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By Esther Linder, ABC, with wires Anti-government fighters celebrate in a street in Maaret al-Numan in Syria's northwestern Idlib province on November 30, 2024. Photo: ABDULAZIZ KETAZ Syria's civil war has ground on in the Middle Eastern country for 13 years, but the capture of a major city could signal a change in the devastating conflict. Sparked by protests across the Middle East that turned into the Arab Spring, the Assad regime has been fighting multiple rebel groups with the support of Russia and Iran since 2011. But now, a lightning offensive against government forces that began on Wednesday and focused on the city of Aleppo in north-west Syria has seen rebel forces take territory not ceded since 2016. What's changed in Syria and how could this affect its roughly 23.5 million ...

Vepaiamele is a young activist is taking on the defining challenge of our lifetime. Photo: Supplied / Conor Ashleigh/ Save the Children It is Vepaiamele's 16th birthday, but she is not having a party. Today she will be at the World Court. Vepaiamele is part of Vanuatu's delegation to The Hague - and will be representing the voice of young people in the Pacific. It is a landmark case, beginning five years ago with a group of law students studying in Vanuatu discussing how they could help bring about climate action. Now, for the first time, the 15 judges of the International Court of Justice have been requested to give an advisory opinion on the obligations of states in respect of climate change. Between 2 and 13 December, the International Court of Justice will be holding public hearings...

Parts of Brisbane have been submerged by flash flooding, with more storms predicted for south-east Queensland. Bureau of Metereology (BOM) senior meteorologist Angus Hines said massive rainfall totals were recorded, with the heaviest falling inland from the Gold Coast. In a short burst of rapid rainfall on Sunday, 51 millimetres were recorded in Brisbane City over 30 minutes. In an hour, Rosalie saw 70mm and 77mm fell in Holland Park West. Coombabah on the Gold Coast had 77mm and Waterford in Logan recorded 57mm in the space of under four hours. Up to 265mm of rain hit Springbrook National Park and the wider Scenic Rim in the 24 hours to 9am on Sunday. "Very, very wet there [and] caused some sharp river level rises including the Logan River, which shot straight into major flooding overnigh...

By Ashley R. Williams, Sarah Dewberry, Zenebou Sylla and Dakin Andone, CNN Lake-effect snow buried a vehicle in Pennsylvania's Millcreek Township. Photo: Matt Eisert via CNN Newsource Post-Thanksgiving travel will be treacherous in parts of the Great Lakes region due to several feet of lake-effect snow, while biting cold temperatures sweep across a large swath of the United States. More than two million people downwind of Lakes Michigan, Erie and Ontario remain under lake-effect snow warnings, with heavy snow already reported this weekend across parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York state. Most significantly, nearly four feet of snow fell on parts of western New York the last few days, according to the Weather Prediction Centre. The lake-effect warnings in most of western New York...

By Joyce Lee and Valerie Volcovici for Reuters Photo: 123RF Talks fail to reach consensus on treaty scope Oil-producing nations oppose production caps Plastic production on track to triple by 2050 Decisions postponed to a future meeting Countries negotiating a global treaty to curb plastic pollution failed to reach agreement on Monday with over 100 nations wanting to cap production while a handful of oil-producers were prepared only to target plastic waste. The fifth UN Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee meeting to yield a legally binding global treaty in Busan, South Korea, was meant to be the final one. However, countries remained far apart on the basic scope of a treaty, and could agree only to postpone key decisions to a future meeting. "While I saw points of conve...