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Ben-Gvir rejects pope call for Palestinian stateJNSIsraeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Monday rejected Pope Leo XIV’s call for a Palestinian state to be established in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip.“Our Torah says that the solution is one state: a Jewish state,” Ben-Gvir told JNS, speaking at the weekly faction meeting of his Otzma Yehudit Party at the Knesset.“That’s what our Torah says. And I believe in the Torah of Israel. This is what we believe,” the senior minister said, urging Leo to focus on “other matters.”The first-ever U.S.-born pope earlier on Monday reiterated the Vatican’s position supporting a Palestinian state alongside Israel, speaking en route from Turkey to Lebanon during his first foreign trip since becoming the leader of the 1.4 billion-member Catholic Church in May.“For years now, the Holy See has publicly supported the proposal for a two-state solution. We all know that Israel does not yet accept this proposal, but we see it as the only solution that could offer a resolution to the ongoing conflict they are constantly living through,” the pontiff told journalists on the flight in Italian.“We are also friends with Israel and we are seeking to be a mediating voice between the two parties that might help them close in on a solution with justice for everyone,” the 70-year-old added.Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) told JNS on Monday, “I think this is an Israeli-Palestinian problem, and I don’t see why the pope is interfering with this.“The same way we are not going to interfere with the question whether the Vatican should unite with Italy,” he said, speaking at the Knesset.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated on Nov. 16 that Israel will not allow the establishment of a Palestinian state in Judea, Samaria and Gaza.

Ukraine peace talks productive as ex-government official says country rethinking ‘uncompromising’ stanceEmma BusseyOfficial peace talks between the U.S. and Ukraine on ending the Ukraine war moved to a productive phase Sunday – but only after President Zelenskyy sent a new-look team to Florida, according to a former Ukrainian government official.With Rustem Umerov now leading Zelenskyy’s team and longtime adviser and chief of staff Andriy Yermak out, the source claimed the move signaled Kyiv was reassessing its “uncompromising” stance.The official, who spoke to Fox News Digital on condition of anonymity, said the personnel choice represented a move away from the approach that has shaped Ukraine’s diplomatic strategy for years.”Yermak had been teaching Zelenskyy to be a ‘Father of the Nation’ and until now, the Ukrainian side has been pushing for an unachievable and uncompromising position,” the former official said.”Umerov is not a very impressively strong individual in politics, but he wants to achieve results and is known to be aligned with compromise.”Ukraine’s new delegation also included Andrii Hnatov, head of the armed forces; Andrii Sybiha, the foreign minister; and Umerov, who is head of the country’s security council.After the meeting, Umerov offered a brief assessment to reporters, saying: “We are grateful to American people, American leadership and a great team with, state secretary, Steve, with both Jared Kushner for their tremendous work with us,” he said.”Our objective is a prosperous, strong Ukraine. We will [be] discussing [sic] the future of Ukraine. We discussed all the important matters that are important for Ukraine, for Ukrainian people. And the U.S was super supportive.””We already had a successful meeting in Geneva, and today we can continue this success. So at the moment, this meeting was productive and successful in the later stages.”The new team traveled to Florida for discussions aimed at refining President Trump’s proposed framework and his push to end Russia’s war against Ukraine.Sunday’s negotiations also took place after a leak published by Bloomberg News, revealed a transcript of an Oct. 14 call where special envoy Steve Witkoffallegedly offered advice to Russian officials on how to sell a peace plan to Trump.”The Ukrainian side had in some way undermined peace negotiations and Donald Trump’s efforts, not mentioning that it prolongs the war,” the former official said.More…

Emergency declared in Sri Lanka after Cyclone Ditwah leaves at least 355 dead and 366 missingRishav KothariAt least 355 people were confirmed dead, and 366 remain missing as of December 1, 2025, after Cyclone Ditwah brought days of intense rainfall across Sri Lanka, producing severe flooding and landslides in multiple districts.Seventy-one deaths and 53 missing were reported in Badulla District; 66 deaths and 105 missing in Kandy District; 20 deaths and 10 missing in Matale District; 19 deaths and 37 missing in Kurunegala District; 8 deaths in Ampara District; 6 deaths and 4 missing in Nuwara Eliya District; and 144 deaths and 161 missing in unspecified locations.Sri Lanka has declared a State of Emergency and deployed over 25 000 personnel for relief efforts.Officials report that the impact extends across nearly all administrative districts, affecting close to one million people. Around 200 000 people were reportedly in state-run shelters after the storm destroyed more than 20 000 homes across the island.President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said it is the “most challenging natural disaster” in the country’s history and that the destruction was so severe that reconstruction estimates were staggering.A rain-related incident caused by Ditwah claimed at least 3 lives in Tamil Nadu, India. Two people were killed when walls collapsed in Thoothukudi and Thanjavur, while a 20-year-old died from electrocution in Mayiladuthurai.A Sri Lanka Air Force Bell 212 helicopter crashed in Wennappuwa during relief operations, killing the pilot and injuring four others.Meanwhile, a landslide in Gangoda village buried 20 people. Three people were killed in Sainthamaruthu, Ampara District, after their car was swept away by floodwaters.Colombo, Gampaha, and Puttalam, three of the island’s most populated western districts, experienced widespread urban flooding as rivers overtopped, forcing families to evacuate to schools, community centers, and temporary shelters. Tens of thousands of residents were displaced in Colombo District alone after floodwaters entered tightly packed neighborhoods along riverbanks and low-lying streets.Cyclone Ditwah also disrupted essential services across wide areas. Power failures were reported in multiple districts, while several water-supply stations were affected by floodwaters.Hospitals in flooded areas were forced to reroute emergency cases and operate with reduced capacity, while health authorities warned of increased risks of waterborne diseases in crowded temporary shelters.

Iran’s Water Crisis Deepens as Experts Say Extreme Drought Is Worst in At Least 40 Yearsby David SwindleIran’s water crisis has continued to deteriorate, with the country experiencing a severe drought which has prompted calls to evacuate the capital of Tehran, whose metropolitan area is home to approximately 15 million people.From Sept. 23 to Nov. 28, Iran averaged 3.9 millimeters of rain, a staggering drop of 88.3 percent compared to the longterm average of 33.5 millimeters, according to Iran’s meteorology authorities.“Nature is now imposing hard limits,” Amir AghaKouchak, professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of California, Irvine, told CNN. “For decades, policies have encouraged the expansion of irrigated agriculture in arid regions,” he explained, echoing others who have identified many years of economic, agricultural, and policy decisions which have drained the desert nation’s aquifers.AghaKouchak described the current drought as the worst for at least 40 years.Iran’s state-run ISNA news site reported that the country had not seen rain in November’s last week and that the four provinces experiencing the worst conditions were Bushehr, South Khorasan, Qom, and Yazd. ISNA also named Tehran Province as a region with low rain, citing a 97.4 percent drop. Factors named as impacting the drought included drying wetlands, decreases in humidity, fewer clouds, failure to update infrastructure, expansion of agriculture into dry regions, growth in the oil industry, building too many dams, and “intensified land subsidence.”Iran has reached a state of “water bankruptcy,” according to Kaveh Madani, who served as deputy head of Iran’s Department of Environment. He is currently director of the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment, and Health.Mohsen Mesgaran, an associate professor of plant sciences at the University of California, Davis, told CNN that “an estimated 30 percent of treated drinking water is lost through old, leaky distribution systems, and there’s very little water recycling.”Ali Bitollahi, head of the Earthquake Engineering and Risk Department at the Road, Housing, and Urban Development Research Center, labeled the drought “very serious” and called it the “driest autumn in the country.”Mohsen Ardakani, the director general of the Tehran Provincial Water and Sanitation Authority, said last month that the main reservoirs supplying the capital city were at 11 percent capacity, according to Iran’s semi-official Mehr News Agency.The Latyan Dam outside Tehran is reportedly around 9 percent full, while the Amir Kabir Dam is around 8 percent of its capacity.Mashhad, Iran’s second largest metropolitan area with 3 million people, had reached 3 percent of its water capacity, according to Hossein Esmailian, head of the city’s water and wastewater utility company.The Mehr News Agency reported that wheat production in the country dropped 30 percent due to the previous year’s drought.The government has explored using cloud seeding to provoke rain but has seen limited results.Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has stated that water rationing will begin this month if rain does not return. On Nov. 6, he said that “even if we do ration and it still does not rain, then we will have no water at all. They [citizens] have to evacuate Tehran.”About two weeks later, Pezeshkian said that the country “has no choice” but to relocate its capital, warning that severe ecological strain has made Tehran impossible to sustain.“The truth is, we have no choice left — relocating the capital is now a necessity,” he said during a televised national address, asserting that the deepening crisis has “rendered the city uninhabitable.”

A Rough Awakening Is Coming For Ukraine And The EUBatko Slavisha MilacicAfter the investigation initiated by the Ukrainian anti-corruption agency, the head of the presidential office, Andrij Jermak, resigned. This was announced personally by President Volodymyr Zelensky.Jermak resigned after the officers of the National Anti-Corruption Office of Ukraine began to search his home – Zelensky said during his address to the public, as reported by the Ukrainian media Strana. At the same time, the Ukrainian leader announced talks with American officials in the near future. They were previously led by Jermak, who had just been replaced, as one of the participants.”Negotiations will begin soon, and our representatives will be there: the Chief of the General Staff, representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Secretary of the Council for National Security and Defense, and our intelligence service,” said the president.But, this is not the only negative news for Ukraine. Other developments are even worse and far-reaching in their consequences.Namely, as Britain’s The Telegraph writes, citing their sources, American special envoys Steven Witkoff and Jared Kushner will tell Russian President Vladimir Putin at the upcoming meeting in Moscow that President Donald Trump is ready to recognize Russian control over Crimea and other conquered Ukrainian territories in order to reach a peace agreement. Ukraine, for its part, will not have to do that.”The territorial recognition plan, which violates American diplomatic traditions, will probably be implemented, despite the concerns of Ukraine’s European allies,” the article of the British media, which is also reported by the Ukrainian side, states.”Numerous sources” of the British media suggest that American proposals to recognize the territories as Russian remained part of the strategy, despite the agreements with Ukraine in Geneva.The announcement that the United States is ready to recognize Russian jurisdiction over occupied and annexed territories of Ukraine as part of a peace deal, if true, suggests Washington is willing to make concessions to Moscow on one of its key demands.Moreover, it overlaps with Putin’s statements, that it is not so important for him the Ukrainian recognition of the loss of its territories (he believes that this is unlikely in the near future), but international recognition.So while the discussion so far has been limited to recognition by the United States, it opens the way for many other countries to make similar decisions – at least those friendly to Russia. Enemy countries (like the EU) will treat the annexed regions in the same way that America treated the Baltic countries after World War II, which did not legally recognize their inclusion in the USSR, but de facto did not challenge it.The issue of sanctions therefore arises. If Washington officially recognizes Russian control over the occupied territories, it will essentially eliminate the basis for most of the anti-Russian sanctions imposed by the US after the annexation of Crimea.It is not certain that they will all be abolished immediately, but the legal recognition will allow American companies to operate in the occupied territories and trade with companies in Russia (if they wish). And if American companies can do it, so can other countries. Therefore, the Russian annexation of a part of Ukraine will be “indirectly” legalized in the global economy – ships will start docking in ports, companies will be able to sell their products, etc.Finally, if Ukraine tries to regain control of these territories by military means, then, from the point of view of the United States and other countries that recognize the annexation, it will be “aggression against Russia”.More….