Wednesday, 26 November 2025

Trump vows immigration crackdown after shootings of National Guardsmen in DC: authorities held a man Trump described as an Afghan national: the full details of the incident in Washington are not yet known. (LINK) 26 November 2025

Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet began a wide-scale counterterrorism operation overnight in the northern West Bank (LINK) — ground.news: 59 media reports (LINK) 26 November 2025

Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff to hold Ukraine peace plan talks at Kremlin next week (LINK) 26 November 2025

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has asked the Navy secretary to review Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly's comments in a video to troops on their right to refuse "potentially unlawful conduct", according to a memo posted on social media by the Pentagon (LINK) 26 November 2025

DOJ acknowledges Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem made decision to continue deportation flights to El Salvador despite judge's order (LINK) 26 November 2025

At least 13 people killed as fire engulfs high-rise buildings in Hong Kong (LINK) — ground.news: 155 media reports (LINK) 26 November 2025

— Bamboo scaffolding, a common renovation method in Hong Kong, allowed flames to spread rapidly along scaffolding and construction netting, while the Hong Kong government moved earlier this year to require 50% metal frames in public works. Firefighters deployed 128 fire trucks and 57 ambulances while about 700 evacuees were sheltered at Kwong Fuk Community Hall and Tung Cheong Street Leisure Building.

North Sea exploration rules to be relaxed in new Labour plan: on new oil and gas licences (LINK) 26 November 2025

— BBC: There has also been speculation that the energy profits ("windfall") tax of 78% — due to expire in 2030 — might be phased out earlier. Investment is at an all-time low with operators instead looking to spend their money in parts of the world with more favourable tax rates. Research from Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen estimates that about 1,000 jobs a month are currently being lost.

Thousands of Cubans struggle without power and water nearly a month after Hurricane Melissa (LINK) — ground.news: 14 media reports (LINK) 26 November 2025

Ambitious plan to store CO2 beneath the North Sea set to start operations (LINK) 26 November 2025

Taiwan announces special budget of $40 billion for arms purchases to bolster defense (LINK) — ground.news: 121 media reports (LINK) 26 November 2025

Bangkok court issues an arrest warrant for Thai co-owner of Miss Universe pageant (LINK) — ground.news: 73 media reports (LINK) 26 November 2025

— Jakkaphong "Anne" Jakrajutatip failed to appear in court on Tuesday and is deemed a flight risk by the court. The case involves allegations that Jakapong persuaded a plastic surgeon to invest in her company JKN in 2023, knowing she could not repay the money.

World Aids Day 1 December 2025: Overcoming disruption, transforming the AIDS response (LINK) 26 November 2025 — Geneva programme — (LINK)

Jakarta now the world's largest city (41.9m), Tokyo falls to third: UN DESA — Bangladesh's Dhaka projected to be largest by 2050 (LINK) 26 November 2025

— Asia is home to 19 of the world's 33 megacities, and nine out of the top 10. In addition to Jakarta, Dhaka and Tokyo, the other Asian cities in the top 10 are: New Delhi, India (30.2 million); Shanghai, China (29.6 million); Guangzhou, China (27.6 million); Manila, Philippines (24.7 million); Kolkata, India (22.5 million); and Seoul, South Korea (22.5 million).

Italian man accused of dressing up as his dead mom to claim her pension (LINK) — ground.news: 134 media reports (LINK) 26 November 2025

Tuesday, 25 November 2025

Trump-era global funding cuts devastate HIV prevention programmes, UNAIDS says (LINK) — ground.news: 45 media reports (LINK) 25 November 2025

— "Persistent funding shortfalls and the perilous risks facing the global HIV response are having profound, lasting effects on the health and wellbeing of millions of people throughout the world," the UNAIDS agency said on Tuesday in a report titled "Overcoming Disruption".

Turkish, Qatari, and Egyptian officials meet in Cairo to advance Gaza ceasefire (LINK) 25 November 2025

Trump says 'only a few' sticking points remain in Ukraine-Russia peace talks as Kyiv reportedly backs framework (LINK) 25 November 2025

Ukraine makes significant changes to US 'peace plan', sources say (LINK) 25 November 2025

Can Europe save frozen Russian assets from Donald Trump? (LINK) 25 November 2025

Trump may have inadvertently issued mass pardon for 2020 voter fraud when he granted a pardon to Rudy Giuliani and other allies for their efforts to overturn the election, experts say (LINK) 25 November 2025

Russian attacks kill at least 6 in Ukraine and Ukraine attack kills 3 in southern Russia while US peace plan is discussed (LINK) 25 November 2025

Greta Thunberg banned from Venice for 49 hours after dyeing canal green: Thunberg and 35 other activists received a 48-hour ban from the northeastern Italian city and a $174 fine. (LINK) 25 November 2025

High-level dialogue on AI governance convened in Geneva with China as leading co-host (LINK) 25 November 2025

— In his opening remarks, Chen Xu, Permanent Representative of China in Geneva, stated that the Global Governance Initiative and the Global AI Governance Initiative put forward by President Xi Jinping charted the way forward for global AI governance. Over 150 participants attended the event held on Tuesday, including Permanent Representatives of member states, senior officials of international organizations, and academics. Tatiana Valovaya, director-general of the United Nations Office at Geneva, shook hands with a robot before the high-level dialogue opened.

Guardian: 'Fossil fuel giants finally in the crosshairs': Cop30 avoided total failure with last-ditch deal (LINK) 25 November 2025

— Rather than explicitly namecheck fossil fuels, the agreement refers to "the UAE consensus", the name given to the Cop28 deal to 'transition away from fossil fuels'. To great surprise, the wording was accepted.

U.S. consumer confidence hits lowest point since April as job worries grow: Consumer Confidence Index slumped to 88.7, a drop of 6.8 points from the prior month for its lowest reading in seven months (LINK) 25 November 2025

National Parks to raise fees by $100 for international tourists to popular U.S. parks, left out of fee-free days, reserved for American residents (LINK) 25 November 2025

Four suspects have been arrested in connection with the theft of the French crown jewels from the Louvre Museum in Paris last month, USA Today reported (LINK) 25 November 2025

— These arrests follow four others who were arrested in connection to the heist last month. Of the four, one was a taxi driver and the other a delivery man and garbage collector, who was arrested at Paris's Charles de Gaulle Airport while trying to flee on a one-way flight to Algeria. The other two are a man and woman who have been identified as domestic partners with two children together; the woman was recently released from police custody and placed under judicial supervision on Wednesday. The thieves are reported to be locals of Seine-Saint-Denis, a suburb of Paris.

Monday, 24 November 2025

Suicide bombers strike security force headquarters in Peshawar, northwestern Pakistan, killing 3 officers (LINK) — ground.news: 46 media reports (LINK) 24 November 2025

Gaza food kitchens still missing essential products despite ceasefire: Israel is allowing more food into Gaza, but aid workers say vital ingredients needed to improve people's diets are still missing. (LINK) 24 November 2025

US set to label Maduro-tied Cartel de los Soles today as a terror organization. It's not a cartel per se (LINK) 24 November 2025

— U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused Cartel de los Soles, or Cartel of the Suns, of being "responsible for terrorist violence" in the Western Hemisphere. Venezuelans began using the term Cartel de los Soles in the 1990s to refer to high-ranking military officers who had grown rich from drug-running. The "suns" in the name refer to the epaulettes affixed to the uniforms of high-ranking military officers.

US federal judge dismisses indictments against Letitia James and James Comey, saying Lindsey Halligan appointment was unlawful (LINK) 24 November 2025

CNN fact check: 78 times Zelensky has expressed gratitude to the US (LINK) 24 November 2025

The U.S.-Russia plan gives Trump a $300 billion signing bonus (LINK) 24 November 2025

— Foreign Policy: Ukraine has been on a shopping spree lately. On Nov. 17, Kyiv announced plans to buy up to 100 French-made Rafale fighter jets over the next 10 years. Just a few weeks earlier, the Ukrainian government had disclosed a similar deal to purchase up to 150 Swedish Gripen jets. These announcements were not made at random: Ukraine has recently made a point of showing European Union countries that it would make good use of Russia's immobilized central bank reserves if the bloc were to finally seize and transfer these assets to Kyiv's coffers.

— "A clause in the 28-point road map suggests that the reserves would serve as the equivalent of a signing bonus for the United States, which may help explain U.S. President Donald Trump's keen interest in quickly sealing the deal. If the EU seizes Russia's central bank assets before Washington does, the bloc may be able to significantly curb Trump's interest in what is a bad and dangerous deal for both Ukraine and Europe."

Philippine president says 7 suspects in corruption scandal involving flood control projects have been detained, others being sought (LINK) 24 November 2025

— AP: Massive corruption has been blamed for substandard or non-existent flood control projects in the poverty-stricken Southeast Asian country long prone to deadly floods and extreme weather.

Claims of systemic problems with BBC news coverage disputed by former adviser (LINK) 24 November 2025

Swiss court jails two men on Kosovo-linked terror charges (LINK) 24 November 2025

— The Federal Criminal Court sentenced two men from the Balkans, the so-called "Frères de Genève" [the Geneva Brothers], to 30 and 53 months in prison for their support of the Islamic State group. However, the court acquitted them of the charge of participating in the Islamist organisation in Kosovo, the Viti Brothers.

CERN's new careers website is now live:careers.cern now has an improved interface for a more intuitive user experience for potential applicants for CERN jobs (LINK) 24 November 2025

Bitcoin creator Satoshi now "poorer" than Bill Gates after $41b loss (LINK) 24 November 2025

Grisons mountain village of Brienz faces imminent landslide: villagers already evacuated for over a year (LINK) 24 November 2025