The United States is facilitating direct engagement between Russia and Europe amid a push to secure a peace deal in the war in Ukraine, President Trump’s special envoy and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, said on Saturday.Kushner and Steve Witkoff held separate meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy this past week as the Trump administration pushes to end the more than 4 ½-year conflict. The meetings came after the first round of U.S.-brokered talks between the two countries since February concluded on Wednesday with an announcement of plans for a new prisoner exchange and further talks, but nothing to suggest a wider peace deal.”Our focus is now on facilitating direct engagement between Moscow and European partners and preparing the agenda for the next round of trilateral talks,” Kushner said in a social media post on Saturday. “Several new ideas emerged from these discussions and are now being explored. Some may lead to breakthroughs directly, while others may evolve into new proposals that help bridge the remaining gaps.”Zelenskyy, in statements released Saturday, said the U.S. had raised the possibility of a new security framework for Europe, though he warned that Moscow could use such discussions to weaken NATO and reshape the continent’s borders.”In my view, this can be dangerous,” Zelenskyy told reporters Friday, referring to the new security framework. “This should not be the main agenda.” His comments were embargoed until Saturday.Zelenskyy said the U.S. had asked for the first time whether Ukraine would withdraw from parts of the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine that Russia does not control if Kyiv were admitted to NATO. He reiterated that Kyiv would not surrender its territory.He also said he believed Moscow was interested in reopening broader questions about European security rather than focusing exclusively on ending the war.”Putin’s desire to change borders in Europe is a fact. I am sure this is part of his concept of revising security guarantees in Europe,” he said. “This is dangerous because, in my view, it is precisely things like this that lead to wars or escalations.”European leaders have stressed that decisions about the continent’s security must be made by Europeans themselves, warning against allowing Russia to dictate the terms of a new security order or negotiate NATO’s future.Ukraine is discussing a comprehensive security package with its partners that could include specific guarantees from NATO and the European Union, a strong Ukrainian military and financial support for a specified period, he said. It would also include a recovery plan, he said.”If the American side confirms precisely this to us, together with other NATO partners, then I will ask our Ukrainian society what it thinks: Do we accept it or not?” Zelenskyy said.He stressed that any arrangement would not involve recognizing occupied territories as Russian.Zelenskyy also rejected the possibility of Ukraine committing to neutrality, saying that would require changing the country’s constitution.”If Putin expects Ukraine’s neutrality to be enshrined, that’s not going to happen,” he said. “We’re not in NATO right now anyway.”Kushner said Saturday that a lasting peace in Ukraine requires security guarantees for Kyiv and “detailed, actionable postwar security arrangements that reduce the risk of another war.””NATO will remain a critical pillar of European security, enhanced by stronger mechanisms for military, communication, deconfliction, and reciprocal de-escalation, with practical ways to address disputes before they become crises,” he added. “This is why we are working to bring our European partners directly into these discussions. Any final agreement must be agreed to by the relevant parties, and President Trump will only support arrangements that strengthen Ukraine’s and Europe’s security and make future conflict less likely.”Zelenskyy warned that broader discussions about Europe’s security could allow Putin to seek changes to NATO’s military presence, including the withdrawal of American troops.He said Putin had raised similar ideas with then-President Joe Biden in 2021, seeking a redistribution of power in Europe and the world.”I think Putin will bring up Finland and Sweden. I’m sure he will raise the issue of Hungary and the presence of American troops in the Baltic countries,” Zelenskyy said.He said any changes to Europe’s security arrangements must be decided by European NATO members only after the war ends.”The sequence should be as follows: a ceasefire, an end to the war in Ukraine, and security guarantees for Ukraine,” he said. “There can be no security guarantees in Europe, or for Europe, without Ukraine.”Mr. Trump is set to meet with Putin next week as part of a trilateral summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. He is not expected to discuss Russia’s war in Ukraine, officials said.This article originally appeared on CBS News at https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-europe-russia-engagement-ukraine-war/

Passengers of a river cruise boat in New Orleans had to be pulled from the Mississippi river on Friday after a tanker collided with the paddlewheeler as it sat in dock, causing it to capsize. Those aboard desperately gripped the railings of the American Heritage as it started taking on water and tipping over, sparking a major emergency response. In what Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry hailed as a “miracle on the Mississippi,” all 197 passengers made it to safety. “There had to be some kind of divine, godly intervention for this outcome,” Mayor Helena Moreno said Saturday. Hours after the collision, the Port of New Orleans sued to ensure the seizure of the tanker, Atlantic Asphalt, which the lawsuit said is owned and managed by a Liberia-based shipping company. The lawsuit, which also named Thome Ship Management in Singapore, said the tanker caused more than $1 million in damage to a New Orleans terminal. The docked riverboat was struck “as a result of the negligence, gross negligence, fault or carelessness” of the tanker, Nave Shipping and Thome, according to the suit. CNN has reached out to Thome for comment and is attempting to contact the tanker’s owner. Moreno said 32 people were taken to hospitals with noncritical injuries, while others were treated at the scene for “bumps and bruises.” On Saturday, city officials said eight remained in hospitals – two in serious condition, the others stable. The Atlantic Asphalt appeared to have “lost control,” according to US Coast Guard Captain Melanie Burnham, who added that the “exact reason why” it may have lost steering capabilities remained unknown. “I do not have any indication that this is terrorism-related,” Burnham added. Investigators are now trying to piece together exactly what happened. The American Heritage river cruise boat is seen on its side after being struck by the Atlantic Asphalt tanker ship, top center, in the Mississippi River in New Orleans, on Friday, November 13. – Gerald Herbert/AP Screams for help In dramatic video from the scene, a distinct metallic screech can be heard as the vessels collide. At least a dozen people wearing life vests can later be seen being pulled from the water, while other passengers clamber over the railings of the boat, lying on its side in the Mississippi. About 80 people were evacuated from the boat before it capsized, said New Orleans Harbor Police Chief Melanie Montroll. Numerous vessels immediately rushed to the scene to rescue passengers from the river. “It was all hands on deck,” the mayor said. “First responders, other boats and vessels that were in proximity all raced to do what they could to help,” Moreno told reporters. Joe Knab, a passenger visiting New Orleans from Wichita, told CNN affiliate WDSU the hulking tanker was blasting its horn as it floated toward the riverboat. Moments later, he was in the water without a life jacket, clutching a pillow to stay afloat and a woman holding onto his feet. “It was a little scary there at the time when I think I was drowning because I kept bobbing underneath,” he said, adding he was in the water for 15 to 20 minutes. Knab wore a T-shirt from a Hilton hotel where passengers stayed Friday night. His other shirts and belongings were “at the bottom of the river,” he said. “My phone still works. That’s amazing. I got my wallet,” he said. His roommate on the boat, however, lost everything. Truck driver Blas Armas, who recorded on his phone as panicked passengers tried to swim from the stricken boat, said many elderly people in the river screamed, “Help, help.” “The most terrifying thing was an old lady (who had) only her head out of the water,” Armas told CNN late Friday. “She was wearing a vest, but it wasn’t around her neck,” he said, adding that she was trying to swim with one hand as she clung to what looked like a piece of floating furniture. The woman was eventually pulled to safety. He also recalled seeing an elderly man bleeding from his forehead. “People were scared,” he said. Brian Clesi, captain of the New Orleans riverboat Creole Queen, was on his way to work Friday when he received a phone call: A ship had lost steering about a quarter mile away. Clesi and Ellis “Jimmy” Kimball later launched the riverboat’s bow-mounted rescue boat and made their way to the crash site, where rescuers were already plucking people from the river. Clesi, 53, told CNN he and his partner pulled nine people out of the water and took them to other vessels for triage or to first responders on the riverbank. They brought one man with head trauma to a fireboat. “About three people we responded to, including one harbor police officer, were wearing life jackets. But the rest that we pulled out were not. So, it was imperative to get them to safety as soon as possible,” Clesi said. “I’m just glad we were there to get them out,” he said. “The ones that didn’t have a life jacket on were holding on for dear life.” Many of the people in the water were elderly and appeared to be in shock, Clesi said. “We train for this. We do man overboard drills, rescue drills, fire drills,” Clesi said. “Everybody in this harbor works together as a team. If somebody is in need, everybody’s coming. So, it wasn’t just us. We played a very small part in the grand scheme of things.” Moreno, the mayor, said passengers began disembarking after the cruise ship was first hit, but it then began to sink and eventually “toppled over and flipped.” New Orleans firefighters immediately responded to the collision and used ladders over the dock to try to rescue people, Moreno said. Other ships on the Mississippi River also responded to help get people out of the water, she added. American Cruise Lines, the owner of the riverboat American Heritage, confirmed its boat was involved in the incident and said it worked with local authorities to evacuate everyone from the vessel. Thome, the ship management company responsible for implementing the International Safety Management code on the boat, said in a statement that the Atlantic Asphalt tanker was built in 2017 and registered in the Marshall Islands. “We deeply regret the impact of this incident and extend our sincere concern and heartfelt sympathies to those injured. Our thoughts remain with the passengers of the AMERICAN HERITAGE following their harrowing experience as we work diligently to assess and investigate the incident,” the company said, adding that it was “fully complying with the local authorities.” The American Heritage was built in 2015 and has capacity for 150 guests, according to the operator. The cruise line, which offers river cruises across the US, hosts several cruises that port in New Orleans. The person driving the tanker was a river pilot, said Burnham, the Coast Guard captain. This image taken from a video shows people being helped out of the water after a tanker crashed into a river cruise in New Orleans, on Friday, November 13 – Devon Flanagan/AP Some passengers abandoned personal items on the sinking ship, Moreno said, and are now staying at local hotels. The city is working with partners, including the American Red Cross, to ensure all passengers have access to accommodation, transportation and necessary prescription medications. Two harbor police officers that had been hospitalized were released Friday evening, the Port of New Orleans said in an update. Landry, the governor, praised all of the agencies involved, saying their constant partnership prepared them for this type of situation. “It is a literal miracle on the Mississippi,” he said. “When you think about the population that was on that cruise ship, and the ability for us to get them off, get them out of the water.” “The Mississippi River is not some quiet pond, right? I mean, there were challenges out there,” he added. President Donald Trump, who offered the state support, also praised first responders, saying in a social media post, “All of Law Enforcement and First Responders were fantastic!” Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said that “by the grace of God, we have not lost one soul” during the collision and subsequent rescue. unknown content item – Following the rescue mission, the US Coast Guard has reopened the main channel to limited traffic after it was shut down immediately following the collision, Burnham said. It could take weeks to remove the American Heritage from the river, the mayor said. Before the riverboat is moved, Burnham said, its 16,000 gallons of fuel need to be removed. The National Transportation Safety Board said it was sending a team of investigators to New Orleans by ground due to “residual delays from the nationwide ground stop” on Friday. Moreno said some NTSB investigators were in New Orleans and others were expected to arrive later Saturday. Landry said there “is an active investigation” into the collision. “We want to make sure that this investigation is thorough, we understand exactly what happened, so that we can triage those problems and ensure that the Mississippi River remains a very safe place,” he said. CNN’s Aaron Cooper, Sarah Dewberry, Taylor Galgano, Jason Morris, Jada Furlow and Shawn Nottingham contributed to this report For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.comThis article originally appeared on CNN at https://www.cnn.com/2026/11/13/us/new-orleans-tanker-crash

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX’s Starship made a triumphant return to Earth on Saturday, caught in midair by giant mechanical arms where its journey began 22 hours earlier. It was the grand finale that Elon Musk and his team hoped for — the first-ever capture of a Starship flying back from space. But with the first-stage booster exploding shortly after Friday’s liftoff from Texas, the company fell short of its desired double catch, still the goal for accelerating moon and Mars travel. Wreckage remained in the Gulf of Mexico, cordoned off by buoys, as the stainless steel, bullet-shaped spacecraft lowered itself upright at the launch pad. The dramatic, sci-fi-like capture helped blot out the booster’s messy miss. Cameras panned the spacecraft up and down as it hung high above the ground, supported by the arms of the launch tower. “Can you believe it?” SpaceX commentator Dan Huot shouted, dragging out each word. “Look at her! Baby, she’s back!” Soon afterward, Musk congratulated his “incredible team.” SpaceX officials said Saturday’s catch demonstrates the full reusability of Starship, crucial for rapid and low-cost recycling. Although Friday’s booster recovery failed, the company had already made three previous booster catches, validating the technique. NASA welcomed Saturday’s news. The space agency is paying billions of dollars for Starship to land Artemis astronauts on the moon later this decade and help build a permanent lunar base. Musk’s ambitions are even grander: He wants to launch a fleet of Starships to build a city on Mars. “It was almost magic,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said via X. “Making more believers by the day … one step closer to (emojis of the moon and the U.S. flag).” The world’s largest and most powerful rocket — a 407-foot (124-meter) behemoth — blasted off late Friday afternoon from SpaceX’s Starship base near the U.S.-Mexican border. Separating neatly from its booster before things went awry, the upper-stage spacecraft soared into orbit and released 26 advanced Starlink satellites. Starship continued circling the world 165 miles (265 kilometers) up, with live views of itself and Earth streaming down via Starlink. The spacecraft completed 14 laps around Earth, outshining the previous mission’s one to two laps. It was SpaceX’s 15th flight of a full-scale Starship since 2023 and its only second trip to orbit. SpaceX reported that everything on the spacecraft, including its vital heat shield, appeared to work well. As for the booster, SpaceX’s Kate Tice said its engines stopped firing too soon on the way back down. The booster’s guidance system sensed it wasn’t in the right position and automatically initiated the watery detour and self-destruction. Engineers are still investigating the cause. SpaceX expects to begin launching Starships from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center within the next few months. That is the starting point for NASA’s next Artemis mission, which will skip the moon and remain in orbit around Earth for lunar lander practice. Artemis III’s four astronauts will attempt to dock their capsule with not only Starship but Blue Origin’s Blue Moon. The two companies will take turns delivering crews to the lunar surface. NASA is targeting as soon as 2028 for Artemis IV, humanity’s first moon landing since the Apollo era more than half a century ago. ___ The Associated Press’ health and science coverage receives financial support from the AP Fund for Journalism and private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.This article originally appeared on Associated Press at https://tech.yahoo.com/science/articles/spacex-starship-returns-orbit-captured-213234648.html

By Olena Harmash KYIV, Nov 14 (Reuters) – US negotiators have floated the idea of Ukraine’s potential withdrawal from its eastern region of Donbas in exchange for joining NATO, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, following the latest round of peace talks with Russia in Abu Dhabi. This is the first time ‌the question of linking NATO membership to territorial concessions has been raised during the talks, Zelenskiy said in remarks to reporters released by his office ‌on Saturday. “The Americans raised a question: ‘What if Ukraine joins NATO? Would Ukraine withdraw from Donbas?” he said. “That is why I believe NATO is back on the agenda. But you have also heard (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s signals, ​and this is an extremely difficult conversation.” Putin has long said Ukrainian membership of NATO is a red line for Moscow, citing the issue as one reason for launching Russia’s full-blown invasion in 2022. Zelenskiy reiterated his position that Kyiv was not ready to concede territory but said that if it received a comprehensive package including security guarantees, the right to a strong and well-funded Ukrainian army and funds to rebuild, he would put the question to a national referendum. ‘THIS WAR MUST BE ENDED FIRST’ Echoing comments made by European leaders at a ‌summit in Dublin on Friday, Zelenskiy dismissed Russia’s call ⁠for a broad agreement on European security architecture to be reached before the specifics are agreed on how to end the war in Ukraine. “We cannot turn everything upside down and start by talking about changing the security framework in the world or across the continent ⁠overall, and only then talk about ending this war. This war must be ended first,” he said. US President Donald Trump’s envoy and son-in-law Jared Kushner said on Saturday that the two sides had set out “maximalist positions” in the talks this week, but in private discussions both “understand that practical compromises will be necessary to end this war.” “Serious and constructive work continues among those of ​us ​committed to finding solutions,” Kushner said in a social media post. Zelenskiy also dismissed Putin’s suggestion for ​a local humanitarian ceasefire in Kostiantynivka, a hotly contested city in ‌Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, saying it reflected Moscow’s inability to take the city by force. Civilians there have already had the opportunity to evacuate, he added. “Putin simply wants us to leave Kostiantynivka so that they can move in and occupy the entire city that way,” he said. Ukraine has given a list of seven or eight other frontline settlements where civilians, including children, are trapped for a potential humanitarian truce but Russia prefers to use them as military targets, Zelenskiy said. Moscow denies deliberately targeting civilians in the war. LARGE PRISONER EXCHANGE AGREED The two days of US-brokered talks between Ukraine and Russia concluded on Wednesday in the Emirati capital without a major breakthrough, though the sides agreed to ‌a prisoner exchange that will involve more than 1,000 people, Zelenskiy said. The final numbers for ​the prisoner swap were still under discussion, he added. Kushner and fellow US envoy Steve Witkoff had pledged ​to raise an energy ceasefire with Putin at a meeting in Moscow on ​Thursday, Zelenskiy said, but there was no news of any progress after their talks. “Putin personally does not support a ceasefire,” he said. Zelenskiy ‌met Witkoff and Kushner on Thursday in Ireland after their talks ​in Moscow. He said the US negotiators had ​told him that all sides had agreed for Europe to have a seat at the negotiating table in forthcoming peace talks. In Abu Dhabi, delegates from Europe — which is now Ukraine’s largest financial and military backer — had talks with US and Ukrainian officials but did not sit at the table with Russia. At ​the summit in Ireland, EU leaders agreed that Europe’s team ‌for any Ukraine peace talks would comprise five major military powers — non-EU member Britain plus France, Germany, Italy and Poland — as well as EU ​officials. Kushner said the US focus was now on “facilitating direct engagement between Moscow and European partners and preparing the agenda for the next round of ​trilateral talks.” (Reporting by Olena Harmash; Editing by Daniel Flynn, Gareth Jones and Sanjeev Miglani) This article originally appeared on Reuters at https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/us-floated-idea-ukraine-ceding-122531169.html

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, right, with Federal Aviation Administrator Bryan Bedford, left, and Rebecca Gay, FAA Acting Chief Technology Officer, speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Department of Transportation, Saturday, Nov. 14, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Tom Brenner)AP Photo/Tom BrennerAirlines canceled thousands more flights Saturday as they recovered from Friday’s nationwide ground stop, but the FAA said schedules should be back to normal by the end of Sunday.More than 5,000 U.S. flights had been canceled Saturday as of 2:48 p.m. ET, according to FlightAware, already past the top of the 4,000 to 5,000 that FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford predicted. Flight-tracking app Flighty said the outage has now caused more cancellations than the 2024 CrowdStrike software failure. “I do think the worst is behind us,” Bedford said, and he apologized to travelers.The FAA halted departures nationwide for more than four hours Friday, the longest ground stop since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. About 12,000 flights couldn’t be completed, Bedford said.Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the outage began while L3Harris Technologies, which runs the network, was doing routine work to switch lines from copper wire to fiber at a remote FAA site. A router involved in the work flooded the rest of the system, disrupting communications with airplanes and radar. Duffy said officials are working to determine “whether we had incompetence” by the contractor or a faulty router. “Until I can build” a new network, he said, “I’m stuck with L3Harris.” Bedford said the review will determine whether the router was installed or configured incorrectly, or was simply defective.In a statement to Yahoo News, L3Harris said it is “supporting the FAA in its investigation” and “takes the nationwide ground stop and its impact on travelers, airlines and air traffic operations seriously.” The company did not address Duffy’s criticism or say what went wrong.Asked why the work was done on a Friday afternoon, Duffy said work at small, remote sites is done during the day because it isn’t expected to affect the wider system. “There’ll be a reevaluation of when we do this work,” he said. Bedford said maintenance on the network is logged on paper, so officials had to search through paper records to figure out who was working where.Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, told Yahoo News that communications with some planes were disrupted during the outage and that controllers moved flights to working frequencies. Asked whether work like Friday’s should be done during the day, he said, “If the worst outcome is we lose all of our frequencies, well, then that work should be done when there’s the fewest airplanes in the sky.”The network’s problems aren’t new. A 2023 FAA-commissioned safety review called it obsolete, CBS News reported. In 2009, a technician for L3Harris’ predecessor, Harris Corp., misconfigured a router while moving the network to fiber, disrupting 129 air traffic facilities, according to a Transportation Department inspector general review.Duffy is pressing Congress for more money to replace the system. President Trump has asked for $30 billion and Duffy has said he wants $50 billion, on top of the $12.5 billion Congress approved last year. Bedford said the router swap was routine maintenance, not part of that modernization effort.New York Gov. Kathy Hochul called on Duffy to resign Saturday. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a Democrat from Illinois and a ranking member of an aviation subcommittee, called for an investigation.Travelers whose flights were canceled are owed a refund if they choose not to fly, and most major airlines are offering travel waivers. Airlines’ promises of hotels and meals generally cover only disruptions within their control, which doesn’t include an FAA ground stop.This article originally appeared on Yahoo News at https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/live/faa-ground-stop-latest-updates-duffy-blames-contractor-l3harris-thousands-more-flights-canceled-saturday-no-sign-of-cyberattack-161329174.html