World News: 11 November 2026

The United Kingdom unveiled the Northern Navies Initiative, a British-led framework to integrate the maritime defence capabilities of 10 countries, including shared sea drones and warships. The plan will link UK autonomous systems with Baltic, Nordic and Dutch allies to create unified surveillance against Russian undersea threats. Britain will spend 90 million pounds on drones, sensors and artificial intelligence systems.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet ordered the military to step up preparations for a possible attack on Iran, Israeli media reported. The move came after opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot, who has been given the opportunity to form a new government after his bloc's election successes, urged Netanyahu not to deploy the military without a direct and immediate threat.

Eisenkot said the army should wait until the next government is formed.

Amnesty International said UN peacekeepers and South Sudanese authorities had weeks of warning before insurgents killed at least 213 people in Abiemnom in March but failed to take adequate preventive action. It said 1,000 to 1,500 armed men from neighboring Mayom County shot residents, burned homes and looted part of a hospital. UNMISS said it did its best with limited resources to protect about 2,500 people who sheltered at its base.

Russia's ambassador to the United States, Alexander Darchiev, has died suddenly at the age of 66, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced. Darchiev, a specialist in Russia-US relations, was appointed to the role in March 2025 and previously served as ambassador to Canada. His death comes as Moscow and Washington struggle to restore deteriorated relations following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The Allied Democratic Forces, a rebel group affiliated with the Islamic State group, killed at least 22 people in a series of attacks between Tuesday and Wednesday in Congo's eastern Ituri province. The attacks hit eight locations in Mambasa territory near the Ugandan border, with other people abducted and homes and motorcycles set on fire. The death toll is provisional.

The group grew out of Uganda and pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in 2019.

Indonesia's vice president Gibran Rakabuming Raka submitted his resignation to President Prabowo Subianto after the Supreme Court ruled a high school document used in his 2024 campaign was invalid. The court found no evidence he had graduated from senior secondary school or an equivalent qualification. More than 100 lawmakers had backed a parliamentary initiative that could have led to impeachment proceedings.

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council ruled unanimously that Trinidad and Tobago's 1986 Sexual Offences Act could not be used to prosecute private, consensual same-sex relations between adults. The decision ended a decade-long legal battle led by LGBT+ activists and overturned penalties of two years for serious indecency and five years for buggery. UN Human Rights chief Volker Turk called it a significant milestone for rights and equality.

Russia said it would ban two French lawmakers and two French journalists from entering the country in response to France's expulsion of pro-Kremlin media commentator Xenia Fedorova. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova named Sacha Houlie and Arthur Delaporte, along with journalists Paul Gogo and Ariane Chemin, citing alleged harassment of Fedorova. France expelled Fedorova in July after describing her as an agent of influence.

Saudi air defences intercepted three Houthi cruise missiles launched toward the Riyadh region on Wednesday, the Saudi-led coalition said. It was the second consecutive day of interceptions, after a ballistic and a cruise missile were shot down Tuesday. The Houthis have intensified attacks on the capital, including a Sunday strike that damaged an Aramco administrative building.

US mediated talks in Abu Dhabi ended with Russia and Ukraine agreeing to a large prisoner exchange, though no breakthrough was reached on ending the war. US envoy Jared Kushner said the number of prisoners would be finalised on Thursday. The exchange was described as the biggest humanitarian release since the war began in 2022.

Egyptian military sources said Cairo deployed forces and military aircraft to Saudi Arabia long before President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi publicly pledged support for Riyadh. The deployment included a squadron of Rafale fighter jets, eight helicopters and four transport aircraft, with naval warships moving towards the Bab al-Mandab Strait.

Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty confirmed the military had been deployed to Saudi Arabia before Sisi obtained parliamentary approval.

UN peacekeepers in Lebanon are preparing to exit after 48 years, following a Security Council vote in August 2025 not to renew UNIFIL's mandate beyond the end of 2026. The force says southern Lebanon remains volatile, with daily Israeli violations including construction, demolitions, airstrikes and artillery fire. Nearly one million displaced people have returned since September, while about 304,500 remain displaced.

Eswatini's parliament approved a law giving foreign business owners at least 12 months to leave, aiming to increase ownership by emaSwati citizens. The Citizen Economic Empowerment Act follows complaints that foreign-owned businesses, especially those run by Asian nationals, are pressuring local traders.

The government says the measure should expand economic opportunities, while lawmakers debated whether local entrepreneurs are ready to take over.

Police said militants ambushed vehicles carrying police officers in Kohat district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, triggering a gunbattle that killed at least 10 officers, including two senior police officers. Officials said an exchange of fire was ongoing and no group immediately claimed responsibility, though suspicion is likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban.

At least 300 schools in Italy were evacuated after receiving an emailed bomb threat, with similar messages sent to schools in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said there was no evidence of concrete danger, describing the threats as a strategy to cause alarm.

Authorities in the UK and Ireland treated the messages as hoaxes, noting a recent increase in non-credible bomb threats across Europe.

Pope Leo XIV will conclude his visit to Argentina Wednesday with an outdoor mass at the shrine of Our Lady of Lujan and a visit to Devoto Prison, a site linked to the country's military dictatorship. He will then travel to Peru, where he served as a missionary for about 20 years and is expected to address President Keiko Fujimori. The trip is part of a South American tour of 12 days through November 17.

Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei warned that Tehran would strike US military bases in Europe if they are used to launch attacks against Iran. Rezaei also stated that Iran will not allow a single particle of enriched nuclear material to leave the country, a key issue in ongoing negotiations. The threats come as diplomatic efforts to end the war gather pace, with the US saying economic pressure is making further strikes unnecessary.

Kenya discharged its last Ebola patient on Wednesday, beginning a 42 day countdown to being declared free of Ebola if no new infections are recorded. The country recorded nine cases in October after a patient traveled from Congo through Uganda, with the first patient and his mother dead and the other seven recovered. Health Minister Aden Duale said the waiting period is twice the longest Ebola incubation period and would end on Dec. 23.

Portugal said it would shut schools, non-essential services and a top world tech conference on Wednesday. The country is bracing for gale-force winds from Storm Charles.

The German government said its military will stop using Chinese-made drones for training and replace them with German or other European models. The Defense Ministry said commanders can buy commercial drones for training after a risk assessment, but no Chinese models will be used in the future to strengthen self-sufficiency and technological sovereignty.

A commuter bus struck 32 vehicles stopped at a traffic light during the morning rush in Seongnam, just south of Seoul, injuring dozens. Fire officials said at least 57 people were being treated, including nine seriously hurt, although none were in life-threatening condition. The driver tested negative for alcohol and told police the brakes had failed.

China and ASEAN have made progress on a South China Sea code of conduct but will not finish negotiations this year as agreed, three regional diplomats said. They said the sides have provisionally agreed on about 80 percent of the paragraphs, with remaining issues including geographic scope, definitions and whether the accord is legally binding. Talks will continue next year, when Singapore takes over ASEAN's leadership.

Tens of thousands of nationalist sympathisers gathered in Warsaw on Wednesday for Poland's annual Independence Day march, days after a mass shooting in Krakow killed six people. Participants carried Polish flags as police secured the demonstration, which commemorates the end of partition in 1918. President Karol Nawrocki attended, while Prime Minister Donald Tusk had appealed for restraint after the Krakow shooting.

The United States has warned Madagascar against strengthening military ties with Russia, saying similar partnerships with military-led governments in West Africa have failed to improve security. US Africa Command deputy head Lt Gen John Brennan said Madagascar's strategic location in the Indian Ocean made it important to global trade and warned against the Sahel model. Madagascar has not publicly responded.

Iran's army said an oil tanker caught fire in the eastern part of the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday after hitting a naval mine in an unsafe and restricted area. The navy said sailors were monitoring the eastern strait and advised ship owners to coordinate with armed forces for safe passage.

Iran has designated Argentina's navy and air force as terrorist organisations in response to Buenos Aires blacklisting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The Iranian foreign ministry said Argentina acted in violation of international law and committed a hostile act by deeming the IRGC a terrorist entity. It added that responsibility for all consequences would rest with the Argentine government.

A Kenyan domestic worker in Saudi Arabia has reportedly been sentenced to 100 lashes after giving birth outside marriage, a case rights groups have condemned as an act of violence. Esther Wanja Muthoni reportedly became pregnant during a brief relationship with an Egyptian man who has left the country. The case emerged after a hospital reported her to authorities, and it comes as a planned UN special rapporteur visit was postponed.

Yemen's government forces claimed to have killed or wounded at least 190 Houthi fighters in a series of air and artillery strikes across multiple governorates. The Houthis reported their own casualties and accused Saudi-backed forces of striking Sanaa and other areas, killing women and children. The fighting continues as part of a broader counteroffensive amid regional tensions triggered by the US-Israel war on Iran.

Ukraine says it has captured its first Indonesian prisoner of war, a 49 year old man from Java who was taken to the Zaporizhzhia region for a Russian assault and reached Ukrainian held territory after a drone attack. The I Want to Live project said 283 Indonesians were recruited in the first nine months of this year, compared with no more than 10 in the previous three years. Jakarta urged Moscow to ensure no Indonesians are recruited.

Deadly storms have left tens of thousands of Palestinians in waterlogged and damaged tents in Gaza, killing at least four people. Aid agencies warn of rapid disease spread as 150,000 new shelters remain outside the territory awaiting Israeli approval to enter. The UN reports that 940,000 people are in flood-prone areas with limited protection from heavy rainfall.

Confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo reached 11,042, with at least 5,387 deaths, according to government data released on Tuesday. The outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo strain, is the largest and deadliest in the country's history and the second largest on record. Eight of the country's 26 provinces have been affected, and many deaths occurred outside treatment centres. No vaccine or treatment exists for the strain.

Russia said it shot down 146 drones over the Leningrad region, with Governor Aleksandr Drozdenko saying the counter-action was ongoing. A drone attack caused a fire in the Ust-Luga port area, and a Ukrainian drone had struck the Kirishi oil refinery on Monday, killing a woman. Russia-Ukraine talks in Abu Dhabi entered their second and final day. Latvia and Lithuania warned residents to seek shelter over unidentified drones.

Iran's security chief Mohsen Rezaei said Tehran is waiting for a US response on its seven conditions and dismissed claims that talks are being held in Qatar. He said the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran closed, will not reopen until Washington meets demands including lifting sanctions and the naval blockade and ending fighting, especially Israel's attacks on Lebanon. President Trump said he saw positive momentum.

At least three people were killed and three others critically injured when a car struck pedestrians on a Los Angeles corner during Tuesday rush hour. The crash happened near a North Hollywood metro station, and reports say it involved a food stand. The driver was hospitalized in critical condition, and an investigation remains under way.

Former Iraqi lawmaker Ahmed al-Alwani was found dead in an apartment in Beirut's Tariq Al-Jadeeda neighbourhood, prompting a murder investigation. A Lebanese judicial source said preliminary findings indicate he was strangled, and a Lebanese national has been arrested while two Syrian suspects remain at large. Al-Alwani, a Sunni politician and critic of Iran's influence in Iraq, had been released from prison in April 2025.

DNA tests linked a female grizzly bear and three yearling cubs to the deaths of Jenny Balcarras, 48, and her 20-year-old daughter Selah Reed near Bella Coola, British Columbia. Wildlife officials said the attack likely involved rare predatory behaviour and that all four bears were killed to protect the public. The deaths have shaken the Nuxalk Nation, which is still recovering from a bear attack last November.

Egyptian journalist Lina Attalah, head of independent outlet Mada Masr, faces a criminal court retrial over charges of operating without a licence and publishing false news. The UN criticised Egypt's widening assaults on press freedom, noting that Attalah was previously sentenced in absentia in 2024. Rights groups describe the current crackdown as unprecedented, with authorities having shut down nearly all space for dissent in recent years.

At least 39 people died after a migrant boat capsized off Senegal's northwest coast. The incident was described as one of the country's deadliest migration tragedies in recent years.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has been moved from his home to a military base after alleged Iranian threats against his life, according to a New York Times report. A senior intelligence official in the Trump administration warned in a memo that Tehran has increased efforts to target US personnel and that Iranian plots against American citizens have reached advanced stages.

El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele said his military destroyed the headquarters of the 400 Mawozo gang in a ground and air attack near Port-au-Prince. Media reported 20 people died, though authorities had not confirmed the toll. Haiti's prime minister praised Bukele after the strike, which followed the deployment of more than 2,000 Salvadoran soldiers to Haiti.

A federal judge in Florida allowed President Donald Trump's $10bn defamation lawsuit against the BBC to proceed after the broadcaster sought dismissal. Judge Jeffrey Kuntz found the BBC's Panorama edit of a 2021 Capitol speech plausibly supported the defamation claim, but dismissed a separate unfair trade practices claim. The BBC said it was surprised by the decision but would continue through the legal process.

Families displaced by the war in Ethiopia's Tigray region are living in former schools years after the Pretoria agreement ended the conflict. Fighting escalated in September, with TPLF forces seizing Mekelle's airport before federal forces retaking Mekelle on October 4. The federal government has set up a six-month caretaker administration, but disputes over Western Tigray and regional governance remain.

The US Department of Justice charged three men it described as Iran-backed operatives with planning nearly 20 attacks and attempted attacks in the US and Europe. The indictment centers on a September incident near RAF Fairford in the UK, where US forces were stationed, and says the men acted in support of Iran's IRGC and Iraq's Kataib Hezbollah. Iran denied involvement in the Fairford incident.