India's delayed action plan raises eyebrows at UN climate summit (LINK) 21 November 2025

— BBC: Indian officials, like many negotiators from the developing world, argue that their updated climate plans with more ambitious carbon reduction targets will mean nothing if they do not receive financial and technological support from developed countries. India says it shouldn't be pressed for a more ambitious climate plan as it has already met a key pledge - to have 50% of its installed eletricity capacity from non-fossil fuel sources - years ahead of the 2030 deadline.

— The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) says that by 2035, annual emissions will have to be reduced by 35% and 55%, compared with 2019, to align with the goals of the Paris agreement. But emissions have continued to rise almost every year since then, and the climate plans submitted to the UNFCCC until 10 November show that there will be emissions reduction of only around 12% by 2035 – that too if countries fully implement their policies.

China has lent more to US than any other country since 2000, report finds (LINK) 21 November 2025

— Of the US$2.2 trillion disbursed by China's "official sector" between 2000 and 2023, nearly US$202 billion went to projects in the US, the AidData research lab at Virginia-based university William & Mary found.


India, China banks and refineries moving to comply with Russia sanctions, US official says (LINK) 20 November 2025

US sanctions on big Russian oil firms are having their intended effect, Treasury official says — (LINK)


Military.com: Massive US marine buildup in Caribbean 7 miles [11km] from Venezuela's coast (LINK) 20 November 2025


U.S.'s Israel Ambassador Mike Huckabee confirms he met with convicted spy Jonathan Pollard, convicted of giving Israel classified documents in the mid-1980s, in July (LINK) 20 November 2025

— Pollard served nearly 30 years before being released on parole in 2015. He moved to Israel in 2020. Huckabee told Axios that nothing was requested and nothing was granted in the meeting, which took place in July.


U.S. Coast Guard reverses course on policy and now calls swastikas and nooses 'potentially divisive' and therefore prohibited (LINK) 20 November 2025

— The term was a shift from a years-long policy, first rolled out in 2019, that said symbols like swastikas and nooses were "widely identified with oppression or hatred" and called their display "a potential hate incident." The earlier version stopped short of banning the symbols, instead saying that commanders could take steps to remove them from public view and that the rule did not apply to private spaces outside of public view, such as family housing.

— The predecessor of Admiral Kevin Lunday, acting commandant of the Coast Guard, Admiral Linda Fagan, was fired on President Donald Trump's first day in office. Trump officials later said she fired in part for putting an "excessive focus" on diversity and inclusion efforts that diverted "resources and attention from operational imperatives".

WEF: This year's G20 Summit is taking place in South Africa, marking the first time an African nation has hosted the summit. The summit is taking place on 22 and 23 November under the theme 'Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability'. (LINK) 19 November 2025

WEF report: The State of Social Enterprise: Unlocking Inclusive Growth, Jobs and Development in Africa (LINK) 21 November 2025


Catchup: UNRWA: As of 14 November, over 79,000 displaced people were estimated to be living in 85 shelters managed by UNRWA staff and the surrounding areas: 381 workers killed (LINK) 18 November 2025

— Around 12,000 Palestinian UNRWA personnel in Gaza continue to provide services and assistance. All UNRWA international staff are prevented from entering the occupied Palestinian territory (the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem). This follows the implementation by Israel of laws passed by the Israeli parliament (the Knesset) on 28 October 2024[4] that purport to prohibit UNRWA’s operations in areas that Israel considers its sovereign territory, including occupied East Jerusalem, and seek to bar any contact by Israeli officials with UNRWA. The Israeli authorities have not granted the Agency’s international staff visas or permits to enter the occupied Palestinian territory, including Gaza, since the end of January 2025.