The Federal Aviation Administration lifted a nationwide ground stop on departing flights on Friday evening, 13 Nov, after more than four hours, ending at about 20:15 Eastern Time. Officials said more than 2,000 flights were cancelled during the halt, with later counts rising to nearly 7,500 cancellations and over 10,000 delays. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blamed outdated communications equipment overloaded with data at air traffic control centres. The stop was the second nationwide ground halt since the 11 Sep 2001 attacks.
News of 13 November 2026
49 stories
World
Kevin Hassett confirms he is not leaving his position as director of the National Economic Council, and a White House official says the reports of his departure have no factual basis. Both sources note that Hassett will continue working on President Donald Trump's economic agenda. Semafor has reported that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and counselor David Zervos are being considered as possible successors if a change occurs.
Turkey and Qatar signed a mutual defence agreement in Istanbul on Friday, 13 Nov 2026, committing both states to collective defence against any external armed attack on either party. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani met in Istanbul to co-chair the Supreme Strategic Committee before the signing. The pact provides for regular security consultations, joint military exercises, cooperation in defence industries and exchange of training personnel. Erdogan's office said the deal would add a new dimension to bilateral ties, and the full text has not been published.
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review Robinhood's request to overturn a Ninth Circuit ruling that revived a class‑action suit over its July 2021 IPO. The Court will focus solely on whether Section 11(a) liability can arise from omitted interim financial information, without judging the materiality of the omission. Robinhood argues the lawsuit, which also names Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan Securities, should be blocked. Plaintiffs, led by Vinod Sodha and his daughter Amee Sodha, claim the company failed to disclose how reduced trading volumes would affect investors.
More than 50 agreements valued at up to $12 billion are signed between US firms and Uzbek partners at a Samarkand trade fair, following Secretary of State Marco Rubio's October visit with business leaders. At the same time, Chinese state broadcaster CGTN releases around 70 Uzbek‑ and Russian‑language pieces between late October and early November, promoting China as a destination for work, study and travel. The campaign is run by the Communist Party's Central Propaganda Department and marks a sharp increase from its previous output.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has moved from his Washington DC-area home to a US military base, according to two people familiar with the matter and reports first published by The New York Times. The relocation followed threats against his life attributed to Iran. A senior intelligence official warned in a memo late last month that Iranian plots against US personnel and American citizens had reached an advanced stage. Bessent leads the Trump administration's sanctions and economic pressure campaign against Iran, which he has directed since August. Bessent says the Secret Service directed the move, which he links to a Wall Street Journal photograph that revealed his home's location.
US authorities have seized cloud infrastructure used in the FaceStealer scheme, which the FBI says let North Korean state-backed hackers steal more than $400 million in cryptocurrency over 18 months. Court approval also allows seizure or restraint of over $1.2 billion linked to the Binance hack, which the FBI attributes to separate North Korean actors. The scheme lured crypto and Web3 workers into fake Zoom, Teams or Google Meet calls using AI-generated deepfakes, then installed malware. The FBI links the cluster to Sapphire Sleet, UNC1069 and BlueNoroff, and says it secretly recorded more than 900 victims' webcam videos.
Heavy rain and flooding over the weekend have damaged roughly 40,000 family shelters in Gaza, according to UNRWA, and about 200,000 people are affected. A sand embankment collapsed onto tents, killing a woman and three children, local health authorities and RTÉ News report. The UN says some 150,000 tents remain outside Gaza and has urged Israel to let them in; Israel maintains that Hamas has been diverting aid. UN agencies warn of further flooding and contaminated water in coming weeks.
Pope Leo XIV arrived in Chiclayo, Peru, on Friday, 13 Nov, returning to the city where he served as bishop from 2015 to 2023. He was greeted with a sign reading "#LeonXIVVuelaACasa" and a small dance troupe. The stop closes a 12-day South American tour that also took in Argentina and Uruguay. A mass on the Pampas de Pimentel is expected to draw around one million pilgrims, and the pope will then visit a chapel in a poor neighbourhood and meet clergy, university staff and students. Earlier in Lima, crowds were estimated at about 3 million.
Israel has barred Jean-Luc Melenchon and Mathilde Panot, leaders of France's left-wing La France Insoumise, from entering the country, the Foreign Ministry said on 12 Nov 2026. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar signed the decision, citing the party's extreme anti-Israel stance and statements the ministry called blood libels. The move followed France's denial of entry to Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council in the northern West Bank, a day earlier. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot called the decision demagogic and said France will keep pursuing a two-state solution.
Russia's Defence Ministry said it intercepted 1,198 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions and Crimea overnight, in what Hindustan Times and PBS NewsHour describe as one of Ukraine's largest aerial attacks since the invasion nearly five years ago. Governor Andrei Bocharov said four people were killed and two injured after drones hit an industrial zone in Volgograd, where Astra identifies the site as Russia's largest Lukoil refinery in the south. Separately, Samara Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev reported four deaths from a drone attack on an industrial facility there on 13 Nov. Ukrainian authorities reported Russian overnight attacks killed at least three people and set a hospital alight.
The African National Congress secured 30.76 percent of the vote in South Africa's local government elections, its lowest share ever. The result, reported on 4 Nov, places the party behind the Democratic Alliance in Johannesburg and leaves it without outright control of any major city. Party leaders described the outcome as catastrophic, while voters cited water, electricity, housing and unemployment as key concerns. Analysts say the decline reflects a long‑term erosion of confidence and may shape coalition talks and the 2027 party leadership race.
A truck crash and fire on Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Road near the entrance to Fujairah, UAE, killed 14 people and injured 30, Fujairah Police say. The truck driver lost control, hit another vehicle, overturned and struck several stopped vehicles before the truck caught fire, which spread to other vehicles. The accident involved 18 cars and five trucks. Fifteen of the injured have been discharged from hospital and fifteen remain in treatment. Emergency teams extinguished the fire and secured the site. Some of the dead are Emirati nationals, and others are being identified through DNA testing.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps says it destroyed a US early-warning radar in Bahrain on Friday 13 Nov, calling it retaliation for a US strike on a telecommunications tower in Sirik County. US Central Command rejects that account, saying it shot down two Iranian one-way attack drones aimed at Bahrain, with no casualties or damage. The Guard also says an LPG tanker exploded after hitting a mine in the Strait of Hormuz; neither claim has been independently verified. Bahrain hosts the US Navy's Fifth Fleet. The war involving Iran, the US and Israel began on 28 Feb and is de-escalating, according to DW.
Senator Chris Van Hollen announced on X late Wednesday night that he will run for Senate Majority Leader, opening the first open challenge to Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer. Democrats flipped both houses of Congress in the 3 November election, securing 55 Senate seats. Schumer, 75, says he holds enough votes to retain his position. Van Hollen says he has backing from more than ten Democratic senators and endorsements from Senator Bernie Sanders and Michigan Senator‑elect Abdul El‑Sayed. A secret‑ballot vote is scheduled for early December.
European governments are directing extra money to defence and reinforcing NATO's eastern flank, preparing for a possible wider conflict. Health ministries are being asked to get hospitals ready for mass casualty situations and to keep supply chains running in an emergency. Commentary reported by Euronews warns the health sector could be overlooked amid military planning. The same reporting cites artificial intelligence as a factor that could speed up the creation of dangerous biological agents, and warns a virus engineered with AI could pose an unknown threat to public health. Petter Iversen says a resilient society can withstand pressure from adversaries.
Swae Lee has completed the sale of his seven‑bedroom South Miami estate for $4.35 million. He originally bought the 7,831 square‑foot home in April 2023 for $4.25 million and listed it for $5.395 million in July 2023, but the final price fell short of the asking amount. The property, built in 1993 on a 1.22‑acre lot, includes a pool, sports courts, a summer kitchen and a 15‑car garage, and the transaction was managed by One Sotheby’s International Realty.
The U.S. Treasury says the temporary suspension of China's broad rare‑earth export restrictions will lapse on 10 Jan 2027. The Army has chosen REalloys (NASDAQ: ALOY) for exclusive talks to build a dysprosium‑terbium processing plant on a military base, while automaker Ford halted production for three weeks after failing to secure high‑power magnets. Retired General Jack Keane warns China could leverage U.S. dependence on Chinese rare earths, and Beijing's 2025 rule already blocks export of magnets containing trace Chinese materials, especially for military use.
The Federal Reserve Board has issued an enforcement action against Katilyn M. Robinson, a former employee of United Community Bank in Greenville, South Carolina. The Board announced the action on 12 Nov 2026. It is a consent prohibition tied to the misappropriation of customer funds, meaning Robinson has agreed to be barred from working in the banking sector. The Board said it issued the order.
US President Donald Trump has threatened to double tariffs on Mexican goods unless Mexico stops a caravan of about 1,500 people heading north from Tapachula in Chiapas. The caravan, mostly Central Americans, began on 10 Nov 2026 and has reached Huixtla, about 80 km from the US border. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said no migrant caravans have reached the border since Trump returned to power and that migrants will be returned to their countries of origin. US Representative Markwayne Mullin said the group will not be allowed into the United States. The threat comes as Washington and Mexico negotiate a new trade agreement.
Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei warned on 11 Nov that Tehran will target U.S. military installations in Europe and other distant regions if American aircraft launch from those bases to strike Iran. He added that Iran could also hit islands the U.S. believes are out of missile range. The warning follows the Middle East war that began on 28 Feb after U.S.-Israeli strikes killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran’s uranium stockpile is enriched to 60 percent, close to the 90 percent level needed for a nuclear weapon, and the country is rebuilding its missile capabilities.
Microsoft said on 14 Nov that Outlook, Teams and Copilot had been fully restored worldwide after a disruption lasting more than 24 hours. The outage began around 17:25 GMT on Thursday, 13 Nov, according to Ookla, and reports reached 7.4 million globally. Microsoft attributed the failure to server problems and said it found no malicious activity. Government agencies, trading firms, airlines and some health services reported disruption. Users in 74 countries and territories were affected, and the incident is the second major Microsoft service outage this year.
Economy
Four US federal banking agencies have extended the public comment period on proposed third-party risk management guidance to 16 Dec, according to the Federal Reserve. Comments were originally due 16 Nov. The Federal Reserve Board separately extended its deadline to 16 Dec for a proposed guide aimed at traditional community banks it supervises. The agencies plan to rescind existing third-party risk guidance and replace it with finalized versions once completed. The proposal takes a principles-based approach and is non-binding.
Isabel Schnabel, an Executive Board member of the European Central Bank, announced a new "28th regime" that would let companies operate across the entire European market without national barriers. She said the measure would let Europe compete as one economy rather than 27 separate ones and help forge a genuine "Made in Europe" brand. Schnabel delivered the proposal at the Bank of Lithuania's Economics Conference in Vilnius on 13 November 2026.
The Bank of England, the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Bank of Thailand have published findings from Project Meridian FX APAC, a trial of synchronised settlement across their central bank systems. The trial, which used different technologies and capabilities, tested payment-versus-payment FX settlement and multilateral net FX across the three banks' test environments. Partior developed and tested the Synchronisation Operator prototype used in the project. The Bank of England plans to launch a live synchronisation interface in 2028. The project also examined the legal, regulatory and oversight considerations involved in applying synchronised FX settlement across diverse wholesale settlement systems.
Nvidia shares fell 10 percent after Jensen Huang resigned as chief executive and board member, following reports of an affair with a Chinese businesswoman US authorities suspect of spying for Beijing. Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress will serve as interim CEO. Nvidia's board has not yet named a permanent successor. US President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that former Apple CEO Tim Cook, who stepped down as Apple chief on 1 Sep 2026 and is now its executive chairman, should take the role. Apple and Nvidia did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Kalyan Jewellers reports a 31 % rise in revenue and a 64 % jump in net profit for the latest quarter. Same‑store sales in its India operations grow about 20 %, while non‑South markets expand 21 % in the period. The retailer also outlines an expansion plan that includes opening 84 new Kalyan stores, 50 Candere outlets and five Akshaya Thanga Maligai stores. The figures come from its quarterly results released on 13 Nov.
Spot gold rose to $3,915.31 per ounce on Friday, according to Asharq Al-Awsat, a gain of about 1 percent, after the metal had hit its lowest level since October 2025 on Thursday. Earlier Friday the price stood at $3,883.05 per ounce, up 0.2 percent. Gold still fell roughly 3.5 percent over the week. CME's FedWatch tool puts the chance of a 25-basis-point US rate increase at the December meeting at 89 percent, while the Economic Times reports a 14.5 percent chance of a 50-basis-point hike. Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack said she does not think the Fed needs more aggressive hikes to counter still-high inflation.
The Federal Reserve has issued a tentative calendar for Federal Open Market Committee meetings in 2027, outlining eight two‑day sessions throughout the year. The meetings are set for Jan 26‑27, Mar 16‑17, Apr 27‑28, Jun 8‑9, Jul 27‑28, Sep 14‑15, Oct 26‑27, and Nov 16‑17, with a policy decision typically announced on the second day of each gathering. An additional session is planned for Jan 25‑26, 2028, and the October meeting will concentrate on broad monetary‑policy strategy issues.
Tech & Science
Delhi's air quality index reached 334 on Friday according to IQAir, placing the city in the hazardous band and above Lahore as the world's most polluted major city. India's Central Pollution Control Board recorded a higher reading of 403, classed as severe. Twenty-eight of the city's 58 monitoring stations reported values above 400, with the IIT Delhi station logging a peak of 488. Neighbouring Noida recorded 474, and Delhi's average AQI during last week's Diwali period was 376. Delhi authorities plan cloud seeding to address the smog. The city has about 20 million residents.
Jensen Huang resigned as Nvidia chief executive and president with immediate effect, and Colette Kress, the chief financial officer, is interim CEO while a successor is sought. The resignation followed reports of an affair with Alice Huang, a Megaspeed executive suspected by U.S. authorities of spying for China. Nvidia shares fell 4.3 percent after the announcement, and the company lost about 500 billion dollars in market value in one week, according to The Wall Street Journal. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott has asked Huang and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to testify on 3 December over national security concerns.
Jensen Huang has resigned as Nvidia president, chief executive and board member, and Colette Kress is named interim CEO. U.S. intelligence officials suspect his affair partner, Alice Huang, a former Megaspeed executive, was recruited by China's intelligence service, a claim Beijing denies. Huang said on 8 Nov he had been unfaithful to his wife of more than 40 years. Nvidia's board has opened an independent investigation and says it has no evidence company secrets were leaked. Nvidia reports a loss of about $450 billion in market value since the resignation.
The German defence ministry announced an immediate prohibition on the use of Chinese‑made drones for Bundeswehr training, citing data and IT security risks. The ban applies to all commercially available Chinese drones, which were previously purchased under a 2024 procurement strategy that listed approved systems such as DJI models. Because the military lacks a central inventory of these devices, a blanket ban is being imposed to withdraw them quickly. The ministry plans to replace the drones with German or other European models, and commanders may only acquire commercial drones after a risk assessment confirms no security‑relevant information is at risk.
Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs has barred Alice Huang, a former Megaspeed executive, from re-entering the country and issued her a stern warning. The ministry said the investigation did not concern espionage. Singaporean authorities had held her passport for eight months after seizing it in June 2025. Investigations into Megaspeed and six other individuals, begun in February 2025, remain ongoing. In the United States, Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Justice Department has not reached a conclusion on whether she was a Chinese spy. A fifth person faces 41 charges in a related fraud case involving servers that may have held Nvidia chips.
Nvidia disclosed that Jensen Huang, 63, will no longer serve as chief executive, announcing the change about 42 minutes before the market opened on Thursday. The board launched an investigation after reports that Huang had an affair with a Chinese businesswoman identified by U.S. authorities as a Beijing spy, and a separate report of a second affair with a direct report. Nvidia is valued at roughly $4 trillion, and the AI sector faces pressure to generate $6 trillion in annual revenue by 2031 while one‑fifth of organisations cite AI‑related operating costs as a barrier.
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has taken visible-light images of a dust structure about 93 billion miles long near the star Beta Pictoris, roughly 63 light-years from Earth in the constellation Pictor. The structure is part of a disk of dust and debris around the star. A study led by University of Arizona planetary scientist Arin Avsar, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, combined the new images with observations spanning more than 14 years. The authors say the structure may be the aftermath of a collision between bodies the size of Pluto. Separately, researchers reported two gaseous debris rings around the white dwarf J1328-1450, and a study suggested a suspected black hole in the Large Magellanic Cloud is a rapidly spinning star.
Entertainment
The Metropolitan Police opened a sexual offences investigation into British comedian and author David Walliams on 13 Nov 2026, after receiving multiple non‑recent allegations involving a man in his 50s. Walliams, 55, denies any wrongdoing and has sought to block publication of the accusations. The probe is separate from the claims reported by ITV News and The Guardian, which allege he used his fame to target women and girls over more than two decades. An injunction that had prevented reporting of the accusations was lifted on 10 Nov.
Pope Leo XIV leads an outdoor Mass on Friday in Chiclayo, Peru, with the Vatican estimating about 1.5 million participants and temperatures reaching 31 °C. The 71‑year‑old pontiff, born Robert Prevost and naturalised Peruvian in 2015, is concluding a 12‑day South American tour that included visits to Uruguay, Argentina and a prayer vigil in Lima that drew roughly 60 000 inside the stadium and 300 000 outside. He previously served as Bishop of Chiclayo from 2015 to 2023 and will remain in the city until Sunday for additional events.
A lightsaber used by Darth Vader in two Star Wars films sold for $4.875 million (about €4.4 million, or roughly 49 million Swedish kronor) at Thursday's Ultimate Star Wars auction run by Heritage Auctions in Dallas. The sale sets a world auction record for any Star Wars collectible, according to the auction house. The prop was used in the Cloud City duel in The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and the final duel in Return of the Jedi (1983). It beats the $3.75 million paid in July for Luke Skywalker's lightsaber. The auction house had expected more than $1 million. Twenty-seven other lightsabers were offered in the sale.
Spanish singer Rosalía won five of seven nominated awards at the 27th Latin Grammy Awards in Las Vegas, including Album of the Year for LUX and Song of the Year for La Perla. Argentine vocalist Milo J, 20, took Record of the Year for Niño. Argentine artists won nine prizes in total. Karol G received two awards, and Daddy Yankee was named Person of the Year. Bobby Pulido won Best Tejano Album.
Netflix releases the drama Heartland on 13 Nov. The movie follows former country star Misty Jones, portrayed by Jessica Chastain, whose niece, an aspiring singer, vanishes. The cast includes Garrett Hedlund, Ross Lynch, Jennifer Nettles and John Hawkes. The story is set in the United States and features original music performed by Chastain.
Carmelle Collado will represent the Philippines with the song "Sobra‑Sobra" at the first Eurovision Asia contest, scheduled for 14 Nov 2026 in Bangkok, Thailand. The event will feature eleven nations, each sending one performer, and the winner will be chosen by an equal split of jury and audience votes. Collado previously earned seven gold medals at the 2019 World Championships of Performing Arts and won the 2025 Tawag ng Tanghalan: The School Showdown.
The 47th Cairo International Film Festival opened on Wednesday in Cairo, according to Africanews. Screenwriter, poet and producer Medhat El-Adl received a Golden Pyramid for lifetime achievement at the opening. Egyptian actress Gehad Hossam said production costs have doubled, citing a rise from 5 EGP to 10 EGP. Film critic Tarek El-Shinnawi said Egypt's film industry faces restrictions on free speech. Festival president Hussein Fahmi said cinema preserves the country's cultural heritage.
Sport
England wins the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup final in Wollongong, Australia, by 50 points to 38, securing back-to-back championships. The hosts led 28‑22 at half‑time after a strong comeback, with winger Joe Coyd scoring four tries. France responded with a second‑half hat‑trick from Dany Denuwelaere, but England's Jack Brown added a late double to seal the victory.
Dan Hicks, longtime NBC Sports play-by-play announcer, died at age 64 on Wednesday, 11 Nov, in Connecticut after an acute illness, according to his wife, ESPN broadcaster Hannah Storm, who announced the death on social media. Hicks joined NBC in 1992 after three years at CNN and became the network's main golf voice in 2000. He called 27 Tiger Woods tournament victories, including three U.S. Opens, and covered 16 Olympics. He was also NBC's lead announcer for Notre Dame football and had been scheduled to call the Notre Dame-Boston College game on 14 Nov.
England secured a 2-1 victory over Croatia at Wembley in the Nations League, with Morgan Rogers scoring the opening goal. Cole Palmer was not selected for the match after manager Thomas Tuchel said he missed too many chances to impress and had withdrawn from the September camp due to a minor injury. Rogers rejected claims that Palmer lacks commitment, calling them false. Harry Kane added a penalty, reaching 126 England appearances.
Finland and Norway have announced that they will bar Russian and Belarusian athletes from entering their territories for competitions while the war in Ukraine continues. Sweden also plans to prohibit Russian participants from the Nordic Ski World Championships in Falun in February. The bans affect upcoming events such as a figure skating Grand Prix in Helsinki (20‑22 Nov), the World Cup in cross‑country skiing in Trondheim (December), and the Figure Skating World Championships in Tampere (March 2027). Meanwhile, the Court of Arbitration for Sport has ruled that Russian ice‑hockey teams may return to international tournaments, a decision that some federations and sponsors have condemned.
Dan Patrick announced he will extend his broadcasting career by one year should The Dan Patrick Show secure a Sports Emmy, a condition he set on Thursday. He had previously stated, more than three years ago, that he would retire at the end of his current contract following Super Bowl LXII on 13 Feb 2028. The show has never been nominated for the award, and Patrick does not anticipate a win, despite having earned a Sports Emmy as a studio host in 1997.
Arsenal and Barcelona share points after a 1‑1 draw at Camp Nou on 12 Nov. Frida Maanum gave Arsenal the lead before Caroline Graham Hansen equalised. The result moves Arsenal back into the league's top four, sitting fourth with eight points, level with Bayern Munich and Chelsea, and leaves them two points behind leaders Lyon.