Israel is tightening restrictions on Palestinian schools in occupied East Jerusalem through limits on teachers’ entry permits and policies that encourage schools to adopt the Israeli curriculum. Teachers and a human rights group say these measures disrupt education and threaten the autonomy and cultural identity of Palestinian schools.
Key Facts
Jamal Shalabi, a chemistry teacher who commutes from el-Bireh in the occupied West Bank, was told his entry permit would be revoked when it expires at the end of the 2026–27 school year.
School administrators said 180 Palestinian teachers face permit revocations.
Permit delays in September and January led to school strikes in East Jerusalem.
Teachers’ permits restrict when they can enter Jerusalem and limit them to being at their workplaces, according to Shalabi.
Shalabi said the restrictions prevent teachers from visiting Al-Aqsa Mosque or accompanying students on field trips.
An Israeli government plan conditions funding for new schools on adopting the Israeli curriculum and includes teacher training within Israel’s education system.
The human rights organization Ir Amim says the policies could weaken Palestinian education’s autonomy and cultural identity.
Ir Amim says a law barring teachers with degrees from Palestinian institutions could worsen the existing teacher shortage.
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Indonesian police named a fourth suspect in an alleged attempt to wiretap President Prabowo Subianto. Investigators say the suspect approved the interception and deletion of records; he has not been detained because of a health condition. The case has heightened tensions around Prabowo’s relationship with former president Joko Widodo, while police continue their investigation.
Key Facts
Police identified the fourth suspect by the initials SU; local media named him as Slamet Uliandi.
Investigators said SU led the investigation agency’s information and technology unit from 2021 to 2026 and approved the wiretapping.
Police said SU was not detained because of a health condition.
Three senior police officials were arrested earlier in the week, including former national police chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo.
Police said they had questioned 13 police officers and five criminal and information technology experts.
The national police chief formed a special team to investigate the case.
Lawmakers are considering an inquiry into Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka’s eligibility.
Thousands of troops were deployed after the wiretapping revelations, but Jakarta remained calm on Thursday and Friday.
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Early returns in South Africa’s municipal elections show the African National Congress (ANC) with 32% of the vote after 71% of ballots were counted. If the result holds, it would mark a sharp decline from the ANC’s 2021 municipal result and leave control of several major cities dependent on coalition talks.
Key Facts
The ANC had 32% of the vote, compared with 25% for its nearest rival, the Democratic Alliance, in results from 71% of votes counted.
The ANC’s early vote share was about 14 percentage points below its 2021 municipal election result.
The final results were expected later on Friday, November 6, 2026.
The Democratic Alliance was on course to win an outright majority in Cape Town.
Early projections suggested coalition negotiations would be needed to govern Johannesburg and Tshwane.
The outcome remained unclear in eThekwini, centred on Durban, where former President Jacob Zuma’s party was seeking a majority.
The ANC has governed South Africa since it led the country out of apartheid in 1994 and formed a coalition government nationally after the 2024 election.
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Israeli President Isaac Herzog said he will choose a candidate to form the next government on Sunday after lawmakers recommended opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Neither candidate has a clear path to a majority in the 120-seat Knesset, and the selection follows an election that left parliament divided.
Key Facts
Sixty-seven lawmakers recommended Eisenkot, while 46 recommended Netanyahu.
Netanyahu’s Likud won 27 seats, and his broader coalition won 53.
Eisenkot’s alliance of four Jewish-led parties won 48 seats.
Two parties representing Israel’s Palestinian minority won 19 seats and recommended Eisenkot, though he has ruled out forming a government with them.
United Torah Judaism, a longtime Netanyahu ally, declined to recommend a candidate, citing a dispute over military-service exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men.
Herzog said he would consult some party leaders before announcing his choice on Sunday.
The candidate Herzog selects will have 28 days to form a government, with a possible 14-day extension; Netanyahu will remain caretaker prime minister until a new government forms or another election is held.
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Macau sentenced former lawmaker and pro-democracy campaigner Au Kam San to 12 years and six months in prison in the city’s first national security case. A court convicted him of four of seven charges after a closed-door trial; Au’s wife called the case groundless and asked authorities to allow family visits and letters.
Key Facts
Au Kam San is 69 and served as a Macau lawmaker for 20 years after his election in 2001.
Authorities arrested Au in July 2025 and charged him with seven offences related to subversion, contact with foreign organisations, and breach of confidentiality.
A judge ordered a closed-door trial, which ended in September after three days.
Macau’s national security law took effect in 2009 and was revised in 2023 and 2026.
Prosecutors accused Au of working with external hostile organisations and sharing information they described as subversive.
Au co-organised annual vigils commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.
His wife, Virginia Cheang, said she hoped the family would be allowed to write to and visit him in prison.
Hong Kong sentenced pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong to 10 years in prison the day before Au’s sentence.
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Hoax bomb threats disrupted at least 25 commercial flights across Europe, while cyberattacks targeted supermarket refrigeration systems and blood-storage facilities in several countries. Investigators had not identified those behind the incidents or found evidence linking the flight threats to a hostile state or terrorist group; the article discusses these events amid concern about sabotage and cyber operations that fall short of conventional warfare.
Key Facts
At least 25 commercial flights across Europe faced hoax bomb threats, and some made emergency landings.
Similar malicious alerts on Tuesday led to seven planes being searched or diverted.
Investigators had not identified the people behind the threats and had not established that a hostile state or terror group organized them.
Cyberattacks targeted supermarket refrigeration systems in Belgium, Sweden and the UK, as well as cold-storage facilities belonging to France’s national blood service.
The article says European states have seen more sabotage since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, with some incidents believed to trace back to Russia.
The article describes cyberattacks and proxy actions below the threshold of conventional military conflict as part of a hybrid or “shadow” war.
Russell Brand was found guilty of raping one woman and sexually assaulting three others, according to the briefing.
Cancer diagnoses in England reached a record high of more than 1,000 people per day, NHS figures showed.
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A family of six beavers has been released at the Dundreggan estate in Glenmoriston, in the Loch Ness catchment. The Ness Beaver Project plans to release at least 15 family groups around Loch Ness over three years, aiming to help beaver populations grow and create wetlands and other habitats.
Key Facts
The family includes a mother, two juveniles about two years old, and three young born earlier this year.
The animals were relocated from elsewhere in Scotland, where they had affected prime agricultural land and mitigation had not worked or was not possible.
NatureScot approved the release and licensed Trees for Life and the Beaver Trust to carry it out.
The last widely cited historical record of beavers around Loch Ness dates to 1526–1527.
Scotland began reintroducing beavers in 2009, after the species had been hunted to extinction there about 400 years ago.
The River Ness catchment was identified by NatureScot in 2022 as a suitable area for beavers.
More than 73% of respondents to the applicants’ consultation supported the project.
Beavers can build dams and dig channels that create pools and wetlands; on smaller streams, dams can slow water flow and trap sediment.
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A BBC review of more than 110 university websites in England found that 12 used only below-average salaries in worked examples of student loan repayments. A parliamentary committee chair said some information could mislead students, and the Department for Education said it would review its guidance.
Key Facts
England’s Plan 5 student loans require graduates to repay 9% of earnings above £25,000 for up to 40 years or until the loan is paid off.
The UK average salary cited in the report was £39,039.
The BBC found inaccurate information on some university websites about repayment starting salaries and repayment periods.
Most university websites reviewed did not provide worked repayment examples, and many referred students to government or student finance information.
The Department for Education website did not provide real-world repayment examples for Plan 5 loans.
Someone earning £30,000 would repay £37.50 a month, while someone earning £100,000 would repay £562.50 a month.
Northumbria University removed a comparison describing repayments as less than the cost of a daily coffee after the BBC contacted it.
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Iranian lawmaker Amir Hayat Moqaddam said ships from India, China, Qatar and Iraq are exempt from Iran’s Strait of Hormuz restrictions. He said Tehran expects medicine from India, political support from China and transit fees from some ships; analysts say the arrangement could also help Iran earn revenue and challenge the U.S. blockade.
Key Facts
Moqaddam told ISNA that ships from the four countries can pass freely and are not intercepted by the United States.
Iran effectively closed the strait early in the U.S.-Israel war on Iran, which the article says began on February 28.
The United States reimposed a naval blockade on Iran’s southern ports in July.
Moqaddam said Iran would receive medicine from India and political backing from China.
He said Iran would charge Indian and Chinese ships transit fees, while Qatari ships would pass without a toll; he did not specify whether Iraq would pay.
Analysts cited in the article said Iran may collect transit fees or a share of cargo value, but the article does not confirm how the arrangement operates.
Kpler analyst Muyu Xu said about 42 percent of Gulf crude that passed through Hormuz in October went to China and 13 percent to India.
Xu said Qatar shipped 1.8 million tonnes of LNG through the strait in October, while Iraq’s crude transits rose to 2.65 million barrels a day.
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East Sussex residents who rely on heating oil say rising prices are making it hard to heat their homes. Sheila Williams has taken a winter waitress job to help pay an oil bill she says has doubled since early 2026.
Key Facts
Williams lives alone in a park home in Golden Cross and says she took the extra job to cover heating costs.
The article says filling a 1,000-litre tank could cost more than £970.
Nigel Wanstall, from Sheffield Park, says he cannot afford to refill his oil tank and is using an open fire and an electric blanket.
Rye Oil director Jon Reardon says heating oil prices have doubled on average since the war in the Middle East began.
Reardon says some customers are delaying orders, which has reduced the supplier’s sales.
The government says it has pledged £53 million to support vulnerable households using heating oil and removed a 4% tariff on home heating oil.
Energy minister Polly Billington said the government is working to regulate the heating oil sector and hold suppliers to account.
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A wildfire killed 15 people in the Spanish village of Bédar on July 9, including nine British nationals. Relatives say emergency warnings and evacuation guidance came too late, and they want a public inquiry; Andalusia’s governing parties blocked an opposition proposal for one, saying a criminal investigation should provide answers.
Key Facts
The fire struck Bédar, in southeastern Spain’s Almería province, and killed 15 people.
Nine of the dead were British; the other victims included three Belgians, one French national, one American and one Spaniard.
Relatives criticized authorities for not sending mobile-phone emergency alerts as the flames approached.
Andalusia’s emergencies chief said officials did not use the alert system because they could not target it to specific communities.
Officials said some residents were safer staying indoors and argued an alert could cause panic and traffic jams.
The regional parliament’s People’s Party and Vox rejected a Socialist Party request for an inquiry commission, citing an ongoing criminal investigation.
Bédar’s emergency plan was last approved in 2019 and was being updated, according to regional officials.
Families also said they were unhappy with how police handled victims’ remains and belongings.
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Police in England and Wales say rising numbers of teenagers are encountering illegal or harmful sexual material online, and some forces are considering charity or civilian-led support to safeguard them without criminalising them. Officers and legal experts say the new pornography restrictions should focus on distributors and platforms, while police report about 1,000 arrests each month for online child sexual abuse offences.
Key Facts
New laws in England and Wales ban publishing or possessing pornography showing strangulation, incest, or adults acting out fantasies involving sex with under-16s.
West Mercia officers say the volume of arrests for online child abuse offences is rising significantly.
Police across England and Wales arrest about 1,000 people each month for online child sexual abuse offences, most of them men.
West Mercia officers are considering a pilot that would send civilians to visit children found viewing illegal material.
Officers say some cases involve sexting between teenagers, while others involve young people encountering violent child abuse images in chat sites and forums.
Police say a Surrey project called Solah has prompted several forces to consider similar safeguarding approaches.
Legal experts cited in the article say the new law should target large platforms and distributors, rather than focus on material individuals have on their phones.
Ministry of Justice adverts warned users of extreme pornography to delete it before 6 November or face prison sentences of up to five years.
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Al Jazeera reports from Exarchia, a neighborhood in Athens known for pro-Palestinian sentiment. Residents say short-term rentals, many owned by Israelis, are raising rents and changing the area’s character.
Key Facts
The report focuses on Exarchia in Athens.
The neighborhood is described as pro-Palestinian.
Residents say short-term rentals are driving up rents.
Residents say many of the short-term rentals are Israeli-owned.
Residents say the rentals are eroding the area’s character.
Al Jazeera reporter Nils Adler reported from the neighborhood.
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Eva Geller, 90, has died in a Sydney hospital nearly a year after she was shot in the Bondi Beach attack. The attack killed 15 people and led to Australian gun law reforms and a crackdown on hate speech.
Key Facts
Geller died on Thursday night, according to Rabbi Aron Moss.
She was shot when two gunmen opened fire at a Jewish event at Bondi Beach on 14 December.
Geller escaped the Holocaust as a child and later moved to Australia.
Her injuries required repeated hospital treatment; she later regained the ability to walk.
One attacker, Sajid Akram, was killed by police at the scene.
Sajid Akram’s son, Naveed Akram, was arrested and charged with 15 counts of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder, and committing a terrorist act.
New South Wales police said they were working with the coroner’s office after Geller’s death.
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Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi told U.S. President Donald Trump that Iraq would not allow its territory to be used to attack neighboring countries. Iraq’s foreign minister warned that renewed U.S. attacks on Iran could draw Iraq into a devastating conflict, and urged armed groups not to join any retaliation.
Key Facts
Al-Zaidi and Trump discussed regional developments and security in a phone call on Thursday, according to al-Zaidi’s office.
Al-Zaidi called for respect for national sovereignty and said Iraqi territory must not serve as a launch point for attacks on neighboring countries.
Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said Iraq was not prepared for war and warned that involving Iraqi society would lead to disaster.
Hussein said Iraq had come under attack from the United States, Iran, and armed groups inside Iraq since the war began.
Al-Zaidi took office in May and has prioritized disarming armed groups, including powerful groups aligned with Iran.
Iraq has lost more than $60 billion in oil revenue since the war began, according to the article.
About 90 percent of Iraq’s oil exports normally pass through the Strait of Hormuz, and oil provides about 90 percent of the federal budget.
Iran has allowed Iraq, among a small number of countries, to continue passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
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Democrats’ midterm victory shifted control of the U.S. Congress and raised questions in Australia about the effects on the alliance, defense cooperation and U.S. foreign policy. Analysts said voter concern about living costs and the Iran war could also affect Australian politics, oil prices and inflation.
Key Facts
The article says Democrats won control of Congress in the midterm elections.
Australian officials and defense industry representatives closely watched the results.
Analysts cited rising living costs, fuel prices and concerns about datacentres as issues in the election.
Bruce Wolpe said economic uncertainty linked to the Iran war was hurting the Albanese government.
Westpac economist Elliot Clarke said the results improved the prospects for resolving the Iran war and could ease inflation pressures.
The article reports that Brent crude fell 20% as election results emerged.
Former Australian ambassador Arthur Sinodinos said Australia could advance policy goals with both U.S. parties.
Sinodinos said Congress could press the administration to support Ukraine and fund munitions.
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The United Nations condemned Israeli settlers’ seizure of eight Palestinian homes near Jericho in the occupied West Bank, saying residents were assaulted and dozens fled. The Israeli military later declared the area a closed military zone, limiting humanitarian workers’ access to people displaced by the incident.
Key Facts
About 30 settlers took over the homes in Ein a-Duyuk a-Tahta on Wednesday afternoon, according to Peace Now.
UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said settlers reportedly used live ammunition, assaulted residents and threw stones.
Peace Now said settlers shot a Palestinian man in the leg and assaulted and robbed two Israeli activists.
Some displaced residents lack adequate shelter, and the military’s closed-zone order has blocked humanitarian workers from reaching them.
The settlers said they legally bought the homes; Palestinian officials said the sale documents were forged and the land belongs to the Palestinian Authority.
The homes are in Area C of the West Bank, which has been under Israeli control since the 1990s Oslo Accords.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967; more than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements there, which are illegal under international law.
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Residents of al-Mawasi camp in Gaza built wind turbines from scraps recovered from destroyed buildings. They use the turbines to generate electricity after the war damaged reliable power sources.
Key Facts
Palestinians in Gaza made wind turbines to generate electricity.
The builders used scraps found in the rubble of destroyed buildings.
Residents of al-Mawasi camp engineered the solution.
The war damaged reliable power sources in Gaza.
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Paraguayan lawmakers voted to impeach President Santiago Peña amid a crisis linked to the collapse of Ueno Bank. Prosecutors have opened three criminal investigations into the collapse, including one involving allegations against Peña.
Key Facts
Lawmakers voted to impeach Paraguay’s President Santiago Peña.
The impeachment vote came amid a crisis linked to the collapse of Ueno Bank.
Prosecutors opened three criminal investigations into the bank’s collapse.
One of the investigations includes allegations involving Peña.
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A 90-year-old woman who was shot in the Bondi beach attack in Australia died in hospital nearly 12 months later. A senior Jewish community source said she had received repeated hospital treatment for her injuries and died after developing an infection and suffering a stroke.
Key Facts
The woman was shot during the attack on 14 December the previous year.
She had been in and out of hospital during the year for treatment of her injuries.
A senior Jewish community source said she developed an infection and died after having a stroke.
Her funeral was scheduled for Monday, and her family requested privacy.
Fifteen people died and 40 were injured in the attack at a Hanukkah festival on Bondi beach.
Sajid Akram was shot dead by police at the scene.
Naveed Akram has been charged with 78 offences, including 15 counts of murder and one count of committing a terrorist act; he remains before the courts.
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