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The Cradle is an online news magazine covering West Asian geopolitics from within.
⭕️ Kuwait in talks for major battery storage project to ease power shortages
Kuwait is in talks for a large-scale battery storage project with a discharge capacity of up to 1.5 gigawatts and total storage of between 4 and 6 gigawatt-hours, as part of efforts to address persistent electricity shortages, a senior official from the Ministry of Electricity announced today.
The Gulf state, a major OPEC oil producer, has been facing severe power shortages fueled by rapid population growth, urban development, rising temperatures, and delays in plant maintenance.
The pressure on the grid has led authorities to implement scheduled power cuts in some areas since last year.
"It is still in the negotiation phase ... the picture is becoming clearer and we may soon have an outcome from it," Adel al-Zamil told reporters, without naming the parties involved in the talks.
❗️Foreign Press Association condemns Israeli settler attacks on journalists in occupied West Bank
The Foreign Press Association (FPA) denounced attacks by Israeli settlers targeting journalists in the occupied West Bank, calling on Israeli authorities to stop the “violence immediately.”
The FPA said it was “appalled” by the recent assaults, particularly amid this year’s olive harvest season.
“Journalists, both local and foreign, have proven to be a clear target as they document an unprecedented level of unchecked violence against Palestinians during this year’s olive harvest,” the group said.
According to the FPA, two Reuters employees wearing press-marked vests and helmets were attacked on Saturday by masked Israeli civilians carrying clubs and stones near the Palestinian village of Beita.
“A mob of dozens of settlers beat one of the employees, a female reporter, while she was already on the ground, resulting in severe injuries,” the FPA said.
‼️ Israeli artillery targets eastern Khan Yunis, southern Gaza.
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❗️Israeli man arrested for alleged contact with Iranian agents
Israeli police and the Shin Bet security agency announced today that they had arrested a 27-year-old Tel Aviv resident accused of contacting Iranian operatives and carrying out assignments for them.
The suspect was detained on Thursday in a joint operation by the Shin Bet and the Tel Aviv District’s cybercrime unit. Investigators said he had allegedly reached out independently to Iranian agents via a social media platform and completed several missions in return for payment.
According to the investigation, he was instructed to photograph various sites, including the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Abramovitz Park in the Bavli neighborhood, and the scene of a rocket strike on Jabotinsky Street in Ramat Gan. He reportedly received thousands of shekels in cryptocurrency through digital wallets.
UPDATE | Israel's Channel 15, citing an Israeli official, reports that the Netanyahu-Kushner meeting did not finalize a decision regarding the 200 resistance fighters trapped in southern Gaza's Rafah.
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‼️ The US State Department announces the suspension of economic sanctions on Syria, except for certain transactions involving Russia and Iran.
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❗️World Bank backs US-drafted UN resolution on Gaza transitional governance
The World Bank supports a US-drafted UN Security Council resolution on Gaza that would authorize a two-year mandate for a transitional governance body, according to a letter to the US seen by Reuters.
"Our engagement in Gaza will require the ability to work with international partners who enjoy the full support of the international community and full authorization to undertake their efforts," World Bank President Ajay Banga wrote to US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz.
"The proposal to establish an authority, in the current draft the Board of Peace, by the UN Security Council with the authorizations set out in the resolution would provide the needed framework for engagement by the Bank," he added in the letter dated Saturday.
The Sadrist void and the billion-dollar campaign to control Iraq's future
Since populist cleric Muqtada al-Sadr withdrew from electoral politics, a new class of power-brokers has emerged to fill the vacuum: businessmen-politicians with deep party ties and deeper pockets.
By Abutalib Albohaya
❗️Israel Hayom reports that PM Benjamin Netanyahu requested to meet with Hadar Goldin's family but his request was denied.
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‼️ Self-appointed Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly known as Mohammad al-Julani, arrives at the White House to meet US President Donald Trump.
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❗️Israel's government spokesperson stated that PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Jared Kushner talked about disarming Hamas, demilitarizing Gaza, and preventing the group from ever regaining a governing role in the Strip.
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❗️Israel's Channel 14 reports that Turkiye is preparing an operational unit for Gaza, and at least 2,000 soldiers have already been recruited.
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BREAKING | Locals report a shooting operation in the Israeli "Beit Hagai" settlement, south of Hebron in the occupied West Bank.
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❗️The Gaza Center for Human Rights:
"Nearly two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are living through a worsening humanitarian catastrophe each day as winter approaches, amid the absence of safe shelter, a shortage of tents, and a scarcity of blankets and winter clothing."
❗️Rubio to discuss Gaza, Ukraine, & global security with G7 counterparts
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit Canada's Niagara region this week to attend the Group of Seven (G7) foreign ministers' meeting, his office announced.
Rubio plans to discuss President Donald Trump's initiatives to 'promote peace' in Gaza and Ukraine, as well as security issues in Haiti and Sudan, maritime security, critical minerals, and global supply chains with his G7 counterparts from France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Britain.
The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday in Niagara, Ontario.
❗️US President Donald Trump wishes the US Marine Corps a "HAPPY 250TH BIRTHDAY," and congratulates the marines for 'leading the way' and 'crushing their enemies' from "THE SANDS OF IWO JIMA, KOREA, VIETNAM, AND THE MIDDLE EAST."
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⭕️ New photos emerge of US President Donald Trump with self-appointed Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa at the White House.
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Epstein, Barak brokered Israel-Côte d’Ivoire intelligence relationship: Report
Leaked emails show the sex offender's extensive partnership with former Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak
Israeli army short of 12,000 troops as threat of new Lebanon war looms: Report
Tel Aviv plans to extend mandatory service to 36 months and increase annual reserve duty to 70 days within five years
BREAKING | Israeli army vehicles fire towards Al-Tuffah neighborhood, eastern Gaza City.
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Syria stages FAKE raids on ISIS as Trump hosts Julani
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❗️Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:
– “There are days, like today, when I look back at the mission that has guided me throughout my public life — to fight those who seek to destroy us and to ensure our existence in our land.”
– “The campaign is not over ... Hamas will be disarmed, and Gaza will be demilitarized — either the easy way or the hard way.”
– “We want to establish a commission that will have the broadest possible public support ... Not one that half the nation rejects or believes is rigged in advance.”
⭕️ Oil prices continue to dip as supply expected to outpace demand
Oil prices slipped today as analysts maintained forecasts that rising supply will outpace demand in the coming months, even if additional sanctions on Russia limit its exports.
Brent crude futures dropped 18 cents, or roughly 0.3%, to $63.45 a barrel by 16:11 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude fell 21 cents, or 0.4%, to $59.54 a barrel.
Both benchmarks fell about 2% last week, marking their second consecutive weekly decline, amid expectations that crude supply will surpass demand due to increased OPEC+ production and record US output.
Kushner meets Netanyahu to discuss Rafah 'tunnel crisis'
Mediators have scrambled to prevent Israeli forces from killing 200 resistance fighters trapped under south Gaza’s Rafah
Netherlands advances plan to ban imports from illegal Israeli settlements
The Netherlands joins a small bloc of EU states responding to pressure from diplomats, rights groups, and an ICJ ruling to end complicity in Israel’s occupation
⭕️ FATF team to evaluate Turkiye’s anti-money laundering progress this month
A delegation from the international financial crime watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) will assess Turkiye this month, following its removal from the organization's "grey list" last year for progress in combating money laundering and terrorist financing, five sources told Reuters.
The Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) evaluation, expected to last up to three weeks, will include meetings from 24 - 28 November with Turkiye’s Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK), banks, payment service providers, and other institutions in the major emerging market economy, the sources said.
❗️Times of Israel: Abbas dismisses PA finance chief for bypassing 'new welfare system'
Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas has dismissed his finance minister for authorizing direct payments to Palestinian security prisoners using a system that granted funds based on sentence length, a Palestinian official and another source familiar with the issue told The Times of Israel.
Earlier today, Abbas’s office announced via Wafa that Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Istifan Salameh would replace Omar Bitar as finance minister but gave no explanation for the move.
According to The Times of Israel, Bitar’s removal came after an internal investigation found he had approved payments to certain Palestinian security prisoners outside the new framework introduced earlier this year, which ties welfare payments solely to financial need rather than sentence duration.
VIDEO | Fires continue to rage in Al-Qatrani due to the recent wave of Israeli attacks on south Lebanon.
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❗️Gaza Ministry of Health:
– "Gaza hospitals have received 3 martyrs (1 newly killed, 1 recovered from the rubble, and 1 who succumbed to injuries) and 3 wounded during the past 24 hours."
– "Since the ceasefire (11 October, 2025):
• Total martyrs: 242
• Total wounded: 622
• Total recovered bodies: 529"
Israeli soldiers confirm Palestinian civilians murdered 'without restraint' in Gaza 'free for all'
A new film shows that Israeli troops were encouraged to exterminate Palestinians, including women and children, by their politicians and Jewish religious leaders