'HK47': dozens of pro-democracy activists jailed in Hong Kong's largest national security trial. — 19 November 2024 (LINK)

— Benny Tai, a legal academic and activist who pleaded guilty, was sentenced to 10 years in jail for his role as an organiser of the primaries. Tai's is the longest sentence handed out so far under the national security law (NSL), which was passed in mid-2020.

NATO holds large Arctic exercises in Russia's backyard. — 19 November 2024 (LINK)

Putin signs new Russian nuclear doctrine after Biden's arms decision for Ukraine: The new doctrine asserts that Russia may use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear states if supported by nuclear powers, escalating tensions around Ukraine. — 19 November 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 171 media reports (LINK)

Ukraine strikes arsenal amid reports U.S. ATACMS used in Russia for first time. — 19 November 2024 (LINK)

Wired: Anyone can buy data tracking US soldiers and spies to nuclear vaults and brothels in Germany. — 19 November 2024 (LINK)

Iran has increased its stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels, UN says. — 19 November 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 76 media reports (LINK)

Somaliland opposition leader wins presidential election. — 19 November 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 64 media reports (LINK)

UN Force in Lebanon says four Ghanaian peacekeepers wounded, Israel blames Hezbollah rockets. — 19 November 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 10 media reports (LINK)

Armed gunmen loot more than 100 aid trucks in Gaza on 16 November, according to the United Nations. — 19 November 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 84 media reports (LINK)

Residents in Haiti's capital fight alongside police in a battle to repel the latest gang attack: at least 28 suspected gang members were killed and hundreds of munitions were seized. — 19 November 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 33 media reports (LINK)

9 animals that have gone extinct during your lifetime (if you are over 50). — 19 November 2024 (LINK)

Trump nominates Dr. Oz to run medicare. — 19 November 2024 (LINK)

Trump picks Linda McMahon, former wrestling executive, to head Department of Education. — 19 November 2024 (LINK)

SpaceX's Starship completes sixth test flight with Trump in attendance: SpaceX faced technical challenges preventing the booster stage from being captured by the launch tower's 'chopstick' arms. Despite a failed booster landing, Starship's upper stage completed a partial orbit and splashed down in the Indian Ocean after about an hour. — 19 November 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 222 media reports (LINK)

Brazilian police arrest five in alleged plot to kill president Lula and stage coup. — 19 November 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 9 media reports (LINK)

Nestle to cut costs, boost marketing under new CEO. — 19 November 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 21 media reports (LINK)

Ahead of the final round of negotiations for a global plastics treaty scheduled to run from 25 Nov.to 1 Dec. in Busan, Korea, a new report puts it bluntly: "Despite the manifest benefits of plastics, plastics pollution now threatens the environment, food security, and human health." — 19 November 2024 (LINK)

— A study published in March found that half of patients with asymptomatic cardiovascular disease had microplastics in their carotid artery plaque and were at higher risk of a heart attack, stroke and death in the next three years than those who did not. A similar correlation has been found between the presence of microplastics in feces and inflammatory bowel disease. In the lab, microplastics can be deadly to human cells.

— "It's important to note here, correlation does not prove causality."

Italy recovers Etruscan artifacts worth $8.5 million bound for black market. — 19 November 2024 (LINK)

Beirut schools closed after deadly airstrikes hit central Beirut near key government buildings and embassies. — 18 November 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 113 media reports (LINK)

Incoming majority leader says U.S. Senate will sanction ICC unless case against Israelis dropped. — 18 November 2024 (LINK)

Trump vows to use US military for mass deportations. — 18 November 2024 (LINK)

— "The first week of the conference did not achieve what was necessary to now be optimistic about the second week," said Jan Kowalzig, an expert on climate change and policy at Oxfam, an international NGO focusing on poverty and injustice. "Both key themes of COP29 — greater ambition on climate protection and solid support for low-income countries — are marked by opposing positions and blockages."

"Entire cities, villages and towns have been reduced to rubble. Bakhmut, Avdiivka, Vovchansk and Vuhledar have been virtually wiped off the map." — UN Secretary-General's remarks to the Security Council [as delivered by USG Rosemary DiCarlo on behalf of the Secretary-General] on 1,000 days since Russian invasion of Ukraine as of 19 November. — 18 November 2024 (LINK)

— "Since February 2022, at least 12,164 civilians have been killed, including over 600 children. At least 26,871 others have been injured. The past several months have seen a significant increase in civilian casualties. October and November saw some of the most intense and large-scale missile and drone attacks of the war.

— "At least 580 medical facilities have been damaged or destroyed, with many first responders and medical personnel killed and injured. At least 1,358 educational facilities have been damaged or destroyed."

UK and EU expand sanctions on Iran for supplying weapons to Russia. — 18 November 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 40 media reports (LINK)

UNEP and IGF strengthen collaboration on environmental sustainability of minerals and metals. — 18 November 2024 (LINK)

— Under the agreement they will "support the implementation of UNEA resolution 6/5 through the development of joint capacity-building opportunities, such as online and in-person training and workshops on enhancing environmental sustainability of minerals and metals management, including on the topics of circularity as well as net-zero, nature-positive, and pollution-free mine closure and rehabilitation".

— Most recently, UNEP and IGF provided technical expertise and best practices on mine closure and rehabilitation at a two-day workshop for policy-makers and other stakeholders from Africa on environmental and social aspects of critical energy transition minerals and the African mining vision.

Sri Lanka's Marxist-leaning president appoints Cabinet after election win: reappointed educationist Harini Amarasuriya as the country's prime minister. — 18 November 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 42 media reports (LINK)

Impose minimum tax on world's billionaires, Spanish minister urges G20. — 18 November 2024 (LINK)

— Brazil, which backs proposals to raise an estimated $250bn a year from the world's billionaires by ensuring they pay taxes worth at least 2% on their assets, is expected to push for formal negotiations on global wealth taxes when it hosts next year's CoP climate summit. France, Germany and South Africa have expressed support.

Speaker Johnson open to supporting recess appointment for Trump nominees without Senate confirmation if needed. — 18 November 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 15 media reports (LINK)

Heather Cox Richardson: As final vote tallies are coming in, it turns out that Trump did not win 50% of the vote, and CNN statistician Harry Enten notes that his margin comes in at 44th out of the 51 elections that have been held since 1824. He also had very short coattails — four Democrats won in states Trump carried — and the Republicans have the smallest House majority since there have been 50 states, despite the help their numbers have had from the extreme gerrymandering in states like North Carolina. — 18 November 2024 (LINK)

What is impoundment? How Trump thinks he can control spending without Congress. — 18 November 2024 (LINK)

— If "recess appointments" are the unlikely and unprecedented way Trump wants to work around the Senate to get his most controversial nominees in charge of Cabinet agencies, "impoundment" is the unlikely way he envisions shrinking the federal government with or without congressional approval. Trump took the time to record a video about impoundment during the Republican primary season, and he promised seizing control over spending from Congress would be a top priority if he was elected. Impoundment occurs when Congress appropriates money that the president then declines to spend. Richard Nixon abused the privilege, according to Congress at the time.

Trump taps Brendan Carr, an Elon Musk-backed critic of big tech, for chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. — 18 November 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 166 media reports (LINK)

Tesla soars over 5% in overnight trading as Trump Administration reportedly seeks to ease FSD norms. — 18 November 2024 (LINK)

Russia is locking up butter as inflation crisis reaches new heights. — 18 November 2024 (LINK)

Delhi shuts schools, bans construction as pollution levels hit new high. — 18 November 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 114 media reports (LINK)

Ecuador declares 60-day national emergency as wildfires, drought intensify. — 18 November 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 19 media reports (LINK)

Undersea cable disruptions linking Finland and Germany in Baltic Sea raise security concerns. — 18 November 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 188 media reports (LINK)

Russia vetoes UN resolution calling for immediate cease-fire in the war between Sudan's rival forces. — 18 November 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 43 media reports (LINK)

North Korean leader calls for expanding his nuclear forces in the face of alleged US threats. — 18 November 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 98 media reports (LINK)

"Segregation academies" across the U.S. South are getting millions in taxpayer dollars. — 18 November 2024 (LINK)

— "In North Carolina alone, we identified 39 of these likely 'segregation academies' that are still operating and that have received voucher money. Of these, 20 schools reported student bodies that were at least 85% white in a 2021-22 federal survey of private schools, the most recent data available."

"Trump's pick for energy secretary loves fracking so much, he drank its liquid." — 18 November 2024 (LINK)

— The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), however, has said that the chemicals used in fracking formulas are considered hazardous to human health. The process of fracking also contaminates groundwater and pollutes the air, causing health hazards.

Portugal wins World Cheese Awards as UK misses out due to post-Brexit customs. Swiss cheeses 2nd and 3rd. — 18 November 2024 (LINK)

— It's a soft and buttery sheep's milk cheese from Portugal, made by Quinto do Pomar in the Serra da Gardunha in the centre of the country that has been named the best in the world. The cheese topped the charts (86 points) at this year's World Cheese Awards, which was held in Viseu, northern Portugal, beating two Swiss cheeses: Tea Fondada (84 points) and Alpenhorn Mifroma (84) — coming in second and third place, as well as Spanish and American cheeses: La Cava Barus García-Baquero and Bayley Hazen Blue, which rounded off the Top 5). Awards 2025 in Berne 13-15 November 2025, for first time in Switzerland (link in German)