Category World News

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Flights in the United States are set to return to normal after the country’s aviation authority announced an end to restrictions introduced during the government shutdown.

Airlines will be able to return to their normal schedules from 6am Eastern Time (11:00 GMT) on Monday after the lifting of an emergency order reducing the number of flights, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said on Sunday.

The FAA ordered reductions in flights at 40 major airports during the shutdown to ensure safety amid reports reports of air traffic controllers exhibiting fatigue and refusing to turn up for work.

US President Donald Trump signed a bill on Wednesday to resume government funding and end the shutdown, bringing to an end a six-week standoff between Republicans and Democrats.

The FAA said it had decided to lift the order following a review “safety trends” and a steady decline in staffing-trigger events, which refer to instances where the number of available air traffic controllers falls below safe levels.

Portugal booked their ticket to the 2026 World Cup with a 9-1 victory over Armenia on Sunday, while an Erling Haaland brace rubber-stamped Norway’s place in the global showpiece as they romped to a 4-1 win in Italy.

After being held by Hungary and then stunned by the Republic of Ireland last time out, Portugal sealed top spot in Group F at the third time of asking with a resounding win over bottom-side Armenia.

In the absence of the suspended Cristiano Ronaldo, star midfielders Bruno Fernandes and Joao Neves both scored hat-tricks as the Portuguese ran riot in Porto.

Renato Veiga, Goncalo Ramos and Francisco Conceicao were also on the scoresheet.

“The most important thing was qualifying for the World Cup,” Paris Saint-Germain linchpin Neves told RTP.

“For me, as I always say, the team always comes before the individual. I’m very happy to have scored my first goal for the national team, and my second and third as well.”

Portugal will compete in a seventh consecutive edition of the World Cup, a tournament which the Euro 2016 champions have yet to win.

“We’re at the World Cup! Let’s go, Portugal!” Ronaldo posted on social media.

The striker could miss the start of the tournament depending on whether FIFA extend his suspension beyond the mandatory one-match ban he served against Armenia.

Ireland sewed up the playoff place in the group thanks to Troy Parrott’s 96th-minute hat-trick goal, handing them a 3-2 win over third-placed Hungary.

Daniel Lukacs gave the hosts the lead in Hungary after four minutes, before Parrott levelled from 12 yards shortly afterwards.

Barnabas Varga’s 37th-minute goal looked to have been enough for Hungary to seal second spot until 23-year-old Parrott notched his fourth and fifth international goals this week.

Parrott was the hero with his brace in Thursday’s 2-0 defeat of Portugal, and he struck to equalise again for Ireland with 10 minutes remaining in the Hungarian capital.

The AZ Alkmaar forward then sparked wild Irish celebrations as he prodded home Liam Scales’s knockdown deep into injury time to send Heimir Hallgrimsson’s side into March’s playoffs.

‘Absolutely insane’

Italy needed a miracle in Milan to pip Norway to first place in Group I due to the visitors’ gargantuan goal difference advantage.

Pio Esposito scored early at the San Siro to give the home side the faintest of hopes, but they were unable to again break down stubborn Norwegian defending as Stale Solbakken’s side held firm.

Antonio Nusa levelled just after the hour before Haaland, inevitably, netted twice in 60 seconds to turn the tie on its head. Jorgen Strand Larsen then put gloss on the result in injury time as Norway romped to an eighth win from eight outings.

It will be Norway’s first appearance at the World Cup in 28 years.

“I’m happy, but more relieved. There’s a lot of pressure and stuff, and I feel it. But it’s fun,” Haaland, who netted 16 goals across the campaign, told TV 2.

“It’s indescribable. Absolutely insane. The way we did it is absolutely incredible. It’s huge,” Martin Odegaard said.

Israel beat Moldova 4-1 but finished six points adrift of second-placed Italy, who go into the playoffs.

France booked their place in next year’s tournament in North America with a win over Ukraine earlier in the week, and a much-changed side concluded their campaign with a 3-1 win in Azerbaijan.

Ukraine saw off Iceland 2-0 thanks to two strikes inside the final 10 minutes from Oleksandr Zubkov and Oleksii Hutsuliak to claim second place in Group D.

Thomas Tuchel’s England completed a perfect group-stage performance as they won 2-0 against Albania to finish their campaign with a 100 percent record, featuring 22 goals scored and zero conceded – a European record for a team playing at least six qualifying matches.

“I think it’s as good [a squad] as we’ve ever had,” Harry Kane, who scored both England goals, told ITV.

“I think when you look at the starting 11, you look at the players coming off the bench, we’re going to go into the tournament as one of the favourites.”

With Albania already assured of second place, Serbia beat Latvia 2-1 in a dead-rubber in Group K’s other match.

Here is how things stand on Monday, November 17:

Fighting

• Russia said its forces had moved forward sharply in Ukraine’s southeastern Zaporizhia region, taking the settlements of Rivnopillya and Mala Tokmachka as part of a major push aimed at taking control of the entire region. Currently, Russia says it controls 75 percent of the area.
• Ukrainian forces have struck the Novokuibyshevsk oil refinery in Russia’s Samara region, Kyiv’s General Staff said. It said it had recorded explosions and a fire at the site of the strike, but was still assessing the extent of damage.
• Ukrainian officials said on Sunday morning that Russian attacks on the country had killed at least four civilians and wounded 17 others over the last 24 hours.
• The Russian TASS news agency reported that Ukrainian attacks on Russia wounded two civilians in the Belgorod region.
• TASS added that Russia’s air defences destroyed more than 50 Ukrainian drones on Sunday evening. Earlier on Sunday, it said Russian air defences intercepted two Neptune guided missiles, four HIMARS rockets and 197 drones.

Energy

Environment

• The Greenpeace environmental campaigning group has revealed that France was sending reprocessed uranium to Russia for treatment so it can be reused, despite the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine. Greenpeace said that while it was legal, the trade was “immoral” as many nations seek to step up sanctions on the Russian government over its invasion of Ukraine, launched in 2022.

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A referendum in Ecuador on the return of foreign military bases to the Latin American appears to be failing, with a partial vote count of more than a third of ballots showing 60 percent rejection of the proposal.

A separate proposal to convene an assembly to rewrite the constitution had 61 percent rejection with 36 percent of votes counted.

Ecuador banned foreign military bases on its soil in 2008.

A “Yes” vote would have likely see the United States military return to the Manta airbase on the Pacific coast – once a hub for Washington’s anti-drug operations

Losses would be a blow to President Daniel Noboa, who had backed both measures, saying foreign cooperation, including shared or foreign bases within the country, is central to fighting organised crime in the country.

He has also said that the current constitution, drafted under former leftist President Rafael Correa, must be revised to reflect the country’s new reality.

At least 32 people have been killed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), according to officials, after a bridge at a copper and cobalt mine collapsed due to overcrowding.

The incident occurred at the Kalando mine in southeastern Lualaba province on Saturday, the province’s interior minister, Roy Kaumbe Mayonde, said on Sunday.

“Despite a formal ban on access to the site because of the heavy rain and the risk of a landslide, wildcat miners forced their way into the quarry,” said Mayonde.

The miners rushing across the makeshift bridge, built to get across a flooded trench, made it collapse, he added.

A report by the DRC’s Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining Support and Guidance Service, or SAEMAPE, said the gunfire from soldiers at the site had sparked panic among the miners.

The miners then rushed to the bridge, resulting in the fall that left them “piled on top of each other, causing the deaths and injuries”, it said.

While Mayonde put the death toll at least 32, the report said at least 40 people had lost their lives.

The report said the mine had been at the heart of a longstanding dispute between the wildcat miners, a cooperative that was meant to organise digging there, and the site’s legal operators, who were said to have Chinese involvement.

Arthur Kabulo, the provincial coordinator for the National Human Rights Commission, told the AFP news agency that more than 10,000 wildcat miners operated at Kalando.

Provincial authorities suspended operations at the site on Sunday.

The Initiative for the Protection of Human Rights, meanwhile, called for an independent investigation into the military’s role in the deaths, citing reports of clashes between miners and soldiers.

There was no immediate comment from the military.

The DRC is the world’s largest producer of cobalt, a mineral used to make lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and other products, with Chinese companies controlling 80 percent of the production in the central African country.

Accusations of child labour, unsafe conditions, and corruption have long plagued the country’s cobalt mining industry.