WORLD BRIEFING: November 21, 2033
Israel - Hamas War
The leader of Hamas says the group is close to reaching a "truce agreement" with Israel, raising hopes of a pause in hostilities in Gaza that could see hostages freed. Israel has not commented. Earlier PM The leader of Hamas says the group is close to reaching a "truce agreement" with Israel, raising hopes of a pause in hostilities in Gaza that could see hostages freed. Israel has not commented. Earlier PM Benjamin Netanyahu said his country would not stop fighting until hostages were brought home. A Qatari mediator says talks are at the "closest point" to reaching an agreement since the conflict began. US President Joe Biden on Monday said he believed a deal was close - the White House spoke of temporary pauses in fighting to allow hostages safely out. The International Committee of the Red Cross, which helped facilitate previous deals, has been meeting Hamas leaders in Qatar - raising further hopes - BBC
Meanwhile, fighting continues to rage in Gaza, with the Israeli military saying it has surrounded the city of Jabalia in the north. Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry says 13,300 people, including more than 5,000 children, have been killed in Israel's campaignBenjamin Netanyahu said his country would not stop fighting until hostages were brought home - BBC
Context on the expected ceasefire. Also what I’ve been picking up from neighbouring Jordan in this BBC World Service Radio interview
Deadly strikes hit the Gaza home of a news photographer days after an Israeli media advocacy group questioned his coverage of Hamas' Oct. 7, prompting death threats against him on social media. Yasser Qudih, who survived the strikes on the night of Nov. 13, said four projectiles hit the rear of his house, killing eight family members. The attack was five days after the Nov. 8 report by HonestReporting questioning whether Qudih, a freelance photographer, and three other Gaza-based photographers had prior knowledge of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas - Reuters
Meanwhile, an Israeli strike killed two journalists working for a Lebanese TV channel and a third person near the border with Israel on Tuesday, Lebanese state media and the channel, Al Mayadeen, said. Al Mayadeen said the strike, near the town of Tir Harfa, about a mile from the Israeli frontier, had deliberately targeted the TV crew because the channel was known to be pro-Palestinian and pro-Iran's regional military alliance.
Ukraine War
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius is in Ukraine on a surprise visit during which he is to reaffirm continued military aid to Ukraine's war effort by Berlin -- the second-largest contributor of defense assistance to Kyiv after the United States.
Washington announced a package of weapons and equipment to support Ukraine as Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that the United States was in "for the long haul" in its support for Ukraine as it continues to battle Russian troops.
Russia may begin full mobilization after the 2024 Russian presidential election on March 17, National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksii Danilov warned in a speech. "After (Russian dictator Vladimir) Putin’s (next) enthronement, the regime will be anchored, (which) basically means giving it a free hand. That is why Ukraine and the global community have 3-4 months to prepare relevantly," Danilov said. Russia is moving toward a total war footing and is ready for a long war, according to Danilov. In addition, Russia appears to have the ability to adapt and be surprisingly resilient in the face of wide-ranging sanctions - Kyiv Independent
Elsewhere
Electronic warfare in the Middle East and Ukraine is affecting air travel far from the battlefields, unnerving pilots and exposing an unintended consequence of a tactic that experts say will become more common. Planes are losing satellite signals, flights have been diverted and pilots have received false location reports or inaccurate warnings that they were flying close to terrain, according to European Union safety regulators and an internal airline memo viewed by The New York Times. The Federal Aviation Administration has also warned pilots about GPS jamming in the Middle East - NYT
A U.S. Navy plane overshot a runway and went into a bay in Hawaii on Monday, and when the Honolulu Emergency Medical Services Department got to the scene, military officials told the emergency workers that all nine people aboard made it safely to shore with no injuries, spokesperson Shayne Enright said. Coast Guard spokesperson Petty Officer Ryan Fisher said the Coast Guard responded but that rescue operations were quickly called off. “It sounds like all parties involved were rescued," he said.
Canada becomes the latest country to mull cracking down on short-term housing rentals via platforms such as Airbnb. Housing Minister Sean Fraser said Monday the federal government is considering a series of measures to curb the number of Airbnb and other short-term rental units on offer to boost the supply of homes available to rent for a longer stretch - CBC
OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, is facing a potential wave of employee resignations following the surprise ouster of CEO Sam Altman. More than 500 employees signed a letter threatening to quit after they accused the OpenAI board of mishandling Altman's firing and "negotiating in bad faith" with the company's executive leadership. In the scathing letter, the employees warned that they would "imminently" follow Altman to Microsoft unless the board resigns and reinstates him and Greg Brockman, the former president of OpenAI who was also removed by the board on Friday - CNN