No declaration of all-out war on Israel from Hezbollah’s leader

Orla Guerin

BBC international correspondent in Lebanon

When the Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, finally spoke about the latest Israel-Gaza war, after a month of silence, what he did not say mattered as much as what he did say.

There was no declaration of all-out war on Israel. Few here had expected one.

Nasrallah knows there’s little appetite in Lebanon for another war with Israel. This country has troubles a plenty. The economy is in ruins and the political system, such as it is, is in a state of collapse.

And the two American aircraft carriers recently deployed to the Mediterranean sea may also be a powerful deterrent.

US surveillance drones are flying over Gaza to help search for hostages taken at the outset of fighting between Hamas and Israel on 7 October, according to US officials.

Citing two anonymous US officials, Reuters has reported that the drone flights have been taking place for over a week.

Two US officials confirmed the flights to CBS, the BBC’s US partner.

Governments will meet this weekend for a last-ditch attempt to bridge deep divisions between rich and poor countries over how to get money to vulnerable people afflicted by climate disaster.
Talks over funds for “loss and damage”, which refers to the rescue and rehabilitation of countries and communities experiencing the effects of extreme weather, started in March but broke down in rancour two weeks ago.

Countries have reconvened in Abu Dhabi for a final two-day meeting, ending on Saturday night, to try to resolve the outstanding problems ahead of the UN Cop28 climate summit, which begins in the United Arab Emirates at the end of this month.

Toxic smog engulfs India’s capital

A dangerous grey smog has covered the city of Delhi and is making life miserable for its 30 million inhabitants. Several schools have been shut for two days because of the pollutant haze.

A thick layer of toxic smog covered India’s capital on Friday morning as the air quality index (AQI) entered the “severe” category in several parts of the city.

The smog forms over Delhi every winter as the cold, heavy air traps construction dust, pollution from vehicles and smoke from the burning of crop stubble in neighboring states. As a result, millions of residents face respiratory illnesses every year.

“Unfavorable meteorological conditions, sudden increase in the farm fire incidents and north-westerly winds moving the pollutants to Delhi are the major causes for sudden spike in AQI,” the region’s Commission for Air Quality Management said on Thursday.

Myanmar military junta vows to hit back at armed groups’ offensive

Myanmar’s junta chief vowed Friday to strike back after an alliance of ethnic minority groups seized towns and blocked trade routes to China in the biggest coordinated offensive against the military since it seized power in a coup.

Fighting has raged for a week across a wide swathe of northern Shan state, forcing more than 23,000 people from their homes according to the UN, in what analysts say is the most severe military challenge to the junta since it seized power in 2021.

The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and the Arakan Army (AA) said on Thursday they had captured dozens of outposts and four towns and blocked vital trade routes to China.

“The government will launch counter-attacks” against the armed groups, Min Aung Hlaing said in a speech to members of the State Administration Council, as the junta calls itself, reported in the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper.

New maps reveal who could see more snow this winter during a strong El Niño

As the US gears up for a winter heavily influenced by the first strong El Niño in years, scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have released maps that offer insight into where snow could pile up.

El Niño – a natural ocean and weather pattern in the tropical Pacific – is forecast to reach the most significant level since a very strong El Niño in 2015-2016 fostered the warmest winter on record across the contiguous US, according to NOAA.

While no two El Niño winters are the same, the pattern typically brings wetter and cooler weather to the southern US while the north becomes drier and warmer. And that’s exactly what’s expected this winter.

Israel pushes thousands of detained cross-border workers into war-torn Gaza

Thousands of Palestinians from Gaza, previously working in Israel and the occupied West Bank and then detained by Israel, are being pushed into the war-torn enclave, according to media reports.

Footage showed some of the workers returning on Friday through the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing in Israel, east of the Rafah border crossing between the besieged Gaza Strip and Egypt.

It came after the office of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday night that the “workers from Gaza who were in Israel on the day of the outbreak of the war will be returned to Gaza”.