“A South African court has ordered an anti-migrant group to stop blocking foreign nationals from accessing public health facilities and schools, saying such actions are illegal. Operation Dudula has been picketing hospitals and clinics in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provinces, checking identity cards and stopping anyone who is not South African from entering. This has since extended to schools. But the high court in Johannesburg has ordered the group to stop ‘intimidating, harassing [or] interfering with access’ to these facilities, following a case brought by rights groups.” (11/05/25)
“A Canadian opposition lawmaker joined Prime Minister Mark Carney’s governing Liberal Party on Tuesday, a political coup on a day when the government announced its budget for the year. Chris d’Entremont, a member of Parliament from Nova Scotia, said in a statement he’s joining the government caucus because he shares Carney’s economic priorities. … The move puts the Liberals two seats shy of a majority government and being able to pass their budget without opposition support. The defection is a blow to Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, who is facing a leadership review vote in January.” (11/05/25)
“The Bolivian Supreme Court of Justice on Wednesday annulled the 10-year prison sentence against former interim President Jeanine Áñez, ordering her immediate release. The court also ordered that Áñez, who has been imprisoned for more than four years, be subjected to a political trial, as demanded by her defense. … Áñez was convicted for her role in assuming the presidency in a controversial National Assembly session following the deadly 2019 protests that led to the resignation of then-president Evo Morales (2006-2019).” (11/05/25)
“Democrats scored victories in the four major races of the night: the New York City mayoral race, the governor’s races in New Jersey and Virginia and Prop 50, California’s redistricting ballot measure. Exit polling showed voters went to the polls with worries about the economy on their minds, coupled with broader discontent with the state of the country right now. … Mikie Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger, both moderates, won the governorships of New Jersey and Virginia, while on the far left [sic], democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani prevailed in his race for New York mayor …. California voters said ‘yes’ to Proposition 50, which will allow state legislators to redistrict before the midterm elections, an effort to counter GOP-led gerrymandering in other states.” (11/05/25)
“Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson admitted to a major miscalculation in what the University of Idaho victims’ families should be owed in restitution, telling a judge Wednesday that he would no longer be seeking roughly $27,000 in travel expenses that were not outlined in Bryan Kohberger’s plea deal — asking the court to award about a tenth of that in funeral expenses instead. Kohberger’s lawyers noted that the travel expenses were not part of the plea deal after Thompson mistakenly thought they would be covered by a victims’ compensation fund and agreed that the funeral expenses amount to $3,075.58. … A plea deal is essentially a contract, [Judge Steven] Hippler said, and as a result, the prosecution can’t seek restitution for travel expenses outside the terms of the deal.” (11/05/25)
“The European Union’s environment ministers struck a deal watering down a proposed 2040 target for cutting planet-warming emissions and set a new 2035 climate plan. Following marathon negotiations all day Tuesday and into Wednesday morning, ministers unanimously approved the bloc’s long-overdue climate plan, rescuing the EU from the international embarrassment of showing up empty handed this month’s COP30 summit. The plan, which is a requirement under the Paris Agreement, sets a new goal to slash EU emissions between 66.25 percent and 72.5 percent below 1990 levels until 2035. That plan is not legally binding but sets the direction of EU climate policy for the coming five years.” (11/05/25)
“Video sharing platform YouTube has taken down over 700 videos documenting Israeli human rights violations due to US sanctions against Palestinian human rights groups. The videos come from Al-Haq, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, and include videos analysing Israel’s killing of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh and testimony of Palestinians tortured by Israeli forces, among others. The three rights groups have been sanctioned by the US over their support for the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant over war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Gaza.” (11/05/25)
“The federal judge overseeing former FBI Director James Comey’s legal challenge to the appointment of Lindsey Halligan as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia has ordered prosecutors to hand over a full transcript of Halligan’s presentation to the grand jury that voted to indict Comey. Judge Cameron Currie, who was appointed outside of the district to review the validity of Halligan’s appointment, said in an order Tuesday that a transcript handed over by prosecutors ‘fails to include remarks made by the indictment signer both before and after the testimony of the sole witness, which remarks were referenced by the indictment signer during the witness’s testimony.’ … Comey pleaded not guilty on Oct. 8 to one count of false statements and one count of obstruction of a congressional proceeding …” (11/04/25)
“Democrat Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor of New York City on Tuesday, becoming the youngest man picked to lead the five boroughs in modern history …. Mamdani, a 34-year-old democratic socialist who will also be the city’s first-ever Muslim and South Asian mayor, was declared the winner of the 2025 race for City Hall by the Associated Press shortly after 9:30 p.m. The election was marked by massive turnout, with more than 2 million votes cast and Mamdani capturing more than a million of them himself, according to early Board of Elections tabulations. … with nearly 98% of votes tabulated, Mamdani led his closest opponent, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, by more than 150,000 ballots — a 50.4% to 41.5% margin that the mayor-elect declared is ‘a mandate’ for enacting his affordability agenda.” (11/04/25)
“Three Chinese astronauts have been forced to extend their six-month stay in space over concerns their return ship may have been hit by debris, China’s space agency said. Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie were due to return to Earth on Wednesday –– they had even handed over the keys to the Chinese space station to a new crew –– but their journey home was postponed due to a suspected impact on their Shenzhou-20 spaceship, China’s National Space Administration said Wednesday.” (11/05/25)
