BIG Wrap

(Al Jazeera Media Network) China’s trade surplus – the difference between the value of goods it imports and exports – has hit $1 trillion for the first time, a significant yardstick in the country’s role as “factory of the world”, making everything from socks and curtains to electric cars. For the first 11 months of this year, China’s exports rose to $3.4 trillion while its imports declined slightly to $2.3 trillion. That brought the country’s trade surplus...

(Al Jazeera Media Network) Yemen’s main southern separatist group has claimed broad control of the southern part of the country, marking a major shift in power for the area. Amr al-Bidh, a senior official of the Southern Transitional Council (STC), told the Reuters news agency on Monday that the group had extended its presence in all southern provinces – including the port of Aden, the base of the internationally-recognised government over the past decade –...

(Al Jazeera Media Network) The Kremlin has praised a new national security strategy adopted by US President Donald Trump, saying it aligns closely with Russia's own view of global affairs. The US document published last week warns that Europe faces what it calls “civilizational erasure”, identifies ending the war in Ukraine as a “core” US interest, and signals a shift toward restoring what Washington describes as strategic stability with Moscow. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday...

(BBC News) The government of Benin says it has foiled an attempted coup by members of the West African nation's armed forces. "The Beninese armed forces and their leadership, true to their oath, remained committed to the republic," Interior Minister Alassane Seidou said in a televised address several hours after a group of soldiers made a broadcast in which they said they had ousted President Patrice Talon. A presidential adviser later told the BBC that the...

(Al Jazeera Media Network) Russia this week rejected the latest United States peace proposal for Ukraine and declared victory in battles over key Ukrainian cities – claims Ukraine has dismissed as propaganda. Russia’s Ministry of Defence on Monday night said it had seized the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk it has been besieging for a year. Defence Minister Andrei Belousov later repeated the claim personally. Russia also said it had pushed Ukrainian defenders out of Vovchansk and Kupiansk, cities...

(BBC News) Netflix has agreed to buy the film and streaming businesses of Warner Bros Discovery for $72 billion in a major Hollywood deal. The streaming giant emerged as the successful bidder for Warner Bros ahead of rivals Comcast and Paramount Skydance after a drawn-out battle. Warner Bros owns franchises including Harry Potter and Game of Thrones, and the streaming service HBO Max. The deal will still have to be approved by competition authorities. Netflix co-chief executive Ted...

(Al Jazeera Media Network) Russian President Vladimir Putin is visiting India today (Thursday) for the first time since Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly four years ago, even as a renewed push by the United States to end the conflict appears to have stalled. Putin’s 30-hour speed trip coincides with a tense turn in relations between Washington and New Delhi, with the US also punishing India with tariffs and a sanctions threat for...

(BBC News) Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said she will recommend a travel ban on several countries which she claims are "flooding" the US with criminal activity. Writing on social media on Monday, Noem said she had met President Donald Trump and decided to suggest "a full travel ban on every damn country that's been flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies.'' Trump and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) then shared Noem's...

(BBC News) One of the four sons of notorious Mexican drug kingpin Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán has pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges in a US court. Joaquín Guzmán López's guilty plea on Monday comes after US prosecutors pledged last May to not pursue the death penalty against him. Lopez, 39, is a member of Los Chapitos, a cell made up of El Chapo's children, including his brother Ovidio, who pleaded guilty in July to drug...

(Al Jazeera Media Network) Flooding and landslides have killed more than 1,140 people across Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Malaysia following tropical storms in recent days, with efforts under way to help thousands affected by the extreme weather. Arriving in North Sumatra on Monday, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto said the government’s priority was “how to immediately send the necessary aid.” “There are several isolated villages that, God willing, we can reach,” Prabowo said, adding that the...