Early Edition: November 11, 2025

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A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the last 24 hours. Here’s today’s news:

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR – CEASEFIRE  

The next phase of Trump’s Gaza ceasefire plan has effectively stalled and it looks as though reconstruction may be limited to the Israel-controlled area of Gaza, six European officials told Reuters. 18 sources said that without a major push from the United States to break the impasse between Israel and Hamas, the yellow line looks set to become a de facto border indefinitely dividing Gaza. Alexander Cornwell reports.

“We are closely monitoring developments and declare that if the enemy resumes its aggression against Gaza, we will return to our military operations… and we will reinstate the ban on Israeli navigation in the Red and Arabian seas,” a letter from Maj Gen Yusuf Hassan al-Madani, the Houthi rebels chief of staff to Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades says. The letter is undated and was published online by Hamas. The Houthis have not offered any formal acknowledgment that their campaign in the region has halted. Jon Gambrell reports for AP News.

RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR

Russia and Ukraine yesterday issued conflicting accounts of fighting around Myrnohrad, a town east of Pokrovsk. “Ukrainian units are confidently holding their positions and destroying the occupiers on the approaches to [Myrnohrad],” the Ukrainian military said on social media, adding “logistics to the town are complicated, but are being carried out.” Russia’s Defense Ministry said that its forces were pressing an advance on the town, reporting gains in two of the town’s districts. Yuliia Dysa reports for Reuters.

RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR – INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE

The German federal police issued arrest warrants for seven people, including Ukrainian soldiers and deep-sea divers, in connection with the bombing of the Nord Stream gas pipelines in September 2022. Poland already refused to extradite one of the suspects to stand trial in Germany. Serhii K., the alleged commander of the sabotage unit, has been arrested in Italy, and Italian judges are expected to decide whether to extradite him to Germany by December. Any legal hearing is likely to further strain relations between Ukraine and Germany, particularly as Germany’s far-right AfD party has seized on public anger with how the bombings cemented high energy prices and is campaigning to cut funding to Kyiv. Bojan Pancevski reports for the Wall Street Journal.

U.S. CARIBBEAN AND PACIFIC OPERATIONS

The U.S. military killed six people on Sunday in two more strikes on alleged drug vessels in the eastern Pacific Ocean, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced yesterday. Eric Schmitt reports for the New York Times.

OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS

Belgium has enlisted the help of French, British and German anti-drone teams to seize or track down drones that have made incursions around its airports, military bases, and a nuclear base. A Belgian official said, “We’re not saying it’s Russia. We’re saying it looks like Russia. It’s impossible to connect any incident with an actor. We have nothing.” Russia has denied any involvement with the drones, saying it has “neither motive nor interest in such activities.” Lili Bayer and Philip Blenkinsop report for Reuters.

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine said yesterday that it is investigating a $100 million kickback scheme in Ukraine’s energy sector, centred on the state nuclear power company Energoatom. According to investigators, Energoatom’s counterparties were forced to pay bribes of 10%-15% to avoid having payments for services or goods blocked, or losing their supplier status. Max Hunder reports for Reuters.

Trump has threatened to sue the BBC for no less than $1 billion dollars unless it retracts its Panorama documentary by Friday, according to a letter seen by Reuters sent by Trump’s lawyers on Sunday. The letter also demanded that the BBC issue an apology and compensate Trump for “overwhelming reputational and financial harm.” Paul Sandle, Sam Tabahriti, and Jack Queen report.

U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS

British commentator Sami Hamdi is set to be released from U.S. immigration detention following two weeks in custody, his family said yesterday. Hamdi was detained by ICE on October 26 and had his visa revoked. Muvija M and Christian Martinez report for Reuters.

The Justice Department on Friday filed a motion saying that officials have received assurance from Liberia that Kilmar Abrego Garcia would not face persecution or torture there, adding that everything is now in place to deport Abrego Garcia to Liberia and asking a federal judge to dissolve an order blocking his deportation. Abrego Garcia’s attorneys argued in a separate filing on Friday that Abrego Garcia has already designated Costa Rica as a country where he is willing to be deported, adding that the fact that officials continue to pursue deportation to other countries is evidence that the process is retaliatory and violates due process protections. AP News reports.

U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS

“We want to see Syria become a country that’s very successful, and I think this leader can do it,” Trump said yesterday following his meeting with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the White House. “People say he’s had a rough past? We’ve all had rough pasts.” Trump yesterday issued a 180-day extension of the suspension of the 2019 Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act and confirmed that Syria will be able to re-open its embassy in Washington. Syria agreed to join the international coalition to defeat Islamic State, according to a senior Trump administration official. Christina Goldbaum and Zolan Kanno-Youngs report for the New York Times.

Following Trump’s meeting with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung two weeks ago, a factsheet outlining the security and trade agreements has yet to be released.“Since the matter of building a nuclear-powered submarine has been raised, each of the U.S. departments seems to need some time to adjust their opinions,” the South Korean defence minister said on Sunday. Analysts say there are questions over the U.S. willingness to transfer the sensitive technology. Heejin Kim and Jihoon Lee report for Reuters.

China is designing a “validated end-user”(VEU) system which would exclude companies with ties to the U.S. military from receiving rare earth materials, while fast-tracking export approvals for other firms, according to sources. Beijing’s plan may still change and its licensing system will not be certain until it is implemented, the sources added. Jon Emont and Raffaele Huang report for the Wall Street Journal.

U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS 

The Senate voted 60-40 last night officially passing a bipartisan funding package which further paves the way for ending the government shutdown. Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson (R-LA) said that the House could vote on the proposed funding package as soon as Wednesday. Jordain Carney reports for POLITICO.

A provision in the funding package expected to be approved as part of a deal to end the government shutdown would allow senators whose phone records were sought by former special counsel Jack Smith to sue for millions in damages. The provision, which is retroactive to 2022, would make it a violation of the law not to notify a senator if their phone records or other metadata was taken from a service provider like a phone company. Devlin Barrett reports for the New York Times.

Jonathan Braun, a convicted drug trafficker whose sentence Trump commuted in January 2021, was sentenced to 27 months in prison yesterday for violating the terms of his supervised release, including allegations of physical and sexual assault. Santul Nerkar, Michael S. Schmidt, and Olivia Bensimon report for the New York Times.

Trump yesterday asked the Supreme Court to overturn a $5 million civil judgment that he had sexually abused and defamed the writer E. Jean Carroll. Last year, an appeals court panel upheld the jury’s verdict and $5 million judgment against Trump. In June, the appeals court rejected a request by Trump that the full court review the case. Abbie VanSickle reports for the New York Times.

DOMESTIC DEPLOYMENT OF U.S. MILITARY 

“I really went to a dark place when they sent troops to [Los Angeles], and then eventually to [Washington, D.C.], and now Chicago. This is just not what any of us signed up for, and it’s so out of scope for normal operations,” an Ohio national guard member told NPR. The guard member said that Ohio National Guard troops have been using an encrypted group chat to express their concerns, anxieties, and raise questions about the Trump administration’s deployment decisions. Kat Lonsdorf reports.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS

Trump yesterday demanded that air traffic controllers return to work as absences have soared while controllers work without pay as the government shutdown continues. Trump threatened to curtail the pay of any controller who did not return to work, while offering a bonus of $10,000 for those who have not taken time off during the shutdown. When asked how he would fund the bonuses, Trump told reporters “I don’t know – I’ll get it from some place.” David Shepardson reports for Reuters.

Five Eyes intelligence officials are concerned by FBI Director Kash Patel’s inexperience, his dismissal of top FBI officials, and his focus on using the agency to investigate Trump’s perceived political enemies as opposed to combating terrorism or espionage, according to several current and former U.S. officials. Ken McCallum, the head of Britain’s domestic security service MI5, asked Patel earlier this year to protect the job of an FBI agent based in London who dealt with high-tech surveillance tools. Patel agreed to find funding for the posting but the London job had already been cut; the agent was moved to a different job back in the United States. Adam Goldman reports for the New York Times.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION

A coalition of green energy groups and the city of St. Paul yesterday filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration challenging the partisan funding cuts to energy programs in Democratic-led states during the government shutdown. The lawsuit names Director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget Russell Vought as the main defendant. Zach Montague reports for the New York Times.

The Justice Department yesterday asked the Supreme Court to block a federal court order requiring the Trump administration to fully fund SNAP payments during the government shutdown. In a filing, the DOJ said that the lower court’s instructions were “massively inappropriate”, adding that conflicting court orders had sowed “upheaval.” It remains unclear whether the Supreme Court will need to rule on the government’s request to block the order as the government shutdown may end this week. Tony Romm and Abbie VanSickle report for the New York Times.