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COP30 negotiations drag on in Brazil amid divisions over draft proposal that does not include fossil fuel phase-out.

United Nations climate talks in Brazil have gone past their scheduled deadline as countries remain deeply divided over a proposed deal that contains no reference to phasing out fossil fuels.

Negotiators remained in closed-door meetings on Friday evening at the COP30 summit in the Brazilian city of Belem as they sought to bridge differences and deliver an agreement that includes concrete action to stem the climate crisis.

A draft proposal made public earlier in the day has drawn concern from climate activists and other experts because it did not contain any mention of fossil fuels – the main driver of climate change.

“This cannot be an agenda that divides us,” COP30 President Andre Correa do Lago told delegates in a public plenary session before releasing them for further negotiations. “We must reach an agreement between us.”

The rift over the future of oil, gas and coal has underscored the difficulties of landing a consensus agreement at the annual UN conference, which serves as a test of global resolve to avert the worst impacts of global warming.

“Many countries, especially oil-producing countries or countries that depend on fossil fuels … have stated that they do not want this mentioned in a final agreement,” Al Jazeera’s Monica Yanakiew reported from Rio de Janeiro on Friday afternoon.

Meanwhile, dozens of other countries have said they would not support any agreement that did not lay out a roadmap to phasing out fossil fuels, Yanakiew noted.

“So this is a big divisive point,” she said, adding that another major issue at the climate conference has been financing the transition away from fossil fuels.

Developing countries – many of which are more susceptible to the effects of climate change, including more extreme weather events – have said they want richer nations to shoulder more of the financial burden of tackling the crisis.

“So there is a lot being discussed … and negotiators say that this might likely continue throughout the weekend,” Yanakiew said.

The deadlock comes as the UN Environment Programme warned ahead of COP30 that the world would “very likely” exceed the 1.5-degree Celsius (2.7-degree Fahrenheit) warming limit – an internationally agreed-upon target set under the Paris Agreement – within the next decade.

Amnesty International also said in a recent report that the expansion of fossil fuel projects threatens at least two billion people – about one-quarter of the world’s population.

In a statement on Friday, Nafkote Dabi, the climate policy lead at Oxfam International, said it was “unacceptable” for any final agreement to exclude a plan to phase out fossil fuels.

“A roadmap is essential, and it must be just, equitable, and backed by real support for the Global South,” Dabi said.

“Developed countries who grew wealthy on their fossil fuel-based economies must phase out first and fastest, while financing low‑carbon pathways for the Global South.”

Trump praises Mamdani for ‘incredible’ victory in New York City mayoral election and focus on affordability.

United States President Donald Trump and New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani have held talks in the White House, expressing their hope for a productive and cordial relationship despite their history of mutual criticism.

Speaking to the press after their discussion on Friday, Trump praised Mamdani – the Muslim politician whom he once tarred as a “jihadist” and threatened to strip him of his US citizenship – for his successful campaign and emphasis on cost-of-living issues.

“We’ve just had a great meeting, a really productive meeting. We have one thing in common: we want this city of ours that we love to do very well,” said Trump, who grew up in New York, adding that Mamdani had run an “incredible race” and beat his rivals “easily”.

“I appreciated the meeting with the president, and as he said, it was a productive meeting focused on a place of shared admiration and love, which is New York City,” responded Mamdani, saying he discussed issues in areas such as rent, utilities and groceries.

Mamdani, a democratic socialist who embraced New York’s status as a community made up of people from around the world and offered a firm defence of Palestinian rights, is politically at odds with Trump, whose nativist politics have depicted immigrants as a dangerous internal threat and previously pushed for a ban on Muslims entering the US.

Asked about areas of disagreement with Trump, such as immigration enforcement, Mamdani said he hoped to work together towards shared goals despite their differences.

He referred to a video he shared in November 2024, in which he discussed issues such as affordability and US involvement in conflicts abroad with Trump voters after the 2024 presidential election. Mamdani said he now hopes to find common ground on ending US “forever wars” and bringing down the cost of living.

“I think both President Trump and I are very clear about our positions and our views. And what I really appreciate about the president is the meeting that we had focused not on places of disagreement, of which there are many, and focused on the shared purpose that we have of serving New Yorkers,” said Mamdani.

“That’s something that could transform the lives of 8.5 million people who are currently under a cost-of-living crisis, with one in four people living in poverty,” he said.

With polls showing growing concerns over the state of the US economy, Trump has recently spoken positively about Mamdani’s focus on cost-of-living issues, despite previous acrimony.

“He said a lot of my voters actually voted for him,” Trump told reporters. “And I’m ok with that.”

Here are the key events from day 1,367 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Here is how things stand on Saturday, November 22:

Fighting

• Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said approximately 5,000 Ukrainian troops are trapped by Russian forces on the eastern bank of the Oskil River, in Ukraine’s eastern Kharkiv region. There was no immediate comment from the Ukrainian military.
• Russia’s Ministry of Defence said its troops captured the settlements of Yampil, Stavky, Novoselivka and Maslyakivka in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, as well as the village of Radisne in neighbouring Dnipropetrovsk region.
• The Russian Defence Ministry said 33 Ukrainian drones were intercepted and destroyed over five Russian regions, as well as Crimea and the Black Sea, overnight.
• At least eight Russian airports were forced to suspend operations during the nighttime attack, according to Russia’s aviation watchdog.
• Ukraine said its forces were holding defensive lines in the northern part of the embattled eastern city of Pokrovsk and were blocking attempts by Russian troops to advance further.
• Moscow’s forces have fought towards Pokrovsk, a logistics hub for the Ukrainian military, for months to try to capture the town, which Russian media has dubbed the “gateway” to Ukraine’s industrial Donbas region.

Peace plan

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has until this coming Thursday to approve a United States-backed peace plan with Russia, President Donald Trump has said.
• Speaking in the Oval Office after a meeting with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani on Friday, Trump said: “We have a way of getting peace, or we think we have a way of getting to peace. [Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy] is going to have to approve it.”
• President Zelenskyy pledged to work fast and constructively with Washington on the peace plan, but said he would not betray his country’s national interest.
• In a video statement, Zelenskyy urged Ukrainians to remain united in what he described as one of the most difficult moments in their country’s history, adding that he expected more political pressure over the next week.
• Zelenskyy also said after an hour-long phone call with US Vice President JD Vance that Ukraine would work with Washington, and Europe at an advisory level, towards a peace plan.
• Zelenskyy said he then spoke with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte about the “available diplomatic options” to end his country’s war with Russia, including the “plan proposed by the American side”.

• Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Moscow had still not officially received any peace plan from the US, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin told senior officials at a meeting of Russia’s Security Council that the US proposal could be the basis for a resolution of the conflict, but if Kyiv turned down the plan, then Russian forces would advance further.
• British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said any peace deal between Russia and Ukraine must ensure Kyiv’s future security, following a phone call between Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Zelenskyy.
• Starmer’s office said the leaders “underlined their support for President Trump’s drive for peace and agreed that any solution must fully involve Ukraine, preserve its sovereignty, and ensure its future security”.
• The European Union and Ukraine want peace, but they will not give in to aggression from Russia, the EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has said.
• “This is a very dangerous moment for all,” Kallas said. “We all want this war to end, but how it ends matters. Russia has no legal right whatsoever to any concessions from the country it invaded; ultimately, the terms of any agreement are for Ukraine to decide.”

Sanctions

• The US has issued a Russia-related general licence allowing certain transactions with the Paks II civil nuclear power plant project in Hungary, according to the Department of the Treasury.
• The licence allows transactions linked to the nuclear power plant project involving some Russian banks, including Gazprombank, VTB Bank and the Russian central bank.
• Finnish fuel station chain Teboil, which is owned by Russia’s Lukoil, has filed for corporate restructuring, news agency STT reported, becoming the first international business owned by the major Russian oil firm to say it would close down as a result of the sanctions imposed by the US on Lukoil last month.
• Lithuanian state-owned railway group LTG said it will halt shipments of oil cargoes by Lukoil to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad due to the US sanctions.
• Located on the Baltic Sea coast, Kaliningrad receives many of its supplies from Russia via rail transit through NATO member state Lithuania, but can also get direct shipments from its own country via the coast.

Corruption

• Ukraine’s government plans to appoint a new supervisory board at Energoatom, the state nuclear company at the heart of a corruption scandal, by the end of this year, Economy Minister Oleksii Sobolev said.
• Ukraine has been rocked by a scandal over an alleged $100m kickback scheme involving senior officials in the energy sector and a former business associate of Zelenskyy.

Economy

• Ukraine will sharply increase gas imports via the southern Trans-Balkan route linking it with Greece as it battles to replace supplies lost due to Russian attacks, import data from transit operators showed.
• Russian drone and missile attacks on the country’s energy infrastructure have deprived Kyiv of at least half of its own gas production in recent months, forcing it to import an additional four billion cubic metres of gas over the winter heating season to make up the difference.

Regional security

• Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said sabotage acts inspired and organised by Russia are aimed at destabilising and weakening Poland and bear the hallmarks of “state terrorism”.
• Last weekend, an explosion damaged railway tracks on the Warsaw-Lublin route, which connects the Polish capital with the Ukrainian border, something Tusk described as an “unprecedented act of sabotage”.
• Nathan Gill, a British former member of the European Parliament and ex-leader of the populist Reform UK in Wales, has been jailed for more than 10 years after admitting taking about 40,000 British pounds ($52,344) in bribes to make pro-Russian speeches and statements.

Banerji said in his resignation letter that he was unhappy about governance issues at the organisation, BBC News reported.

Shumeet Banerji has resigned from the BBC board and criticised governance issues at the organisation, the latest blow to the broadcaster weeks after its director general quit.

The BBC confirmed Banerji’s departure on Friday, saying he stepped down only weeks before the end of his four-year term.

According to BBC News, Banerji said in his resignation letter that he was unhappy about governance issues at the organisation.

He also said he had not been consulted about key developments surrounding the abrupt exits of director general Tim Davie and BBC News chief executive Deborah Turness, BBC News reported.

Both stepped down on November 9 after mounting criticism of the broadcaster’s handling of political coverage, including the editing of a Donald Trump speech delivered on January 6, 2021, shortly before his supporters stormed the United States Capitol.

‘No legal basis’

The BBC issued an apology on November 13 for how its investigative programme Panorama edited the footage. However, it insisted there was “no legal basis” for Trump to sue for defamation.

The dispute focuses on Panorama’s documentary, Trump: A Second Chance?, broadcast in October 2024, just days before Trump secured re-election.

The film stitched together two separate lines from Trump’s January 6 address, almost an hour apart, creating the impression he urged supporters to “fight like hell” while heading towards the Capitol.

Trump and his allies say the sequence was misleading and stripped away crucial context from the speech.

They argue that Trump also told the crowd “to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard” and encouraged supporters to “cheer on our brave senators and Congressmen and women”. The edited version, they say, suggested a more direct incitement to violence.

The scandal has intensified scrutiny of the BBC at a moment when the broadcaster is already grappling with accusations of internal bias, fuelled by a leaked internal memo.

Nov. 21 (UPI) — The Christian Association of Nigeria said 215 Catholic school students in Central Nigeria were kidnapped on Friday by a group of armed men.

The attackers also kidnapped a dozen teachers from the religious school in the north-central Niger State, CNN reported.

Many students managed to escape, and their parents began picking them up before the school closed, Niger State CAN Chapter leader Rev. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna told media.

CAN officials are working with the government and its security agencies to safely return the abducted children and teachers, a CAN spokesman said.

It’s the second mass abduction of school students this week in the West African coastal nation.

According to police, the pupils were taken when armed “bandits” stormed the St. Mary’s School in Papiri and forced students out of their hostel sleeping space.

Boarding schools already were closed by state authorities in a large part of the country due to concern over rising security threats following a renewed string of attacks by militant groups.

The incident occurred after more than 20 Muslim schoolgirls were kidnapped Monday from a different boarding school in the neighboring Kebbi state.

But officials said St. Mary’s, in Nigeria’s largest state of Niger, defied the order to close despite intelligence warnings by the Nigerian government.

“Regrettably, St. Mary’s School proceeded to reopen and resume academic activities,” they told the BBC in a statement.

“Without notifying or seeking clearance from the state government, thereby exposing pupils and the staff to avoidable risk,” Nigerian officials stated.

The mass kidnappings came on top of U.S. President Donald Trump‘s threat to issue strikes against Islamic extremists in Nigeria, such as ISWAP and Boko Haram, which are currently engaged in ongoing armed conflicts for control of sovereign territory with various militarized groups, described as “bandits,” across the West African country.

Boko Haram is designated by the United States as a terrorist organization.

On Wednesday, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu said he was “fully apprised” of the “recent uptick in violent extremism in pockets across the country.”

“And I have directed our security agencies to respond with urgency, clarity, and decisive action. Our forces need the full cooperation of every community. Sharing information can save lives and protect our children,” Tinubu posted on social media.

Tinubu said that Nigeria was canceling plans to participate in the looming G20 and AU-EU summits in South Africa and Angola, respectively.

Welcome to Bunker Talk. This is a weekend open discussion post for the best commenting crew on the net, in which we can chat about all the stuff that went on this week that we didn’t cover. We can also talk about the stuff we did or whatever else grabs your interest. In other words, it’s an off-topic thread.

The caption to this week’s top shot reads:

Needs no caption.

Also, a reminder:

Prime Directives!

• If you want to talk politics, do so respectfully and know that there’s always somebody that isn’t going to agree with you. 
• If you have political differences, hash it out respectfully, stick to the facts, and no childish name-calling or personal attacks of any kind. If you can’t handle yourself in that manner, then please, discuss virtually anything else.
• No drive-by garbage political memes. No conspiracy theory rants. Links to crackpot sites will be axed, too. Trolling and shitposting will not be tolerated. No obsessive behavior about other users. Just don’t interact with folks you don’t like. 
• Do not be a sucker and feed trolls! That’s as much on you as on them. Use the mute button if you don’t like what you see.  
• So unless you have something of quality to say, know how to treat people with respect, understand that everyone isn’t going to subscribe to your exact same worldview, and have come to terms with the reality that there is no perfect solution when it comes to moderation of a community like this, it’s probably best to just move on. 
• Finally, as always, report offenders, please. This doesn’t mean reporting people who don’t share your political views, but we really need your help in this regard.

The Bunker is open!

The right-wing leader has sought to appeal his 27-year sentence for allegedly fomenting a coup after his 2022 defeat.

Lawyers for former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro have asked Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes to allow him to serve his 27-year sentence under house arrest, citing health concerns.

According to a document reviewed by the Reuters news agency on Friday, Bolsonaro’s lawyers said the 70-year-old former president’s recurring intestinal issues would make imprisonment life-threatening.

He had been stabbed in the stomach while campaigning in the state of Minas Gerais in 2018.

“It is certain that keeping the petitioner in a prison environment would pose a concrete and immediate risk to his physical integrity and even his life,” the document said. It asked for house arrest on humanitarian grounds.

In September, Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison by a five-judge panel from Brazil’s Supreme Court. He was convicted of plotting a coup to remain in power after losing the 2022 election to leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

The former right-wing leader has already been under house arrest for violating precautionary measures in a separate case, in which he allegedly courted United States interference to halt the criminal proceedings against him.

Court sources said Bolsonaro’s arrest appeared imminent after the Supreme Court panel earlier this month unanimously rejected an appeal filed by the former president’s legal team.

His lawyers said they would file a new appeal, but they argued that, if it is also rejected, Bolsonaro should begin serving his sentence under house arrest once all appeals are exhausted.

They noted that, earlier this year, the top court let 76-year-old former President Fernando Collor de Mello serve house arrest due to his age and health issues, including Parkinson’s disease, after he was sentenced to almost nine years in prison on corruption and money laundering charges.

Recent medical tests on Bolsonaro show that “a serious or sudden illness is not a question of ‘if’, but of ‘when’,” his legal team said.

One of Bolsonaro’s sons, Carlos, said on Friday that the former president was facing severe hiccups and vomiting constantly. “I’ve never seen him like this,” he wrote on the social media platform X.

Bolsonaro, who governed Brazil between 2019 and 2022, was convicted of five crimes, including participating in an armed criminal organisation, attempting to violently abolish democracy and organising a coup.

On Friday, the former president made a brief appearance in the doorway of his house while receiving a visit from federal lawmaker Nikolas Ferreira.

Nov. 21 (UPI) — Students and teachers were injured during a grizzly bear attack in Canada, and authorities are warning locals to stay indoors until they can find the bear.

The attack happened Thursday in the Bella Coola Valley of the Nuxalk Nation in British Columbia. The CBC reported that two people were critically injured, two were seriously hurt and others were treated at the scene.

The group were from the Acwsalcta School, about 435 miles northwest of Vancouver.

A male teacher “got the whole brunt of it” and some children got sprayed with bear spray as the adults tried to scare the bear away, parent Veronica Schooner told the Canadian Press, Canada’s state news agency.

Schooner’s 10-year-old son was part of the group, but wasn’t attacked.

“He said that bear ran so close to him, but it was going after somebody else,” she said, noting that “he even felt its fur.”

“Officers are armed” the Nation said on Facebook. “Remain indoors and off the highway.” The Facebook page also told people not to walk anywhere and take the bus, which is free to ride.

The Nation’s officials have temporarily shut the school and are offering counselling services.

US President Donald Trump said on social media that six Democratic lawmakers — all veterans and service members — should be arrested and put to ‘death’ for a video they published urging armed forces members to disobey ‘illegal orders’ from the administration.

The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has announced it will not release inflation information for the month of October, citing the consequences of the recent government shutdown.

On Friday, the bureau updated its website to say that certain October data would not be available, even now that government funding has been restored and normal operations have resumed.

“BLS could not collect October 2025 reference period survey data due to a lapse in appropriations,” it wrote in a statement. “BLS is unable to retroactively collect these data.”

The cancelled data includes the Consumer Price Index (CPI) — a report that is commonly used to calculate inflation by measuring the changing costs of retail items — and the Real Earnings summary, which tracks wages among US workers.

For some of the reports, including the Consumer Price Index, the bureau said it would use “nonsurvey data sources” to make calculations that would be included in a future report for the month of November.

The November Consumer Price Index will also be published later than anticipated, on December 18.

The most recent government shutdown was the longest in US history, spanning nearly 43 days.

It began on October 1, after the US Congress missed a September 30 deadline to pass legislation to keep the government funded.

Republicans had hoped to push through a continuing resolution that made no changes to current spending levels. But Democrats had baulked at the prospect, arguing that recent restrictions to government programmes had put healthcare out of reach for some US citizens.

They also warned that insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act are set to expire by the end of the year. Without an extension to those subsidies, they said that insurance premiums for many Americans will spike.

Republicans rejected the prospect of negotiating the issue until after their continuing resolution was passed. Democrats, meanwhile, feared that, if they passed the continuing resolution without changes, there would be no further opportunity to address healthcare spending before the end of the year.

The two parties hit an impasse as a result. Non-essential government functions were halted during the shutdown, and many federal employees were furloughed.

Only on November 10 did a breakthrough begin to emerge. Late that night, seven Democrats and one independent broke from their caucus to side with Republicans and pass a budget bill to fund the government through January 30.

The bill was then approved by the House of Representatives on November 12, by a vote of 222 to 209. President Donald Trump signed the legislation into law that very same day.

Trump had openly sought to leverage the shutdown to eliminate federal programmes he saw as benefitting Democratic strongholds.

He also attempted to blame the political left for the lapse in government services, though he acknowledged public frustration with Republicans after Democrats won key elections in November.

“If you read the pollsters, the shutdown was a big factor, negative for the Republicans,” he told a breakfast for Republican senators on November 5. “That was a big factor.”

The Trump administration had warned as early as October that the month’s consumer price data would be negatively affected as a result of the shutdown.

In a White House statement, Trump officials touted Trump’s economic record while slamming a potential lapse in the government’s collection of data. Once again, they angled the blame for any slowed economic growth at the Democrats.

“Unfortunately, the Democrat Shutdown risks grinding that progress to a halt,” the statement said.

“Because surveyors cannot deploy to the field, the White House has learned there will likely NOT be an inflation release next month for the first time in history — depriving policymakers and markets of critical data and risking economic calamity.”

September’s Consumer Price Index, the most recent available, showed that inflation across all retail items rose about 3 percent over the previous 12-month period.

For food alone, inflation for that period was estimated at 3.1 percent.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said after a call with US Vice President JD Vance that Ukraine agreed to work with the US and Europe towards a peace plan with Russia. Earlier he told the country it faces one of its most difficult moments as it weighs a US proposal that gives major concessions to Russia.

Nov. 21 (UPI) — Former U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, has decided not to run for governor of his state in 2026.

“After careful consideration, much prayer and reflection, and after long conversations with my family, my closest friends and advisors, I’ve made the decision not to run for governor in 2026,” Ryan said in a statement.

His bowing out will ease the path for former state health director Amy Acton, who will likely be the nominee against Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, who is endorsed by President Donald Trump.

Gov. Mike DeWine can’t run again due to term limits.

Ryan has faced criticism from Democrats for his ties to cryptocurrency. He represented some of the Akron and Youngstown areas for 20 years in Congress and ran for Senate in 2021, but lost to Vice President JD Vance.

Recently, he has been considering running for governor. An advisor said Ryan’s interest in running for governor was “renewed and heightened” by former U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown‘s decision to run for Senate again instead of Ohio governor, Cleveland.com reported.

Ryan ran for president in 2019.

Four new labour codes come into force as India seeks to attract investment and strengthen manufacturing.

India has announced a sweeping set of labour reforms, saying it will implement four long-delayed labour codes that the government says will modernise outdated regulations and extend stronger protections to millions of workers.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on X on Friday that the overhaul would provide “a strong foundation for universal social security, minimum and timely payment of wages, safe workplaces and remunerative opportunities”.

He said the changes would spur job creation and lift productivity across the economy.

The labour ministry echoed that message, saying the reforms place “workers, especially women, youth, unorganised, gig and migrant workers, firmly at the centre of labour governance”, with expanded social security and portable entitlements that apply nationwide.

The government says replacing 29 fragmented laws with four unified codes covering wages, industrial relations, social security and occupational safety will simplify compliance and make India more attractive for investment.

Many of India’s existing labour laws date back to the British colonial era and have long been criticised by businesses as complicated, inconsistent and a barrier to scaling up manufacturing, an industry that still accounts for less than 20 percent of India’s nearly $4-trillion gross domestic product (GDP).

The new rules formalise changes approved by parliament in 2020 but stalled for years due to political resistance and pushback from several states and unions.

The reforms introduce significant shifts in how factories operate. Women can now legally work night shifts, firms have greater room to extend working hours, and the threshold for companies requiring prior approval for layoffs has been raised from 100 to 300 workers.

Union opposition

Officials argue this flexibility will encourage employers to expand operations without fear of lengthy bureaucratic delays.

For the first time, the codes also define gig and platform work, offering legal recognition and expanding social protection to a fast-growing segment of the labour force.

Government estimates suggest the gig economy could reach more than 23.5 million workers by 2030, up sharply from about 10 million in 2024/25.

Economists say the changes may initially strain small and informal firms but could strengthen household incomes over time.

“In the short term, they may hurt small, unorganised firms, but in the long run … with minimum wages and increased social security, it could be positive for both working conditions and consumption,” said Devendra Kumar Pant of India Ratings & Research, speaking to the Reuters news agency.

Trade unions, however, remain fiercely opposed. “The labour codes have been implemented despite strong opposition from the trade unions and it will snatch the workers’ rights, including fixed-term jobs and rights available under the earlier labour laws,” said Amarjeet Kaur of the All India Trade Union Congress.

Nov. 21 (UPI) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told his people that the country “may soon face an extremely difficult choice” in response to the peace plan put forward by the President Donald Trump administration.

“Either the loss of dignity or the risk of losing a key partner. Either 28 complicated points or the hardest winter yet — and the risks that follow,” the Kyiv Independent reported Zelensky said on Telegram.

The speech came just one day after U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll delivered the plan to Zelensky, who said he is willing to negotiate with Trump.

The president on Thursday indicated that he is giving Ukraine until Thanksgiving to accept the plan. He said on Fox News Radio’s Brian Kilmeade Show, “Well, we have, you know, I’ve had a lot of deadlines, but if things are working well, you tend to extend the deadlines,” Trump to a question about the deadline. “But Thursday is, we think, an appropriate time.”

The administration has said that if Zelensky doesn’t accept by the deadline, Ukraine will lose U.S. support, The Washington Post reported.

The plan asks Ukraine to allow Russia to take some Ukrainian territory in the Donbas region in southeast Ukraine. Zelensky has in the past refused any effort to give Russia land. It would also require Ukraine to significantly cut the size of its army and give up many of its weapons.

“Ukraine’s national interest must be taken into account,” Zelensky said in his speech. “We will pursue a calm dialogue with America and all of our partners. There will be a constructive search for solutions with our main partner.”

He also said that the country needs more unity.

“We need to pull ourselves together, stop the quarrels, stop the political games. The state must function. The parliament of a country at war must work in unity. The government must work effectively,” he said.

Some European leaders have voiced their support of Ukraine since the details were released. They’ve insisted that any decisions must be made by Kyiv.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had a joint call with Zelensky Friday and, “agreed to continue to pursue the goal of safeguarding vital European and Ukrainian interests in the long term,” CNN reported.

A German press office statement said that includes “ensuring that the line of contact is the starting point for an understanding and that the Ukrainian armed forces remain capable of effectively defending Ukraine’s sovereignty.”

Zelensky told his people that he would work around the clock and would not betray his country.

“I will present arguments, I will persuade, I will offer alternatives, but we will definitely not give the enemy any reason to say that Ukraine does not want peace, that it is disrupting the process, and that Ukraine is not ready for diplomacy,” he said.

Nov. 21 (UPI) — Healthcare giant Eli Lilly on Friday became the first global healthcare company to hit $1 trillion in value.

The Indiana-based company hit the $1 trillion market capitalization threshold for a brief period at roughly $1,061 a share during morning hour trading before it scaled back.

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway was the first known non-tech company to reach the trillion-dollar valuation mark.

The company is currently riding on the popularity of its Zepbound weightloss inject and Mounjaro, which is Eli’s diabetes treatment.

Eli Lilly has long been a player in the pharmaceutical industry for more than 100 years, introducing such medication as Prozac in the early 1990s and the Humulin insulin drug.

In June, Eli revealed its billion-dollar buyout of Boston-based Verve Therapeutics to advance Verve’s new line of experimental cardiac health drugs.

Meanwhile, a medical and science expert pointed out that American citizens currently “are getting slammed by medical bills and rising care costs.”

“One in four is in medical debt. Eli Lilly just hit a $1 trillion valuation. Two realities, same healthcare system,” Dr. Carolyn Barber posted Friday on X.

Boko Haram attacked Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) members in the Warabe community in Gwoza Local Government Area, Borno State, North East Nigeria, on Thursday, Nov. 20, at about 10:00 am, killing eight people and leaving three others missing, according to a CJTF member in Warabe. 

“All the members killed are part of the CJTF, except for one,” a local told HumAngle..

Warabe has no permanent military presence, and the CJTF serve as the community’s frontline defence as the Boko Haram crisis continues to endure almost a decade after it started. They had gone out earlier in the day to collect firewood when Boko Haram attacked them.

According to locals, the group arrived on five motorcycles, with about 20 fighters armed with machine guns, while several others advanced on foot. The hunters engaged them in a gunfight, but the militants overpowered them after their ammunition ran out.

After killing the CJTF members, they took their weapons and used the victims’ mobile phones to lure other hunters, pretending to request help. By the time reinforcements arrived, Boko Haram had already withdrawn with the stolen weapons.

Three hunters remain missing and are believed to have been taken. The nearest military base is located in Pulka, approximately 7 kilometres from Warabe, while Gwoza town is situated roughly 15 kilometres away. Residents say the absence of soldiers in Warabe leaves them exposed during such attacks.

HumAngle reported in 2024 how youths in Warabe, with only seven pump-action rifles among them, defended their community when the first attack came, showing a history of resilience despite being under-armed.

The terrain around the town plays a huge role in why attacks persist. The Mandara Mountains stretch across Gwoza and serve as a natural hideout for fighters who move in and out of Nigeria through rugged footpaths that link the area to Cameroon. These mountain corridors give Boko Haram a strategic advantage, allowing them to launch quick raids on villages and vanish before security forces arrive.

The company’s stock has zoomed this year, driven by the explosive growth of the weight-loss drug market.

Eli Lilly has hit $1 trillion in market value, making it the first drugmaker to enter the exclusive club dominated by tech giants and underscoring its rise as a weight-loss powerhouse.

A more than 35 percent rally in the company’s stock this year has largely been driven by the explosive growth of the weight-loss drug market and saw it join the $1 trillion club on Friday.

Once seen as a niche category, obesity treatments are now one of the most lucrative segments in healthcare, with steadily rising demand.

Novo Nordisk had the early lead in the space, but Lilly’s drugs – Mounjaro and Zepbound – have surged in popularity and helped eclipse its rival in prescriptions.

The company’s shares were up 1.3 percent at a record high of $1,057.70.

Lilly now trades at one of the richest valuations in big pharma, at about 50 times its expected earnings over the next 12 months, according to LSEG data, reflecting investors’ belief that demand for obesity drugs will remain strong.

Shares have also far outpaced the broader United States equity market. Since the launch of Zepbound in late 2023, Lilly has gained more than 75 percent, compared with a more than 50 percent rise in the S&P 500 over the same period.

In the latest reported quarter, Lilly posted combined revenue of more than $10.09bn from its obesity and diabetes portfolio, accounting for more than half of its total revenue of $17.6bn.

“They are doing so many things outside of obesity, but to suggest anything is driving share price beyond obesity at this point, I don’t know if that would be a factual statement,” said Kevin Gade, chief operating officer at Lilly shareholder Bahl and Gaynor, in advance of the milestone.

‘Sales phenomenon’

Wall Street estimates the weight-loss drug market to be worth $150bn by 2030, with Lilly and Novo together controlling the majority of projected global sales.

Investors are now focused on Lilly’s oral obesity drug, orforglipron, which is expected to be approved early next year.

In a note last week, Citi analysts said the latest generation of GLP-1 drugs have already been a “sales phenomenon”, and orforglipron is poised to benefit from the “inroads made by its injectable predecessors”.

Lilly’s recent deal with the White House to cut prices for its weight-loss drugs, as well as planned investments to expand drug production, augur well for its growth.

Lilly is starting to resemble the “Magnificent Seven” again, said James Shin, director of Biopharma Equity Research at Deutsche Bank, referring to the seven tech heavyweights, including Nvidia and Microsoft, that have powered much of the market’s returns this year.

At one point, investors viewed it as part of that elite group, but after some disappointing headlines and earnings, it slipped out of favour.

Now, however, it seems poised to rejoin that circle, possibly even as an alternative for investors, especially given recent concerns and weakness in some AI stocks, he added.

Still, analysts and investors are watching whether Lilly can sustain its current growth as prices of Mounjaro and Zepbound come under pressure, and whether its scale-up plans, along with its diversified pipeline and dealmaking, will offset margin pressure.

Former Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said Israel has “lost the war on social media,” describing the online space as the most dangerous and complex arena shaping global public opinion, especially among younger generations.

Speaking at the annual conference of the Jewish Federations of North America in Washington, DC, Hagari urged the creation of a powerful new propaganda apparatus modelled on the capabilities and structure of Unit 8200, Israel’s elite cyber intelligence division. He argued that Israel must now fight “a battle of images, videos, and statistics—not lengthy texts.”

Hagari proposed establishing a unit capable of monitoring anti-Israel content across platforms, in real time and in multiple languages, supplying rapid-response messaging and data to government and media outlets. His plan also calls for the systematic creation of fake online identities, automated bot networks, and the use of unofficial bloggers—“preferably mostly young women”—to shape global perceptions.

He warned that the decisive phase of this battle will unfold a decade from now, when students using artificial intelligence tools search for information on the events of October 7 and encounter “two completely contradictory narratives.”

Hagari, a former navy officer who served in sensitive military roles, became Israel’s top military spokesperson in 2023 before being dismissed from the position earlier this year.

READ: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait condemn Israeli prime minister’s tour in occupied Syrian territory

Nov. 21 (UPI) — The Dominican Republic’s Constitutional Court struck down legal provisions that criminalized same-sex relationships within the National Police and the Armed Forces.

The ruling invalidates two articles in the justice codes of both institutions that imposed criminal penalties, including prison time, on service members who engaged in same-sex relationships.

The regulations, in place since the mid-20th century, imposed penalties of up to one year in prison for officers and six months for enlisted personnel under the stated aim of “maintaining discipline and institutional morality.”

However, the high court found that the provisions violated fundamental rights, including privacy, equality before the law and the free development of one’s personality.

The decision responds to a direct constitutional challenge filed by Dominican attorneys Anderson Dirocie de León and Patricia Santana. According to the attorneys, the disciplinary codes of the National Police and the Armed Forces violated fundamental rights recognized in the Dominican Constitution and in human rights treaties the country has ratified.

The measure adopted by the Constitutional Court has prompted mixed reactions in the country.

Cristian Gonzales Cabrera, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, said “for decades, these provisions forced LGBT officers to live in fear of punishment simply for who they are.”

“This ruling is a resounding affirmation that a more inclusive future is both possible and required under Dominican law,” Gonzales said.

Conservative groups in the country, especially those linked to evangelical churches, described the measure as an affront to moral values.

“This ruling is a direct blow to the moral, ethical and spiritual principles that have sustained our nation since its founding. This decision by the Constitutional Court is unconstitutional because it disregards the spirit, value framework and guiding principles established in the Constitution.”

The Dominican Bar Association called the ruling “unfortunate and unnecessary.”

In comments reported by Diario Libre, the association’s president, Trajano Potentini, said the Constitutional Court applied a constitutional test that does not apply to an area that, by its nature, relies on a work ethic, discipline and special subordination inherent to military and police institutions.

In the Dominican Republic, same-sex marriage remains illegal and high levels of stigma toward LGBTQ+ people persist.

With this ruling, the country joins Peru, Ecuador and Venezuela in eliminating similar discriminatory laws and policies that criminalized same-sex conduct among military personnel.

However, activists warn that although the ruling is historic, it does not by itself guarantee a cultural shift within the armed forces.

The judgment, which still must be implemented, marks a milestone in Dominican jurisprudence and could set a precedent for future reforms in other areas of public service.