Latest World News Today: 5 November 2026

Russian President Vladimir Putin placed Japan Tobacco International's operations under state control on Thursday, transferring its factories to a state-linked holding company. JTI employs about 4,000 people in Russia and holds roughly 40 percent of the country's cigarette market, making it the largest manufacturer there. The move follows the arrest of a Japanese journalist on espionage charges.

Paraguay's President Santiago Peña resigned Thursday after Ueno Bank collapsed, leaving about three million customers unable to access accounts. The bank held roughly $850 million in public funds, and the central bank seized it after it breached solvency rules. Lawmakers accused Peña of conflicts of interest as the lower house moved toward impeachment, and Vice President Pedro Alliana is set to take office.

A London jury found actor and comedian Russell Brand guilty on Thursday of raping one woman and sexually assaulting three others, while clearing him of two rape counts and an attempted indecent assault. Judge Joel Bennathan said the conviction for rape means a significant custodial term and remanded Brand to custody pending sentencing on Monday.

Brand, 51, had pleaded not guilty, saying the incidents were consensual or reimagined after a 2023 documentary.

Israel's Arab-led Joint List said Thursday it will recommend Gadi Eisenkot to form the next government, giving him the expected backing of 67 lawmakers in the 120-seat Knesset. The decision follows a recommendation from Ra'am and comes after Arab-led parties won a record 19 seats, while Netanyahu's bloc won 53 and United Torah Judaism declined to recommend him. President Isaac Herzog is deciding whom to task with forming a government.

The UN peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara has entered a liquidation phase, beginning to repatriate personnel, close facilities and dispose of equipment after its mandate expired. The end of MINURSO, established in 1991 to monitor a ceasefire between Morocco and the Polisario Front, follows a US and Russia standoff at the Security Council and raises questions over security in the disputed territory.

The UN recognised government of Yemen dismissed ministers and military officers in an attempt to reverse Houthi gains and lift the four week siege of Taiz. The shakeup followed a failed counteroffensive launched on 5 October and pressure from southern Yemenis for greater power, as Houthi forces were reported to be about 37 miles from Aden.

Israeli forces demolished five Palestinian residential buildings in the occupied West Bank on Thursday without warning, displacing more than 100 people. Troops raided the town of Biddu, northwest of Jerusalem, in the early morning, forcing residents out before demolishing the apartments. Residents said soldiers fired stun grenades and tear gas, preventing them from retrieving their belongings.

Six people died and seven others were injured in a fire that broke out early Thursday morning in a residential building in Brooklyn, New York City. The blaze, which started around 1:40 a.m. local time, was reported in the Sunset Park neighborhood and took about three hours to bring under control. A lithium-ion battery was found at the scene, though it was unclear if it was linked to the cause of the fire.

Jordan's Public Security Directorate said an assailant attacked and killed a security officer near the Sri Lankan Embassy in Amman on Thursday. The officer was assaulted with a sharp object, and the arrested assailant attempted to seize his weapon, Al-Mamlaka TV reported. A second security officer intervened and was also injured. The attack comes weeks after gunmen killed nine people at a church funeral in southern Jordan.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday he will visit Azerbaijan on Sunday for Victory Day on 8 November. The trip follows a headscarf ban in Azerbaijani schools that sparked protests in Turkey and led Baku to demand Ankara fire a presidential adviser and prosecute critical commentators. Erdogan said telephone diplomacy continues between the two leaders and their spouses.

The Saudi-led coalition said on Thursday that air defences intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile fired by Yemen's Houthis toward the Medina region. The announcement came after Saudi civil defence warned of potential danger near the Red Sea port of Yanbu. Yanbu is the terminus of the East-West Pipeline that allows Saudi oil to bypass the blockaded Strait of Hormuz.

Serbia's Ministry of Interior said nine active officers and one former officer were arrested over excessive force against students during last year's protests. It alleged they abused and tortured several people in a government compound garage in Belgrade in August 2025. The arrests follow the October defeat of former President Aleksandar Vucic, after which student-led protesters demanded reforms.

An Israeli court extended the detention of Palestinian journalist Abed Abou Shhadeh until Sunday, November 8, after police raided his home in Jaffa. Police sought an eight-day extension on suspicion of contact with a foreign agent, while his lawyers said the charges were fabricated and focused on an interview in Qatar. The case follows record gains by Arab-led parties in Israel's election.

Authorities in Austria, France, Italy, Belgium and Bulgaria reported unscheduled or high-alert landings after bomb threats on commercial flights. An Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Rome was diverted to Evreux airbase in France, and a Wizz Air flight from Milan to Warsaw landed in Vienna. Bulgaria reported three emergency landings, and Czech police said four planes heading to Prague received threats they assessed as low credibility.

Russia said its drones hit a Nova Poshta terminal outside Kharkiv, a substation in the Dnipropetrovsk region and a cargo ship carrying military equipment near Odesa. Ukrainian drones set fires in Ryazan, where verified footage showed a fire at a Rosneft oil refinery, and damaged power lines, injuring one person. Kharkiv and Donetsk regions reported injuries and four civilian deaths from Russian attacks.

An Aer Lingus Airbus A320 flying from Dublin to Rome was diverted to Evreux airbase in France after declaring an emergency in the air over a bomb threat. The French prime minister's office said it was monitoring the situation. The incident followed bomb threats on Tuesday against at least seven European flights and a cruise ship, with no devices discovered.

Indonesian authorities are deploying thousands of police and military to secure a court appearance by former President Joko Widodo in Jakarta Thursday. Tensions remain high over a wiretapping scandal that has led to the detention of three senior generals, including Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo, former national police chief. A retired general said investigators should question whether directives came from Widodo, who has not been implicated.

Pope Leo XIV will begin a 12-day, three-nation tour of Latin America Friday, starting in Uruguay and visiting Peru and Argentina. The trip is the longest of his pontificate, covering 31,000 kilometers, and comes three weeks after lung cancer surgery. Doctors said he requires no further treatment, and the Vatican said no special medical provisions are planned.

Prosecutors in Yichang formally charged former Politburo member Ma Xingrui with accepting exceptionally large bribes and securing benefits for others. Ma, expelled from the Communist Party a week ago, had held leadership roles in China's space program and served as party secretary of Shenzhen. The case follows a Central Committee plenum that ratified the expulsions of more than 30 senior officials.

US First Lady Melania Trump hosts Russian and Ukrainian officials at the White House Thursday, ahead of talks in Abu Dhabi aimed at ending the Ukraine war. Russia's Kirill Dmitriev and Yana Lantratova are set to attend, and Ukraine's human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said he is travelling to Washington. The meeting follows Zelenskyy awarding Trump a national honour for brokering a partial ceasefire that allowed civilians to leave Oleshky.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said two oil tankers and a tugboat caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz after attempting to pass through an unauthorised route. The IRGC said one large tanker hit a mine in what it called an illegal southern passageway, while another supertanker caught fire and a tugboat sent to help also burned. The statement blamed the US for inciting vessels to pass through mined passages.

Davide Tamburella lost his bid to get back his job as head chef at La Costa in Brisbane, Australia. The Fair Work Commission heard he was sacked on 20 May after refusing to put pineapple on pizza, saying it was an insult to his culture. His employer said he waited as long as legally possible before notifying authorities that he was no longer hiring Tamburella, who was more than three years into a 186 visa process.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he hopes Democratic control of both chambers of the US Congress will bring more support for Ukraine. He said Democrats speak clearly about aiding Kyiv and renewing the connection between the United States and Europe. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas urged the new Congress to keep pressuring Russia, while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz questioned whether President Trump would change course.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman signed a defence cooperation agreement and secured over $403 million in loans for Syria's energy, housing, and health sectors. The deal comes as Syria considers joining a mutual defence pact among Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, and Pakistan. Both leaders called for de-escalation in regional conflicts affecting maritime navigation and energy supplies.

Joshua Wong, 30, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for colluding with foreign powers under Hong Kong's national security law. The judge described his actions as grave, noting he worked with exiled activist Nathan Law to urge foreign sanctions against China. Wong, who has been imprisoned since 2020, will serve this term concurrently with his previous sentence for subversion.

The United States sanctioned two individuals and another entity accused of helping Iran source man-portable air-defense systems. Officials said the measures close off channels Tehran uses to rebuild its arsenal and raise the risk for third-country brokers and suppliers. The statement said the US will keep exposing networks that arm Iran's military and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

South Korea will deploy maritime patrol aircraft and an explosive ordnance disposal team near the Strait of Hormuz to protect commercial shipping and energy supplies. The move expands the Cheonghae anti-piracy unit's operational area to waters about 650km from the strait, following pressure from the US. Seoul maintains the deployment is for non-combat purposes and will operate independently of allied forces.

El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele posted videos of armed Salvadoran soldiers patrolling Haiti and challenged gangs to fight. Haitian police said they found the burned truck used by four missing Salvadoran technicians, who disappeared on October 18, but had not found the men. Bukele said the troops were helping Haitians free themselves from gangs, while the UN said only about 200 were under the multinational force's jurisdiction.

Pope Leo XIV hosted Bob Dylan, 85, at the Apostolic Palace in Rome during the singer's Italian tour. The meeting was brief, and Leo presented Dylan with a rosary while Dylan gave the pope a copy of his autobiography, Chronicles: Volume One. The visit came before Dylan's scheduled performance in Rome on Thursday.

Israel's President Isaac Herzog accepted the certified results of last week's election and began consultations on who should form the next government. Netanyahu's bloc won 53 seats and opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot's bloc 48, leaving both short of the 61 needed to govern. Arab-led parties won a record 19 seats, and Ra'am said it would recommend Eisenkot, whose support could reach 56.

Former NSW police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon, 31, began giving evidence in his double murder trial. He is accused of fatally shooting Jesse Baird and Luke Davies with his police service weapon in Baird's Paddington home on 19 February 2024. Lamarre-Condon, who has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and one charge of aggravated break and enter, alleged he heard homophobic abuse and was bullied while working for NSW police.

Authorities in British Columbia say more than one grizzly may have been involved in an attack that killed art therapist Jenny Balcarras and her 20-year-old daughter, Selah Reed. The bodies were found in Bella Coola, where a curfew has been imposed as the search for the bears continues. The incident follows a similar attack on school students in the same area last November.

Hubert Aiwanger, 55, was found dead in a Berlin hotel room on Wednesday, police said. The Bavarian state deputy leader, head of the Free Voters party and Bavarian economy minister, was in Berlin to attend the opening of a party office but missed it because he was feeling unwell, Bild reported. Police and prosecutors opened an investigation to determine the cause and circumstances and rule out third-party culpability.