United States
On Friday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced a nation wide ground stop, resulting in many passengers being stuck in airports and waiting for further information. The ground stop reportedly caused over 1,700 flight cancellations and nearly 10,000 delays. Transport Secretary Sean Duffy said the ground stop was issued because of a “communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centres.” What caused the outage remains unknown; however, technicians were working on Friday to resolve the issue as soon as possible.
Asia
Gibran Rakabuming Raka resigned as the vice president of Indonesia on Thursday following a scandal regarding his eduction credentials. Raka was elected vice president in 2024 following the departure of his father from the presidency. The scandal around his education credentials stems from a debate as to whether or not he actually received his high school diploma, a requirement to run for office. The constitutional court in Indonesia announced last month that it had not been provided with convincing evidence to show that he had received his high school diploma.
Europe
During a meeting between U.S. envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the U.S. envoys requested that Europe be included in future talks surrounding Ukraine. The U.S. envoys arrived in Russia only a day after mediating peace talks between Ukraine and Russia. Following the meeting, they met with President Zelensky in Dublin, Ireland, for a debrief on the meeting. Kushner told reporters on Thursday, “We cannot conclude this deal without Europeans being at the table.” Following the disastrous midterm results for the republicans, the Trump administration appears to be making a push for peace between Russia and Ukraine even though such a peace deal remains far off.
Americas
The biggest U.S. oil company, Exxon, announced this week that it has reached a preliminary agreement with the Venezuelan government to restart operations in the country. Exxon, as a result of the agreement, will be allowed to explore oil production opportunities in the country. This agreement highlights a positive change in relations between Exxon and the Venezuelan government after relations deteriorated following a change of terms in 2007 regarding how foreign oil companies could operate in the country. This is a major development after Exxon CEO Darren Woods said last January that Venezuela was “uninvestable.”
Africa
A domestic worker from Kenya was sentenced to 100 lashings by a Saudi Arabian court as a punishment for giving birth outside of marriage. The Kenyan mother has been trying to leave Saudi Arabia and return to Kenya for over a year, but has been continually denied the ability to leave. The punishment given by a Saudi Court shows how the country has failed to modernise and reform its judicial system. Many people believe that lashings have been outlawed and are no longer a punishment handed down by courts in Saudi Arabia; however, this situation shows that this is not the case.
Middle East
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the pressure exerted on the Iranian economy by the U.S. means that “there’s really no need for major combat operations any longer.” Secretary Rubio’s statement is the clearest indication yet as to the Trump administration’s plans regarding the potential use of military force. He did say that if certain lines were crossed by Iran, the U.S. could respond with force. Many Israeli and U.S. officials have said publicly that strikes against Iran should resume. This change in course comes after the republicans suffered grave losses across the country in the midterm elections.
