Al Jazeera

Ukrainian Member of Parliament Lisa Yasko discusses the investigation of President Zelenskyy’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak over corruption accusations following his resignation.

A huge fireball exploded at a waste facility in an Australian suburb in western Sydney, sending flames 100 metres into the sky. Authorities are investigating the fire’s cause, but say a chemical tank exploded in the blaze, sending concrete debris flying and causing damage to nearby buildings.

Nov. 28 (UPI) — The Israeli Defense Forces launched an attack on Beit Jinn in southern Syria, which killed 13 residents, including two children, and seriously wounded some Israeli soldiers.

The Israeli military described the event as an “exchange of fire” in Beit Jinn, where three of its soldiers were seriously injured. It also said it arrested three people associated with Jamaa Islamiya, a Lebanon-based militant group.

The Washington Post reported that, according to their families, there were two girls, ages 4 and 17, and a 10-year-old boy killed.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry called it a “criminal attack carried out by an Israeli occupation army patrol in Beit Jinn. The occupation forces’ targeting of the town of Beit Jinn with brutal and deliberate shelling, following their failed incursion, constitutes a full-fledged war crime,” Al Jazeera reported.

Syrian civil defense said they weren’t able to enter the city to rescue the wounded because the IDF continues to target any movement.

Since the civil war in Syria overturned the Bashar al-Assad regime, the Israeli military seized a demilitarized buffer zone in the Golan Heights and in Syria. It has also launched hundreds of air strikes across Syria, including in Damascus. Human Rights Watch has declared some operations war crimes.

Earlier this month, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa met with President Donald Trump in the White House, and Trump paused all sanctions against the country for six months. But so far, Al-Sharaa has refused to normalize relations with Israel.

The UN has documented nearly 3,000 settler attacks across the occupied West Bank since October 2023, driving communities from their land in what Palestinians say is a deliberate, violent campaign to displace them.

At a UN Security Council meeting, members urged Israel to abide by the ceasefire and open more border crossings to ease Gaza’s deep humanitarian crisis. Palestinians say they are still struggling to access food, water and shelter as aid flows remain far below what is needed.

Drug cartels in Mexico are recruiting children and forcing them to become professional killers. Rights groups warn hundreds of thousands of minors are at risk. Al Jazeera’s John Holman gained rare access to speak to child hitmen committing murder for money.

Mahmood Mamdani, father of New York City’s Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, says his son’s drive is both innovative and uncompromising – and he is fully aware of the enormity of the job ahead.

Nov. 15 (UPI) — Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps confirmed Saturday that it has seized a fuel tanker bound for Singapore from the United Arab Emirates.

The IRGC Navy said in a statement the Talara was carrying 30,000 tons of petrochemicals and had been monitoring it after a court ordered the ship’s seizure on Friday morning, according to IRNA, Iran’s official government news agency.

The “unauthorized cargo” — high-sulphur gas oil, which is used to fuel ships and other marine vessels — led three small surface vessels to intercept the Talara has it sailed south through the Strait of Hormuz, Al Jazeera and the BBC reported.

“This operation was carried out successfully in accordance with legal duties and for the purpose of safeguarding the national interests and resources of the Islamic Republic of Iran and under the orders of judicial authorities,” the IRGC Navy said.

Talara’s Cyprus-based owner, Columbia Shipmanagement Ltd. operates the tanker, and its cargo and that it has lost contact with the vessel, according to Al Jazeera.

U.S. Central Command officials on Friday said they are aware of the ship’s seizure and are “actively monitoring” the matter, the New York Times reported.

“Commercial vessels are entitled to largely unimpeded rights of navigation,” the Central Command officials added.

Iran has seized other tankers while often accusing them of carrying illicit cargo, intruding in Iranian waters or in retaliation for the seizure of an Iranian vessel.

Iranian officials have threatened to close shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, which is a narrow strait extending for 90 miles and connecting the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf.

A fourth of the world’s oil and a fifth of its liquefied natural gas are shipped through the waterway.

The U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet patrols the area to help protect commercial shipping.

Video shows the moment of a massive explosion at an industrial park in Argentina. The blast happened at warehouses housing agricultural chemicals, south of the capital Buenos Aires. Firefighters battled to control fires ignited by the explosion. At least 22 people were injured.

US President Donald Trump signed a funding bill in Washington DC to end a 43-day government shutdown, the longest on record. The deal followed a partisan standoff over healthcare that left nearly a million workers unpaid.

A year ago, the United States was offering a $10m reward for the arrest of the commander of a Syrian armed group, previously linked to al-Qaeda.

Yet on Monday, President Donald Trump hosted him at the White House.

As Syria’s leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa has positioned his country as a regional player – formally joining the global coalition against ISIL (ISIS).

Trump has also suggested he wants al-Sharaa to join the Abraham Accords.

However, the Israeli military is carrying out air strikes on Syria.

So, how might the new US-Syria relationship reshape power dynamics in the Middle East?

Presenter: Adrian Finighan

Guests:

Haid Haid — Senior non-resident fellow at Arab Reform Initiative

Robert Ford — Former US ambassador to Syria

Rob Geist Pinfold — Lecturer in International Security at King’s College London

At least 13 people were killed and 20 injured when a car exploded near the Red Fort metro station in India’s capital New Delhi on Monday evening. Police say the blast, believed to have originated from a Hyundai i20 car, is being investigated under anti-terrorism laws.

New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani attended Friday prayers at a mosque in Puerto Rico, where he was welcomed with cheers and shared a message inspired by Malcolm X about equality and justice.

At least five people have been killed after Typhoon Kalmaegi hit central and highland provinces in Vietnam, destroying thousands of homes and cutting power to more than a million households.

Former US diplomat Nabeel Khoury says Israel’s latest attack on southern Lebanon follows the same flawed logic and pattern as its assault on Gaza.

At his final rally on Monday New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani vowed to resist US President Donald Trump’s threat to withhold federal funds if the 34-year-old wins, framing the vote as a stand against intimidation and political bullying.

Thousands of Moroccans filled the streets of Rabat singing and waving flags after the UN Security Council adopted a resolution describing autonomy for Western Sahara under Moroccan sovereignty as the most feasible solution to the decades-long territorial dispute. The US-drafted text provides international endorsement of Morocco in its dispute with the Algeria-backed Polisario Front.

Tens of thousands of people in Sudan have fled el-Fasher and the advance of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in the Darfur region. Al Jazeera’s Hiba Morgan reports from a camp for displaced civilians in the neighbouring Northern State where people are in desperate need of assistance.