AnewZ Morning Brief - 20 November, 2025

Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief: here are the top news stories for the 20th of November, covering the latest developments you need to know.

Türkiye to host COP31 as Australia takes charge of climate negotiations under emerging deal

Türkiye is set to host the COP31 United Nations climate summit in Antalya next year, while Australia would lead government negotiations under a compromise deal taking shape at COP30 in Brazil.

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Thursday that talks in Brazil had produced a near-final agreement to end a long-running stand-off over who would stage the summit, after both Türkiye and Australia lodged competing bids in 2022.

Under the plan, Türkiye would serve as COP31 summit president and host the main event, while Australia would take charge of negotiations and a pre-COP meeting would be held in the Pacific. Albanese described the arrangement as “a big win for both Australia and Türkiye” in an interview with Australian Broadcasting Corp Radio.

Israeli airstrikes kill 25 Palestinians in Gaza

At least 25 Palestinians have been killed in four Israeli airstrikes on Wednesday in a part of Gaza under Hamas control since a shaky ceasefire took effect in October, local health authorities said.

The Israeli military said its forces struck Hamas targets across Gaza after members of the Palestinian militant group fired on its troops in violation of the nearly six-week-old ceasefire.

Hamas condemned the Israeli strikes as a dangerous escalation, and urged the United States to "honour its stated commitments and exert immediate pressure on Israel to enforce the ceasefire and halt its attacks."

No Israeli forces were injured.

Ukraine expected to give up land and some arms under U.S. peace plan

The U.S. has signalled to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Ukraine must accept a U.S.-drafted framework to end the war with Russia that proposes Kyiv giving up territory and some weapons, two people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

The sources, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter, said the proposals included cutting the size of Ukraine's armed forces, among other things. Washington wants Kyiv to accept the main points, they said.

Such a plan would represent a major setback for Kyiv as it faces further Russian territorial gains in eastern Ukraine and with Zelenskyy tackling a corruption scandal, which on Wednesday saw parliament dismiss the energy and justice ministers.

The White House declined to comment on the matter. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on X that Washington "will continue to develop a list of potential ideas for ending this war based on input from both sides of this conflict."

President Trump signs bill to release Epstein files

U.S. President Donald Trump signed the bill to release the files from the Justice Department investigation into the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Wednesday.

“Democrats have used the ‘Epstein’ issue, which affects them far more than the Republican Party, in order to try and distract from our AMAZING Victories,” Trump said in a social media post as he announced he had signed the bill.

The scandal has been a thorn in Trump's side for months, partly because he amplified conspiracy theories about Epstein to his own supporters.

New agreement reached between U.S. and Saudi companies in Washington

U.S. President Donald Trump announced $270 billion in deals signed between U.S. and Saudi companies at the Washington investment conference.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday (19 November) announced that agreements and sales worth a total of $270 billion were signed between the two countries at the U.S.–Saudi Arabia investment conference held in Washington.

In his speech, Trump thanked Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for his “bold leadership” and his contribution to the development of bilateral relations.

“Today, agreements worth $270 billion are being signed between dozens of companies. This is truly a significant figure,” the U.S. president said during the meeting.

Zelenskyy and Erdoğan push to revive Istanbul peace process in Ankara talks

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara on Wednesday, with both leaders voicing support for reviving the Istanbul peace process and strengthening cooperation on defence, diplomacy and prisoner exchanges.

The talks were held at the Presidential Complex in the Turkish capital, followed by a joint news conference where Erdoğan said Türkiye believes the Istanbul process should be relaunched within a comprehensive framework capable of addressing the now-acute challenges of the war.

He stressed that Türkiye remains ready to discuss with Russia any proposals that could speed up a ceasefire and open a path to a just and lasting peace. Erdoğan recalled that Istanbul hosted multiple rounds of Russian-Ukrainian negotiations, including sessions that secured progress on humanitarian issues and enabled direct discussion of ceasefire mechanisms.

Copied