On Monday, November 3, 2025, how things are going:
Fighting
At least 15 people, including two children, were killed when Russia fired a wave of drones and missiles at Ukraine overnight on Sunday, according to the Kyiv Independent.
Nearly 60, 000 people in Zaporizhia’s southern front-line region were without power after the attacks, according to Ukrainian authorities.
According to local officials, Ukrainian forces launched a drone attack on Tuapse, one of Russia’s main Black Sea oil ports, igniting a fire there and causing damage to at least two foreign vessels.
Russia’s aviation watchdog Rosaviatsiya posted a message on Telegram urging the overnight attack on Sunday to temporarily close dozens of Russian airports, most of them in the country’s south and west, for safety reasons.
The Centre for Training Citizens for National Resistance in Kharkiv, northeast of Ukraine, [Sergey Kozlov/EPA] organizes knife-fighting training for civilians.
Weapons
Donald Trump, the president of the United States, stated that he is not thinking about a deal that would allow Ukraine to obtain long-range Tomahawk missiles to use against Russia.
Sanctions
According to two people with direct knowledge of the situation and several industry sources, Turkiye’s largest oil refineries are buying more non-Russian oil in response to recent Western sanctions against Russia. Along with China and India, Turkey is a major importer of Russian crude.
diplomacy and politics
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, claimed that the ongoing deadly Russian attacks on his nation demonstrated that Moscow was trying to “inflict harm” on civilians. Kyiv responded by strengthening its air defenses.
Instead of a meeting between Trump and Vladimir Putin, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, “painstaking work” on the details of a potential agreement is required to end the conflict in Ukraine.
Two months after a quake in the impoverished country’s east, a powerful earthquake of 6.3 magnitude struck northern Afghanistan, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).
At 12:59 am local time (20: 29 GMT), the USGS announced overnight that the earthquake struck in Kholm, near the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, at a revised depth of 28 kilometers (17 miles) at 12:59 am local time (GMT). The AFP news agency’s correspondents in Kabul, which is based there, felt it.
Recommended Stories
list of 3 itemsend of list
The initial estimate for the depth was 10 kilometers (6 miles).
Local authorities broadcast emergency phone numbers to call, but they did not immediately report any fatalities or injuries.
An AFP correspondent observed that many people in Mazar-i-Sharif fled into the street because they worried their homes might collapse.
Since coming to power in 2021, the Taliban government has been the subject of a number of significant earthquakes, including one in the western Herat region near Iran, which left over 1,500 people dead and more than 63, 000 homes destroyed.
The country’s east on August 31 experienced the deadliest tremor in recent Afghan history, a shallow 6.0-magnitude earthquake that struck this year, killing more than 2,200 people.
The country is frequently hit by earthquakes, particularly along the Hindu Kush mountain range, which is close to the intersection of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates.
After decades of fighting, Afghanistan has experienced numerous crises, including severe drought, severe drought, and the forced return of millions of Afghans from neighboring Pakistan and Iran.
Poor infrastructure and the poor construction of many modest Afghan homes impede rescue efforts in the wake of natural disasters like earthquakes.
Colombia’s most tense frontier is the Catatumbo region, which extends along the border with Venezuela in the Norte de Santander department.
This border region, which is rich in oil reserves and coca plants but impoverished and neglected, has historically seen violent fighting between armed groups battling for territorial control.
Recommended Stories
list of 4 itemsend of list
Colombia’s largest remaining guerrilla force, the National Liberation Army (ELN), is active across Venezuela’s porous border.
Some of their fighters drive us to meet their commanders after they arrange for an Al Jazeera reporting team there.
This region is still rife with tension. Despite peace negotiations reached in 2016, thousands of people were forced to flee in January as a result of fighting between the ELN and a rebellious faction from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
The conflict centers on gaining access to Venezuela’s border, which is a crucial means of removing drugs from the country.
When you first enter the area, you immediately see that this is where the ELN is absolute control. There is no proof that the nation’s military exists. The sideroads are decorated with ENL flags, and the signs express the group’s current perception of Colombia.
They claim that “total peace is a failure.”
Mobile phone signal is also lacking. The Al Jazeera team is informed that phone companies do not want to pay taxes on the armed groups that control the area.
When Gustavo Petro became president, he vowed to put a total peace plan into place with the armed groups in Colombia. However, the ELN’s negotiations, especially those with them, were difficult.
Government officials in Catatumbo have suspended the peace talks, but they now say they are prepared to resume them.
Colombia’s National Liberation Army (ELN) commander Ricardo [Screengrab/Al Jazeera]
In a small, mountainous home, Al Jazeera interacts with Commander Ricardo and Commander Silvana. They claim that the interview needs to go quickly because they are concerned about potential drone attacks and reconnaissance reconnaissance aircraft flying around the area.
Some of their rivals accompany the commanders. When asked how many people live nearby, they respond, “We are thousands, and not everyone is wearing their uniform.” Some are “urban guerrillas”
According to the government, there are about 3, 000 fighters in the ELN. However, it could be much higher.
The region’s commander Ricardo claims there may be a chance for peace.
He claims that the ELN has been battling for a political solution for 30 years, despite various challenges. We hoped that Petro would help us advance along the way. But that was a thing. In Colombia, there has never been peace. The graves’ peace is what we have.
Prior to the talks being suspended, the group and the government had been negotiating in Mexico. Our central command would, in my opinion, agree that the agreements we reached in Mexico could pave the way for a political solution to this conflict, Commander Ricardo tells Al Jazeera.
US threat of drugs
Armed groups are also on alert in this area due to the conflict between the Colombian state and itself. What was once a domestic Colombian conflict has gained an international dimension thanks to the US military campaign against alleged drug vessels in the Caribbean and the Pacific and the US’s aggressive attitude toward Venezuela’s neighbor.
These people are not referred to as guerrillas but as “narco-terrorists” by US President Donald Trump’s administration, and it is not a possibility that they will be attacked on Colombian soil.
More than 62 people have died as a result of the US operation, which started in early September, along with 14 boats and a semi-submersible.
Some of the commanders’ extradition requests are made by the US, and they are alleged to be wanted criminals.
The ELN views US strikes against alleged drug-carriers in the Caribbean as another example of US imperialism, as well as the military deployment there to put pressure on Venezuela’s president Nicolas Maduro.
One of those boats, according to the US government, belonged to the ELN. Why don’t they capture them and disclose what they did to the world? Asks Commander Ricardo. “But no, they bomb them,” they reply.
He also issues a warning about the possibility of the ELN collaborating with the US. We will have to see how we react if Trump attacks Venezuela, he says, but that’s not just for the better. Because I’m certain there will be many, many people who will use a weapon because it’s too much, “It’s] all of Latin America.” It must end that the United States has the power to rule over people without allowing them to exercise their right to self-determination.
The Cuban Revolution served as an inspiration for the ELN. However, it has been involved in extortion, drug trafficking, and kidnappings over the years.
The ELN is different from other armed organizations in the country, according to Commander Silvana, who was a teenager when she first joined the organization.
She claims that “our principles indicate that we are not involved in drug trafficking.” The international community has been informed of this. Taxes remain in the regions that we have controlled for over 60 years. Of course, we also tax coca if it exists.
[Screengrab/Al Jazeera Commander Silvana of the ELN]
Colombia has long been a key US ally in the fight against drug trafficking. Petro has since started to question US policy in the Caribbean, contending that Washington’s approach to security and immigration is more accurate than regional realities.
He has criticized the US military’s presence and naval operations close to Venezuela, warning that they could lead to tensions rather than fostering cooperation.
Trump has claimed that Petro, a former guerrilla, is a drug trafficker by himself.
Petro retorted incredulously, saying, “Colombia has never been rude to the United States.” It has, in fact, devoted a lot of its time to its culture. But you don’t know anything about Colombia.
Trump’s remarks were also criticized as offensive and a direct threat to Colombia’s sovereignty by the country’s foreign ministry, which vowed to demand international support for Petro and Colombia’s autonomy.
A local Colombian conflict could become a larger regional conflict as a result of the belligerent US policy toward Venezuela and Colombia, both led by leftist presidents.
Israel has continued to carry out deadly attacks across Gaza, killing at least 236 Palestinians and injuring more than 600 others, as per the Gaza-based Ministry of Health, which was facilitated by the US.
Three more people have died in Gaza, according to hospitals in Gaza, and three more bodies have been recovered from beneath collapsed buildings in the past 24 hours. The ministry reported on Sunday that another victim perished from wounds from previous attacks.
Recommended Stories
list of 3 itemsend of list
A Palestinian man was killed by an Israeli drone strike in the Shujayea neighborhood in northern Gaza, just to name a few victims. Without providing any evidence, the Israeli military claimed that he had approached its troops after crossing the “yellow line” marking the ceasefire boundary.
The army claimed in a statement that the man “posed an immediate threat to troops in the northern Gaza Strip,” which prompted an airstrike to “reduce the threat.”
The bodies of 500 Palestinians have been recovered from under the rubble of destroyed homes and buildings, according to Gaza’s health ministry, according to a report from the Gaza-based Health Ministry. This was a result of Israel’s two-year genocidal war and ongoing bombardment that left much of the region in ruins.
Separately, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office reported on X on Sunday evening that the Red Cross had received three bodies of Israeli prisoners who had passed away.
According to the ceasefire’s terms, Israel must now return the bodies of 45 Palestinian prisoners who have died, with 15 for each Israeli captive who has been taken back.
Accusations of disinformation in the US
After the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) falsely accused Hamas of looting an aid truck in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, without providing any supporting proof, tensions grew. The claim came after drone footage that allegedly showed “suspected Hamas elements” seizing humanitarian supplies was made public.
The government media office in Gaza refuted the claims, accusing Washington of disseminating disinformation to smear Palestinian authorities.
The media office claims that this accusation is completely false and was fabricated from the beginning and is part of a comprehensive media disinformation campaign aimed at discrediting the Palestinian police force.
Despite Israel’s ongoing interference, the statement continued that Gaza’s police “are performing their national and humanitarian duty by securing aid and protecting relief convoys.”
Despite continuing Israeli meddling in the internal affairs, the police system is making every effort to control things, according to the statement. This includes preventing engineering starvation by preventing the delivery of aid.
A health crisis worsens
Hospitals in Gaza are still overburdened despite months of fighting and blockade. The besieged enclave is home to more than 16, 500 patients who require specialized care, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Nearly 4, 000 Palestinian evacuees had been enrolled in Egypt’s medical system by September, according to a recent United Nations update. Qatar received 970 patients, Qatar received 1, 450, and Turkiye received 437.
Italy treated 201 Palestinian patients in Europe, which is the highest number of states in Europe, but 3,800 children, among them, are still awaiting urgent medical evacuation abroad.
The human toll of Israel’s genocide in Gaza was highlighted by a study that was published this week in the Lancet medical journal. Since the start of the conflict in October 2023, according to the report, Gaza has lost more than a staggering three million years of human life.
Data from 60, 199 recorded deaths between October 2023 and July 2025 were analyzed by researchers Sammy Zahran of Colorado State University and Ghassan Abu Sittah of the American University of Beirut. According to their calculations, 51 years of life lost are on average lost, with the majority of those being civilians.
Children under the age of 15 lost more than one million of those life-years. According to the authors, the authors excluded deaths brought on by starvation, a lack of medical care, and the collapse of infrastructure during the siege of Israel.
Against the winter
Despite Israel’s restrictions on building materials, Gaza’s displaced families are frantically rebuilding any form of shelter as winter approaches, according to Al Jazeera’s Ibrahim Al Khalili, a resident of Gaza City.
Khalid al-Dahdouh, a father of five, has turned to traditional methods to build a small mud shelter for his family in Gaza’s largest urban center, which was the target of Israeli carpeting bombings from August to October this year.
Al-Dahdouh told Al Jazeera, “We tried to rebuild because winter is approaching.” We didn’t have tents or anything else, so we only managed to lay a few rows of bricks. Since there is no cement, we constructed a primitive structure out of mud. Contrary to tents, it shields us from the cold, insects, and rain, as you can see.
“We’re just trying to get through the cold and hunger,” he said. Gaza is still under attack, al-Dahdouh said, whether or not there is a ceasefire.
His relative, Saif al-Bayek, attempted a similar endeavor in his own honor, but they ran out of useful materials before the project was finished.
According to al-Bayek, “the entire neighborhood is in ruin.” Since there weren’t enough stones to build a full room, we used traditional methods to construct the shelter out of mud and salvaged them. Because of this, the roof has a lot of gaps and the structure is uneven; therefore, water will pass through the gap if it rains heavily.
“Reconstruction efforts face significant difficulties. Because there are no other options, many families are forced to rely on primitive building techniques, according to Alessandro Mrakic, the UN Development Programme representative in Gaza.
Aid organizations warn that the situation could continue to worsen as the temperature drops, with hundreds of thousands of people still displaced.
While the Republican leader is in office, Donald Trump has stated that Xi Jinping, the president of China, has assured him that Beijing will not attempt to unify Taiwan with mainland China.
When he and Xi met in South Korea on Thursday for their first face-to-face meeting in six years, Trump claimed on Sunday that the contentious Taiwan issue “never even came up as a topic.” The meeting primarily focused on trade tensions between the US and China.
Recommended Stories
list of 3 itemsend of list
Trump declined when asked on CBS’ “60 Minutes” program whether he would direct US forces to take action if China launched a military assault on Taiwan.
Under both Republican and Democratic administrations, the US has continued to pursue a “strategic ambiguity” policy on Taiwan, attempting to avoid having any influence over whether the US would support the island in such a situation.
Trump, speaking in reference to Xi, said, “You’ll find out if it happens, and he understands the solution.”
Trump, however, said in an interview held on Friday at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, “I can’t give away my secrets. The opposing party is aware.
The US president claimed that Xi and those close to him “openly stated” that they “know the consequences” and that Xi and others close to him “openly said” that they “would never do anything while President Trump is president.”
Taiwan, a self-governing island democracy that Beijing claims to be a part of its own territory, has long piqued the attention of US officials.
The US-led invasion of Taiwan is governed by the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, which establishes US policy to ensure Taiwan has the resources to defend itself and prevent Beijing from changing its mind about its status unilaterally.
The Associated Press’s Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, did not immediately respond to a question from The Associated Press. Xi or Chinese officials have said anything about Taiwan. In a statement, he claimed that China “will never permit any person or force to break up Taiwan with China in any way.”
The Taiwan issue is at the center of China’s core interests, according to the statement. The Chinese people alone have the power to decide the Taiwan question, the statement continued.
Additionally, the White House declined to provide more information about when Xi or Chinese officials told Trump that military action against Taiwan was on hold for the duration of the Republican’s presidency.
Lamine Yamal, Ferran Torres, and Marcus Rashford scored for Barcelona in a 3-1 victory over Elche, lifting them from last weekend’s El Clasico defeat and moving them back to second place, five points clear of Real Madrid.
Elche had opportunities to turn things around for Barca on Sunday, scoring through Rafa Mir, who also struck twice on the woodwork.
Recommended Stories
list of 4 itemsend of list
In the midst of an injury crisis, Hansi Flick’s Barca have struggled to keep a clean sheet in six league games.
Following brief absences from action, the champions were able to add Robert Lewandowski and Dani Olmo, along with Pedri, Gavi, and Joan Garcia.
After recovering from a groin issue, Lamine Yamal, a teen star, performed better in last week’s defeat at Real Madrid, but he appeared more spritely against Elche.
The ninth-placed visitors impressed when Eder Sarabia, a former Barcelona assistant coach under Quique Setien, led them to the field.
Alejandro Balde fed Yamal in the area after nine minutes and Barca took the lead.
Inaki Pena, a teammate of his last season, was the winger who took a little self-sets before firing a clinical finish past the former Barca goalkeeper.
After Fermin Lopez broke into space down the left and delivered an inch-perfect cross, Torres doubled the hosts’ lead three minutes later.
A year after the deadly flooding that hit Spain’s east coast, the striker revealed a T-shirt honoring Valencia, his hometown.
As Barca wasted some valuable chances, Lopez and Rashford missed the mark with a penalty save from Pena.
Just before half-time, Mir scored a goal back. The forward was playing in his own half when Barcelona attempted to catch him offside. At the far post, Mir bent a shot past Barca goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny and Ronald Araujo.
Before the break, Torres might have scored again, but Pena made a superb save to prevent Torres’ strike.
As Elche battled well in the second half, Mir curled an effort to hit the top of the crossbar.
After Lopez sent him off with a cross, Rashford scored his second league goal of the campaign with a superb finish to seal Barca’s victory.
Szczesny, a veteran goalkeeper, saved Barca from losing their final match by pressing a Mir effort onto the post.
“Starting strong and passionate was very important. We could then proceed as we desired, Torres told DAZN.
