to abortion and had legalized the procedure nationwide. That ruling raised the hopes of many conservatives and Republicans who opposed Obergefell that the court would consider reversing the same-sex marriage decision as well.

TIME IN JAIL

Davis, who was elected to her post, refused to issue marriage licenses in her county in the aftermath of the Obergefell ruling. Davis also served six days in jail for contempt of court for violating a judicial order to issue marriage licenses.
The appeal by Davis came in a civil rights lawsuit by David Ermold and David Moore, who accused her of violating their constitutional right to marry as recognized in the Obergefell ruling. Ermold and Moore received a license from the county while Davis was jailed.
U.S. District Judge David Bunning in 2022 rejected the assertion by Davis that she is protected from liability in the case because issuing the marriage license to a same-sex couple would violate her constitutionally protected religious beliefs.
“Davis cannot use her own constitutional rights as a shield to violate the constitutional rights of others while performing her duties as an elected official,” Bunning wrote.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/us-supreme-court-rejects-bid-overturn-same-sex-marriage-right-2025-11-10/

The U.S. Senate on Monday approved a compromise that would end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, breaking a weeks-long stalemate that has disrupted food benefits for millions, left hundreds of thousands of federal workers unpaid and snarled air traffic.
The 60-40 vote passed with the support of nearly all of the chamber’s Republicans and eight Democrats, who unsuccessfully sought to tie government funding to health subsidies that are due to expire at the end of the year. While the agreement sets up a December vote on those subsidies, which benefit 24 million Americans, it does not guarantee they will continue.

The deal would restore funding for federal agencies that lawmakers allowed to expire on October 1 and would stall President Donald Trump’s campaign to downsize the federal workforce, preventing any layoffs until January 30.
It next heads to the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, where Speaker Mike Johnson has said he would like to pass it as soon as Wednesday and send it on to Trump to sign into law. Trump has called the deal to reopen the government “very good.”
The deal would extend funding through January 30, leaving the federal government for now on a path to keep adding about $1.8 trillion a year to its $38 trillion in debt.

Coming a week after Democrats won high-profile elections in New Jersey, Virginia and elected a democratic socialist as the next mayor of New York City, the deal has provoked anger among many Democrats who note there is no guarantee that the Republican-controlled Senate or House would agree to extend the health insurance subsidies.

“We wish we could do more,” said Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, the chamber’s No. 2 Democrat. “The government shutting down seemed to be an opportunity to lead us to better policy. It didn’t work.”
A late October Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 50% of Americans blamed Republicans for the shutdown, while 43% blamed Democrats.
U.S. stocks rose on Monday, buoyed by news of progress on a deal to reopen the government.
Trump has unilaterally cancelled billions of dollars in spending and trimmed federal payrolls by hundreds of thousands of workers, intruding on Congress’s constitutional authority over fiscal matters. Those actions have violated past spending laws passed by Congress, and some Democrats have questioned why they would vote for any such spending deals going forward.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-senate-compromise-sets-stage-end-government-shutdown-2025-11-10/

She is getting ready for her “Love Story.”

The first two bridesmaids in Taylor Swift’s upcoming wedding to Travis Kelce have been revealed to be the singer’s close friends Selena Gomez and Gigi Hadid.

The “Opalite” singer reportedly asked the supermodel to join her bridal party when they dined at Manhattan hotspot Zero Bond last week, according to the US Sun.

A source told the outlet that Hadid, 30, was “thrilled” and “wasn’t expecting” to be asked, though she accepted.

As for Gomez, 33, the outlet reported the “Fortnight” songstress also asked the “Only Murders in the Building” actress to join her bridal party.

“Taylor wants to start the wedding process this way — building her bridesmaid group and getting everyone involved in the preparations, celebrations, and planning,” an insider told the US Sun.

“She wants it to be fun and memorable for everyone, with parties, trips, and time spent together leading up to the big day.”

Swift has even turned Gomez for wedding planning help, as the actress recently tied the knot to Benny Blanco in September.

The “Wood” singer’s recent public outings have sparked a fan theory that she is asking her friends to be part of her bridal party.

She also got dinner with Ashley Avignone in October and Sabrina Carpenter on Friday night.

Page Six has reached out to reps for Swift, Gomez and Hadid but did not immediately hear back.

In August, Kelce, 36, popped the question to Swift, 35, after two years of dating.

“Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married,” the pair captioned several Instagram photos from the garden proposal, which was taken at the Kansas City Chiefs star’s Leawood, Kan., estate.

Source : https://pagesix.com/2025/11/10/entertainment/taylor-swifts-star-studded-bridesmaids-revealed-as-singer-plans-wedding-to-travis-kelce/

A Thai court of appeal has upheld an extradition order against a Chinese gambling kingpin after more than three years of legal battles, Thailand’s state prosecutor said in a statement on Monday (Nov 10).

She Zhijiang, 43, a Chinese national who also holds a Cambodian passport, was arrested by Thai police in August 2022 on an international warrant and Interpol red notice requested by Beijing, who accused him of running illegal online gambling operations.

A Thai criminal court ordered his extradition to China in May 2024, but his legal team appealed the decision, arguing that the order breached the law. Last month, the Thai Constitutional Court ruled that the extradition order was lawful.

She will be extradited to China “to stand trial for operating illegal casinos,” the Thai prosecutor’s statement said, adding that his alleged offences also included the founding and running of 239 gambling websites with circulating capital of over 12.63 trillion baht (US$385 billion).

He is also accused of building and operating two casinos at Shwe Kokko in Myanmar, where he allegedly “enticed Chinese nationals to participate in gambling activities” through various online platforms, the statement said.

She continues to deny any wrongdoing, saying that his case in China is politically motivated and based on alleged offences dating back to 2011, his lawyer Sanya Eadjongdee told Reuters.

He said that the Appeal Court reached its verdict on Nov 6 and relayed it to She and his legal team on Monday. She is detained at Bangkok Remand Prison.

Thai government agencies have 90 days to coordinate She’s extradition to China, Sanya said.

At the time of his arrest, She headed a gambling empire that included a US$15 billion casino, entertainment and tourism complex called Shwe Kokko on the Thai-Myanmar border.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/thailand-extradite-gambling-kingpin-she-zhijiang-china-5457876

Typhoon Fung-wong is forecast to make landfall on Taiwan’s southwestern coast around the major port city of Kaohsiung on Wednesday.

Taiwan issued a land warning on Tuesday (Nov 11) and evacuated more than 3,000 people ahead of the arrival of Typhoon Fung-wong which, while weakening, is expected to dump large amounts of rain on the island’s mountainous east coast.

Fung-wong is forecast to make landfall on Taiwan’s southwestern coast around the major port city of Kaohsiung on Wednesday, after powering through the Philippines as a much stronger system and killing six people.

It is then expected to cross the bottom part of Taiwan and enter the Pacific Ocean along the coast of the sparsely populated eastern counties of Taitung and Hualien.

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, writing on his Facebook page, said people should not head into the mountains or go to the coast or other potentially dangerous areas.

In September, 18 people died in Hualien in flooding unleashed by an earlier typhoon.

The government has already ordered evacuations in the town of Guangfu, the scene of those deadly floods, and said a total of 3,337 people in four counties and cities had been moved to safer areas.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/east-asia/taiwan-typhoon-fung-wong-evacuation-5459186

As COP30 kicks off in Brazil, Ghana’s rural communities are leading a grassroots climate push, using indigenous knowledge to cut carbon and protect forests.

In northern Ghana’s Yiwagu community, farming has long been the backbone of local livelihoods. But in recent years, harvests — especially of shea nuts — have dwindled. Locals blame the decline on erratic rainfall and rising temperatures, symptoms of a changing climate.

In response, the ethnic minority community has turned to traditional conservation practices. Local leaders have banned tree felling and other harmful activities in nearby forests.

“This sacred forest serves as a windbreak to our community. It helps facilitate rainfall, and it also serves as a source of our medicinal needs,” said Yakubu Iddrisu, an assembly member for Yiwagu.

The benefits are already visible, he said. Improved weather conditions are returning, and the forest is once again a source of healing. “So, when we want our medicine, the herbs that we need are here,” Iddrisu told DW.

Protecting forests

In Bachabodo, another village community in northern Ghana, locals — especially women — once relied on charcoal production for income, cutting down trees in the process. But that’s changing.

With support from the Global Leadership Foundation, the UN’s Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) program, and the African Forest Forum, women are now turning to beekeeping as a sustainable alternative.

“We were cutting down trees for [firewood] and then cutting down trees to make charcoal. Now, through the honey, we get money to take care of ourselves,” said Grace Mawaldujin, a beekeeper in Bachabodo, who added that the shift has transformed their lives.

“Now we are happy about the honey production because we get money from there. We no [longer] cut down the trees for charcoal burning. Now our forest and our beekeeping is making us happy in our community.”

Climate-smart farming methods

Further south, farmers are adopting climate-smart agricultural practices that reduce pressure on forests and promote tree planting. In cocoa-growing regions such as Atiwa in eastern Ghana, trees are being planted to provide shade for cocoa crops — boosting yields and improving livelihoods.

“Previously we used to harvest a few bags from our cocoa but now, during the adoption of climate-smart [agriculture], we are getting more, and it is really helping the farmers. So, I will say it has helped to alleviate poverty in my landscape,” said Collins Akonnor, a local cocoa farmer.

These efforts are supported by the UN’s REDD+ initiative, which aims to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. The program is helping communities curb overfarming and protect forest ecosystems.

“The goal is to stop the expansion of the cocoa farms into the forest lands and also plant trees within cocoa farms to improve yield,” said Ivy Ashiley of Ghana’s national REDD+ secretariat.

“Now this goes a long way to decrease deforestation and forest degradation. So, the impact has been great. Most of the farmers are now farming within their lands and even planting more trees which is equally improving yields.”

Although Africa is one of the lowest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, it remains one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change. Experts say Ghana’s community-led initiatives offer a blueprint for the continent.

“I am very impressed actually by what I have witnessed in the communities,” said Amos Amanubo, Africa Regional Coordinator for the Global Landscapes Forum, an organization that advocates addressing landscape-level issues.

“You know, when we talk from a global perspective it is usually very hard to make sense of the synergies across the three Rio conventions — the convention on climate, biodiversity and land degradation neutrality.”

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/cop30-how-ghana-is-reducing-its-carbon-footprint-with-indigenous-solutions/a-74632319

A former official who refused to issue same-sex marriage licenses asked the Supreme Court to reconsider its landmark ruling that guaranteed the right to same-sex marriage. However, the Supreme Court rejected the bid.

The United States Supreme Court on Monday refused to revisit its precedent recognizing the constitutional right to same-sex marriage.

The court, without comment, rejected a bid by a former Kentucky county official Kim Davis to overturn its 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges ruling, which allows same-sex couples to marry.

Davis sought to have the Supreme Court overturn a lower court’s order requiring her to pay $360,000 in damages and attorney fees to a couple whose marriage license she denied because of her religious beliefs.

Precedent-setting ruling legalized same-sex marriage

LGBTQ+ activists grew concerned after the Supreme Court in 2022 overturned its Roe v. Wade ruling guaranteeing the right to abortion, signaling openness to revisiting precedents. Justice Clarence Thomas later urged reconsideration of Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.

In 2015, the Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that states cannot ban same-sex marriage because the US Constitution guarantees equal protection and due process.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/us-supreme-court-rejects-challenge-to-same-sex-marriage/a-74692691

While Dhaka has taken steps to probe abuses committed by the Hasina administration, recent reports from rights groups have raised concerns about ongoing political violence and extrajudicial killings.

Bangladesh has been in political turmoil since longtime Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted in August 2024 following a mass student-led uprising against her autocratic rule.

During her 15 years in power, Hasina was blamed for extensive human rights abuses, including mass detentions and extrajudicial killings of her political opponents.

After her ouster, the interim government led by Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus promised major reforms, aiming to improve governance in the South Asian nation of 170 million people.

Authorities have launched investigations into rights abuses committed by the Hasina administration.

They have also arrested Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun, who served as the police chief during Hasina’s final years in office. He has now turned into a witness in a case accusing Hasina and many of her ministers of ordering a deadly crackdown during the mass protests.

While these legal proceedings have been welcomed as steps toward justice and accountability, new reports from rights groups have raised fresh concerns about ongoing abuses.

“We took a stand against extrajudicial killings during the previous government and demanded justice. But the situation is still the same. This cannot continue,” Nur Khan, a member of the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances, told DW.

What to know about the rights situation in Bangladesh

At the end of last month, Odhikar, a Dhaka-based rights organization, released a report saying that at least 281 people had been killed in violence involving political parties since Hasina’s rule ended.

Furthermore, there were 40 victims of extrajudicial killings and another 153 people were lynched.

Bangladeshi security forces, including the police and the army, have been blamed for many of these deaths.

In its October report, the Manabadhikar Shongskriti Foundation (msf), an NGO, also warned there was a rise in unidentified bodies and deaths in custody.

The group reported that 66 unidentified bodies had been recovered nationwide in October alone, and 13 custodial deaths were reported during the same period.

msf stated that these incidents “reflect the growing insecurity in public life. At the same time, law enforcement’s failure to identify these bodies has raised questions about their role.”

Official data also show that an average of 43 bodies have been recovered from rivers every month until August 2025, up from 36 in the previous year.

Yunus pressured to act

Nur Khan said the police were not doing enough to investigate the rising number of deaths.

“It’s not certain that all of them were murders. But some of them may have been extrajudicial killings,” he argued.

“Mobs are now also responsible for extrajudicial killings in many cases,” Khan added.

In October, six international groups — including Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the international press watchdog, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) — sent a letter to interim leader Yunus, urging stronger action to stop human rights abuses.

“We are deeply concerned that the security sector remains largely unreformed and that members of security forces have not been fully cooperative with accountability and reform efforts,” the letter stated.

Meenakshi Ganguly, HRW’s deputy Asia director, told DW the government should work with “civil society, religious, and political parties” to ensure the Bangladeshis “trust the justice system” and stop engaging in angry protests and mob violence.

Young politician found dead

In January this year, security forces picked Touhidul Islam, the leader of the youth wing of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), in the city of Cumilla, near the Indian border.

He was found unconscious near the Gumti River the next day and soon declared dead at the hospital.

Islam’s death sparked outrage and protests across the country.

The government reacted by withdrawing the local army camp commander and launching a probe into Islam’s death.

But the victim’s family is still waiting for justice.

“No one has been arrested. We were not even allowed to file a case. The police wrote a statement, and we signed it. We were not heard. We were not even allowed to accuse anyone,” his brother Abul Kalam Azad told DW.

Azad also said they received threats and warned to remain silent.

‘It’s very sad’

DW contacted Bangladesh’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the armed forces’ publicity department, and the police about the alleged extrajudicial killings, but they declined to comment.

On November 4, Home Affairs Adviser Jahangir Alam Chowdhury told reporters, “Anyone involved in killings, whether from security forces or any other groups, would be brought under the law and held accountable.”

Nur Khan said the interim government’s statements sounded like empty words.

“This sounds just like the statements made by the previous home ministers. It’s very sad,” he said. “No one has yet been held accountable, and no investigation reports have been published. If this continues, things will only get worse.”

Press freedom remains a ‘deep concern’

Bangladesh’s press freedom deteriorated sharply under Sheikh Hasina, who served as the prime minister between 1996 and 2001, and then again between 2009 and 2024.

In the annual rankings published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the country slipped from 121st place in 2009 to 165th in 2024. Although the situation has improved this year — Bangladesh now ranks 149th in the world — it still remains in the “Very Serious” category, underscoring the weak and fragile nature of the nation’s media landscape.

At a press freedom event on November 6, Yunus’ press secretary, Shafiqul Alam, said: “Many (journalists) say they are afraid of the mob. I don’t see that fear anywhere. Anyone who is afraid of the mob may have acted as an accomplice (to Hasina’s rule) at that time.”

But rights groups disagree.

“Press freedom in Bangladesh under the interim government remains a deep concern for us,” Beh Lih Yi, the Asia-Pacific director of the CPJ, told DW. While some reforms have been introduced, she said, “these reforms did not go far enough.”

The office of Chief Adviser Yunus declined DW’s request for comment for this article.

Meanwhile, the new administration has amended the Anti-Terrorism Act — originally passed in 2009 — and used it to ban Hasina’s Awami League. Several journalists have been arrested under the act, with HRW calling the recent amendments “draconian.”

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/bangladesh-rights-abuses-after-hasinas-ouster-spark-fear/a-74689849

SUNDAY marked the worst day of travel since the start of the federal government shutdown as a whopping 2,800 flights were cancelled and 10,000 were delayed.

Officials are warning that conditions will only worsen as the headache-inducing effects of the spending freeze reach new heights.

Travelers braced for historic chaos after the Federal Aviation Administration ordered the 40 busiest airports in the US to reduce schedules by 10% starting Friday.

New York, Chicago, and Atlanta were among the major cities affected by the cuts.

On Sunday, more than 200 flights were cancelled at the country’s busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, alone.

According to Airlines for America, a trade group that represents major US airlines, more than 4 million flyers have been disrupted since the beginning of October, The Washington Post reported.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned that flight cuts were inevitable, as air traffic controllers who were working without pay are calling out at much higher rates.

He said essential air traffic employees are opting for secondary jobs to make some cash and pay their bills.

On Sunday, Duffy said the flight chaos is “only going to get worse” and fears that holiday travel will be affected.

“The two weeks before Thanksgiving, you’re going to see air travel being reduced to a trickle,” he told CNN.

When asked how many travelers would be affected on Turkey Day, Duffy said, “The number is going to be substantial.”

Duffy also warned that the spending freeze isn’t the sole cause of the air travel crisis.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/travel/15469444/flight-cancellation-delay-government-shutdown-ends-weekend-travel/

AT least 20 people were rushed to the hospital after a bus carrying three dozen people crashed and turned over on Sunday night.

The vehicle was zooming through roads in California’s San Bernardino Mountains when it rolled over a curb and flipped on its side.

The accident unfolded around 8:50 pm local time on Highway 330 near Running Springs, a rural town two hours east of Los Angeles.

36 adults and teenagers were on board the bus when it turned over, the San Bernardino County Fire Department said.

20 passengers were raced to nearby hospitals with injuries and three suffered severe injuries, according to officials.

The remaining passengers either left with minor injuries or said they weren’t hurt.

Crews arrived by 9 pm and found the bus on its side with passengers climbing out of the vehicle’s roof hatch to safety.

The riders were traveling downhill on their way home from a church camp in the San Bernardino Mountains, the SBCFD said.

Officials initially described the crash as a mass casualty incident and set up to quickly assess victims at the scene.

They treated 26 people in total.

Terrifying images shared by SBCFD showed police lights blaring in the darkness as a crowd of people was assessed by firefighters.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/15466657/san-bernardino-bus-crash-mass-casualty/

 

Siddhant Awasthi’s leadership coincided with significant milestones and challenges for the Cybertruck. Between November 2023 and early 2024, 46,096 Cybertrucks were produced, according to US recall filings. The Cybertruck also faced product recalls and sales difficulties, with Tesla offering discounts on inventory vehicles.

Siddhant Awasthi, who most recently led Tesla’s Cybertruck program, announced late Sunday his decision to leave the company after more than eight years. Awasthi, who has Indian roots, began at Tesla as an intern and eventually oversaw the Cybertruck—from engineering to large-scale production – playing a significant role in product strategy, quality enhancements, and supply chain management, as outlined in his LinkedIn post. In July last year, he also assumed leadership of Tesla’s Model 3 program.

On LinkedIn, Awasthi wrote, “Eight years ago, when I started as an intern, I never dreamed I’d one day have the opportunity to lead the Cybertruck program and bring it to reality,” highlighting the significance of his journey at Tesla. This announcement followed a period of substantial professional achievements, including the launch and production ramp-up of key Tesla vehicles.

“I recently made one of the hardest decisions of my life to leave Tesla after an incredible run. It’s been an absolute privilege filled with mostly high-intensity daysworking alongside talented, driven, and truly rockstar colleagues across Tesla,” Awasthi went on. However, he did not specify his next career move.

Looking back at his career at Tesla, Awasthi said he was involved in “ramping up Model 3, working on Giga Shanghai, developing new electronics and wireless architectures, and delivering the once-in-a-lifetime Cybertruckall before hitting 30.”

Awasthi expressed gratitude to colleagues and leadership: “I want to extend a huge thanks to Elon, all Tesla leaders (past and present), mentors, and our amazing customers (huge shoutout!) who’ve fuelled my drive and kept me pushing forward through it all.”

He acknowledged the complexity and impact of Tesla’s technology, stating, “This decision wasn’t easy, especially with so much exciting growth on the horizon. Tesla vehicles are incredibly complex systems that often don’t get the credit they deserve, but I’ve witnessed firsthand how they’ve changed lives for our customers, my friends, and my family adding real value and, above all, improving safety.”

Awasthi’s leadership coincided with significant milestones and challenges for the Cybertruck. Between November 2023 and early 2024, 46,096 Cybertrucks were produced, according to US recall filings. The Cybertruck also faced product recalls and sales difficulties, with Tesla offering discounts on inventory vehicles.

The announcement of Awasthi’s departure comes as Tesla reported a fourth consecutive quarterly profit decline in October. The company’s earnings for the third quarter dropped 37% to $1.4 billion, or 39 cents a share, compared to the previous year. Despite increased sales, results followed a surge of buyers seeking to benefit from a $7,500 tax credit before its expiry, potentially impacting future quarters.

Source : https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/tesla-cybertruck-leader-siddhant-awasthi-leaves-after-eight-years-2816969-2025-11-10

In late September, the Dutch government invoked a Cold War-era emergency law to take control of a Chinese-owned chip company that has operations in the country.

The extraordinary move set off a chain of events that sent shock waves through the global motor industry – already battered by US tariffs and China’s curbs on rare earth exports.

In a statement to the Netherlands parliament, the minister of economic affairs cited “serious governance shortcomings and actions within Nexperia” that “posed a threat”.

“This measure is highly exceptional and intended solely to ensure that the continuity of supply and safeguarding of critical technologies for the Dutch and European economy are not put at risk,” the statement said.

Beijing reacted furiously, accusing the Netherlands of political interference.

It imposed export controls and halted deliveries of Nexperia chips from its Chinese facilities to Europe, while the Dutch government froze shipments of key supplies needed to make the chips in China.

The disruption caused to the motor industry highlighted a major weakness in the global supply chain of chips vital to car production and opened yet another front in the rivalry between the US and China.

The Chinese government has now granted exemptions to export controls on the chips for civilian applications but has not clarified what it considers those to be.

But Chinese authorities still want the Dutch to revoke the takeover of Nexperia.

“China welcomes the EU to continue exerting its influence to urge the Netherlands to correct its erroneous practices as soon as possible,” the commerce ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

Nexperia’s parent company Wingtech Technology did not respond to a BBC request for comment.

At least 31 inmates have been found dead in a prison in southern Ecuador, including 27 who had been hanged, officials say.

Four prisoners were killed and more than 30 injured in clashes between rival gang members in El Oro prison in the city of Machala in the early hours of on Sunday.

Hours later, security guards who had been alerted to a fresh outbreak of gang violence found the others who had been hanged on the building’s third floor, Ecuador’s prison service said.

The country’s overcrowded prisons have been the scene of a series of deadly riots and gang fights in which hundreds of inmates have been killed in recent years.

Ecuador’s prison service, known by its initials as Snai, said that the clashes had been triggered by plans to move some of the inmates to a newly-built prison.

El Oro prison was the site of another deadly incident in September when 13 inmates and a guard were killed in clashes between rival gangs.

Relatives of the prisoners have asked the authorities to step up security inside the prison, including keeping rival gangs separate, whilst residents of Machala have long demanded that the facility, which is located in the city centre, be relocated.

Earlier this year, the government of President Daniel Noboa announced the construction of a new maximum security jail in the province of Santa Elena.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0kp220561go

Every year, the U.N. climate conference conjures hundreds of headlines on global efforts to spare the world from climate catastrophe. This year’s begins on Monday in the Brazilian rainforest city of Belem.
But what exactly happens at these annual summits? Here’s what you need to know:

WHAT IS A COP?

The annual conference is known as a COP, which stands for Conference of the Parties that signed the 1992 U.N. climate treaty.

The treaty, called the U.N. Framework on Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC), committed countries to working together to fight climate change – a problem they acknowledged all countries faced and was best tackled together.
The treaty also established the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities”, meaning the rich countries responsible for most of the planet-warming emissions bear a greater responsibility in solving the problem.
The rotating presidency, now held by Brazil, sets the summit agenda and works through the year to rally governments toward shared action and goals. It then hosts the two-week summit, drawing global attention to the issue while giving national leaders a chance to swap ideas and hold one another accountable.

Over the years, the annual summits have become a major hub of geopolitical and financial discussion – projecting the idea of a “global village” that welcomes all countries, civil society groups, businesses and financiers.

WHY SHOULD WE CARE ABOUT COP30 THIS YEAR?

For many, this year’s 30th climate summit marks as a full-circle moment.
Brazil had hosted the Rio Earth Summit where the UNFCCC treaty was signed 33 years ago. This year, the country insisted the event would return to its roots in acknowledging the world’s most vulnerable including indigenous groups, with some joining the talks.
Brazil has asked countries to work on realizing past promises, such as a COP28 pledges to phase out fossil fuel use, rather than making new ones. COP30 is also the first to acknowledge failure in meeting the past goal of preventing warming above 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Brazil opted to hold COP30 in the Amazon city of Belem – hoping to symbolically underline the importance of world forests that remain targets for logging and industries including mining, farming and fossil fuel extraction.

WHO ARE THE MAIN PLAYERS AT THE SUMMIT?

Most national governments send teams to the talks. Often, countries speak together in groups with similar interests.
Some of the more prominent voices include the Alliance of Small Island States facing an existential threat from rising seas, and the G77+China bloc of developing countries.
Also influential are the Africa Group and the BASIC Group consisting of Brazil, South Africa, India and China.
The U.S., which pledged in January to quit the Paris Treaty on climate change, has stepped away from its past leadership role. China, Brazil and others have stepped in to fill the void.

TWO WEEKS SEEMS A LONG TIME – WHAT HAPPENS AT THE SUMMIT?

The sprawling COP campus is often a hive of activity, with campaigners trying to draw attention to their causes while corporations lobby policy change and seek business deals.
This year has been unique in sloughing off the usual side events and leaving financiers to meet in Sao Paulo while local leaders huddled in Rio de Janeiro. Those events, along with a meeting of world leaders in Belem, were staged before the November 10-21 COP30 in hopes of generating support and momentum for climate action for the actual talks.
During the summit’s first week, country negotiators will lay out their priorities and gauge one another’s positions. Themes should begin to emerge, while countries and companies announce action plans and pledges of financing for projects.
Negotiators are typically joined by national ministers during the second week, to haggle over final decisions including legal and technical details.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/cop/what-is-cop30-climate-summit-why-does-it-matter-2025-11-09/

The U.S. Senate on Sunday moved forward on a measure aimed at reopening the federal government and ending a now 40-day shutdown that has sidelined federal workers, delayed food aid and snarled air travel.
In a procedural vote, senators advanced a House-passed bill that will be amended to fund the government until January 30 and include a package of three full-year appropriations bills.

If the Senate eventually passes the amended measure, it still must be approved by the House of Representatives and sent to President Donald Trump for his signature, a process that could take several days.

Under a deal struck with a handful of Democrats who rebuffed their party’s leadership, Republicans agreed to a vote in December on extending subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. The subsidies, which help lower-income Americans pay for private health insurance and are due to expire at the end of the year, have been a Democratic priority during the funding battle.
The vote to advance the bill passed by a 60-40 margin, the minimum needed to overcome a Senate filibuster.
“It looks like we’re getting very close to the shutdown ending,” Trump told reporters at the White House prior to the vote.
The bill would prohibit federal agencies from firing employees until January 30, a win for federal worker unions and their allies. It would stall Trump’s campaign to downsize the federal workforce.

Some 2.2 million civilians worked for the federal government at the start of Trump’s second term, according to federal records. At least 300,000 employees are expected to leave the government by the end of this year due to Trump’s downsizing effort.
It would also provide back pay for all federal employees, including members of the military, Border Patrol agents, and air-traffic controllers.
When the Senate reconvenes on Monday, Republican leaders will try to get a bipartisan agreement to circumvent Senate rules and move quickly to passage. Otherwise, the chamber would require much of the coming week to move through procedural actions before voting on final passage, possibly extending the shutdown into next weekend.
“It was a good vote tonight,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters after the Senate adjourned on Sunday. “Hopefully, we’ll get an opportunity tomorrow to set up the next votes. Of course, that’s going to take some cooperation and consent.”

Sunday’s deal was brokered by Democratic Senators Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen, both from New Hampshire, and Senator Angus King, an independent from Maine, said a person familiar with the talks.

“For over a month, I’ve made clear that my priorities are to both reopen government and extend the ACA enhanced premium tax credits. This is our best path toward accomplishing both of these goals,” Shaheen posted on X.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the chamber’s top Democrat, voted against the measure.
Many Democrats on the Hill watched the deal unfold with displeasure.
“Senator Schumer is no longer effective and should be replaced,” wrote U.S. Representative Ro Khanna on X. “If you can’t lead the fight to stop healthcare premiums from skyrocketing for Americans, what will you fight for?”
Sunday marked the 40th day of the shutdown, which has sidelined federal workers and affected food aid, parks and travel, while air traffic control staffing shortages, threaten to derail travel during the busy Thanksgiving holiday season late this month.
Senator Thom Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina, said the mounting effects of the shutdown pushed the chamber toward an agreement.
“Temperatures cool, the atmospheric pressure increases outside and all of a sudden it looks like things will come together,” Tillis told reporters.
Should the government remain closed for much longer, economic growth could turn negative in the fourth quarter, especially if air travel does not return to normal levels by Thanksgiving, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett warned on the CBS “Face the Nation” show. Thanksgiving falls on November 27 this year.
The wrangling on Capitol Hill came as Trump on Sunday again pushed to replace subsidies for the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance marketplaces with direct payments to individuals.
The subsidies, which helped double ACA enrollment to 24 million since they were put in place in 2021, are at the heart of the shutdown. Republicans have maintained they are open to addressing the issue only after government funding is restored.
Trump took to his Truth Social platform on Sunday to blast the subsidies as a “windfall for Health Insurance Companies, and a DISASTER for the American people,” while demanding the funds be sent directly to individuals to buy coverage on their own. “I stand ready to work with both Parties to solve this problem once the Government is open,” Trump wrote.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/trump-takes-aim-obamacare-historic-federal-shutdown-hits-40th-day-2025-11-09/

The extraordinary rise of artificial intelligence has turbocharged data centre growth in India, Asia’s third largest economy.

Data centres – the centralised physical facilities that enable our growing digital existence by hosting computer servers, IT infrastructure and network equipment – power everything from ChatGPT queries to electric vehicles and streaming services.

Last month, Google made an eye-popping $15bn (£11.49bn) investment in an AI data centre in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh – its biggest in India.

It was the latest among a string of investments from companies – including global giants like Amazon Web Services and Meta and local players such as Reliance Industries – that are pumping billions of dollars into India’s data centre market. Even luxury real-estate developers have joined the bandwagon to build these computing facilities.

The sector is poised for “explosive growth”, according to global real estate advisory JLL, with India’s data centre capacity projected to surge 77% by 2027 to reach 1.8GW. Some $25-30bn is expected to be spent in capacity expansion by 2030, according to various estimates.

While vital for India’s developmental needs, the growth of such energy hungry, water-guzzling infrastructure has profound implications for the country’s decarbonisation plans.

India has no option but to attract big data centre investments, some experts say.

While the country is said to account for 20% of global data generation, it has only 3% of global data centre capacity. And demand for such infrastructure is soaring, with India expected to consume the most data in the world by 2028 – higher than developed markets like the US, Europe and even China.

This consumption is being driven by massive growth in internet and mobile use, the government’s regulatory thrust on hosting user data locally and rapid adoption of AI, which has greater computing needs. AI chatbots like ChatGPT have their second largest user base in India.

There’s also a strong business case for Indian policymakers to push for such investments and for global firms to commit the money.

According to Kotak Research, “data centre development cost is one of the lowest in India with only China’s cost being lower”, and India’s electricity cost is a fraction of the US, UK and Japan.

The country also has world-class tech talent suited for the industry’s growth.

“Just like we exploited the IT services boom through the 90s and 2000s, this is another opportunity that we can use to our advantage,” Vibhuti Garg, director for South Asia at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, told the BBC.

This boom has, however, presented policymakers with difficult trade-offs.

From Chile and Mexico to Georgia in the US and Scotland, serious concerns have been raised around data centres guzzling excess water for their cooling systems and consuming vast amounts of energy at the cost of local communities.

In an energy starved, water-scarce India, these challenges are even more accentuated.

According to the World Bank, India has 18% of the world’s population, but only 4% of its water resources, making it among the most water-stressed countries in the world.

India’s data centre water consumption, meanwhile, is expected to more than double from 150 billion litres in 2025 to 358 billion litres by 2030, putting further pressure on its water table.

Moreover, most of India’s data centres are concentrated in urban clusters like Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai and Bengaluru which have strong competing water needs.

A potential pushback from locals or a loss of licences to build and operate such centres as a result of growing water stress could hit the industry hard over the long term, experts say.

There are already some murmurs of discontent.

Advocacy groups like the Human Rights Forum have raised “alarm” over the Andhra Pradesh state government’s “public resource diversion” for Google’s proposed data centre, saying that Visakhapatnam city where it is slated to come up is already facing acute water stress which could intensify as a result of this investment.

Google directed the BBC to a document which says that the company uses a “peer-reviewed context-based water-risk framework” to evaluate local watershed risk at new sites to guide decision-making on whether to use a freshwater source.

While India has explicit policies and regulations that govern data protection and data centre development, zoning, energy use etc, “water use does not figure prominently in any of these policy groups, and is a significant blind spot that places high risk on the long-term functioning of these centres”, Sahana Goswami of WRI India, a water research organisation, told the BBC.

An S&P Global study predicts that 60-80% of India’s data centres will face high water stress in this decade itself as a result of limited resource availability.

This, in turn, could have a cascading impact on other industries.

“Imagine shutdowns of data centres in peak summer due to lack of water for cooling – how might this impact banking services, medical systems in hospitals using cloud services, transit system operations and more,” says Ms Goswami.

Companies need to bring greater innovation and explore mechanisms to use treated domestic and industrial waste water instead of fighting for this limited resource, experts say.

“India itself has examples of such innovation in the data centre space in Navi Mumbai. Further, various power and textile industries are much ahead in partnering with municipal authorities and water utilities,” says Ms Goswami.

Praveen Ramamurthy, a water recycling expert from the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru city, agrees.

“Non-potable or treated water must be made mandatory for cooling needs,” he told the BBC, adding that India must also select “low-stress water basins for new projects”.

He also advocates for the use of zero-water cooling technologies that are advancing globally, but “inconsistently deployed across Indian and legacy facilities”.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgr417pwek7o

Three people died and 15 more were injured after powerful waves battered popular Spanish holiday island Tenerife.

A woman died after being pulled into the ocean near the Puerto de la Cruz resort and a man died at Santa Cruz de Tenerife, emergency services said on Sunday.

A third man was found dead in the ocean near a beach in Granadilla.

Emergency services have told the public to stay away from coastal paths and to avoid taking pictures and videos of the rough seas, as the turbulent weather continues.

Rescue services said they airlifted a man who fell into water at La Guancha in the north of the island, but that he was later pronounced dead at hospital.

They said another man died after he was found floating near a beach at El Cabezo in the south, with lifeguards and medical staff unable to resuscitate him.

At Puerto de la Cruz, a holiday resort in northern Tenerife, one woman died of a heart attack and another 10 people were swept out to sea. Three of those were seriously injured and taken to hospital.

A local waiter, who gave his name only as Pedro, told the Reuters news agency that he jumped into the water in an attempt to save people being swept out.

“As soon as I saw a man waving at me I took my clothes off, jumped to the water and I managed to grab three of them and save them. I couldn’t save the woman because she passed away at that moment,” he said.

Eyewitness Carlos said he warned people taking photos to move away from the waves but “they did not pay attention”.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpd2pzxe59go

Israel has received the body of Lt Hadar Goldin, a soldier killed in an ambush by Hamas in 2014 and whose body has been held in Gaza since then.

The Israeli military said Lt Goldin, who was 23 when he died, was formally identified and will now be buried. He left behind parents, a sister, two brothers, and a fiancée.

Hamas’s armed wing had said on Sunday that it would hand over Lt Goldin’s body as part of a ceasefire deal.

Hamas has now returned all 20 living hostages, and 24 out of 28 deceased hostages under the first phase of the deal.

On Sunday, Lt Goldin’s father Simcha Goldin said in a statement: “Victory means bringing home the hostages and bringing home our soldiers to Israel.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog both said they had kept a picture of Lt Goldin in their offices for the past 11 years.

Netanyahu said “we didn’t give up” on bringing him home.

“I know the agony that his family’s been through, I know the longing for his return that united the people of Israel and today we’re united in bringing him finally to his parents, to his family, to a grave in Israel.”

Efforts to retrieve Lt Goldin “involved extensive intelligence efforts, alongside operational activities on the ground” over the past decade and during the last two years of war between Israel and Hamas, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.

The military expressed “deep condolences to the family and continues to make every effort to return all the deceased hostages and is prepared for the continued implementation of the agreement”.

Herzog said the government would “continue to act tirelessly” to bring home all the hostages.

Of the four hostages who remain in Gaza, three are Israeli and one is Thai.

Lt Goldin, from Kfar Saba, is the only deceased hostage whose remains were being held in Gaza before the Hamas-led 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, which sparked the latest war.

He was killed in combat on 1 August 2014, not long after the start of a ceasefire in that year’s war between Israel and Hamas. He was among a group of Israeli soldiers patrolling an agricultural area near Rafah in southern Gaza when they were attacked by a group of Hamas fighters.

The Israeli military determined that Lt Goldin was killed along with two other soldiers in a firefight, and that his body was then dragged into an underground tunnel by the Hamas fighters.

The Israeli military unleashed massive firepower to try to prevent Hamas from taking Lt Goldin hostage. Scores of Palestinian civilians were killed in the bombardment of Rafah, which continued for four days, including after Lt Goldin was declared dead.

Nine years later, the Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the 7 October 2023 attack, in which Hamas-led gunmen killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel and took 251 others hostage.

At least 69,176 people have been killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures the UN considers reliable.

During the ongoing first phase of a US-brokered ceasefire deal, Israel freed 250 Palestinian prisoners in its jails and 1,718 detainees from Gaza.

Before Lt Goldin’s body was returned, Israel had also handed over the bodies of 300 Palestinians in exchange for the bodies of 20 Israeli hostages returned by Hamas, along with those of three foreign hostages – one of them Thai, one Nepalese and one Tanzanian.

The parties also agreed to an increase of aid to the Gaza Strip, a partial withdrawal of Israeli forces, and a halt to fighting, although violence has flared up as both sides accused one another of breaching the deal.

On Saturday in Gaza, two Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire. The Israeli military said two people had crossed the yellow line marking the line of Israeli control and posed an “immediate threat”.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2kp3yjy8q7o

Case closed.

The natty, fedora-wearing, French “detective’’ at the center of a sensational photo mystery outside the Louvre Museum after last month’s jewel heist has finally been unmasked — as a 15-year-old boy.

Pedro Elias Garzon Delvaux, a k a “Fedora Man,” sparked a frenzy when he was snapped wearing his brown hat at the perfect jaunty angle, a fashionable vest and classy tie while wielding a wooden-handled umbrella — and a knowing look — as he stood by cops guarding an entrance at the world-famous Parisian art mecca Oct. 19, just after the wild theft.

But the boy cosplayer had kept his identity a secret — till now.

“I didn’t want to say immediately it was me,” he said in an interview with The Associated Press. “With this photo, there is a mystery, so you have to make it last.”

Delvaux claimed he was simply visiting the museum at the time with his parents — and didn’t even know there had just been a robbery there — when his picture was taken by French photographer Thibault Camus.

The cosplayer is a Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot fan, and said he often attends his uniform-free school in the 1940’s-inspired apparel.

His full get-up includes a Yves Saint Laurent waistcoat borrowed from his father, jacket, a tie, Tommy Hilfiger trousers and a restored Russian watch.

Delvaux said he only wears the fedora on weekends, holidays, and museum trips.

He said that four days after his photo went viral, a friend messaged him, asking if he was the world’s new favorite sleuth.

“People said, ‘You’ve become a star,’ ” Delvaux said. “I was astonished that just with one photo you can become viral in a few days.”

The teen said that at first, he hid from the Internet, keeping his social media private to avoid any unwanted attention. Many online posited that the picture may be artificially generated.

Source : https://nypost.com/2025/11/09/world-news/louvres-fedora-man-idd-as-pedro-elias-garzon-delvaux/

A German man allegedly used his own blood to paint swastikas on buildings and nearly four dozen cars in a sleepy central town outside of Frankfurt, according to police.

Authorities received an alert last Wednesday after a man said a car parked in Hanau was branded with a swastika in a reddish liquid. When authorities arrived on the scene, they found nearly 50 cars were similarly defaced, police spokesman Thomas Leipold said.

Investigators tested the substance, which revealed it was human blood.

The next day, police used a witness tip to trace the blood back to a 31-year-old Romanian citizen, who they arrested at his home.

“He was still under the strong influence of alcohol and his motive appears to be highly personal and job-related — he just snapped,” Leipold said.

The assilant was injured when he was apprehended and his wounds appeared to be self-inflicted, the police official added.

The suspect was booked in a “psychiatric hospital” and his identity was withheld per Germany’s privacy rules, Leipold said.

Hanau Mayor Claus Kaminsky was appalled by the attack and noted that the community is still working to put the pieces back together after a domestic terrorist attack in February 2020, in which a gunman specifically killed nine people with immigrant backgrounds at a hookah bar.

“Especially in our city, which was deeply affected by the racist attack on Feb. 19, 2020, such an act causes deep consternation,” he said, adding that the city had filed a criminal complaint, German news agency dpa reported.

“What happened here crosses every boundary of decency and humanity. Swastikas have no place in Hanau. We will not allow such symbols to sow fear or division.”

The display of Nazi emblems, including the swastika, is banned in Germany.

Source : https://nypost.com/2025/11/09/world-news/german-man-accused-of-painting-swastikas-with-own-blood-on-buildings-dozens-of-cars/

More than 69,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war so far, Gaza health officials said Saturday, as both sides completed the latest exchange of bodies under the terms of the tenuous ceasefire.

The latest jump in deaths occurred as more bodies are recovered in the devastated Gaza Strip since the ceasefire began on Oct. 10, and as other bodies are identified. The toll also includes Palestinians killed by strikes that Israel says target remaining militants.

Israel on Saturday returned the remains of another 15 Palestinians to Gaza, according to hospital officials there, a day after militants returned the remains of a hostage to Israel. He was identified as Lior Rudaeff, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ’s office. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said that Rudaeff was born in Argentina.

The exchanges are the central part of the ceasefire’s initial phase, which requires that Hamas return all hostage remains as quickly as possible. Families and supporters rallied again Saturday night in Tel Aviv for the return of all.

The truce is aimed at winding down the deadliest and most destructive war ever between Israel and the Palestinian militant group. It began with the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage.

Also Saturday, Israeli settlers staged two attacks on Palestinian farmers and others in the occupied West Bank as settler violence reaches new highs during this year’s olive harvest.

‘I have not lost hope’

TAYLOR Swift has asked model pal Gigi Hadid to be a bridesmaid for her blockbuster marriage to Travis Kelce, a source close to the superstar has told The U.S. Sun.

The multiple Grammy winning singer and NFL star fiancée are set to tie the knot next summer at a yet-to-be-revealed location.

FUTURE PLANS

But an insider has confirmed to The U.S. Sun that Taylor wants longtime friend Gigi, 30, to be part of the bridal party.

It’s understood the pair spoke about the plans during a dinner in New York City on Monday night.

Hadid, according to our source, was “thrilled” as she “wasn’t expecting” to be asked and accepted immediately.

The U.S. Sun also understands fellow pop princess Selena Gomez is also set to be named in the bridal party.

The insider says the Cruel Summer singer has already finalized a list and plans to tell everyone involved in person to ensure they know exactly what they mean to her.

“Taylor wants to start the wedding process this way — building her bridesmaid group and getting everyone involved in the preparations, celebrations, and planning,” said the source.

“She wants it to be fun and memorable for everyone, with parties, trips, and time spent together leading up to the big day.”

The global superstar also plans to get advice from Selena, who has already been through a planning process following her wedding with Benny Blanco earlier this year.

She wants tips on food, flowers and any other organizational issues to ensure her special day really is one to remember.

Taylor was pictured with Hadid in Manhattan, in a rare appearance after taking a step away from the limelight recently.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/entertainment/15441525/taylor-swifts-a-list-bridesmaids-revealed-as-she-gears-up-for-fairytale-wedding-to-travis-kelce/

KIM Kardashian looked sensational as she donned a shimmering purple dress for mom Kris Jenner’s 70th birthday party.

The Kardashians star, 45, put aside the disappointment of failing her bar exam to mark her parent’s special moment at billionaire Jeff Bezos‘ $165 million mansion in Beverly Hills.

Among the famous guests were singer Adele, tech tycoon Bill Gates, popstar Justin Bieber and Kris’ children, including Kim as well as Kendall and Kylie Jenner.

The Sussexes also joined the star-studded line up at the Bond-themed party.

Talk show host Oprah Winfrey was also spotted at the 007-themed bash.

Yet it was SKIMS founder Kim who commanded attention in her semi-sheer attire, which featured diamante cross-strap detail on the back.

The pastel shade perfectly complemented her glowing tan and the ever-glam star styled her hair in a pretty up-do, with two plaits pinned up.

She opted for silver earrings and glowing make-up, complete with black eyeliner and mascara.

Meanwhile, her siblings posed up a storm in a variety of mirror seflies.

Kylie chose to party in a skintight white dress with cut-out detail on the hip, while Kendall – who was seen posing with BFF Hailey Bieber – opted for a red strappy mini-dress.

Birthday girl Kris was also chaneling red, donning an elegant strapless frock with ruffle detail.

The Hulu star, who recently underwent a “dropping” facelift, paired it with elbow length gloves and dazzling silver earrings.

Kourtney Kardashian was also seen arriving in a car after her rumored feud with Kylie.

YOUNGER THAN EVER

Recently, Kris looked younger than ever as she showed off her facelift result at daughter Kendall’s 30th.

Kris showed off her glowing skin, which has reportedly come at a cost of a $150K facelift.

She wore a skintight sheer zebra pint dress that showed off her bra.

The famous momager’s real skin has caused a stir after she underwent a facelift earlier this year that many said made her “look younger” than her own daughters.

The Kardashian matriarch began her journey with plastic surgery when she opted for breast implants in the 1980s after giving birth to her first four children: Kourtney, Kim, Khloé, and Rob Kardashian.

She has continued her cosmetic upkeep and revealed that she’s gotten Botox and fillers over the years.

Although Kris has not confirmed the exact facelift she has had, her rep previously confirmed to Page Six she underwent aesthetic enhancements from New York plastic surgeon Dr. Steven Levine ahead of her 70th birthday.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/entertainment/15462401/kim-kardashian-sparkly-dress-mom-kris-jenner-70-birthday/