Iraq votes amid shifting power balance
NewsFeed Iraq is heading to the polls amid deep divisions among its Shia political elite and shifting regional power dynamics. Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani is caught between Iran, the US, and the Gulf, as the powerful Sadrist movement boycotts the election, reshaping turnout and coalition-building. Published On 10 Nov 202510 Nov 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Adblock test (Why?)
Speaker Johnson says House will return to Washington for shutdown deal vote
Seven Democrats and one independent voted with Republicans on Sunday night to reopen the government to end the longest shutdown in US history. US House Speaker Mike Johnson said the House of Representatives will vote “as soon as possible” after a Senate vote on Sunday opened the door to the federal government reopening. Johnson told reporters that he will give his House colleagues 36 hours’ notice pending a final vote from the Senate and added that members should start returning to Washington “right now”. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list “We applaud seven Senate Democrats and one independent senator who did the right thing,” Johnson said of the 60-40 vote on Sunday night that could be the first step to the end of the longest government shutdown in United States history. Among the Democrats who voted with their Republican counterparts are Senators Dick Durbin of Illinois, Jacky Rosen of Nevada, Tim Kaine of Virginia, and Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen from New Hampshire. They joined Angus King, an independent senator from Maine, as well as two other Democrats who had already defected from other Democrats: Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada and John Fetterman of Pennsylvania. The legislation provides funding to reopen the government and finance programmes including US Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) food aid. It also ensures back pay for furloughed federal workers whose fate had been left in doubt. Included is funding to keep much of the federal government running for the next couple of months, to January 30, with a stopgap measure. The legislation largely funds government operations at their current rates. But notably lacking is any clear resolution to expiring healthcare subsidies that Democrats have been fighting for as millions of Americans stare down rising insurance premiums. That debate was pushed off for a vote next month, weeks before the subsidies are set to expire, but some experts are concerned that Democrats will not deliver. Advertisement “Democrats capitulating in a fight to lower costs will reverse all the brand gains they have made over the last few months,” Lindsay Owens, executive director of the economic think tank the Groundwork Collaborative, said in a statement provided to Al Jazeera. “If they can’t do this, voters will be even more cynical. Two parties talk about affordability, but neither will fight to deliver it.” If healthcare subsidies do expire, average premium costs would more than double for Americans who get their insurance through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis from September. Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries vowed to continue to push to extend ACA subsidies. “This is not a partisan fight for us. This is a patriotic fight,” Jeffries told reporters at a press conference. He pointed out that more registered Republicans rely on the tax credits than registered Democrats or those who are unaffiliated with either major political party. “In all likelihood, part of this deal is that the Democrats are going to be able to put forward the bill themselves in December for a vote so they will control the narrative of the bill and the vote,” Republican strategist Adolfo Franco told Al Jazeera. Franco also added that because there are Republicans in favour of extending the subsidies, it is likely to pass. Air travel in flux But despite progress towards reopening the government, havoc is still hitting the nation’s airports. Airlines on Monday cancelled more than 1,000 US flights for a fourth consecutive day as government flight cuts and air traffic staffing absences continue creating issues with aviation. “The problem we have with air travel is that our air traffic controllers are overworked and unpaid and many of them have called in sick. That’s a very stressful job and even more stressful exponentially when they’re having trouble providing for their families,” Speaker Johnson told reporters on Monday. US President Donald Trump is pressuring air traffic controllers to return to work. On Monday, Trump said he would dock pay for air traffic controllers who do not return and would concurrently give a $10,000 bonus to those who stayed on the job through the shutdown. On Wall Street, markets are trending high on news that the government shutdown may be coming to a close. As of 11am in New York (16:00 GMT) the Nasdaq is up 1.7 percent, S&P 500 is up 0.8 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, on the other hand, remains relatively flat, and is up by only 0.04 percent. Advertisement Adblock test (Why?)
Millions endure power cuts in Ukraine as Russia strikes more energy sites
Ukraine says European allies can give up some of their Patriot missile systems now and get future deliveries. By News Agencies Published On 10 Nov 202510 Nov 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Most regions of Ukraine are undergoing scheduled power outages amid a new wave of attacks on energy sites by Russian drones and missiles. Ukrenergo, the state-run electricity transmission systems operator in Ukraine, said the blackouts will last at least until the end of Monday as repairs are conducted on infrastructure damaged over the weekend and demand remains high as the onset of winter approaches. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list The Poltava and Kharkiv regions are suffering from a deficit of high-voltage capacity after damage to their power transmission lines while the areas of Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhia, Kyiv and other central and northern regions have been affected as well. According to Ukraine’s military, Russian forces used two air-launched ballistic missiles, five surface-to-air guided missiles and 67 drones, including those of Iranian design, during their attacks overnight into Monday. The Ukrainian army did not report shooting down any of the missiles, but it said 52 of the drones were intercepted and the remaining 15 conducted strikes on nine locations. Russia has maintained its attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure as United States-led diplomatic efforts to end the war make little progress. Ukraine has also been hitting Russian oil and fuel infrastructure in a stated effort to disrupt resources going to the front lines. An explosion rocked Russia’s port town of Tuapse on the Black Sea overnight after Ukrainian forces launched sea drones towards the major oil terminal and refinery in the town. No casualties were reported. Traffic moves through the city centre of Kharkiv, Ukraine, without electricity after critical civil infrastructure was hit by Russian drone and missile attacks on November 8, 2025 [Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy/Reuters] Russia’s Ministry of Defence announced on Monday that four naval drones were destroyed near the port in the northeastern Black Sea. Advertisement It added that its air defences shot down six US-made HIMARS rockets and 124 fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles. Ukraine wants Patriots from Europe While calling for tougher sanctions and asset freezes to punish Russia, Ukraine is also looking to buy more arms. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday that Ukraine would like to order 25 Patriot air defence systems from US weapons makers as it tries to fend off Russian attacks at the brink of winter. Zelenskyy acknowledged that the missile systems are expensive and such a large order could take years to manufacture. But he suggested that European countries could give their Patriots to Ukraine and await replacements, stressing that “we would not like to wait.” Ukraine is also advancing with an internal drive with a stated aim of weeding out corruption in the energy sector. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau announced on Monday that it was conducting searches in cooperation with a specialised anticorruption judicial office in premises connected to Tymur Mindich, a former business partner of the president. Mindich, who reportedly fled before the searches, is coowner of Zelenskyy’s Kvartal 95 production company. The Anti-Corruption Bureau said the searches are in relation to a “high-level criminal organisation in the energy and defence sectors” that engaged in money laundering and illegal enrichment. Adblock test (Why?)
Why have BBC bosses resigned over a Trump speech edit?
The head of the UK’s British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and a top news executive resigned from the organisation on Sunday after a memo criticising the editing of a 2021 speech by US President Donald Trump shortly before protesters stormed the US Capitol in Washington on January 6, 2021, was leaked. The BBC said Director-General Tim Davie and news CEO Deborah Turness had chosen to step down after the memo became public. The memo was from ex-adviser Michael Prescott, a former journalist who was an independent consultant to the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines and Standards Board for three years before leaving in June. He claimed that editors of a 2024 BBC Panorama documentary had spliced two parts of Trump’s speech together so it appeared that he had actively encouraged the Capitol Hill riots of January 6, 2021, which followed his 2020 election defeat. Trump responded to the pair’s resignation on Sunday night, calling Davie and Turness “very dishonest people who tried to step on the scales of a presidential election”, in a post on his Truth Social platform. Davie said he took “ultimate responsibility” for mistakes made, and had decided to resign after “reflecting on the very intense personal and professional demands of managing this role over many years in these febrile times”. What is at the centre of this? The resignations of Davie and Turness followed controversy over a BBC Panorama documentary called “Trump: A Second Chance?”, which was broadcast one week before the 2024 US presidential election. Advertisement A clip from the programme appears to show two different parts of Trump’s January 6, 2021 speech joined together into one sequence. In the episode, Trump is shown 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.” But according to a transcript from Trump’s comments that day, 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, and we’re probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them.” Nearly an hour later, Trump then used the phrase “we fight like hell”, but not in reference to the protesters at the Capitol. “We fight like hell. And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore,” he said. Who are Tim Davie and Deborah Turness? Tim Davie became director-general of the BBC in September 2020. He was responsible for overseeing the organisation’s editorial, operational and creative work. He previously led BBC Studios for seven years and worked at companies including Procter & Gamble and PepsiCo. In an email to staff on Sunday, Davie said quitting the job after five years “is entirely my decision”. He said he was “working through exact timings with the Board to allow for an orderly transition to a successor over the coming months”. Meanwhile, Deborah Turness had been the CEO of BBC News since 2022, leading a team of around 6,000 employees broadcasting to almost half a billion people around the world. She was previously CEO of ITN and president of NBC News. Over the weekend, Turness said that the controversy over the Trump documentary “has reached a stage where it is causing damage to the BBC – an institution that I love. As the CEO of BBC News and Current Affairs, the buck stops with me”. “In public life, leaders need to be fully accountable, and that is why I am stepping down,” she said in a note to staff. “While mistakes have been made, I want to be absolutely clear recent allegations that BBC News is institutionally biased are wrong.” David Yelland, former editor of the Sun newspaper, told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme on Monday that Davie and Turness were the victims of a “coup”. However, both they and the BBC deny this. The chief executive of BBC News, Deborah Turness, speaks to the media outside BBC Broadcasting House after she and Director-General Tim Davie resigned following accusations of bias at the British broadcaster, including in the way it edited a speech by US President Donald Trump, in London, UK, on November 10, 2025 [Jack Taylor/Reuters] How has the White House responded? The incident prompted criticism of the BBC by Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s press secretary, who described the corporation over the weekend as “100 percent fake news” and a “propaganda machine”. Advertisement For his part, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform: “The TOP people in the BBC, including TIM DAVIE, the BOSS, are all quitting/FIRED, because they were caught “doctoring” my very good (PERFECT!) speech of January 6th”. He added that “very dishonest people” had “tried to step on the scales of a Presidential Election… On top of everything else, they are from a Foreign Country, one that many consider our Number One Ally. What a terrible thing for democracy!” What else has the BBC been accused of? Prescott’s leaked memo did not only refer to the Panorama editing of Trump’s speech. It also focused criticism on a number of other areas of the BBC’s work, such as its coverage of transgender issues and racism – which he said were “one-sided” and “ill-researched” – but most notably its coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza. Prescott accused the BBC of anti-Israel bias within the BBC Arabic service, claiming that contributors over-emphasised stories that were critical of Israel. He also accused the wider corporation of “misrepresenting” the number of women and children killed in Gaza and the issue of Palestinian starvation in the besieged enclave. The former BBC adviser said he had sent the memo in “despair at inaction by the BBC Executive” over these and other issues. Charles Moore, former editor of the Daily Telegraph, a right-wing broadsheet newspaper in the UK, accused the BBC of “the most extraordinary degree of systemic bias, particularly in BBC Arabic” in its coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza. On general news, he told the Today programme, “it’s always [reporting] from a sort
US claims it hit two boats ‘carrying narcotics’ in Pacific, killing six
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth says attacks take place in international waters amid mounting criticism against US campaign. Published On 10 Nov 202510 Nov 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share The United States has carried out another set of military strikes against what it says are drug boats in international waters headed to the country. Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said on Monday that the US military targeted two vessels in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Sunday, killing six people. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list “These vessels were known by our intelligence to be associated with illicit narcotics smuggling, were carrying narcotics, and were transiting along a known narco-trafficking transit route in the Eastern Pacific,” he wrote in a social media post. “Both strikes were conducted in international waters, and three male narco-terrorists were aboard each vessel. All six were killed. No US forces were harmed.” The administration of President Donald Trump has faced mounting criticism over such attacks, including accusations of violating domestic and international law. But Washington appears to be stepping up the campaign. Sunday’s deadly double attack was the fourth this month. Previous strikes in the Pacific and Caribbean Sea killed at least eight people, according to US authorities. The Trump administration started targeting boats in the Caribbean in September and later expanded its military push to the Pacific Ocean. The US has carried out 18 strikes on vessels so far, killing dozens of people. Last month, United Nations rights chief Volker Turk said the US attacks have no justification under international law. “These attacks – and their mounting human cost – are unacceptable,” Turk said. “The US must halt such attacks and take all measures necessary to prevent the extrajudicial killing of people aboard these boats, whatever the criminal conduct alleged against them.” Advertisement The US has described the attacks as “counterterrorism” operations after having designated drug cartels as “terrorists”. “Under President Trump, we are protecting the homeland and killing these cartel terrorists who wish to harm our country and its people,” Hegseth said on Monday. Other than grainy footage showing the strikes, the Trump administration has not provided concrete proof that the vessels targeted were carrying drugs. Trump himself has previously joked that fishermen are now afraid to operate in the Caribbean off the coast of Venezuela. Critics have questioned why US authorities would not monitor the boats and intercept them when they enter the country’s territorial waters instead of extrajudicially executing the suspects. The strikes have sparked regional tensions, particularly with Venezuela, with Trump accusing its president, Nicolas Maduro, of links to “narcoterrorists”. The ramped-up US military campaign near Venezuela has raised speculation that Washington may be preparing for conflict in the oil-rich South American country. This month, Trump suggested that war with Venezuela is unlikely but said Maduro’s days are numbered. Adblock test (Why?)
Airlines cancel 3,300 US flights amid fears travel could ‘slow to trickle’
US senators reach stopgap deal to end government shutdown, raising hopes for end to six-week-long impasse. Airlines in the United States have cancelled more than 3,300 flights amid a top transport official’s warning that air travel could “slow to a trickle” due to the ongoing government shutdown. The cancellations on Sunday came as Republicans and Democrats reached a stopgap deal on ending the shutdown after the impasse over the passage of a funding bill dragged into its 40th day. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Travel disruption has been mounting since the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) last week ordered reductions in air traffic amid reports of air traffic controllers exhibiting fatigue and refusing to turn up for work. Some 13,000 air traffic controllers, who are deemed “essential” employees under US government rules, have been forced to work without pay since the start of the shutdown on October 1. A total of 3,304 US flights were cancelled and more than 10,000 flights were delayed on Sunday, according to data from flight-tracking website FlightAware. More than 1,500 flights were cancelled on Saturday, following the cancellation of about 1,000 flights on Friday. Under the FAA’s phased-in reduction in air traffic, airlines were ordered to reduce domestic flights by 4 percent from 6am Eastern Standard Time (11:00 GMT) on Friday. Flights are set to be reduced by 6 percent from Monday, 8 percent by Thursday, and 10 percent by Friday. In media interviews on Sunday, US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy warned that air travel could grind to a standstill in the run-up to the Thanksgiving holiday on November 27. Advertisement “As we get closer to Thanksgiving travel, I think what’s going to happen is you’re going to have air travel slow to a trickle, as everyone wants to travel to see their families,” Duffy told Fox News. “It doesn’t get better,” Duffy added. “It gets worse until these air traffic controllers are going to be paid.” The period around Thanksgiving is one of the busiest times for travel in the US calendar. An estimated 80 million Americans travelled during the Thanksgiving period in 2024, with airports screening a record 3.09 million passengers on the Sunday after the holiday alone. As fears of travel chaos mounted on Sunday, US senators said they had reached a compromise agreement to restore funding for government operations through the end of January. In a late night session, the Senate voted 60-to-40 to break the filibuster and advance the funding package after a group of moderate Democrats joined Republicans to support the resumption of government funding. The funding plan still needs to be approved by the Senate and the US House of Representatives, and then signed into law by US President Donald Trump, before the shutdown ends. It is also unclear whether travel disruption could persist after the government reopens. The FAA said last week that decisions on lifting its flight reductions would be “informed by safety data”. Al Jazeera has contacted the FAA for comment. Richard Aboulafia, managing director at the consultancy AeroDynamic Advisory, said that if air traffic controllers have been skipping work due to pay, the disruptions should quickly dissipate once the shutdown ends. But there are also suspicions among aviation analysts that the flight restrictions are an “arbitrary” measure designed to raise political pressure for an end to the government shutdown, Aboulafia said. “The decision to restrict capacity was understandable if the facts and data support it,” Aboulafia told Al Jazeera. “Secretary Duffy says the data does indeed support it, but he has not shared any of that data. People are right to be suspicious, particularly in light of other unnecessary cuts by the administration.” Adblock test (Why?)
Norris wins Brazil GP to extend F1 championship lead over Piastri
McLaren’s Lando Norris won the Sao Paulo Grand Prix to surge 24 points clear in the Formula One championship on Sunday, while teammate and title rival Oscar Piastri finished fifth after being penalised for causing a collision. Mercedes’s teenage rookie Kimi Antonelli hung on for a career-best second place, with Max Verstappen an astonishing third for Red Bull after starting from the pit lane. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list Verstappen’s performance was all the more impressive after the four-time world champion, who won from 17th at Interlagos last year, suffered an early slow puncture and had to fight back from 18th. “Crazy race,” said Norris of his second successive win and seventh of the season after snatching the championship lead from Piastri in Mexico last month. “To be honest, I don’t think we were the quickest today, but I’m glad to take home the win. “It’s a great win. But seeing how quick Max was, it’s disappointing we were not quicker.” Norris leads McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri during the race [Amanda Perobelli/Reuters] Piastri penalised for causing collision Piastri, who started fourth with Norris on pole, served a 10-second penalty for an early clash with Antonelli, which put Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc out of the race after they went three-abreast. It was another massive blow for the Australian, who crashed out of the Saturday sprint that Norris won on a perfect weekend for the Briton, who has moved up a gear and is now the clear title favourite. George Russell was fourth for Mercedes, who consolidated second place overall in a constructors’ championship already won by McLaren. Advertisement With three races and a Saturday sprint remaining, Norris has 390 points to Piastri’s 366, with Verstappen falling further behind on 341 and his hopes looking slim despite his superlative drive in Sao Paulo. Oliver Bearman was sixth for Haas, another fine performance from the British rookie after his fourth in Mexico, with Liam Lawson seventh for Racing Bulls ahead of teammate Isack Hadjar. Nico Hulkenberg finished ninth for Sauber, and Pierre Gasly completed the points positions for Renault-owned Alpine, a year on from the team’s double podium in Brazil. Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto completed a miserable weekend for Brazil’s only driver, spinning into the wall on the opening lap after being squeezed by Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll as Norris led cleanly away. The crash brought out the safety car, with Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton pitting for a new front wing after he collided with Williams’s Carlos Sainz and Alpine’s Franco Colapinto. The seven-time world champion and honorary Brazilian continued with a damaged floor but was given a five-second penalty for causing a collision, and then retired. The double driver retirement was Ferrari’s third of the season and dropped them down to fourth in the constructors’ championship, behind Red Bull in third. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, right, finished the Brazil Grand Prix in third place after beginning the race in the pit lane [Jean Carniel/Pool via Reuters] Not all Piastri’s fault The safety car came in at the end of lap five, and Piastri locked up and made contact with Antonelli, who was pushed into Leclerc at the restart. The Ferrari lost a tyre and stopped, triggering a virtual safety car. “He [Antonelli] left me no space,” the Australian said over the team radio, but stewards disagreed in what some pundits and even rivals felt was a harsh decision. “I wouldn’t go as far as saying that it’s all Oscar’s fault. I don’t think it is,” said Leclerc. Verstappen, who had a new engine and plenty of other changed parts after qualifying 16th, suffered a slow front-right puncture on lap eight after climbing to 13th. He was up to fourth after 24 of the 71 laps, setting fastest laps, and on lap 51, he took the lead when Norris made his second and final stop. Verstappen pitted again on lap 54, dropping to fourth and lighting the touch paper on a thrilling chase for the podium. He passed Russell around the outside at turn one on lap 63, and Antonelli was in his sights four laps later, but the tyres then dropped off and the Italian made no mistakes. “To be on the podium, I did not expect that at all,” said Verstappen. “To finish only 10 seconds from the lead is incredible.” Advertisement His teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, was the final driver classified after two 10-second penalties, the second for not serving the first correctly. The next race is Las Vegas on November 22, the first of a final triple header ending in Abu Dhabi on December 7. A marshal waves the checkered flag as Norris crosses the finish line to win the Brazil Grand Prix [Jean Carniel/ Pool via AFP] Adblock test (Why?)
US senators advance bill to end record government shutdown
Senators in the United States have voted to move forward with a stopgap funding package aimed at ending the longest government shutdown in the country’s history. In a procedural vote on Sunday, some eight Democrats broke rank and voted in favour of advancing a Republican measure that will keep the government reopen into January 30. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list The measure would also fund some parts of the government, including food aid and the legislative branch, for the next year. But there was no guarantee of an extension of healthcare subsidies under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Instead, the deal struck between the centrist Democrats and the Republicans promises a vote on the issue by December. The subsidies have been a Democratic priority during the funding battle. Al Jazeera’s Mike Hanna, reporting from Washington, DC, said the procedural vote passed with 60 in favour and 40 against. “Now, this is what is called a cloture vote – a procedure by which the Senate agrees to continue the debate about the legislation and begin introducing and passing the bills aimed at ending the shutdown,” Hanna said. “The important thing about the cloture vote is that once it is passed, at that 60 percent majority, every subsequent vote is by a simple majority. So it would appear to be plain sailing in the Senate to pass this bill and the continuing resolution to refund the government and ending the closure,” he added. If the Senate eventually passes the amended bill, the package 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. Advertisement The Democratic senators who voted in favour of advancing the measure include Dick Durbin of Illinois, Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire and Tim Kaine of Virginia. Angus King of Maine, an independent who causes with the Democrats, also voted in favour of the measure. Democrats, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen of Nevada, also voted yes. Ahead of the vote, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said he could not “in good faith” support the proposal. Schumer, who received blowback from his party in March when he voted to keep the government open, said that Democrats have now “sounded the alarm” on health care. “We will not give up the fight,” he said. Independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who caucuses with the Democrats, said giving up the fight was a “horrific mistake.” Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat, also agreed, saying that in last week’s elections people voted overwhelmingly Democratic “to urge Democrats to hold firm”. Since the shutdown began on October 1, Democrats had voted 14 times not to reopen the government as they demanded the extension of tax credits that make coverage more affordable under the ACA. Republicans, however, have maintained they are open to addressing the issue only after government funding is restored. The bipartisan agreement on Sunday includes bills worked out by the Senate Appropriations Committee to fund parts of government – food aid, veterans programs and the legislative branch, among other things – for next year. All other funding would be extended until the end of January, giving legislators more than two months to finish additional spending bills. The deal would reinstate federal workers who had received reduction in force, or layoff, notices and reimburse states that spent their own funds to keep federal programs running during the shutdown. It would also protect against future reductions in force through January and guarantee federal workers would be paid once the shutdown is over. Niall Stanage, a political analyst and the White House columnist for The Hill, said the eight Democrats who voted in favour of the package have caused an uproar within the party. “The critics within the Democratic Party note that the party won a number of significant elections just last Tuesday. They believe they had the upper hand and they have been effectively sold out by these eight who have voted to open the government,” he told Al Jazeera. It was unclear whether the two parties would be able to find any common ground on the health care subsidies before the promised December vote in the Senate. House Speaker Mike Johnson has said he will not commit to bring it up in his chamber. Advertisement Some Republicans have said they are open to extending the tax credits as premiums could skyrocket for millions of people, but they also want new limits on who can receive the subsidies and argue that the tax dollars for the plans should be routed through individuals. Other Republicans, including Trump, have used the debate to renew their yearslong criticism of the law and called for it to be scrapped or overhauled. Meanwhile, the consequences of the 40-day shutdown have been compounding. US airlines canceled more than 2,000 flights on Sunday for the first time since the shutdown began, and there were more than 7,000 flight delays, according to FlightAware, a website that tracks air travel disruptions. Treasury Secretary Sean Duffy said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that air travel ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday will be “reduced to a trickle” if the government does not reopen. At the same time, food aid was delayed for tens of millions of people as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits were caught up in legal battles related to the shutdown. And in Washington, DC, home to tens of thousands of federal workers who have gone unpaid, the Capital Area Food Bank said it is providing 8 million more meals ahead of the holidays than it had prepared for this budget year – a nearly 20 percent increase. Adblock test (Why?)
Syria’s al-Sharaa arrives in US for official visit
Visit comes as Syria announces launching a ‘large-scale operation’ targeting ISIL cells across the country. By News Agencies Published On 9 Nov 20259 Nov 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has arrived in the United States for an official visit, according to state media, during which Washington hopes to enlist Damascus in its global coalition against ISIL, or ISIS. Al-Sharaa’s arrival in the US capital came late on Saturday as Syria’s Ministry of Interior announced launching a “large-scale security operation” across the country, targeting ISIL cells. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Al-Sharaa, whose rebel forces ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad late last year, is due to meet US President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday. It is the first such visit by a Syrian president since the country’s independence in 1946, according to analysts. Al-Sharaa, who had met Trump for the first time in Riyadh in May, was removed from a US “terrorist” sanctions list on Friday. US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said earlier this month that al-Sharaa would “hopefully” sign an agreement to join the international US-led alliance against ISIL. Washington is also preparing to establish a military presence at an airbase in Damascus to help enable a security pact that the US is brokering between Syria and Israel, according to the Reuters and AFP news agencies. For his part, al-Sharaa is expected to seek funds for Syria, which faces significant challenges in rebuilding after 13 years of brutal civil war. The World Bank has estimated that the cost of reconstruction could take at least $216bn, a figure that it described as a “conservative best estimate”. Al-Sharaa once led Syria’s offshoot of al-Qaeda, but his anti-Assad group broke away from the network a decade ago and later clashed with ISIL. Al-Sharaa’s group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), was delisted as a terrorist group by Washington in July. Advertisement Al-Sharaa’s trip to Washington, DC, comes after his landmark visit to the United Nations in September, his first time on US soil, where he became the first Syrian president in decades to address the UN General Assembly in New York. On Thursday, the US led a vote by the UN Security Council to remove sanctions against him. In Damascus on Saturday, state media reported that Syrian security forces had carried out 61 raids across the country targeting ISIL cells. A spokesperson for the Syrian Interior Ministry said at least 71 people were arrested, while explosives and weapons were seized. Syria’s SANA news agency, citing the ministry, said the operations were carried out in the Aleppo, Idlib, Hama, Homs and Damascus countrysides, and that the campaign was part of “ongoing nation efforts to combat terrorism and protect public safety”. Adblock test (Why?)
Powerful tornado wrecks Brazil town, killing six and injuring hundreds
Tornado flattens homes in Rio Bonito do Iguana, with one official describing the destruction as akin to a ‘war zone’. At least six people have been killed and 750 others injured in Brazil after a tornado ripped through the southern state of Parana, with powerful winds of up to 250km/hour (155 mph). Local authorities said on Saturday that the twister, which struck late on Friday, lasted less than a minute, but destroyed about 90 percent of the town of Rio Bonito do Iguacu. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list The town is home to 14,000 people. Aerial photographs show scores of buildings in Rio Bonito do Iguacu without roofs, while parts of the town appear completely flattened. Nearby, green farmland and trees outside of the tornado’s path appear to be largely untouched. The destructive weather pattern hit Brazil as it prepared to host the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP30 in Belem on Monday. Experts say climate change can contribute to frequent and more intense tornadoes as warmer temperatures and increasing moisture in the air can increase atmospheric instability and wind shear – the factors that give rise to such twisters. An aerial view shows destruction after a tornado hit the city of Rio Bonito do Iguaçu, in Brazil’s Paraná State, on November 8, 2025 [Photo by Daniel Castellano/AFP] ‘War zone’ Fernando Schunig, head of the Parana Civil Defence agency, described the town as a “war zone” in an interview with local news outlet G1. “When these events hit an urban area, the damage is major. It is very lethal,” he said. Gilberto Brecailo, a resident of Rio Bonito do Iguacu, said his mechanic shop was one of the buildings destroyed by the tornado. Advertisement “There’s not much we can do… All we have left are our clothes and our documents. My livelihood, my mechanic shop, is gone, and my son worked with me,” he said, standing near a pile of support beams and building rubble. Marileia Chagas, another resident, said she was thrown against a structure by the high winds but was able to hide under a bench until it passed. “When I came out, everything was destroyed. My daughter and my wheelchair-bound mother were inside. My father was inside too. I was devastated,” she said. “In two minutes, everything was on the ground; some people lost family, but we must thank God everyone is alive.” Authorities say five of the people killed were from Rio Bonito do Iguacu, while another victim was from the nearby town of Guarapuava. At least one person is missing. Towns near Rio Bonito do Iguacu were also hit by winds, storms and hail, but none suffered the same level of damage, according to the local government. Heavy machinery cleans up the debris caused by the tornado, with winds of up to 250km/hour, which hit the city of Rio Bonito do Iguaçu, Paraná State, Brazil on November 8, 2025 [Daniel Castellano/AFP] Mourning State Governor Carlos Massa Ratinho Jr declared three days of mourning to honour the dead. Officials say the casualty rate may rise as search and rescue operations are still under way. At least 750 people were also injured by the tornado, of whom 10 have undergone surgery and nine are in serious condition, according to health authorities. Cinthia Kelly Somariva, the director of a nearby hospital, said they were still evaluating the fallout from the tornado. “It was a very sad and intense night. There were lives lost,” she said. On social media, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva expressed solidarity with the victims. Members of his Cabinet announced the dispatching of emergency assistance to the area. Officials said that food, hygiene products, tarps, mattresses and several other items will be available to victims. Adblock test (Why?)