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The Latino vote shift that helped elect Trump in 2024 now stands as a central part of the Republican defeat, driven by complaints over prices and the immigration crackdown. Latinos voted en masse for Democrats in Tuesday’s elections, from Texas to California, according to AFP. An NBC exit poll cited by the agency put the Democratic victory at about 30 percentage points among Latino voters. The agency attributes the shift to unfulfilled pledges of lower prices and an aggressive immigration crackdown affecting Latinos themselves.

The Democratic majority in Congress will now control trade committees and be able to investigate tariff policy, but repealing tariffs runs into Trump’s veto power. With at least 235 seats, according to Reuters projections, Democrats will hold trade committee chairs and have an easier time passing trade legislation. Democrats want to rescind old laws Trump used to impose tariffs, such as Section 338 of the 1930 Tariff Act, applied to Canadian imports. For Blake Harden of Ernst & Young, the congressional swing is “very unlikely” to have a significant impact on the president’s trade agenda and the tariffs in place — Trump will continue to pursue his tariff-driven trade agenda protecting workers, farmers and businesses, White House spokesman Matthew Middleton said.

The United States sanctioned on Wednesday two individuals and one entity accused of helping Iran obtain man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS). The State Department identified the targets as Mohammed Ali Tolibov, CEO of Belarus-based Armory Alliance; Nigeria-based Vanguard Tactical Supply Limited; and Russia-based Alisher Domullodzhanov. According to the department, the network sought to facilitate the procurement of Chinese-origin MANPADS for Iran, including through false end-users — Israeli newspaper Ynet describes the case as an attempt to purchase hundreds of Chinese-made shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles, with a Belarusian company acting as intermediary. The statement places the move under Operation Economic Outcast, following designations on May 8, June 10 and July 15, 2026.

Commonwealth leaders meeting in Antigua said the UK has signed up to “structured, time-bound, inclusive and good-faith” talks addressing the “historical harms” of the transatlantic slave trade. The paragraph appears in the summit’s 18-page final communiqué, in which leaders “welcome the agreement of the Government of the United Kingdom” to join the dialogue. Prime Minister Andy Burnham opened the door to a formal apology on behalf of the UK, while ruling out direct reparations. The timeframe for the talks will be agreed at a later date, though Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has suggested they are likely to conclude in around a year.

Japanese companies suffered 239 ransomware attacks from January to October, more than double the 2021 total, according to a survey by security firm Macnica. The count by Yokohama-based Macnica includes attacks without data encryption and already exceeds the 228 cases recorded in all of 2025, a new annual record. Among 100 Japanese firms surveyed by Proofpoint, the ransomware infection rate jumped to 73% in 2025 from 38% in the 2023 survey, the largest increase among 11 comparable countries — and about 40% of organizations that paid ransoms failed to recover data or regain access after a single payment, many facing additional demands.

Tuesday’s vote turned AI data centers into a local-ballot issue: 44 communities voted to restrict data centers and just one voted to allow construction, across 45 decided measures. Twenty-one of the measures were in towns and cities in Ohio alone; the next state with the most measures was Maine, with eight. The measures included outright prohibitions, temporary moratoriums, limitations on energy use, mandating voter approval before construction and advisory measures — by late Tuesday evening, 33 restriction measures had passed or were leading in ongoing counts, according to the Data Centers on the Ballot tracking site.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky awarded US First Lady Melania Trump the Order of Princess Olga, First Class. The decree cited her “significant personal contribution to humanitarian support for Ukraine” and active human rights and charitable work. Melania last month announced a localized truce between Ukrainian and Russian forces to allow residents of Oleshky, on the southern front, to leave, and said nearly 800 people were evacuated. Ukraine this week accused Russia of taking advantage of the truce to strengthen its military position there, while the Kremlin called adjusting positions during a ceasefire “standard practice” — according to the White House, Melania independently initiated engagement between the two warring nations and secured the ceasefire.

Several regional facilities of the French Blood Establishment (EFS) were affected on November 2 by a cybersecurity incident that hit cold storage room monitoring and control systems, according to the French Health Ministry. The situation is now under control and the safety of blood supplies was preserved thanks to monitoring and alarm systems — no health impact has been identified and no blood products have been lost, the EFS said, with collection and hospital deliveries continuing normally. Hackers accessed control units for fridges containing blood samples and programmed them to raise temperatures to 110°C, according to local media. The incident followed attacks that forced stores in eight European countries to throw away vast quantities of food after hackers tampered with their fridges on Monday.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog accepted the certified results of last week’s parliamentary elections and began consultations with party leaders on whom to task with forming the next government. “Now is the time to face reality,” Herzog said. Eight parties, including the two Arab-led factions, are scheduled to meet Herzog on Thursday, with Eisenkot’s Yashar and Netanyahu’s Likud speaking last — after the consultations, Herzog will choose the candidate he believes is most likely to be able to form a coalition, most likely Netanyahu or Eisenkot, and has several days to announce his decision.

Saudi-led coalition attacks over the past 24 hours reportedly killed around 20 people across Yemen, including in the provinces of al-Jawf, al-Bayda, Saada and Taiz, according to Houthi-affiliated media.

Republicans lost the midterm elections because of the war with Iran, United States Vice President JD Vance said. According to Vance, many of those who voted for Trump and Vance in 2024 voted for Democrats in 2026, demanding an end to the war, a focus on the cost of living, priority to the United States and a change in the relationship with Israel. Voter frustration over the war and the relationship with Israel sealed the defeat, in a distancing from Donald Trump — who acknowledged the weight of gasoline prices but defended the decision to start the conflict — ahead of a possible 2028 White House bid.

The Transnational Legal Coalition (TLC) filed 14 suspected money-laundering complaints on Wednesday against JBS, its financiers and service providers, with notifications sent to regulators in the Netherlands, Germany, Ireland and the United Kingdom. The complaints rest on research commissioned from AidEnvironment, which linked the company’s direct and indirect supply chain to more than 6.5 million hectares cleared in the Amazon since 1988, and JBS says it cannot comment without access to the study’s methodology.

Disagreements inside the United States government over the next steps regarding Iran intensified following the midterm congressional elections, according to the Wall Street Journal, in a text republished by TASS. Some officials are urging Donald Trump to launch new strikes against Iran and then try to secure peace, while others believe he should stop and scale back the military operation; Trump said he would end the war whenever he wants, but that this must be done right.

The People’s Bank of China is working to extend e-CNY operating capability to offshore banks, including branches of existing operators in Hong Kong, said Lu Yuan, deputy head of the bank’s digital currency research institute, on a panel at Hong Kong Fintech Week. ICBC has already accumulated hundreds of billions of yuan in transactions in the currency, and the central bank counts around 4.3 billion transactions worth around 31 trillion yuan as of September.

Ukraine’s national police released on Wednesday bodycam footage that, it says, shows the moments between two Russian bomb strikes that killed at least 40 people at an aid center and a shelter, in the Zaporizhzhia region in southern Ukraine. According to Ukraine, nine gliding bombs, some weighing 3,000 kg, hit the village as people had gathered to get humanitarian aid, and more than 30 people may still be under the rubble on the third day of searches; the Russian military has not publicly commented on the attack.

35 lawmakers submitted impeachment articles against President Santiago Peña in the 80-seat lower house on Wednesday and requested an extraordinary session on Thursday to debate the matter, according to Reuters. The opposition accuses Peña of conflicts of interest, misuse of pension funds and institutional cover-ups in the bank case. Paraguay's central bank intervened in Ueno after finding minimum solvency requirements breached, leaving about 3 million customers in a country of 6.5 million people unable to access their accounts. The opposition still lacks the two-thirds majority needed to advance impeachment but has won backing from dissidents of the ruling Colorado Party.

High Court Judge William Tam has set 9:30 a.m. this Thursday for the sentencing of Joshua Wong for foreign collusion, in a hearing lasting about 30 minutes. Wong pleaded guilty in September and faces a prison term ranging from three years to life imprisonment on the charge of conspiring with external forces to endanger national security. The 30-year-old activist is already serving a four-year, eight-month prison term. Before the new charge, lawyer Derek Chan told the court Wong had been due for release in January 2027.

The NABU has dismantled a criminal network running fraudulent call centers and drug sales with the support of senior SBU, police and Prosecutor General's Office officials, according to TASS, citing Ukrainska Pravda — dozens of raids were carried out on Wednesday in Operation Carthage. Vladimir Tsenov, first deputy chief of the national police's strategic investigations department, known by the codename “Price”, was detained. SBU chief Oleksandr Poklad dismissed two senior officials targeted by the investigation, according to Le Monde.

The toll of the Russian attack on Komyshuvakha has risen to 40 dead, with the search in its third day, Zelensky announced, according to Le Monde. Zelensky arrived in Madrid on his fifth visit to Spain and meets Pedro Sánchez and other leaders on Thursday on the sidelines of an Ibero-American summit, with strengthening air defense as the top priority. He lamented “very few reactions around the world” and urged allies to bolster the country's air defense “right now”. The European Commission praised Ukraine's progress toward membership but urged faster rule-of-law reforms to conclude negotiations by the end of 2028.

Sub-Saharan Africa's liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports are set to grow nearly 175% to 98 billion cubic meters in 2034 from 35.7 billion in 2024, according to Fitch, as buyers flee the Strait of Hormuz. The African Energy Chamber projects about US$ 40 billion a year in exploration and production investment through 2030, lifting the continent's hydrocarbon output to 12.5 million barrels of oil equivalent per day. In Mozambique, TotalEnergies' US$ 20 billion LNG project, with capacity of 13.1 million tonnes per year, resumed construction in January after the end of a four-and-a-half-year force majeure and is about 45% complete.

Trump raised with aides and in phone calls the possibility of replacing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, without making a decision, according to CBS News, in a report cited by the Times of India. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is seen as a possible replacement. Asked by reporters, Trump publicly denied the move — saying Hegseth is doing “a very good job” — and White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said Trump has “full confidence” in him.

The Cheonghae unit, currently in the Gulf of Aden, will have its area of operation extended northeast to waters south of Oman, in the Arabian Sea, officials told The Korea Herald, roughly doubling its radius to about 1,930 kilometers. The expansion adds 75 troops to the unit, bringing its strength to 395. A Defense Ministry official said operations will stay limited to open waters south of Oman and that the P-8A maritime patrol aircraft will be barred from watching Iranian territory or waters or the interior of the Strait of Hormuz. The government plans to send the revised mandate motion to the National Assembly after Cabinet endorsement next week, and South Korean law requires parliamentary consent to expand overseas missions.

A growing number of Iranian clerics and officials are pressing the country's leaders to reverse their pledge not to pursue nuclear weapons, according to The New York Times, in a report cited by The Jerusalem Post. Specialist Mohammad Ghaderi told the paper that advocating leaving the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), once a minority view, has become the majority position in Tehran, and analyst Mohammad Ali Shabani said the religious taboo on the weapon is gone — “the question is whether a strategic or political shift will follow”. President Masoud Pezeshkian and former President Hassan Rouhani still back a peaceful nuclear doctrine, according to the paper.

Brent fell US$ 8.94, or 8.6%, to US$ 94.66 per barrel on Wednesday, after touching its lowest level since September 4, with traders pricing an end to the war against Iran, according to OilPrice. WTI dropped US$ 8.01, or 8.3%, to US$ 88.08, while Brent traded near US$ 118 on Friday. Gulf exports of crude and products averaged 17.1 million barrels per day in October, down from 18.9 million in September, roughly three-quarters of the pre-war level, according to Vortexa. The US Department of Energy announced the loan of 300,000 barrels from the Northeast home heating oil reserve to four companies, nearly a third of the stockpile, and heating oil futures fell about 7%.

United States President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he reached an agreement with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu several months ago to end approximately US$ 4 billion in annual US military aid to Israel by December 2026 — according to Trump, Netanyahu proposed ending the aid. The current agreement guarantees Israel US$ 3.8 billion per year through fiscal year 2028, with implementation of the cut still undefined, and beyond 2028 the country would need about US$ 10 billion to pay for outstanding orders, according to a State Department document sent to Congress and reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. El-Sayed said Trump is right on this policy and argued for ending sales of weaponry to Israel, in an interview with NPR.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung is pushing for a centralized cybersecurity agency after passport details and other personal information of 168 people, including the president, his wife and senior security officials, were reported to be accessible online for nearly five months, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP). Technology experts warn that creating a new organization alone does little to address the deeper problem of complacency, with businesses and government agencies viewing tighter cybersecurity as an unnecessary expense until a serious breach occurs.

In an interview with German television ZDF, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he hoped Democratic gains in the midterm elections would generate more help for Kyiv in its 4-1/2-year-long war with Russia, according to Reuters, in a text published by the Jerusalem Post. Zelensky said he was grateful to Republicans but that Democrats speak “very clearly” about supporting Ukraine and renewing the connection between the United States and Europe. “I am also grateful to the Republicans, but the Democrats speak very clearly about supporting Ukraine and providing assistance to Ukraine,” he said in comments provided in German by ZDF before the interview was broadcast. “They speak about renewing the connection between the United States and Europe... Therefore, there is hope that a balance of power will emerge and that we will receive more support.” He also said that a Congress approving strong financial support or military assistance would have an impact on Putin.

A test by France 24 Observers using a Chinese IP address showed that Doubao replies that the content is suspected of violating its rules of use and DeepSeek suggests the story is fake news and that there is no trustworthy information available. “This content is suspected of violating the rules for using Doubao,” Doubao responded. DeepSeek responded by suggesting the story was fake news: “As for the question of whether Mbappé said the words ‘Mao Zedong is a dictator’, there is currently no publicly available, trustworthy information or any news report that would make it possible to confirm this statement.” The controversy began with a joke by Mbappé in mid-October on the French podcast The Bridge, when he cited a meme in which his face appears superimposed on the figure of someone he called “a Chinese dictator”. Chinese football sponsors, including Dongpeng Group, dairy giant Mengniu and cheesemaker Milkground, ended partnerships with the Real Madrid striker; a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry lashed out at Mbappé during a press conference, and the player published an apology that, according to France 24, Chinese diplomats say is being taken seriously. Researcher Jennifer Pan of Stanford University said the original Chinese models are more likely to refuse to respond and to give short and vague replies to questions about Chinese politics than models developed elsewhere.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog sent a warning letter last month to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials about a “highly explosive and dangerous reality” in the West Bank and the “moral disgrace” of settler violence, according to the Times of Israel, which says it obtained the letter. The letter was also sent to Foreign Minister Israel Katz, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, and says that IDF commanders, police officers and Shin Bet personnel report “limited tools and a shortage of manpower”. Herzog warned that a flare-up on the ground is liable to carry “severe and far-reaching consequences” for Israel's security, its functioning as a sovereign state, its international standing, Diaspora Jewry and the Israeli economy. He called for the perpetrators to be treated as members of a criminal organization and for a plan with a mass deployment of security forces, widespread arrests, administrative detentions and the dismantling of the groups. Settler violence has surged in recent months, with near-daily attacks and harassment and few perpetrators charged or convicted.

Ethiopia expelled six staff members of Sudan's consulate in Assosa, a western city near the Sudanese border, and ordered the mission closed, according to officials from both countries. Sudan's Foreign Ministry said on Saturday that drones used by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) against the country's electricity infrastructure were supplied by the United Arab Emirates and launched from Ethiopia, and that it had filed formal complaints against Addis Ababa at the UN Security Council and the African Union's Peace and Security Council. Sudan accuses Ethiopia of backing the RSF, while Addis Ababa accuses Khartoum of supporting rebels in Tigray; Ethiopia denies backing the RSF and Sudan denies backing the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF). Amjad Farid, political and foreign affairs adviser to Sudan's Transitional Sovereign Council, said the government remains committed to its right to defend its territory but is making every possible effort to avoid an open war with Ethiopia. Ethiopia withdrew three diplomats from its consulate in the eastern Sudanese city of El Gedaref, and reports suggested Sudanese authorities ordered the Ethiopian diplomats there to leave in retaliation; neither foreign ministry issued an official statement on the mutual expulsions, according to the Sudan Tribune. Sudan's civil war, which began in April 2023, has displaced more than 14 million people, according to UN figures, in a Reuters text republished by the Straits Times.

A Yemeni government military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that 13 military recruits were killed and 65 others wounded in a ballistic missile attack on a military training center in Qatabah district, northern Al-Dhalea, in southern Yemen, during morning exercises, and blamed the attack on the Houthis. A ballistic missile hit Hayfan in Taiz governorate and killed four Yemenis from the same family, including three children, on Wednesday, according to Middle East Eye. Houthi-run al-Masirah TV blamed the killing of three children and a woman, with four other children wounded in the same district, on a Saudi airstrike. On November 3, Yemeni Interior Minister Ibrahim Ali Haidan accused Hezbollah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of sending military instructors to command Houthi combat operations, develop missile and drone programs and coordinate attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, according to TASS. Hezbollah denied the allegations and said the Yemeni authorities' statements about support for the Houthi offensive, military training and rearmament are “completely baseless”, adding that “the Yemeni people have sufficient capabilities, resources, and experience to defend their country without external support.”

The president of Cuba's National Institute of Hydraulic Resources, Antonio Rodríguez, said that interruptions in water networks affect 2,681,770 residents, 66% of them for electrical reasons and 25% because of broken pumping equipment, according to the EFE agency, in a text republished by the Paraguayan outlet ABC Color. President Miguel Díaz-Canel called the water supply problem “grave and complex” and said that large-scale investments to solve it require time, while immediate difficulties are being addressed. The worst-affected provinces are Havana, with about 536,000 residents facing supply problems, and Santiago de Cuba, Holguín, Matanzas, Artemisa and Pinar, with about 200,000 each. Díaz-Canel attributed the problem to objective causes — the US blockade, the energy crisis, aging networks — and also to the “negligence, indolence and lack of coordination” of the authorities.

The mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) expired at midnight on Saturday, after the Security Council failed on Friday to agree on its future: a US draft was vetoed by Russia and a rival Russian text failed to win the nine votes needed. Secretary-General António Guterres said the departure of the mission “does not abrogate” the Sahrawi people's “inalienable right to self-determination”, in a statement delivered by his spokesperson. Russia vetoed the US draft despite support from 11 of the 15 Council members, including France and the United Kingdom; the US text would have extended the mission for a year, removed “referendum” from its name and made Morocco's autonomy proposal the only basis for further talks. When the mandate ended, the mission was headquartered in Laayoune, with nine team sites — four west of the sand wall and five east of it — and a liaison office in Tindouf, with about 200 civilian staff, military observers and staff officers from over 35 countries. Morocco's royal palace said that Rabat's “voluntary commitment” to the ceasefire would not change with the end of the mission, following a meeting chaired by King Mohammed VI with the prime minister, a royal adviser and the army chief — according to Reuters, in a text republished by Yahoo News Malaysia. The same statement called the fact that the mission was not renewed a “significant development” that withdraws the issue from the Security Council's consideration. Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita told state media that Rabat's next step would be to remove Western Sahara from the UN's decolonization committee, saying Rabat had the support of two-thirds of UN member states.

Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said the Islamic Republic has inflicted defeats on Donald Trump on the battlefield, in Hormuz and now a “political defeat” in Washington. “The Iranian nation handed Trump a strategic defeat on the battlefield and in Hormuz — and a political defeat in Washington. Meanwhile, Americans got stuck with the bill for his war,” he wrote in a post on X. “Anyone who takes on Iran will pay the price, from the battlefield to their own doorstep,” he added. After the Republican midterm defeat, a giant banner depicting Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was burned at a rally in Tehran.

President Donald Trump said it is “largely true” that the war with Iran cost the Republicans the midterm elections, pointing to the short-term rise in gasoline prices, and said he would do it again because “you can't let Iran have a nuclear weapon,” in remarks cited by the ANI agency. The same day, Vice President JD Vance wrote on X that “the reason we lost is the war” and that voter anger over the conflict drove former Trump supporters to back Democrats. Trump also said the main reason was the price of fuel, with “tremendous oil” flowing out of the Strait of Hormuz at the moment. He said he was prepared to work with Democrats after their midterm gains, while warning that he would veto legislation he opposed, and dismissed the possibility of an impeachment effort, saying it would damage Democrats. He also said his personal popularity did not transfer to Republican candidates and that, if he had been on the ballot, Republicans would have won. “If I were on the ballot, we would have won... But you couldn't just transfer that love. There was such love at those rallies; it was incredible. We weren't able to transfer that love to the candidates,” he said.

A record number of candidates for federal offices backed by or affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) won in Tuesday’s midterm elections, the most successful night the left-leaning movement has had in national politics so far. Chanpreet Singh, a member of the DSA’s national electoral commission, said these are numbers not seen in over a hundred years of socialist electoral activity. In Michigan, DSA member Rashida Tlaib was re-elected to the US House, member Donavan McKinney was elected to the body for the first time and William Lawrence defeated a Republican candidate in a highly competitive race. Angela Gonzales-Torres defeated a Democratic incumbent for a seat in the US House. The movement says it has more than 120,000 members, with chapters across all 50 states.

About 1,800 industrial facilities have been damaged in Sudan’s war, including 650 factories completely destroyed, according to the country’s Ministry of Industry. A sweets factory in Khartoum has resumed production but is operating at 40% of its previous capacity, and its owner, Mansour Gaily, estimates losses at $1 million. Reopening is hampered by electricity shortages, a damaged transport network and rising import costs, as well as the destruction or looting of raw materials and equipment.

Iranian lawmaker Manouchehr Mottaki, a former foreign minister and member of parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said that the chamber would vote unanimously to reconsider Iran’s continued membership in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if the supreme leader asked, according to the Mehr news agency. Mottaki said lawmakers receive around 200 text messages a day urging withdrawal and that he believes the time has come to discuss leaving the treaty, stressing that the decision rests with the supreme leader. The Paydari Front, led by former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, issued a statement calling for Iran’s withdrawal from the treaty, arguing that recent wars show the country needs nuclear weapons for deterrence. Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, said on October 31 that Iran’s future as a party to the treaty was uncertain. On November 1, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reiterated that Iran is a member of the NPT and upholds its commitments under the treaty.

Elon Musk, the single biggest campaign donor in the election cycle, poured over $440 million into Republican candidates and causes, but his preferred candidates lost races in Texas, where he has put down roots. Shares of Tesla and SpaceX dropped after the Democratic Party swept to power in the US midterm elections.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy said that three oil tankers struck naval mines and caught fire while navigating “unauthorized” routes through the Strait of Hormuz, according to the Tasnim news agency, which cited a statement from the force’s public relations office. According to the statement, the explosions occurred in the early hours of Tuesday and the ships, abandoned near the southern shores of the strait, remained engulfed in flames that illuminated the eastern section through the night. The Guard warned that ships disregarding the rules and cooperating with the US military to cross unauthorized routes could face similar incidents. On Monday, Iran’s Navy had already announced that an oil tanker had struck a mine and caught fire in an area described as prohibited and unsafe east of the strait.

South Africans voted on Wednesday in local elections that will decide who leads the country’s eight main city municipalities as well as its 44 district and 205 local councils, a contest expected to be a tough test for the African National Congress (ANC). A record 29.2 million people are registered to vote at 23,696 voting stations, according to the Electoral Commission of South Africa, and more than 1.4 million special votes were cast on Monday and Tuesday. Polls showed the ANC getting less than a third of the vote, down from 45.6% at the last municipal elections, in 2021, and 40.2% in 2024’s national elections. In total, 546 political parties were vying for votes, and final results are expected on Sunday. The outcome is expected to shape the race to succeed Cyril Ramaphosa as ANC leader at the party’s conference in December 2027.

Japan’s Defense Ministry has estimated that its five-year defense plan beginning in fiscal 2027 will require about 80 trillion yen (about $507 billion), nearly twice the amount allocated under the current plan. The figure is preliminary: given funding constraints, the government is expected to review equipment procurement and other expenditures and adjust the total toward the upper end of the 70 trillion yen (about $443.5 billion) range. The new spending is likely to fund purchases such as large numbers of drones, according to a source familiar with the matter. The review is taking shape as a year-end deadline for revisions to three key security documents looms.

QatarEnergy signed a 20-year agreement to buy 3 million metric tons per year of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Woodside Energy’s facilities in Louisiana and, a week earlier, struck deals with Cheniere for up to 4 million tons per year through 2054, according to Reuters, in a text republished by gCaptain. Deliveries under the contracts begin in 2030 and 2031 and will make Qatar the largest buyer of US LNG. Unlike its neighbors, the small Gulf state has no viable route for exporting LNG other than the Strait of Hormuz. QatarEnergy CEO Saad al-Kaabi told Reuters he expects to sign additional supply agreements with US and other producers this year. The company declared force majeure on LNG supplies in March, after the war with Iran led to the blockade of Hormuz and attacks on its Ras Laffan facilities; the measure runs through December.

North Korea test-fired a newly designed air-defense missile system and staged a cruise missile strike drill on Wednesday, state media KCNA said. The test confirmed the technical specifications and reliability of the new materials and multiple guidance modes used by the missile, as well as the system’s ability to identify and track targets. A sub-unit of the country’s long-range strategic cruise missile unit in the east struck a virtual airport target in the drill. The KCNA report appeared to confirm a South Korean Defense Ministry statement that Pyongyang fired multiple missiles toward the sea from the Sondok area on the east coast, the fourth North Korean weapons launch in a month.

The World Health Organization (WHO) approved clinical trials for two new Ebola vaccines on Wednesday, as an outbreak in Africa has killed more than 5,300 people. The candidates are ChAdOx1 BDBV, developed by the University of Oxford with the Serum Institute of India, and Moderna’s mRNA-1469, both designed specifically for the Bundibugyo virus. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the trial that began last month with the Ervebo vaccine does not cover the Bundibugyo virus and that the agency’s expert groups now recommend adding the two candidates to the study. The National Institute for Biomedical Research of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) leads the trial, backed by partners including WHO. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said on Monday that the epidemic had killed more than 5,300 people, the majority in the DRC, with 10,444 confirmed cases and a fatality rate above 50 percent.

Hubert Aiwanger, Bavaria’s deputy premier, economy minister and chairman of the right-wing populist Free Voters party, was found dead in a Berlin hotel on Wednesday. He was 55. He had been scheduled to speak at the opening of his party’s Berlin office but canceled because of health reasons, according to the dpa news agency. The body was at the Neuer Fritz hotel on Friedrichstrasse in Berlin-Mitte. Berlin prosecutors confirmed that the body was found in the hotel room; the cause of death was not immediately disclosed. Alexander Hoffmann, who heads the Christian Social Union (CSU) group in the Bundestag, mourned the death and called Aiwanger a “politician through and through” who shaped Bavaria.

US House Speaker Mike Johnson will step down from the Republican leadership after his party’s defeat in the midterm elections, his spokesperson confirmed to AFP on Wednesday. Asked about the departure, the spokesperson replied only “Correct,” according to the agency, in a text republished by Times Brasil. Johnson was reelected as a representative from Louisiana and has not announced an immediate departure from the speakership or from Congress. The opening sets up a contest between current Republican majority leader Steve Scalise, a representative from Louisiana, and Jim Jordan, chair of the Judiciary Committee and a representative from Ohio.

The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said that 1,134 children in Gaza have undergone amputations as of October 9, 2026. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 2,300 amputees — both children and adults — were assessed between September 2024 and May 2026, and only 500 received permanent prosthetics. The nongovernmental organization (NGO) said Israeli restrictions on patient travel and medical evacuations prevent hundreds of children from seeking specialized treatment abroad. According to the organization, only eight certified prosthetics and orthotics professionals are currently available in Gaza, and there is a lack of equipment to make, fit and maintain artificial limbs. The group accused Israel of war crimes and framed the amputation of children and the obstruction of treatment as acts listed in Article 2 of the Genocide Convention.

Syrian President Ahmad Al Shara arrived in Riyadh on Wednesday with a delegation including the foreign, defense, finance and industry ministers and the head of the General Intelligence Directorate, on his second visit to the kingdom in weeks, after a trip to Riyadh on October 6. He and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman witnessed the signing of agreements covering military cooperation, energy and infrastructure, and the Syrian Foreign Ministry said the defense agreement was the most notable but gave no details. The package included a cooperation agreement between the two countries’ defense ministries. Syria is in negotiations to join the Makkah defense pact, and Foreign Minister Asaad Al Shibani said at the Manama Dialogue in Bahrain that Damascus considers “security in the Gulf as part of its own.”

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine, the United States and Russia are preparing a trilateral format at the team level to take place in less than a week, after a detailed, hour-and-a-half-long conversation with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Witkoff said the United States would mediate the working-level talks, scheduled for November 10-11 in Abu Dhabi. Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said the talks may be held in Abu Dhabi around November 10. Zelensky said air defense remains a key priority and that Ukraine needs interceptors for Patriot systems.

According to OilPrice, the Japan-Korea Marker, Asia’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) benchmark, topped $31 per million British thermal units this month and briefly rose above $33, compared with a little over $9 in January. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimated that the war between the United States, Israel and Iran cost the world some 60 billion cubic meters of LNG supply in the eight months to October. QatarEnergy has signed two long-term deals to buy US gas, 4 million tons a year from Cheniere Energy and 3 million tons a year from Woodside Energy, which will make it the biggest foreign buyer of US liquefied gas, according to Reuters. Global gas consumption fell 1%, or 35 billion cubic meters, in the first nine months of the year.

With Democrats having won majority control of the House in the midterm elections, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries is on the cusp of becoming the nation’s first Black speaker of the House, after Democrats trounced Republicans to win the chamber. A vote of his colleagues is expected when the new Congress convenes on January 3. Jeffries has promised a robust 100-day agenda to lower the cost of living and launch oversight and investigations to hold the Trump administration accountable, with impeachment an option. Katherine Clark is expected to become the majority leader and Pete Aguilar the majority whip. Jeffries was elected House minority leader in 2022 and is the first Black politician to lead either party in the House or Senate.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said cholera has killed around 1,800 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) so far this year, a country also battling its deadliest Ebola outbreak, according to AFP, in a text republished by Medical Xpress. Some 60,000 cases of the disease have been recorded in what the WHO chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, described as the country’s “worst cholera outbreak in decades.” Most of the infections were detected in the eastern provinces of North and South Kivu, prey to a litany of armed groups and partly under the control of the Rwanda-backed M23 militia, Tedros said. He said the concern now is that cases are following the Congo River basin, which means the outbreak could stretch up to Kinshasa. The mortality rate is around 3%, which is high for cholera.

Serbian authorities detained nine active police officers and one former officer for allegedly using excessive force against detainees during last year’s anti-corruption protests in Belgrade, according to Reuters, in a text republished by The Straits Times. The Interior Ministry said the suspects, from an elite unit, tortured and intimidated people detained in the garage of a government compound in downtown Belgrade on August 14-15, 2025. According to the statement, by using force and threats they inflicted great pain and severe suffering on a larger number of people to obtain information from them and to intimidate and unlawfully punish them. These were the first major arrests in connection with violence against the protesters who took to the streets over the past two years, and the ministry released only the detainees’ initials. The protests swept the country, a candidate for European Union (EU) membership, in 2025 and 2026, after 16 people died when a concrete canopy collapsed at a renovated railway station in Novi Sad on November 1, 2024.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky awarded US first lady Melania Trump the Order of Princess Olga, first class, an honor for women who have made exceptional contributions in science, education, culture and charitable work, according to Reuters, in a text republished by Investing.com. The presidential decree, dated November 2, cited her “significant personal contribution” to humanitarian support for Ukraine and her work to help Ukrainian children, including those deported or forcibly moved from Russian-occupied territory. Ukrainian officials have said she played a pivotal role in organizing the six-day ceasefire to evacuate civilians from Oleshky, which concluded on Sunday, the longest local pause in fighting since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Nearly 800 people were evacuated, Melania Trump said. Russian and Ukrainian delegations — made up of ombudsmen involved in the evacuation mission and senior officials — are due to meet at the White House on Thursday at her invitation. The White House said Melania Trump had “independently initiated engagement between the two warring nations and successfully secured a ceasefire.”

The Degel HaTorah faction of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism (UTJ) party announced that it will not recommend any candidate for prime minister in consultations with President Isaac Herzog, following instructions from its spiritual leaders. The decision by a longtime ally of Benjamin Netanyahu deepens the rift with the prime minister, prompted by the coalition’s failure to pass a law enshrining military service exemptions for Haredi men. Herzog is consulting parties on whom to task with forming the next government and told party leaders that “not every commitment and promise can be fulfilled” if they want to avoid a new election. Gadi Eisenkot is expected to get the mandate, and the Arab party Ra’am has confirmed it will endorse him. UTJ is scheduled to meet Herzog on Thursday, and it remains unclear whether the Agudat Yisrael faction will recommend Netanyahu or also abstain.

Europe’s far-right leaders began to distance themselves from Donald Trump after the Democrats’ victory in the US midterm elections, but mostly avoided directly criticizing the president, according to Reuters, in a text republished by Al-Monitor. Jordan Bardella, leader of France’s National Rally, said Trump’s second term was less isolationist than his first, from 2017 to 2021, and that “American intervention regarding Iran carries very heavy consequences” for economies around the world, without mentioning Trump as being behind that intervention. Santiago Abascal, leader of Spain’s Vox, made little attempt to temper his move away from Trump, telling reporters he was “in Spain and not in Michigan,” and that he cares “very little about what happens in other places.” Rupert Lowe, leader of the British party Restore Britain, blamed the decision to attack Iran for the Republicans’ defeat, calling it a “catastrophic mistake,” and wrote in his X post: “What has this war achieved? Absolutely nothing of worth.” Lowe did not include in the text the name of the president who launched the war.

Retired Indian judge Srinivasan Muralidhar, chair of the UN Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, said the panel’s unequivocal conclusion was that Israeli security forces continued to commit “war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of genocide” a year after the October 2025 ceasefire brokered by the United States. The report says more than 75,000 Palestinians across the Occupied Palestinian Territory have been killed since October 7, 2023, including at least 21,500 children and 11,000 women. The document was presented by Muralidhar to the UN General Assembly on October 26; according to The Hindu, he could not present the report in person because the United States denied him a visa. The report calls on UN member states to “employ all means” to prevent the genocide, investigate and prosecute suspects, and establish clear rules for the use of artificial intelligence in conflicts.

US President Donald Trump said he has no intention of firing Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, and said he is doing “a very good job.” “No, I think he’s doing a very good job”, Trump said in response to a question from reporters alongside construction workers at the site of the White House’s new ballroom. White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told CBS News that the president has “full confidence” in Hegseth, after the network reported, citing sources, that Trump was discussing the dismissal with advisers. Asked about the possibility of Hegseth filling the Tennessee Senate seat that Marsha Blackburn will leave to take over the governor’s office, Trump said he would be “very popular” if he did that, but that he “hasn’t heard that at all”.

Major General Esmaeil Ghaani, commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, said that resistance forces have formed a united front against the aggressors, namely the United States and the Zionist regime in the region. “Otherwise, you will end up fighting a war with weapons in the Strait of Hormuz while facing the opening of the Bab el-Mandeb by the Resistance,” he said. According to Ghaani, US President Donald Trump gambled on war with Iran after being misled by Netanyahu, and the outcome was the loss of America’s 250-year reputation and its defeat in the Strait of Hormuz.

Turkish defense firm Baykar said two attack drones launched from a Bayraktar TB2 struck their targets during a flight test in northwestern Türkiye. The TB2 took off from the Kesan Flight Training and Test Center in Edirne province carrying 16 first-person-view (FPV) drones developed by Skydagger, released two of them over the test area and served as an airborne communications relay so that operators could guide the smaller drones to their targets. Baykar said it has signed export agreements with 36 countries for the TB2 and 16 for its Akinci combat drone, covering 39 countries across the two programs.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that “there are strong suspicions that foreign states have invested considerable sums to influence the results of the elections in Israel”, in a video recorded in front of an Israeli flag and the Prime Minister’s Office logo. On Wednesday morning, the Central Elections Committee announced that its post-election review, which covered protocols from 9,069 polling stations, found no irregularities or evidence that the integrity of the vote had been compromised or the results altered. MK Ayman Odeh, the former leader of Hadash and the Joint List, was identified as the senior Arab lawmaker suspected of receiving hundreds of thousands of shekels in cash from a foreign source. Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara publicly rebuked the attempt, attributed to Shin Bet chief David Zini, to question lawmakers without sufficient evidence, and said it is illegal to question anyone, including lawmakers, without sufficient evidence. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir declared that all Arab party leaders should be arrested and questioned “in Shin Bet basement cells,” even without the attorney general’s approval.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot called the outcome “very good news for American democracy”, saying it is further proof that in a democracy the people write their own history. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said voters had rejected hatred, sexism, climate change denial and privileges for elites, and that the far-right wave “is no longer growing: it is crumbling”. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) “must become more European in order to be able to remain transatlantic”, and that Germany is taking on more responsibility and a larger share of the burdens within the alliance. British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the world now has an opportunity to unite around the cost of living and expressed hope that the Strait of Hormuz would reopen. Austrian Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger said Austrian and European security and prosperity must not depend on how people in Kansas or Iowa vote.

A British healthcare worker infected with Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is being medically evacuated to Britain, in stable condition, expected to arrive on Wednesday or Thursday, according to an official document seen by Reuters. The British government confirmed that a British citizen in the DRC had tested positive and said the risk to the UK public remains low. It is the first case involving a British national linked to the current outbreak, and the patient had been sent to the DRC by a humanitarian organization. The outbreak is the second-largest on record, with more than 10,000 confirmed cases and nearly 5,000 deaths reported by late October.

A delegation of 19 Democratic members of Congress will attend COP31 in Turkey, with an important diplomatic function, at a UN climate conference that runs from November 9 to 20 in Antalya, Representative Sean Casten said. The United States is not taking part in the negotiations after Donald Trump withdrew the country from the Paris Agreement for a second time on returning to office. Casten said the delegation will not be in the majority, but will be received with an understanding of what just happened.

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz cost Europe 127 billion euros in higher fossil fuel prices, Ursula von der Leyen said at an event in Brussels. In the same speech, she argued that imported fossil fuels had cost Europe 127 billion euros more “without bringing one extra molecule of energy”. About a fifth of the oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) transported by sea worldwide passed through Hormuz before the US-Israeli attack on Iran in late February, which led Tehran to effectively shut the strategic waterway.

According to Sputnik, Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) said that officials from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the police and the Prosecutor General's Office were involved in providing protection to fraudulent call centers, and that during searches authorized by the High Anti-Corruption Court an SBU official threatened the agents with a weapon and obstructed the work. Ukraine's National Police said it had suspended the officers targeted by the searches pending an internal investigation. According to Le Monde, SBU chief Oleksandr Poklad dismissed two senior officials targeted by the investigation, which involves members of the secret services, the Prosecutor General's Office and the police.

Opposition bloc leader Gadi Eisenkot vowed to renew and deepen the partnership with the United States and said he looked forward to working with Donald Trump to stabilize the Middle East if he becomes prime minister. Likud and its allies no longer hold a majority of the Knesset's 120 seats, meaning Benjamin Netanyahu must widen the coalition if he wants to stay in power. President Isaac Herzog has said he will do everything in his power to avoid a new election, whose cost is estimated at over US$ 1 billion.

Santiago Peña announced a proposal to reimburse 98% of savers this week and named a new Central Bank of Paraguay (BCP) president after Carlos Carvallo's resignation. Ueno Bank has 2.9 million customers, about 40% of Paraguay's population, processes close to 3 million transactions a day and handles two-thirds of electronic payments at the big retail chains. The central bank decided unanimously to start resolution proceedings against the bank; according to the Public Prosecutor's Office, it faced severe insolvency, with capital below half the required minimum. Peña was a shareholder in Ueno's controlling group until April 2025, and Carvallo ran Financeira Ueno before Peña appointed him to the central bank in 2023; he left the post on Tuesday at the president's request, and Peña canceled his trip to the Ibero-American summit in Madrid because of the crisis.

Bloomberg reported plans by Abu Dhabi's state oil company, Adnoc, for a third pipeline from the western coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Fujairah that could supply Asian customers and bypass Hormuz. The existing pipeline, Habshan–Fujairah, has run since 2012 with a capacity of 1.5 million barrels a day, expandable to 1.8 million, and a second, the West-East pipeline, is expected to start operating in 2027. Adnoc told Bloomberg the report was not accurate and “purely speculative”.

In the annual enlargement report presented on November 4, Ukraine remains in the leading group of ten candidates alongside Montenegro, Albania and Moldova, and the European Commission (EC) avoided giving a timeline. Under pressure from member states, which did not want to tie their hands with an accession calendar, the European executive scaled back its ambitions and presented only “indicative” roadmaps for the four countries closest to the European Union (EU). Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos had announced in September that new dates would accompany the report, and resistance from capitals meant that did not happen. Ireland, which leads the negotiations on behalf of the EU, aims to close all chapters with Montenegro by December 15.

Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Madrid on his fifth visit to Spain, with air defense as his absolute priority, and is due to meet Pedro Sánchez and other leaders on Thursday on the sidelines of an Ibero-American summit. He announced that the death toll from the Russian attack on Komyshuvakha had risen to 40, with searches on the third day, and lamented that there are “very few reactions in the world”. The trip comes ahead of new talks on the war between Ukraine and Russia.

A cybersecurity incident altered the operating parameters of cold chambers at supervision and control installations in three regional sites of the Établissement français du sang (EFS) on Monday. According to Le Canard Enchaîné, the chambers that store donor samples at -30 °C were set to 110 °C. The EFS said no health impact had been identified and that there were no blood product losses to report. Coolworld, the refrigeration company serving the EFS, said only a limited number of units were affected, through remote monitoring software that relied on a third-party component. The case came shortly after a wave of suspected attacks on supermarket refrigerators and freezers in a dozen European countries, France among them; it is not yet known whether the episodes are linked.

Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Prime Minister Unal Ustel said after meeting UN envoy María Ángela Holguín that the search for an agreement on the basis of a federation came to an end at Crans-Montana in 2017. He said UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ visit to Cyprus on July 27–29, 2026 had demonstrated the absence of common ground for launching formal negotiations, because there are two separate peoples and states on the island, and called on the international community, particularly the United Nations, to acknowledge the reality of two states.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree announced three operations inside Saudi Arabia on Wednesday morning: the first with a drone against a radar facility on the Al-Qahmah Peninsula in the north of Jizan, in southern Saudi Arabia, the second with a ballistic missile against the Aqefa garrison in Najran, and the third against the border guard command and control building in Jizan, which resulted in deaths among Saudi soldiers and officers, according to the group.

Democrat Abdul El-Sayed defeated Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan to become the first Muslim elected to the US Senate, as his party reclaimed control of Congress. He said he wants the United States to stop selling weaponry that gets used to do “the worst things, including genocide and apartheid, to Israel.” The US provides Israel with $3.8 billion in annual military aid under an agreement that runs through 2028, and President Donald Trump announced plans to end roughly $4 billion in annual military aid to Israel by the end of the year, though he offered no details on how the cuts would work.

Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Secretary-General Taalatbek Masadykov said the Collective Security Council may consider invoking Article 25 of the organization’s charter against Armenia if a corresponding agenda is approved. The article provides that, if a member state fails to fulfill its obligations to repay its debt to the organization’s budget within two years, the Council shall adopt a resolution on retaining the right to propose that state’s citizens for quota positions and on depriving it of voting rights in the organization’s bodies until full repayment.

A meeting of technical delegations from the European Commission, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the United States, Ukraine and the World Bank in Brussels ended without practical results on a possible settlement of the Ukrainian conflict, according to a diplomatic source who spoke to TASS. In its final statement, the European Commission said participants had discussed “Ukraine’s postwar reconstruction and development.” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the meeting was expected to extend into Thursday and that previous talks had focused only on what Ukraine should give away. The Brussels talks come ahead of a new round of US-brokered peace negotiations next week.

The US Treasury on Wednesday sanctioned India-based Suniel Kumar Sharma, his wife Jaspreet Preeti Shahid, two other Indian citizens who head two of the couple’s businesses and nine entities connected to Sharma, a network that the department said provided false flags and certifications to sanctioned vessels carrying Iranian petroleum, including vessels operating on behalf of the Iranian military and its proxies. Treasury said the scheme operated from Chandigarh and purported to represent nations from nearly every continent, from Guyana to Eswatini and Laos. The department also sanctioned Turkey-based Fugo Group Services Inc for its ongoing support of Iran’s aviation sector. The measures are part of “Operation Economic Outcast,” which aims to cut off Iran’s ability to sell oil to fund the war.

Brent fell nearly 8% to $95.41 a barrel, and US West Texas Intermediate dropped 7% to $89.40, after President Donald Trump told the Financial Times on Tuesday that he has no immediate plans to strike Iran. Oil had risen more than 10% in October on fears of a possible escalation and has fallen over three consecutive sessions. The Energy Department said it would lend 300,000 barrels from the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve to four companies, nearly a third of the stockpile, and US crude inventories fell 900,000 barrels to 409.8 million in the week ended October 30, 4% below the five-year average.

Russia attacked overnight with 310 drones, including 81 jet-powered drones, according to Ukraine’s air force, which said it downed or suppressed 272 drones of various types. The attacks triggered power and water outages for hours across Kyiv and surrounding regions, and residents in the capital were urged to use public drinking water fountains before supplies were restored. Russia’s Ministry of Defense said it shot down 709 Ukrainian drones the previous night. Retailer Ozon said a drone attack caused a fire at its logistics center in Adygeysk, in Russia’s Adygea region, but that there were no casualties.

Two explosive drones hit a Komala base in the Alana valley of Balisan, approximately 90 kilometers northeast of Erbil, at around 8:45 a.m. on Wednesday, according to Rudaw. Komala said the attack caused material damage but no casualties, and that Iran has carried out more than 1,000 attacks on the Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq, using drones and missiles. In a separate incident, a strike damaged a house in Tawella, in Halabja province, early in the morning on November 3.

President Donald Trump has been asking advisers, including by phone, whether Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth should stay in his job following Republicans’ losses on Tuesday night, according to sources familiar with the matter. One of those sources said Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is being floated as a possible replacement, arguing DeSantis could go through Senate confirmation in the lame-duck period and take the post when his term as governor expires on January 5. Asked by reporters on Wednesday afternoon whether he was considering replacing Hegseth, Trump said: “No, I think he’s doing a very good job.” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said the president “has full confidence in Secretary Hegseth.”

Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi on Tuesday again called for discussions on reviewing the country’s Three Non-Nuclear Principles and expressed support for considering the introduction of nuclear-powered submarines, Kyodo News reported. Speaking at a seminar in Tokyo, Koizumi said an environment should be created in which necessary security policies can be discussed openly and frankly without prejudice, and that as Japan revises its three key security documents by the end of the year, society as a whole should develop a shared understanding of nuclear threats. The Three Non-Nuclear Principles stipulate that the country will not possess, produce or permit the introduction of nuclear weapons, and the current National Security Strategy explicitly states that the policy will remain unchanged. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told parliament in October that her government would “deepen concrete and realistic considerations” regarding the potential introduction of nuclear-powered submarines for the Self-Defense Forces.

US Vice President JD Vance dared anyone to argue that losing the Senate for the next six years was worth the cost of the war with Iran after writing on X on Wednesday morning that “the reason we lost is the war.” “If you’d like to argue it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next 6 years was worth it, then do so. Argue it was a worthwhile cost to pay,” he wrote. President Donald Trump said that the Iran operation had to be done and continues, that he spoke to Vance on Wednesday morning and called the vice president’s post “good.” About 6 in 10 voters said the US made the “wrong decision” in taking military action against Iran, according to The AP Voter Poll, a survey of more than 100,000 voters. Vance called an earlier recommendation to end the war “sound advice,” while US officials say restarting major combat operations against Iran remains under consideration.

Data center opponents were among the biggest winners of the Democratic wave in the US midterm elections, according to a Reuters analysis, in a text republished by the Lufkin Daily News, pointing to a shifting public mood on artificial intelligence and a possible slowdown of the boom that has sustained US economic growth and stock markets. In Texas and Georgia, Democrats who campaigned in part on a moratorium on data center development won offices the party had not held for decades. Data center stocks fell as the Democratic sweep became apparent: Core Scientific dropped 11.6% and Iren 12.5%, with declines also at Applied Digital, Hut 8, Cipher Digital, GE Vernova, Constellation Energy and Vistra. For Aidan Yao, a senior investment strategist at the Amundi Investment Institute, the election worked more as a referendum on artificial intelligence than on Trump. Even Republicans turned against data centers, which opponents say drive up utility bills, pollute the night sky with lights and do not create enough jobs or taxes to justify state incentives.

Armenia's National Security Service detained Samvel Karapetyan, leader of the opposition Strong Armenia bloc, after searches at his homes, according to TASS. Armenia's Investigative Committee confirmed searches at 65 addresses, including properties linked to his nephew Narek Karapetyan, head of the bloc's parliamentary group. The detention is part of a criminal investigation into abuse of authority at his businesses that allegedly caused losses of around $179 million to Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA), according to the committee.

US President Donald Trump told Fox News that the economy is strong, but that the gasoline price, caused by Iran, kept voters from seeing it, and told The Wall Street Journal about the war with Iran: “I did the right thing. I would have done it again.” He denied responsibility for the Republican defeat in the midterm elections: “I wasn't on the ticket,” he told The New York Times, “and because I wasn't on the ticket, we couldn't get enough people out to vote.” The statement contradicts Vice President JD Vance, who attributed the defeat to the war and said the president himself had acknowledged it.

Construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway is advancing on 28 of the 29 planned tunnels and 47 of the 50 bridges along the roughly 305-kilometer Kyrgyz section, according to Kyrgyz Railways, a partner in the project, in a report by OilPrice drawn from Eurasianet. About 22% of total construction work is expected to be completed by the end of 2026, with tunnel excavation at 21.5%, earthworks at 67% and bridge foundations at 95%, according to the project's deputy director general; operations are officially scheduled for 2031. Once complete, the roughly 530-kilometer line will give China a shorter, faster and cheaper rail route into Central Asia and onward markets. Kyrgyzstan announced the start of construction of a new cargo airport at Manas, through which the railway will pass, envisioned as a key cog in an air, rail and road freight network.

Equinor halted output at its Visund oil and gas platform in the Norwegian North Sea after a fire in an electrical switchboard room; the flames are out, no one was injured and the company reported the incident to authorities. A notice from Norwegian gas system operator Gassco cut the platform's capacity to 2.5 million cubic meters per day on Wednesday and to zero for Thursday's gas day, with the duration listed as uncertain; the field's 13.2 million cubic meters per day of gas export capacity goes off the market from Thursday. Equinor moved between 70 and 80 of the 128 workers on board to nearby installations and said repairs will be needed, with no timeframe for restarting production. Visund has produced since 1999 and sent 5.1 billion cubic meters of gas to market in 2025, shipped through the Kvitebjørn pipeline to the Kollsnes plant and on to Europe.

The Central Bank of Paraguay ordered the intervention of Ueno Bank after finding a solvency ratio below 50% of the required minimum, following adjustments to its balance sheets during the regularization process. President Santiago Peña asked for the resignation of Central Bank president Carlos Carvallo and agreed with the heads of both chambers of Congress on a bill authorizing the use of the Guarantee Fund to start immediate payment to savers, including public funds and the IPS. Peña was a business partner of the bank until March 2025 and gave up his shares after criticism over a conflict of interest; the institution, linked to former business partners of the president, held hundreds of millions of dollars in public resources, including investments from Paraguay's social security system. On Wednesday, lawmakers began collecting signatures to file an impeachment request against Peña and Vice President Pedro Alliana. On Tuesday night, account holders and retirees protested outside the National Congress and the presidential residence, demanding the return of the blocked money and that authorities be held accountable.

The World Health Organization (WHO) approved clinical trials for two new Ebola vaccines as part of the effort to control an outbreak that has killed more than 5,300 people in Africa. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the two candidates are ChAdOx1 BDBV, developed by the University of Oxford with the Serum Institute of India, and Moderna's mRNA-1469, developed specifically for the Bundibugyo virus. The National Institute of Biomedical Research of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is leading the trial, with support from partners including WHO; in October a trial had already begun with the Ervebo vaccine, approved for Ebola virus but not for Bundibugyo. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said on Monday that the epidemic had killed more than 5,300 people, the vast majority in the DRC, with 10,444 confirmed cases and a fatality rate above 50%.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delivered four trucks of essential medical supplies to hospitals in Taiz, including surgical kits to treat weapon-wounded patients, in the committee's first delivery of medical supplies to the city since September 23. The Houthis have encircled Taiz since early October and are blocking the road linking the city to Aden, the interim seat of the internationally recognized government. UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said roads are closed, water production has halved and food prices have risen by at least 50%.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), thousands of people are displaced in the city of Debre Berhan, in the Amhara region, and in Shire, in northwestern Tigray. UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said families who had recently returned to the district of Diabo, in northwestern Tigray, were forced to flee again because of renewed military activities. OCHA and humanitarian partners are preparing to scale up assistance, but insecurity is restricting movement along the roads connecting Gonder with Debark and Metema, in Amhara. Fighting in the country's north, in Tigray, Amhara and Afar, resumed in late September, nearly four years after the November 2022 Pretoria Agreement ended the two-year war between federal forces and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF). World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reported civilian deaths, including children and a newborn, in attacks in northern Ethiopia and said the region's health system is approaching collapse.

Some 40,000 students were on strike at 57 schools across Denmark, including 12,000 to 13,000 at the protest in Copenhagen, according to organizers. Under the banner “Enough is Enough,” 11 high school and university student associations marched from Copenhagen’s City Hall Square to parliament over the proposed cuts to free up funds for defense spending. In a draft budget bill, Denmark’s center-left government plans to abolish the student grant (SU) for students who live with their parents and whose parents’ total annual income exceeds 700,000 Danish kroner (US$104,000). According to the Higher Education Ministry, around 14,000 students are expected to lose their grant, and some 8,000 would see it reduced. Student protests that started in France have spread in recent weeks to other European countries.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Beijing is maintaining contact with the relevant parties regarding a meeting between the leaders of China, Russia and the United States. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit is set to take place in Shenzhen on November 18-19. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the agenda of a possible meeting of the leaders in China is being coordinated with the Chinese and US sides: “It is being agreed upon now.” Peskov ruled out, for now, continuing the talks at the Group of 20 (G20) summit in Miami: “No, this is out of the question yet.”

Ukrainian drone strikes have killed three people in Russia’s Belgorod region, while attacks cut power to multiple cities in Ukraine and parts of Russian-occupied Crimea, according to officials. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia’s overnight attacks damaged power generation facilities and substations in nine regions, leaving emergency outages in many cities. Russia’s Defense Ministry confirmed on Telegram that it hit two power stations in Ukraine’s Kyiv and Zhytomyr regions and said it downed 709 Ukrainian drones across 14 regions, Crimea and the Black and Azov seas. In southern Russia, a Ukrainian drone attack started a fire at a distribution facility of Ozon, in the town of Adygeysk in the Republic of Adygea, regional head Murat Kumpilov said. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he hoped Trump would continue his peacemaking efforts after the Democratic victory and treated any changes in Congress as a domestic US matter: “President Trump continues to exercise his powers. We sincerely hope that he will also continue his peacemaking efforts.”

Ethiopia has ordered six Sudanese diplomatic staff members to leave the country within 48 hours, according to a senior Ethiopian official cited by Reuters, in a text republished by Addis Standard. The six were ordered to leave Sudan’s consulate in Assosa, the administrative center of the Benishangul-Gumuz region. The decision comes days after Sudan’s army-aligned government lodged complaints against Ethiopia with the United Nations (UN) Security Council and the African Union Peace and Security Council, accusing Addis Ababa of allowing the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to use Ethiopian territory to launch drone attacks. Addis Ababa accuses Khartoum of backing Tigrayan rebels, and both sides deny the allegations against them. On October 1, Ethiopia had already closed its embassy in Asmara and declared 10 Eritrean diplomats persona non grata, ordering them to leave within 48 hours.

New Jersey Democratic Governor Mikie Sherrill warned port and terminal operators in the state against “purchasing or unloading the illegal Russian fuel currently bound for the east coast of the United States,” in a letter dated November 2. Sherrill said Congress banned energy imports from Russia in April 2022, in response to the country’s attack on Ukraine, and that importing Russian diesel would violate the ban and could lead to civil and criminal charges. A Treasury license authorizes transactions tied to the sale, delivery, offloading and importation of Russian diesel, including into the United States, through April 7, 2027. The White House defended the authorization: “The President secured a deal to supply global markets with diesel, lowering prices for the United States and the world,” spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said. A Phillips 66 executive said he did not believe Russia has enough distillate to make much of a difference to the global supply crunch.

Aliko Dangote on Wednesday broke ground for a planned fuel storage site in Namibia, which will serve as a fuel distribution hub in southern Africa, in an OilPrice report based on Bloomberg’s reporting. The project, expected to cost $2.5 billion, includes a fuel depot outside the main port of Walvis Bay and a 1,700-kilometer pipeline to bring fuels to Botswana and South Africa, and potentially to other countries. “We want to heavily invest so that most of the landlocked countries will be able to access petroleum products at a cheaper price,” Dangote said at the event. The initial public offering of a minority stake in Dangote’s refinery could raise as much as $2.1 billion if the company exercises its greenshoe option.

Chinese genetic sequencing company Novogene has taken the US Department of Defense to court to challenge its inclusion on a Pentagon list of firms accused of supporting China’s military, according to the Times of India. The lawsuit was filed late Tuesday in a federal court in Washington; the company was added to the list in June, alongside Alibaba, Baidu, BYD and NIO, and is seeking to overturn its designation, arguing that the decision is unlawful and has damaged its business and reputation. From 2027, the Pentagon will be barred from purchasing products or services from the listed companies even through third-party suppliers. An injunction granted by a US court to Alibaba against Pentagon contract restrictions does not remove the company from the list, which it is continuing to challenge in court.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group’s forces carried out a ballistic missile strike on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and that the target was hit, in a statement carried by the Houthi-controlled SABA news agency. Saree urged international airlines, their employees and passengers to avoid Saudi airspace. Saudi authorities had not confirmed the attack or any damage. In the early hours of Wednesday, Saudi Civil Defense issued a warning about a potential hazard in the Riyadh region and later declared it over, and the Indian embassy announced the death of an Indian citizen wounded in the October 10 attack on the airport.

Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf wrote on X that the message from American voters was “NO TO WAR,” and that Iran endorses it. Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, head of the judiciary, said Trump “has suffered defeat both on the battlefield and in the political arena, and we will inflict further defeats on him,” and said November 4 had always been a day of defeat for the United States. Hamidreza Moqadamfar, an adviser to the commander of the Revolutionary Guard, said Iran’s response to any new aggression would be disproportionate and without geographic or time limits: “Our responses will no longer be proportionate or commensurate; we will set their assets ablaze—beyond the point of attack, and regardless of time or location.” The same adviser described the US election result as a referendum against Trump’s policies, in which Iran played a key role.

US Vice President JD Vance attributed the Republican defeat in the midterm elections to the war with Iran, in a lengthy post on X: “The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night.” Vance cited a survey according to which the top four answers from voters who left the Republicans were ending the war, cost of living and inflation, putting America first and changing the relationship with Israel. He wrote that anyone who considers the war a cost worth paying should defend it openly, including losing the Senate for the next six years. Trump said that “Iran was a piece of it” and defended the decision to launch the conflict: “I don’t think about it. I did the right thing. I would do it again.” AFP described the move as an attempt by Vance to distance himself from the conflict ahead of a possible 2028 White House run.

Iran’s Oil Ministry brought the private sector together on Tuesday to discuss winter gas supply, in a meeting with acting Oil Minister Hamid Bovard. Bovard said current conditions are not normal and that energy issues cannot be approached with the usual past perspective. The ministry says it is working around the clock to restore lost gas production capacity and return to the previous level as quickly as possible.

Wall Street opened higher on Wednesday, with the Nasdaq up 1 percent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 1.8 percent and the S&P 500 up 1.1 percent, on the heels of the Democratic sweep in the midterm elections. Brent was down 3.09 percent at $100.40 a barrel, and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was down 3.13 percent at $93.08. Traders were betting on a US-Iran deal to push crude lower.

The British government is facing a legal challenge over its recommendation for schools to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, in a case filed on Monday by the Good Law Project. Seven of the definition’s 11 illustrations include references to Israel. The group’s executive director, Jo Maugham, said rules that conflate criticism of Israel with antisemitism could be among the drivers of antisemitism. British Jewish group Na’amod said that “Jewish pupils should be safe at school, and antisemitism has to be taken seriously. The IHRA definition doesn’t do that job”.

Britain’s highest court on Wednesday heard an appeal against the ban on Palestine Action, which the British government classifies as a terrorist organization, as police moved to arrest protesters outside. A lawyer for the group’s founder argued that only three of 385 acts by the organization cross the legal threshold of terrorism. Twenty-five protesters were arrested outside the Supreme Court on suspicion of expressing support for a proscribed organization, according to the Metropolitan Police. The court heard that more than 3,000 people have been arrested since the ban came into force, and that the High Court found the ban unlawful in February, a ruling overturned by the Court of Appeal in June.

Recent discoveries of methamphetamine laboratories in Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya and Mozambique have fueled concerns that Africa is becoming a significant production hub for synthetic drugs. In Nigeria, an operation in Ogun State led to the arrest of 10 suspects, including three Mexican nationals whom the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said had been brought into the country to help manufacture the drug. The agency’s chairman, Mohamed Buba Marwa, said officers seized more than 2.4 metric tons of methamphetamine, precursor chemicals and other materials with an estimated international market value of about $363 million.

Export Trading Group (ETG) has filed a $120 million international arbitration claim against the Mozambican government to recover the value of 40,000 tonnes of pigeon peas, maize and rice seized under a ruling by a Nacala judge later dismissed over corruption, in a case opened on October 16, 2024. In a meeting with President Daniel Chapo on October 22, the group proposed a $2 billion fertilizer factory using Mozambican gas. Companhia Industrial da Matola (CIM) challenged on October 12, at the Tribunal Administrativo, the monopoly of the Instituto de Cereais de Moçambique (ICM) over grain imports, accusing Economy Minister Basílio Muhate and the institute of raising, without authorization, the charges paid by importers from $5 to $16 per tonne.

Ransomware attacks on Japanese companies have more than doubled in five years.

The African Group of Negotiators says the UN climate convention has no agenda item that provides space to discuss public financing and wants one created under Article 9.1 of the Paris Agreement, the 2015 provision that obliges developed countries to provide financial resources to developing ones. The group’s chair, Nana Antwi-Boasiako Amoah, said wealthy countries are likely to oppose the adoption of the agenda because of that item. The summit, hosted by Türkiye with Australia leading the negotiations, opens on November 9 and runs to November 20.

The United Nations General Assembly elected, in three rounds of balloting, Dapo Akande of the United Kingdom and four other judges to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), for nine-year terms starting on February 6, 2027. Akande received 129 votes, in an election where the absolute majority was 97. Mahmoud Daifallah Hmoud of Jordan and Phoebe N. Okowa of Kenya were re-elected, and François Alabrune of France and Rena Lee of Singapore were elected. Akande will become the first British judge on the court since 2018 and is expected to sit on the bench as the court decides the case brought by South Africa accusing Israel of violating the Genocide Convention in Gaza.

US President Donald Trump said in a Fox News interview that he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had reached an agreement to cut off military aid to Israel by December 2026. Avner Golov, former head of US affairs at Israel’s National Security Council, warned that ending the aid by the end of 2026 would signal a retreat from America’s commitment to Israel’s security. Abdul El-Sayed welcomed Trump’s plan to cut the aid and called for an end to arms sales.

Democrats won a majority of governorships in the United States for the first time in two decades, scoring victories in states long controlled by Republicans, including Texas and Georgia. In Texas, Gina Hinojosa was elected the state’s first Latina governor. In Ohio, Sherrod Brown flipped a Senate seat, and Democrats also took the Senate seat in Texas, with James Talarico.

US House Speaker Mike Johnson told his staff on Wednesday that he will not stay on as Republican leader in the new Congress, according to four sources on the call. Republicans scheduled their internal election to choose a new leader for November 10. Vice President JD Vance attributed the party’s midterm defeat to the war with Iran.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrived in Riyadh on an official visit on Wednesday and met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at Al-Yamamah Palace, according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA). Ministers and senior officials from both countries attended the meeting. It is al-Sharaa’s sixth visit to Saudi Arabia since taking office in January 2025. The talks addressed bilateral relations and ways to develop and strengthen cooperation between the two countries in various fields.

Singapore’s parliament on Wednesday passed tougher penalties against companies responsible for forest fires in Indonesia, including curbs on related business dealings, following one of its worst haze episodes. Fines against offenders will increase tenfold.

Brigadier General Esmail Ghaani, commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said Resistance Front commanders had received the message of borderless confrontation with the enemy and put it into practice. According to him, Resistance Front fighters demonstrated the unity of the various fronts by issuing a written declaration of full allegiance, referring to a recent message from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on confronting the enemy without geographical boundaries.

Spanish energy firm Moeve, majority owned by Abu Dhabi fund Mubadala, said on Wednesday it had agreed to sell its Algerian oil assets to Indonesia’s state energy firm Pertamina. The deal includes Moeve’s minority stakes in the Rhourde el Khrouf, Bir el Msana and Ourhoud onshore oilfields in Algeria’s Berkine Basin. The company has also agreed to sell its minority stake in Algeria’s Timimoun onshore gas field, a person familiar with the matter said. The sale of its Algerian upstream assets will complete Moeve’s withdrawal from the exploration and production business.

The death toll from the Russian strike on Komyshuvakha, in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, rose to 40 from 37 on Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram, adding that some bodies had not yet been identified. The previous figure came from local authorities.

The European Commission said in its annual enlargement report that Ukraine remains committed to EU membership despite the challenges caused by Russia’s war of aggression and that Kyiv has opened four of the six negotiation clusters.

Dozens of Palestinian families returned to their homes in the southern West Bank city of Hebron on Monday after the Israeli army announced the end of its 11-day military operation. Approximately 537 families, comprising nearly 3,300 people, had been forced to leave their homes since the operation began, according to the Support and Relief Committee in Hebron Governorate. Residents reported the theft of gold jewelry, cash and personal belongings, as well as broken doors and damaged household contents. Hebron Mayor Yousef al-Jabari estimated damage to municipal facilities and utility networks at around six million shekels (around $1.9m), and Abdo Idris, head of the Hebron Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said daily losses exceeded 12 million shekels (about $3.8 million), with infrastructure damage surpassing six million shekels. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the operation after Palestinian gunmen killed two Israeli soldiers at a Hebron checkpoint on October 23, according to Reuters, in a text republished by The News.

First Lady Melania Trump will bring representatives of Russia and Ukraine together at the White House, an event the White House described as an extraordinary moment in American history. Melania was praised for helping broker a localized ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia that lasted from 3 a.m. on October 27 until late on November 1, local time, in Oleshky, in the Kherson region. The first lady called the ceasefire a “success” and said “nearly 800 people” had been evacuated, but neither Ukraine nor Russia publicly confirmed exactly how many people left or where they relocated. Yana Lantratova, Russia’s human rights commissioner, who is expected at the meeting, was sanctioned by the United States in 2022, making her ineligible to enter the country without a special waiver from the State Department. Separately, the Kremlin confirmed three-way talks with Ukraine and the United States in Abu Dhabi from November 10 to 11, with Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to President Vladimir Putin, as Moscow’s chief negotiator. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Kremlin hopes to finalize plans in the coming days for a meeting between the leaders of Russia, the United States and China.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said the UK’s plan to make some refugees wait up to 30 years to apply for settlement raises significant concerns. The government kept a wait of up to 30 years for refugees who arrived by irregular routes and created an exemption allowing care workers to apply for indefinite leave to remain after five years. UNHCR said extended settlement waits, short-term stay arrangements and limits on access to citizenship could undermine refugees’ security and ability to integrate.

The Hamburg Higher Regional Court has scheduled 19 more hearings between February and June 2027, extending until at least mid-2027 the trial over the sabotage of the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipelines, court press spokeswoman Judge Mareike Franzen said. Sergey Kuznetsov, a former special operations officer of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, is standing trial, charged with a war crime, carrying out explosions, destroying structures and disrupting the operations of public utilities. He was detained in Italy in August 2025 and extradited to Germany.

A strike against alleged members of the National Liberation Army (ELN) in Venezuela’s Apure state, near the Colombian border, had US intelligence and drone support, according to four US officials quoted by the New York Times. The operation took place last Friday, and a senior Venezuelan military officer confirmed the attack. Fundaredes, the first organization to raise the alarm, counted 23 dead and an undetermined number of wounded in the bombing of an ELN base used as a cocaine distribution center, based on testimony from survivors and local residents that the Times collected. Local reporters with Alianza Rebelde Investiga identified eight of the dead — including two Colombians and four Mexicans — using information from the morgue, the hospital and the San Fernando de Apure cemetery. Venezuelan authorities counted 19 dead in the operation so far, a lower toll than Fundaredes’. The attack came after the United States forcibly removed Nicolás Maduro and Venezuela’s government came under the control of an administration aligned with Donald Trump, according to Infobae, in a New York Times text.

Democrat Jon Rosenthal defeated Republican Bo French by 52.6% to 45.5% in the race for the Texas Railroad Commission, with 94% of the votes counted, according to the Associated Press (AP). A state representative who describes himself as a “drill-baby-drill Democrat,” Rosenthal is the first Democrat elected to the commission since Bob Krueger in 1990; no Democrat had served on the three-member commission since 1994. The commission regulates an industry that pumps more crude than every member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) except Saudi Arabia.

Global stocks recovered on Wednesday from lows hit overnight, while the dollar and oil dipped, after Democrats won control of both the Senate and the House in the US midterm elections. Europe’s STOXX 600 jumped 1.4 percent to two-month highs, MSCI’s All-World index was up 0.3 percent, and US stock futures reversed course to rally around 1 percent, having fallen by as much as 2 percent overnight. AI stocks in Asia initially led the decline in equity markets, and investors expect the Democratic-controlled Congress to apply more scrutiny to the sector. Shares in Elon Musk’s Tesla and SpaceX, which he intends to merge, were down around 4.5 percent to 5 percent in premarket trading, compared with rises of 0.8 percent to nearly 3 percent for other Big Tech stocks. AI and defense stocks slid as clean energy shares rallied after Democrats took control of Congress.

A first convoy of Algerian soldiers was seen in northern Niger this weekend, a week after Algeria’s Parliament approved the deployment of troops to the neighboring country. According to RFI, about sixty Algerian tankers transporting fuel and secured by Algerian soldiers crossed the border with Niger, where they were welcomed by members of the Niger Armed Forces. Algeria’s Parliament approved the deployment on October 25, paving the way for the country’s first military mission abroad since the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. Reports diverge on the convoy’s destination: RFI mentions the city of Agadez, while the Soufan Center says the convoy reportedly reached Arlit on October 30. Algerian Senator Belkacem Boulghiti said the troops would protect economic infrastructure and oil facilities belonging to Algerian companies, and that Algeria is “not sending our soldiers to wage war in Niger.” Algeria’s national energy company Sonatrach, the Nigerien government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation are jointly developing a 4,000-km pipeline to carry Nigerian gas through Niger and Algeria and onwards to Europe. Morocco is promoting a rival pipeline along an Atlantic route drawing on the same Nigerian gas reserves, and the United Arab Emirates has agreed to support the project financially and technically.

The death toll from a Russian bombing of an aid distribution point in Ukraine’s southeastern Zaporizhzhia region on Monday has risen to 37, with dozens missing, in one of the deadliest strikes on civilians this year, officials said in a Reuters report republished by The Straits Times. Ivan Fedorov, the co-head of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Defense Council, wrote on Telegram that 59 people were missing. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Russian forces first dropped aerial bombs on the school building in Komyshuvakha as people arrived to collect aid, then struck the shelter with more bombs. Two members of a rescue crew and four police officers were among the dead, emergency services said. Russia’s Defense Ministry said the attack targeted Ukrainian military units in Komyshuvakha and two other settlements, and that up to 25 Ukrainian servicemen were killed.

According to Reuters, in texts republished by The Straits Times and Al Arabiya, Greenland’s Parliament ratified on Tuesday the security agreement struck earlier this year with US President Donald Trump, by 16 votes in favor, none against and 7 abstentions. The deal expands the US military’s role on the island, paving the way for two new military bases and Trump’s “Golden Dome” missile defense system, while reaffirming Danish sovereignty and Greenlanders’ right to self-determination. The executive agreement will enter into force once Denmark and Greenland have ratified it; the Danish parliament is due to give it a first reading on November 11 and a final vote on November 19, and it does not require approval from the US Senate. During the debate, the opposition party Naleraq, the most prominent political voice for Greenland’s independence, questioned the deal’s economic value.

Bangladesh’s garment wage board, set up by the government on Sunday, agreed to raise workers’ pay, without specifying the size of the increase. Workers are demanding a minimum monthly wage of 30,000 taka (about $240), a 140 percent increase on the current 12,500 taka, citing rising food, housing, transport and healthcare costs in a country with eight percent inflation. Babul Akter, the workers’ representative on the board, said the board will conclude its work by December so that revised salaries can be paid in January, and that the factory owners’ representative agreed on this point. Protests continued on Wednesday morning in industrial hubs including Gazipur, Mirpur, Narayanganj and Savar, with reports of factories being vandalized. According to the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), the unrest has forced 529 garment factories to shut down and left 987,190 workers out of work.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said four oil tankers caught fire after hitting naval sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz. According to the semi-official Tasnim news agency, the IRGC said two of the vessels were still burning and that two additional tankers were intercepted trying to use a prohibited southern route in the strait. BBC Verify investigated the claims and has not found any evidence that four tankers were destroyed. In a separate incident, the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) center said a tanker was struck by two unknown projectiles about 14 nautical miles (26 km) northeast of Limah, in Oman’s Musandam peninsula, on Tuesday evening, with no casualties reported. The IRGC also said it had shot down another US MQ-9 drone over the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global oil and gas shipments usually pass, has been effectively closed since the start of the Iran war, because of Iranian attacks on commercial vessels and the US naval blockade.

South Africans voted in local elections on Wednesday amid deep discontent over water outages, power cuts and crumbling infrastructure, with the African National Congress (ANC) on course for a bruising result. Polls show the ANC getting less than a third of the vote, down from 45.6% at the last municipal elections in 2021 and 40.2% in the 2024 national elections. Polling stations opened at 7:00 a.m. and closed at 9:00 p.m. local time (0500 and 1900 GMT). Parties are battling for control of major cities in a contest expected to offer a measure of the national mood before the next national polls.

Two Uyghur men, aged 26 and 35, held in Thailand for more than a decade, wrote letters made public last week asking not to be sent to China. “Every time we are worrying from China to take back us,” one of them wrote in a letter shared by Kannavee Suebsang, a former lawmaker and founder of the Peace Rights Foundation, a human rights group that represents the men. “We aren't terrorist,” the Uyghur man wrote. On Wednesday, at the Office of the National Human Rights Commission, the two men presented their plea not to be sent back to China, according to a source with direct knowledge of the meeting who requested anonymity for fear of retribution. Thailand's National Security Council head Chaipruak Doungprapat said his agency will not make a decision on their deportation, unlike the case of 40 Uyghur men who were sent back to China last year, and that the process will go through the courts, where the men will be able to defend themselves.

Total oil and gas output at Nigeria's state company rose to 3.04 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in September, up from 3.01 million the previous month. Revenue came in at 3.4 billion dollars (4.608 trillion naira), in line with the months after March, when the Iran war and the Strait of Hormuz crisis hiked international oil prices. The state company attributed the increase to the restart of the Obodo oilfield in mining license OML 150, and said output remains constrained by equipment failures, subsurface issues, flowline leaks, community protests and storage and export infrastructure constraints.

Hungary released tens of thousands of Communist-era secret police files in an online public database on Wednesday, according to Reuters, in a text republished by WSAU. Prime Minister Peter Magyar said some 60,000 names have now been made public and that additional files will be uploaded by February 2027. “We are implementing now, after 36 years … what was the promise of the change of regime,” he said at a briefing at the archives. The files contain the names of approximately 55,000-60,000 state informants recruited by the state security services between 1945 and 1989, according to Telex. The files are far from complete, as many were destroyed in 1956 during Hungary's anti-Soviet uprising and also in 1988-1989. Until Wednesday, ordinary people had been limited to viewing records about themselves or close relatives.

French authorities said a cyberattack on several blood banks sought to raise temperatures to extremely high levels and was thwarted before it could do any damage to blood products or samples. The French Blood Establishment (EFS) said “temperature and defrosting thresholds were raised to extremely high levels” on Monday at three of its cold-storage sites for plasma, and that no health consequences were identified and no blood products were lost. The attack hit a supplier of refrigeration equipment at three EFS sites. France's national cybersecurity agency and the Health Ministry are investigating the incident. The incident comes after supermarkets in several European countries reported that their fridges and freezers warmed up after being remotely taken over, with tons of spoiled food at a total cost of millions of dollars.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said US voters voted against hatred, sexism, climate change denial and the privileges of the elites. “It happened in Brazil. It has just happened in the US. And it will happen soon in Spain,” he wrote, referring to the November 29 elections in the country. Sánchez also said the far-right wave represented by Feijóo and Abascal is “crumbling”. The statement was posted on X and carried by international outlets, among them Asharq Al-Awsat.

The French bank Crédit Mutuel Arkéa, based in Brittany, confirmed it had suffered a cyberattack detected by its services. Its leadership said it took “the decision to temporarily suspend certain transactions in order to secure operations and prevent any new fraudulent movement”. The newspaper Le Télégramme reported that 133 million dollars (118 million euros) disappeared, an amount the bank does not confirm, and Le Monde reported the attack with losses estimated at 118 million euros.

According to the Associated Press (AP), in a text republished by the Boston Globe, Indonesia's military deployed more than 20,000 troops and personnel to Jakarta as authorities investigate an alleged illegal wiretapping operation targeting the president. The total number of personnel involved reached 20,980, according to Vice Adm. Yayan Sofiyan. Police named Listyo Sigit Prabowo, Ahrie Sonta Nasution and Eko Hadi Santoso as suspects in the case and said they were detained Sunday. There are allegations that the president, Cabinet officials, politicians, journalists, civil society leaders and business executives were subjected to unauthorized surveillance. The suspects are also accused of ordering in late October the deletion of files containing intercepted communications.

Deb Haaland, former interior secretary under Joe Biden, was elected governor of New Mexico and will become the first Native American woman to govern a US state. The Democrat defeated Republican Gregg Hull, 60, a businessman and the mayor of Rio Rancho. The Associated Press (AP) called the race before 9 p.m. on Tuesday, when she held a 14-point lead. Haaland made history in 2018 as one of the first two Native American women elected to Congress and in 2021 as the first Native American federal cabinet secretary, leading the Interior Department.

US President Donald Trump said the country does not see the need to use nuclear weapons against Iran, in a phone interview with Politico, according to TASS. “I don't need it. We've knocked them out already 90%. So, I don't need that,” he said.

Democrat Abdul El-Sayed won the election to the US Senate from Michigan and will become the first Muslim senator in US history. The son of Egyptian immigrants, he is described by the BBC as a left-wing Democrat. At least seven Muslim lawmakers won seats in Congress, according to TRT World.

Democrats clinched 54 seats in the Senate and 225 in the House and took control of both chambers of the US Congress, according to the Guardian's count. The swing came with a string of wins in Republican districts across North Carolina, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and New Jersey that took the party past the 218-seat threshold needed for a majority in the 435-member House. A tally by Al Jazeera put Democrats at 53 Senate seats, with leads in three others, and credited the Associated Press (AP) with calling the House majority — the first time since Barack Obama's second term that a sitting president has neither chamber on his side. The Democratic majority does not take control of the Senate until January 3. In his victory speech for Georgia, Jon Ossoff called Trump a “failed lame-duck president”. Democrats also won a majority of state governorships for the first time in 20 years, according to Opera Mundi.

Paramilitary forces were deployed to Gazipur and Narayanganj, where garment workers demanding a 30,000-taka minimum wage are staying on the streets for a fourth day, with 58 police officers injured, according to police and to Agence France-Presse (AFP), in a text republished by The Hindu. The protests continue despite the government's announcement of a board to review the minimum wage.

In an interview with Fox News, Trump said that people agree with what he is doing on Iran but probably were not willing to accept the short-term consequence of paying more for gasoline: “I understand that; I don’t agree with that.” He also said he was “a little bit surprised” and that he thought Republicans would do better. The president blamed Fox News for the defeats: “It’s their fault, not mine — my numbers are better than ever,” and posted an image of a red cap with the word “VETO,” anticipating the use of presidential veto power to block proposals passed by Democrats.

Speaking on a panel at the World Internet Conference in Wuzhen on Tuesday, DeepSeek engineer Gao Xi defended the company’s commitment to open-source artificial intelligence to accelerate the arrival of artificial general intelligence (AGI), even if it heightens safety risks, amid growing US concerns and scrutiny in China over whether the strategy poses national security risks. “If AGI is going to arrive in 10 years, then I hope we can bring this forward to one year. If it is going to arrive in one year, then I hope it can arrive tomorrow,” Gao said.

One person died, three were injured and five excavators were set on fire at Chenxi Mine Site Four in the Wanderer mining area of Shurugwi during an outbreak of violence, according to 263Chat, in a text republished by AllAfrica. Zimbabwe Republic Police spokesperson Commissioner Paul Nyathi said investigations into the violence that occurred on the night of November 2 are under way and that more details will be released as the probe advances. What triggered the incident and whether any arrests have been made remained unclear.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) removed Rwanda’s army team, the Armée Patriotique Rwandaise (APR), from the Basketball Africa League (BAL) because of US sanctions imposed on the country in March. Mark Tatum wrote that APR would remain “ineligible to compete in the BAL while these sanctions remain in effect”. Last week, the US also imposed new sanctions on Rwanda’s defense ministry over its support for the M23 rebel group, which controls parts of eastern DR Congo.

Kim Jong-un inspected the Nampho Shipyard and called for a rapid buildup of naval combat power to counter “hostile acts of the enemies,” according to North Korean state media. The inspection was reported on Wednesday. Kim saw a new warship under construction and described it as “incomparably huge and intimidating” compared with the destroyer built last year. Shin Jong-woo, secretary-general of the Korea Defense and Security Forum, said North Korea appeared to have unveiled for the first time the construction site of a new vessel believed to be a 10,000-ton cruiser.

Japan’s government is considering financial aid to the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has been hit by sanctions, following a call from the court’s president, according to Kyodo News.

Spain’s transport minister, Óscar Puente, resigned from his post and from frontline politics to try to save the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) campaign, badly damaged after the second fatal high-speed rail accident in nine months. The crash in Toledo province killed 69 people and came just nine months after a similar accident on the same high-speed line; the earlier one, on the Madrid-Seville line, left 46 dead. Spain is holding a snap general election on November 29, with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez running for re-election; he brought the date forward following a wave of social protest over housing affordability. Puente also announced that he is giving up the socialist candidacy in Valladolid.

Israel’s President Isaac Herzog formally received the official results of the election to the 26th Knesset, and consultations with the parties on forming a government begin on Wednesday evening, November 4, a date that marks 31 years since the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Herzog urged compromise after a divisive election. On Israeli Arab society, he said that “one must not smear an entire public” and that he condemns “the vulgar and racist expressions” heard recently. He also said he respects the head of the Shin Bet, David Zini, and the attorney general, Gali Baharav-Miara, and that he spoke with both of them this morning.

Thailand’s National Security Council chief Chaipruak Doungprapat said that China needs to present a formal extradition request and that the decision on the two Uyghurs will go through the courts, with the two men able to defend themselves. The council will not decide on their deportation on its own, unlike the case of the 40 Uyghur men sent back to China last year. The two were released from prison in late October and are being held at the Suan Plu immigration detention center in Bangkok. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning defended bilateral cooperation against cross-border crimes, including illegal immigration, on Wednesday, and did not comment on whether Beijing had already presented an extradition request.

Israel’s Central Elections Committee conducted an audit of 9,069 polling stations following fraud complaints and said the results “accurately reflect the will of the voters,” according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP). The committee said all complaints submitted by political factions had been reviewed and that there were no findings indicating harm to the integrity of the election. President Isaac Herzog will at noon officially receive the results of the October 27 election as he decides whether to give Benjamin Netanyahu or Gadi Eisenkot the first chance to form a government, with neither commanding enough votes alone. Netanyahu has alleged fraud by Arab-majority parties, pointing to the arrests of people with envelopes of cash on election day and later saying lawmakers received money from Qatar. Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara said she would not question anyone without evidence.

Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland called in a joint statement on the European Commission to terminate investment protection treaties with Russia that remain in force in 17 member states. According to Estonia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the treaties are being used to influence European Union (EU) policy in Russia’s favor and their continued application threatens the bloc’s overall economic security. The ministry said the treaties contain provisions that encourage investment in Russia and allow individuals under sanctions to bring claims before international courts against member states and against the EU as a whole. Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said the EU’s task was to ensure “that Russia’s international isolation is maintained without concessions.”

Democrat Annie Andrews, a pediatrician, defeated Senator Darline Graham and became the first Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate in South Carolina in 28 years and the first woman elected to represent the state in the chamber. Before her, Fritz Hollings was the last Democrat elected to a Senate seat in South Carolina, winning his final term in 1998. Graham had held the seat since July, appointed after the sudden death of her brother, Senator Lindsey Graham, a move that won support from President Donald Trump. Trump won the state by 18 points in 2024.

Pastef lawmakers, whose party holds 130 of the 165 seats in Senegal’s National Assembly, rejected the 2026 revised budget bill three times. Passing the text is a precondition for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) board’s approval of a US$ 2.2 billion loan. To bring the accounts back into balance, the government proposes cutting 555 billion CFA francs (about US$ 949 million) in investment spending in its new budget. Senegal’s public debt equals 130% of gross domestic product (GDP), according to Les Echos.

Euro zone inflation rose to 4.0% in October from 3.8% in September, the highest in three years, according to Eurostat, the European Union (EU) statistics agency, in a Reuters report republished by MarketScreener. Inflation has been climbing quickly above the European Central Bank’s (ECB) 2% target this year because the US war in Iran pushed energy costs higher, feeding through to retail prices for a bloc that imports the vast majority of its energy. The ECB now expects inflation to hold above 4% for much of the first half of 2027 before falling quickly toward the “low twos,” when high year-earlier figures get knocked from the data. The reading, set to rise further in the coming months, firmed up market bets for another ECB rate hike in December.

The Houthi siege on Taiz has now lasted 30 days and has affected the 1.5 million people living in Taiz City, plus about 180,000 displaced people trapped by ongoing clashes along the main road connecting Lahj and Taiz, according to Al Jazeera. The blockade began with the seizure of al-Turbah, a town in the far southwest of the governorate, cutting the city’s main artery to Aden and the outside world. The United Nations (UN) has repeatedly warned of a catastrophe inside the city, where supplies of food and medicine are becoming increasingly scarce. According to Reuters, in a report republished by The Jerusalem Post, the advance brings the Houthis closer to Aden than at any point since the early months of the war in 2015.

Republican Representative Mike Lawler called Democrat Cait Conley and conceded the race for New York's 17th Congressional District on Tuesday night. “When all of the votes are counted tomorrow in Westchester, it's going to be pretty clear we're going to be short,” he told supporters. With 61% counted, Conley had 133,219 votes (52.2%) to Lawler's 121,881 (47.7%). Up to 250,000 ballots from Westchester County, a Democratic stronghold that accounts for about 40% of the district's electorate, were still being counted after a balloting machine failure; the Associated Press had not yet called the race, and counting of the remaining ballots was expected on Wednesday under a court-approved agreement.

A poll by the Doha-based Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies and the Arab Center for Contemporary Syria Studies found that 61 percent of respondents named Israel as the main threat to Syria, against 20 percent who named Iran, 6 percent Turkey and 5 percent the United States; the results were published on Monday. Some 97 percent said Israel threatens the security and stability of the Middle East, up from 78 percent a year earlier. Almost 80 percent oppose recognizing Israel, up from 74 percent in 2025, and 74 percent oppose any agreement that does not return the occupied Golan Heights. On the US-Israel war on Iran, 80 percent said Iranian missile strikes on Israel were justified, and three-quarters said Washington had waged the war on Israel's behalf.

China's foreign ministry said that Beijing is in communication with the relevant parties about a summit between Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Shenzhen on November 18 and 19. Spokesperson Mao Ning gave no details on the possible meeting, according to EFE, in a text republished by ABC Color. The Kremlin said on October 21 that the meeting was being prepared; according to the Financial Times, officials from the three countries had been holding serious talks for days about arranging the first trilateral meeting of the heads of state, and Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that work is under way on organizing it.

Former US contractor Abraham Teklu Lemma admitted sharing dozens of classified documents and photographs with Ethiopian officials over more than two years, according to the US Department of Justice. He worked as a contractor at the State Department, the Justice Department and the National Reconnaissance Office, the agency responsible for US intelligence satellites. The material included satellite imagery and details of military activities, passed on through encrypted messages, and the FBI said Ethiopian officials used the intelligence in military operations. In one message to an Ethiopian official in December 2021, Lemma wrote that “we have to finish these people once and for all,” because otherwise there would never be peace in Ethiopia, and later that day he urged the official to send drones. He pleaded guilty to conspiring to transmit national defense information to a foreign government, faces sentencing on April 14, 2027, and could get up to 22 years in prison.

Denise Brown, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in Sudan, said that there has been an intense pattern of drone strikes over the past couple of weeks against civilian infrastructure, with sources of energy and fuel apparently systematically targeted. At a hospital just outside Khartoum, the power went out and stopped treatment for 25 patients who needed dialysis; the hospital has no generator and no solar panels. Hundreds of aid trucks are stuck for lack of fuel, and there are queues kilometers long for fuel in the capital. The World Food Programme has recorded seven hits on its convoys this year and 20 over the past two years. Brown said she did not know where the strikes originate and called for the message that they must stop to reach whoever needs to hear it.

In a stunning upset, Democrat Gina Hinojosa was elected governor of Texas, the first Democratic governor there in more than 30 years, defeating Republican Greg Abbott on Tuesday. According to US media projections, Abbott, a three-term governor, lost his reelection bid to the state representative, a result that ends three decades of Republican control of the Texas governor's office.

According to OilPrice, citing Bloomberg on the basis of unnamed sources, India’s coal, power and railway ministries are working jointly to raise coal stocks from 18 million to 55 million tons, with current stocks covering only six days of coal-fired generation against a requirement of at least three weeks of consumption; last month, half of the country’s coal plants had critically low stocks after August monsoon disruptions disrupted transport from producing states.

According to Middle East Eye, the World Medical Association faces strong criticism for refusing to suspend the Israeli Medical Association despite documented allegations of complicity by Israeli doctors in the torture of Palestinian detainees and abuses in Gaza; a petition by 6,500 medical personnel from the IMA Out! campaign was presented to the General Assembly in Rotterdam last month calling for expulsion; the last suspension came in 1976, when South Africa was blocked from two assemblies over doctors’ complicity in torture under apartheid; and the Hind Rajab Foundation asked the International Criminal Court last month to investigate Israeli doctors, the IMA and officials from the health and defense ministries.

Democrat James Talarico defeated Republican Ken Paxton and became the first Democrat to win a US Senate seat in Texas since 1988, in the most expensive US Senate race in history, with more than half a billion dollars spent and $158 million from Elon Musk to a pro-Paxton super PAC. The 37-year-old Talarico is a state legislator, former middle school teacher and Presbyterian seminarian, while Paxton was the subject of a federal corruption investigation that brought no charges and an impeachment by the Texas House over accusations of abusing his office to help a political donor, and was later acquitted in the state Senate.

The Associated Press called Democrat Rob Sand the winner of the Iowa governor’s race over Republican Zach Lahn, flipping a seat Republicans had held for nearly two decades; Republican Kim Reynolds decided not to run again. Sand, the state auditor, will be the first Democrat elected to the office in 20 years.

The Associated Press called Xavier Becerra the winner of the California governor’s race as polls closed, defeating Republican Steve Hilton; Romualdo Pacheco, the only Latino to have held the office since statehood, became governor in 1875 when Newton Booth resigned and served for about 10 months. Becerra will become the first Latino to hold the office in more than 150 years, defeating Hilton, who was born in the United Kingdom and was a Fox News political commentator.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Philippine Foreign Secretary Theresa Lazaro that the bilateral relationship faces “malicious interference” by Filipino politicians and that Manila should be “cautious in words and deeds” on the South China Sea; Lazaro called the Tuesday-night call “frank and constructive,” with both sides defending diplomatic dialogue and managing differences on the basis of mutual respect, in a conversation that followed the Philippine defense secretary calling China a “troublemaker” and the Chinese ambassador in Manila replying that Beijing would not choose force — including, according to a Philippine official, a possible resumption of talks on joint oil and gas exploration in Reed Bank.

Israel’s Shin Bet and police arrested senior Balad activist and journalist Abed Abu Shehadeh in Jaffa on Wednesday over suspected security violations — an arrest Balad chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh called a “grave crime,” accusing Netanyahu of trying to hijack the election result. Around 15 security personnel, some masked, stormed the house at midnight and arrested him in front of his two children, seizing electronic devices and books, in a case under the Tel Aviv Central Unit and the Shin Bet with a court publication ban as a security-related investigation; the Central Elections Committee certified the result on Wednesday with no evidence of irregularities undermining the election’s integrity.

With 99% of ballots counted, Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud and its far-right and ultra-Orthodox allies won 53 seats in the 120-seat Knesset. The opposing bloc holds 48 seats from former military chief Gadi Eisenkot’s right-wing and center-left factions and a record 19 seats from the two Arab-dominated parties. The new Knesset convenes on November 10 and President Isaac Herzog is expected to give Eisenkot — whose Yashar is the largest in the anti-Netanyahu bloc — the mandate to form a government, while caretaker Netanyahu faces no special legal restrictions on military operations and could legally authorize an attack on Iran despite lacking a parliamentary majority, subject to ordinary procedures.

Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms won Georgia’s race for governor on Tuesday, becoming the first Black woman elected governor of a US state, according to US media projections in a Reuters text republished by The Spokesman-Review, defeating Republican businessman Rick Jackson to become Georgia’s first female governor. The same evening, Stacey Plaskett was elected governor of the US Virgin Islands, the first Black woman elected governor of a US jurisdiction, and Adam Hamilton won in Kansas to become the state’s first Democrat elected to the Senate since 1932.

China is home to 49% of the world’s clean industrial plants, counting units in operation and under construction, accounts for $45 billion in energy transition investments this year and holds 23 of the 36 industrial decarbonization projects that reached a final investment decision, according to a Mission Possible Partnership report in an OilPrice text, which also notes that the country remains the world’s biggest coal consumer, with nearly 50% of its power generation coming from the fuel.

Japan Investment Corp (JIC), a Japanese state-backed fund, plans to sell chipmaking materials maker JSR to Mitsui Chemicals in a deal that could exceed 1.3 trillion yen ($8.2 billion), after buying it for some 900 billion yen two years ago, taking advantage of higher chip-firm valuations on the artificial intelligence investment boom, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke to Reuters, in a text republished by DealStreetAsia. Founded in 1957, JSR is a leading manufacturer of photoresists used to transfer circuit patterns onto semiconductor wafers, and Nikkei Asia notes that the sale would be the biggest deal in the history of Japan’s chemical sector.

Russia’s Defense Ministry says, in a Reuters text republished by Investing.com, that two power stations in Ukraine’s regions of Kyiv and Zhytomyr were hit, in strikes that also targeted a cargo vessel at sea near Odesa and follow Tuesday’s missile and drone bombardments that knocked out power to swaths of Ukraine. US envoy Steve Witkoff announced that the US will bring together delegations from Ukraine and Russia in Abu Dhabi on November 10–11 to discuss post-war security agreements, de-escalation and ending the war.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says that four oil tankers were destroyed after hitting naval sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz, with two still burning and two additional vessels seized for trying to use a prohibited southern route. Trump confirmed that the US struck Iran on Tuesday targeting an anti-aircraft facility, an attack US officials described as limited and defensive, in response to IRGC fire on a US aircraft; the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported projectiles in a tanker’s engine room off Limah, Oman, with no casualties, and the IRGC account could not be independently verified or linked to that incident.

Brent crude returned to trade at US$ 103.60 per barrel and WTI at US$ 95.98, according to OilPrice, after benchmarks fell to a four-week low on reports that Iran may be open to discussing previously non-negotiable issues. According to Vortexa data, combined exports of crude oil, condensates and fuels through the Strait of Hormuz averaged 17.1 million barrels per day in October, down from 18.9 million barrels per day in September. The consultancy Rystad Energy said it did not expect oil flows out of the Persian Gulf to return to normal any time soon, even if the United States and Iran reach an agreement to end the war.

The process of ending the UN peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara has begun, after Russia and the United States vetoed each other’s draft resolutions on extending the 35-year-old deployment, the UN confirmed, according to RFI, in a text republished by AllAfrica. Also according to RFI, the secretary-general’s spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, said a support team would oversee the withdrawal of the Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO). The mandate expired on Saturday after Russia vetoed the US draft, backed by 11 of the Security Council’s 15 members, which would have extended the mission for a year and placed Morocco’s autonomy plan at the center of efforts to settle the conflict. Secretary-General António Guterres urged that the rights of the people of Western Sahara, including their inalienable right to self-determination, be respected and promoted. Morocco’s Royal Cabinet welcomed the non-renewal of the peacekeeping mandate.

Abortion-rights advocates won in Missouri and Virginia, according to the Associated Press (AP), among 145 ballot questions decided in more than three dozen states on Tuesday. In Missouri, voters defeated the proposed constitutional amendment that would have reimposed restrictions on most abortions, essentially reaffirming the decision from two years ago, when the state became the first to undo an existing abortion ban. The measure approved in Virginia creates a fundamental right to reproductive freedom in the state constitution, ensuring abortion during the first two trimesters and the right to contraception and fertility care. In Missouri, voters also ended the new district map drawn to give Republicans one more seat in the Kansas City area, after courts ruled it needed approval in a referendum. In Democratic-led Maryland, voters approved a constitutional amendment that could pave the way for new congressional districts in the 2028 election, with former President Barack Obama backing the “yes” campaign.

Surgeon Adam Hamawy, who volunteered in Gaza, won New Jersey’s 12th congressional district and will become the first Muslim and the first Egyptian-American to represent the state in Congress, according to Middle East Eye. Hamawy’s campaign was centered on Palestine, healthcare and economic inequality.

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto sacked his chief of staff, former National Police chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo, on Wednesday after his arrest for allegedly wiretapping the president, cabinet ministers, politicians and journalists, in a case in which an internal investigation flagged phone numbers entered illegally into the interception system between 2025 and 2026, unconnected with any official investigation, and in which inspectors general Ahrie Sonta Nasution and Eko Hadi Santoso were also named suspects. Indonesia’s government said the former police chief may have committed “treason” through his alleged role in tapping President Prabowo Subianto’s phone, in acts that endanger state interests and the safety of the country’s leader, according to presidential spokesperson Prasetyo Hadi.

Republicans in Florida held off several high-profile Democratic challenges and the state elected its first Black governor, with Republican Byron Donalds, backed by Trump, projected to win the governorship, according to the BBC. Republican Ashley Moody was projected to win the Senate seat left by Marco Rubio. In all three of the state’s districts redrawn to favor Republicans, Democrats held onto their seats.

Democrat Hakeem Jeffries is in line to become the first Black speaker of the US House of Representatives and will lead the majority sworn in the first week of January, after four years of Republican control. He pledged to pass legislation reversing the spending cuts to Medicaid — a health program for the poor and people with disabilities — enacted into law on July 4, 2025. In his victory speech on Tuesday night, he declared that “today begins the great American comeback”.

Democrat Abdul El-Sayed was projected to win the Michigan Senate race against Republican Mike Rogers, with just over 50 percent of the vote to more than 47 percent for Rogers, and will become the first Muslim American elected to the chamber, according to a Decision Desk HQ projection. El-Sayed, who accused the State of Israel of genocide over the war against Hamas in Gaza during the campaign, said in his victory speech that “we don’t want our money sent to do apartheid, or genocide, or war”.

At least 31 people were killed after Russian bombs hit an aid distribution center in Zaporizhzhia, with at least nine 3,000 kg aerial bombs falling on the village of Komyshuvakha on Monday and the center collapsing after a direct hit, regional administration head Mykhailo Semikin said. At least 26 people were killed in two separate strikes, the second against a building, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said. The target was a military unit, Russia’s Defense Ministry maintains.

The Seoul High Court on Wednesday upheld the sentence invalidating former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s 2022 election victory and exposing the People Power Party to returning 39.7 billion won ($27 million) in campaign expenses: 18 months in prison, suspended for three years, for false campaign statements — denying he introduced a lawyer to the former Yongsan tax chief and saying he never met shaman Jeon Seong-bae with his wife, Kim Keon Hee — with the invalidation taking effect if the Supreme Court upholds the ruling.

Ethiopia’s Media Authority announced on November 2 the indefinite suspension of the print and online licenses of the Reporter, the country’s last privately owned Amharic newspaper, accusing it of violating media laws and ethics and publishing content against the national interest; in October, undercover police detained journalists Samuel Getachew and Amanuel Gebremedhin, jailed for eight days, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW), in a text republished by AllAfrica.

Kenyan authorities, together with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Kenyan Red Cross, began around October 31 registering at the Harhosa and OMC shelters in Marsabit County the Ethiopians fleeing the clashes in Moyale, a border town jointly administered by the Oromia and Somali regions, with more than 50,000 crossings since late October, according to Kenyan media, and agencies appealed for about $8.9 million for three months of response, in an Addis Standard text republished by AllAfrica.

Paraguay’s central bank board voted unanimously on Monday to put Ueno Bank into resolution, after its solvency ratio fell below half the legal minimum; the bank says it has about 3 million customers and manages $800 million to $850 million in public money, including about $380 million from the state pension and health fund; prosecutors sought the arrest of eight people, including President Juan Manuel Gustale and chief executive Federico Miguel Vázquez Villasanti; and President Santiago Peña canceled a trip to a summit in Spain, asked central bank chief Carlos Carvallo to resign, and promised to fast-track depositor repayment legislation. Peña’s party vice president Rodolfo Friedmann called for the president’s expulsion, while Senate President Basilio Núñez defended him and blamed the central bank.

The Democratic Senate majority grew with the projected victory by Democrat Troy Jackson over Republican Senator Susan Collins in Maine, after Collins called Jackson and conceded defeat before the Associated Press (AP) projection. In Kansas, Democrat Adam Hamilton won 51.9% of the vote against 45.2% for Republican Roger Marshall, the first Democrat elected senator from the state since 1932. In Ohio, Democrat Sherrod Brown defeated Senator Jon Husted and returns to the Senate, in a special election for the final two years of the term JD Vance won in 2022. In Iowa, Democrat Josh Turek defeated Republican Ashley Hinson, according to the Associated Press.

The public inquiry into the $368 billion nuclear submarine agreement called AUKUS the worst, riskiest and most costly defense decision ever made by an Australian government, recommending its immediate termination and the suspension of plans for new bases, and said Australia risks being dragged into military conflict with China, estimating an additional $180 billion to deal with the nuclear waste.

North Korea fired multiple missiles on Wednesday toward the sea off its east coast, marking Pyongyang’s fourth such weapons launch in a month, from the Sondok area, an eastern coastal region. Multiple missiles were launched from Sondok in South Hamgyong Province, with no information on the type or exact launch time, and there will be no customary third update with maximum altitude and range, while South Korean and US authorities analyze the specifications, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) confirmed.

Hackers raised the temperatures of supermarket refrigeration systems in Germany, Romania and the United Kingdom, bringing to at least 11 the number of European countries affected — following Monday’s disruptions in Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden — and the European Union (EU) said these are not isolated incidents, pledging a collective response without naming culprits, while the motive remains unknown and no one has claimed responsibility.

In a follow-up to the South African municipal elections, polls put the African National Congress (ANC) below one-third of the vote, down from 45.6% in 2021 and 40.2% in 2024, with fragmentation potentially costing it control of municipalities even as it remains the largest party, and in eThekwini uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) is polling above 40%. The electoral commission has one week to announce the final result, and parties will then have two weeks to form councils and elect mayors.

After saying he would accept the results, Trump acknowledged, according to Reuters, that the war with Iran contributed to Republican losses in the midterm elections, while claiming voters understood the importance of what he did in Iran. He said Democrats will send him bills he considers insane and that he will veto, until they come to negotiate. There are no plans to change the cabinet following the Republican defeat, Trump said.

Donald Trump told Fox News that he made a deal with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop the $4 billion in annual aid to Israel, aid appropriated by Congress that he cannot end unilaterally, according to the broadcaster’s White House correspondent, saying that it was Netanyahu who proposed ending the aid, under the current agreement of $38 billion in military aid over ten years, through 2028, which surprised Israeli defense sources. Neither Netanyahu’s office nor Israel’s Foreign Ministry confirmed the move, and the US Department of State did not respond to Al Jazeera.

The Saudi-led coalition launched four air strikes on the city of al-Bayda in central Yemen, according to Houthi-affiliated media. Shelling was also reported in the Ghamr district of the Saada governorate.

Asian stocks fell on Wednesday along with the dollar, as Democrats gained in the US midterm elections, gains analysts said could lead to gridlock on Capitol Hill. The Nikkei 225 fell 3.6% to 60,835.36, its lowest level since early May, with SoftBank Group down 8% and Kioxia Holdings down 10.8%. The Kospi fell 3.2% to 5,466.83, with SK Hynix down 3.2% and Samsung Electronics down 1.8%. The dollar fell to 158.06 yen from 158.75 on Tuesday, and the euro rose to US$1.1249. Investors see the Democratic wave bringing tighter regulatory scrutiny, particularly of artificial intelligence companies.

The Chinese Embassy in Papua New Guinea said that an object intercepted at a Port Moresby facility and reported as a suspected military artillery shell was in fact a shell-shaped wine bottle, citing information from the company involved and an on-site verification. The embassy said that smuggling an illegal military-grade artillery shell from China to Papua New Guinea was virtually impossible given China’s firearm control laws. China rejects the claim and says the object poses no danger, according to the South China Morning Post.

Voters in Providence, Rhode Island, approved a ballot measure that could lead the city to divest public funds from Israel. With 81 of 82 polling locations partially reported, the state elections board tallied 75% voting in favor and 25% against. The result is preliminary: with 79 of 82 polling locations reporting, the Rhode Island Board of Elections count stood at 74.99% in favor. The text does not mention Israel and calls on the city to refrain from investing in foreign countries conducting ethnic cleansing, apartheid, illegal military occupation or genocide. The vote makes Providence the largest US municipality to approve some form of Israel divestment, following Somerville, Massachusetts, whose voters approved a nonbinding measure last year.

Democrat David Crowley, the Milwaukee County executive, defeated Republican congressman Tom Tiffany in Wisconsin’s governor race and will become the state’s first Black governor. With 74% of the votes counted, Crowley had 53.8% against Tiffany’s 46.2%, according to Associated Press estimates. The contest cost more than US$195 million, the most expensive in state history, and more than 60% of the total went to boosting Tiffany.

Democrat Gina Hinojosa defeated Republican governor Greg Abbott, who was seeking a fourth term, The Guardian reported. Hinojosa, a five-term state representative from Austin, will be the state’s first-ever Latina governor. A Democrat has not won the Texas governor’s mansion since 1990, when voters elected Ann Richards.

The secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaei, said that the US response to Iran’s seven conditions was not convincing and that the Strait of Hormuz will only reopen if Washington fully meets the demands. The indirect talks center on an Iranian proposal to reopen the waterway over two days if the United States meets the seven demands, including the lifting of sanctions and an end to the US naval blockade. Four oil tankers were destroyed after striking naval mines south of the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, who also said two other vessels were halted. The statement did not identify the vessels, their owners, flags, cargoes or the exact location, and there was no immediate independent confirmation of the attacks. The Guards also said they shot down a US MQ-9 drone over the strait, the 56th by their count, a claim that could not be independently verified. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported that two unidentified projectiles struck a tanker’s engine room about 14 nautical miles northeast of Oman’s coastal village of Limah, with no casualties reported. US media, citing US officials, reported that Central Command had prepared plans for strikes that could begin as early as Wednesday, after the midterm elections, when three American aircraft carriers would be in the region.

The United Kingdom Supreme Court began hearing the appeal on Wednesday from Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori against the government’s designation of the group as a terrorist organization. The hearing is scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday. Permission to appeal was granted only on the argument that the proscription is compatible with Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR); the argument on the interpretation and application of the Home Secretary’s policy was refused. The proscription was announced to Parliament on June 23, 2025, and came into effect on July 5, 2025, under the Terrorism Act 2000. More than 300 supporters of the group were arrested by London police on Saturday for displaying placards bearing the now-prohibited slogan. The defense argues that only three of the 385 actions undertaken by the group over five years were assessed as meeting the definition of terrorism.

Democrats won a majority in the U.S. Senate, according to a tally of race calls by The Associated Press, with Josh Turek’s defeat of Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson in Iowa sealing control of the chamber. Democrats flipped six Republican seats — North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, Kansas, Texas and Iowa — and reached the 51 seats required for control. They needed to net at least four seats to win back the majority, which Republicans held.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Donald Trump said he was optimistic that Ukraine-Russia peace talks were making ground, according to TASS, which carried the interview. According to the quote published by the agency, Trump said: “I think they’re both at the point of saying, ‘Let’s make a deal.’”

Brazil’s COP30 presidency presented two international Roadmaps to speed the shift away from fossil fuels and reverse deforestation and forest degradation by 2030. The documents address the two largest drivers of climate change — energy, at 75% of emissions, and forest loss, at 11% — but are voluntary and non-prescriptive, with no obligations, national targets or accountability mechanisms, according to TNC Brasil. Annual forest finance needs to jump from $84.5 billion in 2023 to more than $300 billion in 2030.

Belarus is hosting the high-level international conference “Eurasian Security: Reality and Prospects in a Transforming World.” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in Minsk to take part in the meeting. The Belarusian state agency BelTA frames the meeting as a continuation of Minsk’s role as a platform for dialogue on security.

Party presidents and opposition lawmakers delivered a letter to President José Antonio Kast at the La Moneda palace demanding the removal of Justice Minister Fernando Rabat. The case involves the reduction of sentences for 56 people convicted of sexual abuse against minors, which has already cost the ministry’s undersecretary, Luis Silva, his post. In a special session of the Chamber of Deputies, Rabat acknowledged “a gap in the procedure, by not listening to the victims,” and the opposition announced a constitutional accusation against him.

SpaceX stopped selling flights on its Falcon 9 rocket beyond 2028, as Starship enters commercial service, leaving European institutions without a guaranteed launch option. European demand is set to rise sharply by 2030, including for the sovereign IRIS² telecommunications constellation, and Christophe Bruneau, ArianeGroup’s executive chairman, acknowledged that if the launches all come in 2029, Europe will not have enough capacity. The European Space Agency’s director general, Josef Aschbacher, proposed investing about €10 billion over 10 years in a European system able to send astronauts to space and bring them back.

Israel’s Defense Ministry began this month upgrading the “Hourglass” security fence along the Gaza Strip, the Jerusalem Post reported, based on lessons from the October 7 attack and the war against Hezbollah. One of the five work fronts integrates technologies and methods to counter very low-altitude threats, particularly fiber-optic drones used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. The 64-kilometer fence had been criticized after being breached at dozens of locations.

AMD recorded a $1.07 billion non-cash charge, or 66 cents a share, in the third quarter ended September 26, to account for warrants granted to OpenAI and Meta. The information comes from Reuters, in a text republished by StreetInsider. The company forecast faster-than-expected 2027 growth on surging data-center sales, and its shares rose 8% in extended trading. The warrants are part of a wave of equity incentives used by chipmakers to secure long-term purchases from a small group of AI customers: Cerebras granted OpenAI warrants against a $20 billion commitment, and Marvell issued warrants to Alphabet’s Google that give Google the right to buy a potential $12.2 billion stake.

Democrat Amy Acton defeated Republican Vivek Ramaswamy to become the first woman elected governor of Ohio, NBC News projected. She is the first Democrat to win the state’s governorship since Ted Strickland in 2006, ending 16 years of Republican control. She took 50.6% of the vote, or 2,051,961 ballots, to 46.0%, or 1,863,826, according to unofficial results from the Ohio Secretary of State.

Moody’s cut Senegal’s foreign-currency debt ratings to “Ca” from “Caa2,” with a stable outlook, in its fifth consecutive downgrade. The new band corresponds to expected losses of 35% to 65% for external private creditors, against 10% to 20% for “Caa2.” Public debt stands at about 97% of GDP after the government disclosed previously unreported liabilities, and Senegal is negotiating a debt restructuring.

Kim Jong-un visited the Nampho shipyard and called for a rapid buildup of naval surface and submarine power to counter “hostile acts of the enemies,” according to state media. He inspected a new warship under construction, which he described as “incomparably larger and more intimidating” than the destroyer built last year, and a KCNA photo suggests the vessel may be in the 10,000-ton class that Kim had mentioned in earlier plans. He also called for automating production and building a second ground dock so ships can be built and repaired at the same time.

Indonesian police detained three senior police generals suspected of illegally wiretapping President Prabowo Subianto. According to Reuters, in a text published by KTWB, the president’s recently appointed chief of staff, Listyo Sigit Prabowo, is among those detained. According to the police, the three illegally intercepted the phones of the president, state officials, political figures, business people, journalists and organizations between 2025 and this year, and the government says the investigation is at an early stage, with no motive established and no evidence linking the suspects to treason.

Kim Yo-jong, the North Korean leader’s sister, denied that North Korea was behind the record $6.3 billion hack of the Binance exchange and called the accusation “absurd rhetoric.” The FBI, the Secret Service and US cyber analysts say North Korea orchestrated the attack and describe it as the largest in history. According to Reuters, in a text republished by Internazionale, the statement was carried by the state-run KCNA agency, and Kim said there was no need to sit down with “such unreliable and hostile persons,” while Elliptic counted about $2.85 billion frozen or seized from funds that moved through roughly 12,000 wallets and 40,000 transactions across 11 blockchains.

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said what was happening was “an attempt to crush democracy and steal the election with the help of government plants in the security system” and called it “a direct threat to our democracy,” urging state institutions to stand firm and a government to be formed as quickly as possible. The remarks came amid reports that Shin Bet chief David Zini sought to question three Palestinian party leaders over suspected foreign interference in the election, and that authorities found no evidence for the claims. Palestinian-led parties won 19 of the Knesset’s 120 seats, which kept Benjamin Netanyahu and Gadi Eisenkot from reaching the 61 needed to form a government.

Pediatrician Annie Andrews defeated Senator Darline Graham to become the first Democrat elected to the Senate from South Carolina in more than a quarter century; the last was in 1998. Graham had been serving as interim senator since her brother, Lindsey Graham, died earlier this year. Andrews, 45, campaigned on healthcare access and affordability and on fighting corruption in Washington.

Donald Trump told The New York Times he was “absolutely willing to accept those results” and said he would work with the Democrats. Trump also played down the election results: “I wasn’t on the ballot.”

The Associated Press declared Deb Haaland the winner in New Mexico on Tuesday night. The Democrat, a member of the Laguna Pueblo people, a former interior secretary and a former member of Congress from the state, will become the first Native American woman to govern a US state.

Democrat James Talarico defeated Attorney General Ken Paxton and became the first Democrat to win a statewide race in Texas since 1994, Decision Desk HQ projected. The race, the most expensive in the state’s history, hinged on masculinity and anti-transgender attacks, and Paxton’s campaign was heavily financed by Elon Musk, who spent almost $200 million in the final weeks.

NBC News projected that Democrats won control of the House, with approximately 248 seats — well beyond the 218 needed for a majority. Democrats needed a net of just three seats and flipped many more, most in districts Trump carried in 2024. Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries is expected to become the first Black speaker of the House when he is sworn in on January 3.

Spain Transport Minister Óscar Puente resigned six days after the high-speed train collision in which at least 69 people were killed and dozens injured. In Congress, he said a transport minister cannot remain in office after two serious accidents in less than a year, in reference to the January crash on the same line that left 46 people dead, and withdrew his name from the lists for the early legislative elections. The crash happened when a train run by state-owned Renfe hit the back of a stationary train run by private operator Iryo, outside the village of Urda, south of Madrid. The failure of an automatic safety system halted all trains on a 39-mile stretch of track, but a control center authorized the Renfe service to resume its journey. Puente announced a 30-million-euro aid package for the families of the dead and the injured.

At least seven passenger flights and an Israel-bound cruise ship were targeted by bomb threats on Tuesday, according to officials. All planes landed safely and searches found no explosives. The airlines affected were Ryanair, Wizz Air, Scandinavian Airlines and Polish carrier LOT, with four Ryanair flights among the targets. Two Italian Eurofighter jets escorted a Ryanair flight from Dublin to Fiumicino Airport in Rome. London police said they had been informed of threats against four aircraft due to depart from or arrive at Heathrow and of a further alert in Manchester. The European Commission said it is monitoring the alerts and that it is too early to establish links between the incidents.

The United States-mediated peace talks are scheduled for November 10–11 in Abu Dhabi. According to Zelenskiy, Russia launched 289 drones, 17 ballistic missiles and 59 cruise missiles overnight against power plants and substations from Odesa to Rivne. Friedrich Merz said in Berlin that the talks are the right step and that Europe must take part in the process, urging Russia to engage in serious ceasefire negotiations and saying he has seen no sign of that so far. Moscow said it hit Ukrainian military units around Komyshuvakha and in two other settlements in the Zaporizhzhia region, with up to 25 Ukrainian servicemen killed.

Donald Trump confirmed on Tuesday that the United States launched strikes on Iran, saying the target was a newly completed anti-aircraft facility, hit the previous night, in a minor attack. Trump said US forces stand ready to act, but that there may be no reason for further action. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the government is still trying to resolve the crisis through dialogue and that no one will benefit if war reignites, while negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said the Islamic Republic stands ready for battle. An Israeli military spokesperson said Israel was not involved in the latest strikes. Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari said both sides are reviewing the proposals presented by Doha and that there is still a chance for an interim deal. A senior Iranian official said Tehran stands ready to reopen Hormuz within two days if Washington accepts its list of demands.

Democrat Chris Pappas won the Senate race in New Hampshire, defeating Republican John Sununu, and will become the first out gay man elected to the United States Senate. Sununu called Pappas to concede on Tuesday night. In Florida, Democrat Pia Dandiya won the 22nd congressional district, defeating Republican Casey Askar, and is the first Indian-American elected to the House of Representatives from the state. Aber Kawas won the race for New York State Senate District 12, with a 75 percent vote share when the race was called, becoming the first hijab-wearing Palestinian American to serve in the New York State Legislature.

Keisha Lance Bottoms was elected governor of Georgia on Tuesday, becoming the first Black woman elected governor in the United States by defeating Republican businessman Rick Jackson. She won despite the spending deficit created by billionaire Jackson, who tapped more than $200 million of his own fortune for the campaign, and is the first Democrat to prevail in the state governor race since 1998. Bottoms will succeed Republican Brian Kemp, barred by law from seeking a third term, in the third consecutive Georgia gubernatorial election with a Black woman leading the Democratic ticket.

Armed men held about 40 people in the basement of a house in the village of Petropavlivska Borshchahivka, in the Kyiv region, and four were taken out and brought to a hospital after the crowd demanded that a doctor be let in — at the scene, the head of Ukraine’s National Guard, Oleksandr Pivnenko, said military personnel of his department, including those who had left their units without permission, were in the basement, and there was a confrontation with the police. According to Ukrainian media reports, the alleged prison was said to be a building of the Azov Battalion, a National Guard unit created in 2014. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the lack of public reaction from Western human rights organizations did not surprise Moscow and that European bodies try to shield the Ukrainian leadership — and said Ukrainians who do not want to fight for Kyiv may surrender to Russian troops.

A REalloys subsidiary and the United States Department of the Army signed a non-binding term sheet for a heavy rare-earth processing facility at the Tooele Army Depot, in Utah, under a potential 50-year lease with one 25-year renewal — the Army would have a right of first offer on the output, with no obligation to buy. Rare earth processing is treated as a national security vulnerability, with China holding a near-100% global monopoly on dysprosium and terbium. The deal is described as a public-private partnership that could last up to 75 years, under the Army plan, announced in June, to lease parts of its installations to critical-mineral processors.

The 16 representatives of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc on the Central Elections Committee wrote to Sohlberg asking for an urgent discussion of suspected vote-buying by Arab suspects, according to the Times of Israel — Sohlberg, also the Supreme Court deputy president, replied that nobody has legal power to delay the official publication and set Wednesday’s meeting for 9 a.m., earlier than scheduled, for a fuller discussion. The pro-Netanyahu bloc won 53 seats, with 27 for Likud, while the other 67 seats split between Jewish-led parties, with 48, and Arab-led parties, with 19.

The United States embassy in Riyadh restated the warning about hostilities by the Iranian-supported Houthis against Saudi Arabia — including attacks on civilian airports and critical infrastructure, causing civilian casualties and severe travel disruption — and about the State Department order, in effect since October 23, 2026, for non-emergency employees and family members to leave the country, plus the requirement of special authorization from the chief of mission for American employees to use any airport in the kingdom after the recent missile and drone attacks.

Democrat Roy Cooper won the Senate race in North Carolina against former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Whatley and is the first Democrat elected to one of the state’s two seats since 2008 — Cooper’s lead — he is a former two-term governor — led Republicans to cut funding for Whatley’s campaign. In New Hampshire, Democrat Chris Pappas, a four-term congressman, won the Senate race against former senator John Sununu and will be the first openly gay man to serve in the United States Senate. Democrat Juliana Stratton won in Illinois against Republican Don Tracy, in an election marking the first time in history that three Black women hold the Senate at the same time. Moody will keep the seat until the 2028 election.

An understanding between pro-government and opposition senators cleared the way for a vote on a proposal to lower the age of criminal responsibility this Wednesday (4), one day after approval of the Public Security Constitutional Amendment Proposal (PEC). The move, however, faces disagreements inside the Workers’ Party (PT), as lawmakers debate different criteria for holding teenagers criminally responsible.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) sent target letters to attorney Marc Elias and others in the case of the namesake Alaska Senate candidacy. The department has already issued more than 100 grand jury subpoenas and preservation letters, and investigators have begun interviewing witnesses. The probe examines whether the ballot presence of retired teacher Dan J. Sullivan, namesake of Republican Senator Dan S. Sullivan, was arranged to confuse voters and siphon votes from the incumbent. As of Tuesday evening, the Justice Department had not appealed the ruling by federal judge Sharon L. Gleason, who dismissed without a hearing the bid to halt certification of a potential win by Democrat Mary Peltola. Elias said Trump’s Justice Department was targeting him on Election Day and that he would not be intimidated by a “sham investigation.”

South Africa is holding municipal elections, and the African National Congress (ANC) is trying to prove it still has what it takes to govern after losing its parliamentary majority in the 2024 national election. Poor governance and voter apathy are eroding ANC support in townships such as Alexandra, northeast of Johannesburg. An Ipsos poll puts the Democratic Alliance party at 25 percent support in this election, up from 22 percent last time.

Peru’s government declared a 60-day state of emergency in 1,380 districts out of more than 1,800, over imminent danger from heavy rainfall linked to the El Niño phenomenon. The measure was formalized by Supreme Decree 149-2026-PCM and covers 25 departments and the Constitutional Province of Callao. The National Emergency Operations Center recorded 324 affected people and 110 uninhabitable homes after weekend rains in Tumbes. The technical commission ENFEN said the event will be of extraordinary magnitude through February and weaken through June.

North Korea launched an unidentified projectile toward the East Sea on Wednesday, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Joint Chiefs did not immediately disclose the number of projectiles, their flight distances or other specifications. If confirmed as ballistic, it would be the North’s 19th such launch of the year, following the firing of more than 10 short-range ballistic missiles from the Wonsan area on October 29.

Jon Ossoff, a Democrat, won the U.S. Senate race in Georgia against Republican Rep. Mike Collins, according to an Associated Press race call. With 38 percent of votes counted, Ossoff stood at 63 percent and Collins at 29 percent, according to the Associated Press, in an article republished by Al Jazeera. Ossoff is seen as a possible contender for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination. In the House, Republicans hold 218 seats and Democrats hold 214, and Democrats need to flip three seats to take control, in a scenario in which the Cook Political Report projects a Democratic gain of 15 to 25 seats.

Russia bombarded Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in waves on Tuesday, with dozens of missiles and hundreds of drones, knocking out power across swaths of the country. Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at least 33 people were killed on Monday when Russia twice bombed a school used for aid distribution in Komyshuvakha, in the Zaporizhzhia region, and that about 50 people were still believed buried under the rubble. The Kyivvodokanal utility said that the capital’s water supply was suspended because the main water facilities were left without power after the attacks. Operator DTEK said the attacks knocked three of its thermal power plants completely offline. The U.S.-mediated tripartite talks in Abu Dhabi are set for November 10 and 11. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said it was important that Russia seriously and effectively engage in ceasefire negotiations.

Donald Trump said in an interview with Fox News on Tuesday that the United States is close to making a trade deal with Canada, but Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said work remained and that Washington had dropped some demands. Carney said progress had been made but the deal was not done — “they’re asking less and they’re offering more, but we’re not quite there.” According to Carney, the U.S. withdrew earlier demands, including one that would have given Washington final say over trade deals Canada might sign with other nations.

Donald Trump said in an interview with the Financial Times on Tuesday that the United States has no immediate plan to renew strikes against Iran. Trump said the U.S. military is “locked and loaded” if strikes are necessary, but noted that there may be no reason to reignite military action. On indirect negotiations with Tehran, Trump claimed — “We seem to be getting everything we want.” The interview came in the same window in which The New York Times reported, according to The Jerusalem Post, a Central Command (CENTCOM) plan to attack Iran as early as November 4, with three aircraft carriers in the region. Trump has not yet approved a large-scale attack, and diplomatic contacts between Washington and Tehran continue.

Qatar says it is working toward an interim deal between the United States and Iran to prevent renewed fighting, as diplomats try to bridge differences between the two sides. Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said on Tuesday that both countries remained committed to negotiations and were reviewing proposals from mediators, including Qatar. Al-Ansari warned that further escalation could complicate negotiations, after fresh U.S. strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island on Tuesday.

Greenlandic lawmakers voted 16-0 for the agreement, with seven abstentions, in Nuuk, on the deal between the island, Denmark and the United States to strengthen security in the Arctic and the North Atlantic. The trilateral deal paves the way for more U.S. bases in Greenland and eases tensions over Trump’s repeated calls for the island to become part of the United States, while keeping the self-governing island under Danish control. The U.S. State Department said the vote marks another major victory for American national security. Danish lawmakers are set to debate the text later this month, and the deal enters into force once the necessary parliamentary processes of the Kingdom of Denmark, in conjunction with Greenland, are completed. Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said after the vote — “Greenland is our country” — and that cooperation must respect the people and rights of Greenlanders.

Israel provided the United States with intelligence indicating that Iran is considering using chemical weapons against its adversaries, The New York Times reported, citing American and regional officials. Some senior U.S. officials received the intelligence with concern, while others expressed deep skepticism, viewing it as part of a pressure campaign by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to resume large-scale fighting. Gulf officials questioned the Israeli assessments and said Israel had presented no evidence that Iran is making its chemical arsenal operational. Israel’s Home Front Command did not include chemical-weapons scenarios in this week’s exercises nor distribute protective guidance, and the Israeli military declined to comment. Tehran denies possessing chemical weapons and calls the accusations psychological warfare by Israel and Netanyahu.

Europe’s six largest oil companies booked US$38 billion in profit in the July-to-September quarter. BP suspended its share buyback program to cut debt faster, reducing the total by as much as US$10 billion, with US$13.9 billion remaining. The majors have shied away from major new spending, a sign they do not see current market conditions as evidence of a lasting improvement in the industry’s outlook.

An Ozon logistics center in Adygeysk was hit by a drone attack, and employees were evacuated. According to preliminary information, no one was hurt, the company’s press service said. A fire broke out in the warehouse after the attack, and emergency services were working at the scene.

The Latvian government led by Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs resigned on Tuesday but will remain in a caretaker capacity until a new cabinet is formed. Under Latvian law, the outgoing government is deemed to have resigned when the newly elected parliament holds its first sitting. The resignation is a planned procedure, because the current government holds a mandate of confidence only from the previous parliament. Kulbergs’ United List alliance won 41 of the 100 seats in the October 3 election, short of the majority needed to govern alone.

Iran has opened a third military training center in Tehran and announced plans to train one million paramilitary volunteers nationwide, according to the semi-official ISNA news agency. Members of the Basij, a paramilitary force affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard, attended the opening, and two other centers opened in Tehran in August and September.

Professor Dapo Akande has been elected a judge at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The United Kingdom had not had a judge at the court for almost a decade, and Akande will serve a nine-year term. Nine candidates were running for the five seats in simultaneous elections in the Security Council and the General Assembly, which required an absolute majority in both bodies. The election was treated as a major British diplomatic victory, almost ten years after the previous British judge failed to win re-election.

The war with Iran has doubled what Egypt pays for imported liquefied natural gas (LNG), and Cairo has been deferring cargoes into 2027 and burning fuel oil in its power plants to hold down the bill. The country asked suppliers to push five of its 15 November LNG cargoes into 2027, on top of about 15 already deferred since July. According to a government official cited by Asharq Bloomberg, the price of a single cargo has risen as much as 100% since September and climbed above US$100 million. Domestic gas output fell to 3.63 billion cubic feet per day in August, as older fields declined faster than new wells came online.

The Chinese embassy said on Tuesday that six officers from the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force took part in a week-long training exercise, without giving dates. According to the embassy, the program familiarized officers with the use of crowd-control vehicles and the different scenarios in which they may be used. Prime Minister Matthew Wale, in office since May, announced in June that the government would review the 2022 security agreement with China and similar agreements with other countries. In September, the country reached an agreement in principle with Australia to sign a new security treaty.

Activist Amadou Sarang Diallo, 27, was arrested on Friday after posting a video on TikTok condemning Israel’s participation in the Youth Olympic Games, according to activists. The Games began on October 31 and run until November 13, with nearly 2,700 athletes. It is the first Olympic event of any kind to take place on the African continent.

The Saudi-led coalition said on Tuesday it had intercepted three drones targeting Saudi territory, one of them over the western Mecca region. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said the group launched two attacks in the Asir region, targeting Abha International Airport with a drone and King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait with a ballistic missile. Two other drones, one in the Eastern Province and another heading toward the southern region, were intercepted and destroyed, according to coalition spokesman Turki Al-Maliki. The casualty and damage figures in the Houthi claims could not be independently verified.

Donald Trump said on Monday night in an interview with Fox News that the United States might have to strike the facility buried under Pickaxe Mountain, in the Isfahan region, south of Natanz. According to him, the operation can be carried out “in one hour”, “at any time”. The president also played down the conflict with Iran: “This isn’t a war. This is a very soft war.” Two American officials said Monday’s strikes on Qeshm Island, in the Strait of Hormuz, were defensive. Trump said new strikes could happen if there is no deal, but that there is “a very good chance” a deal is reached.

The Senate plenary approved in two rounds on Tuesday the Proposed Constitutional Amendment (PEC) on Public Security, keeping the version sent by the Chamber of Deputies and leaving out the reduction of the age of criminal responsibility. The vote was 73 to zero in the first round and 75 to zero in the second. The proposal writes the Unified Public Security System (Susp) into the Constitution, a system created by law in 2018 that provides for coordination among security agencies at different levels of government. At least 49 votes in favor were required in each round to approve the constitutional change.

Paraguay’s central bank seized Ueno Bank, a major digital lender with close ties to President Santiago Peña, over a solvency problem. Hours later, on Tuesday, Peña asked the head of the central bank, Carlos Carvallo, to resign. Carvallo said he had already signed his resignation letter but would stay on to oversee the takeover, because “the central bank needs calm to do its job.” Peña canceled a trip to a summit in Spain and agreed with congressional leaders to fast-track legislation that speeds up payouts to depositors and the return of public money.

In an Associated Press (AP) election-day poll, about six in ten voters say the United States made the “wrong decision” in taking military action against Iran. A recent Pentagon estimate cited by the AP puts the cost of the war at more than US$47.1 billion. About one-third of voters say the war with Iran was a “crucial” factor in their vote for Congress, less than the share of those concerned about the cost of living and government corruption. In the same poll, about six in ten voters disapprove of Trump’s handling of the presidency. The economy was the top issue facing the country for 39% of voters, followed by the state of democracy at 32%.

The crisis at Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal came to a head on Friday, when Prime Minister Donald Tusk moved to remake the court, whose president was appointed by the previous government, the far-right Law and Justice (PiS) party. The tribunal’s president, Bogdan Święczkowski, was suspended after refusing to allow a new member nominated by Tusk and approved by Parliament to take his seat. President Karol Nawrocki described the removal as “a forcible takeover of a constitutional body,” abandoned a trip to Africa and headed straight back to the tribunal, in Warsaw. On Tuesday, the eight judges backed by Tusk’s coalition planned to meet to approve the tribunal’s budget and consider disciplinary proceedings against Święczkowski and his deputy, Bartłomiej Sochański. The parliamentary election is due next year, with the constitutional order and the direction of European integration at the center of the dispute.

Officials at Israel’s finance ministry were surprised by Trump’s announcement ending US military aid, according to the Times of Israel, in a report carried by Middle East Eye. An official said no formal document from the prime minister’s office was submitted about the move: “The ministry was aware of the intention to end it, but was surprised by the intention to do so immediately.” Defense ministry officials and the military were also surprised by the announcement, according to the same report.

In the NBC News exit poll, 43% of voters said one reason for their vote was to express opposition to the president, a far higher share than in the 2018 midterm election. Trump’s approval rating among voters is 38%, against 45% in 2018. For 75% of voters, the nation’s economy is in rough shape, and 65% said Trump’s policies have worsened economic conditions. The network assesses that Trump’s campaign blitz in support of Republican candidates in recent weeks has done little to lift his job approval rating.

The administration of Donald Trump is negotiating an agreement with Venezuela that would allow a long-term US military presence in the country, according to The New York Times, in a TASS report. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is leading efforts to conclude the military pact, a status of forces agreement (SOFA), and details on the long-term presence and the locations where troops will be stationed will be left to subsequent agreements. The newspaper does not say whether the United States intends to build and maintain its own bases in the country or to station troops at existing Venezuelan bases. An unnamed State Department official said Washington hopes to expand security cooperation with Venezuela and that no discussions regarding bases are currently taking place.

Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, denied the FBI’s accusation that North Korea was responsible for the theft of more than $6 billion in crypto assets from Binance and said she sees “no need” for dialogue with Washington. In a statement published by the official KCNA on Wednesday, the ruling-party director said the accusation showed “US hostile policy” toward North Korea. The rejection comes amid speculation about a possible summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un later this month. Trump said in August that he wanted to meet the North Korean leader later this year, and Pyongyang had not responded to the offer.

The November contract of the Dubai benchmark traded at the start of this week at a discount of about $2 per barrel to the December contract, traders and brokers told Bloomberg — the first time the Dubai curve has slipped into contango since July. Contango, a structure in which contracts dated further out are worth more than prompt ones, indicates that concern about an immediate lack of crude has eased. Physical flows had been rising for two months, with Gulf producers accelerating ship-to-ship transfers in the Gulf of Oman once tankers clear Hormuz. Rising Middle East supply has weakened both Dubai and Murban prices and increased buying from Asian refiners, especially in India, which preferred additional Middle Eastern cargoes to more expensive Russian barrels with higher freight costs.

The presidents Lee Jae Myung and Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed in Seoul to expand cooperation in nuclear energy and defense, signing a memorandum on financing for nuclear power projects to support the participation of South Korean companies. According to Lee, cooperation on Turkey’s Sinop nuclear power plant project “has been progressing smoothly.” On defense, the two countries agreed to expand joint production and technological cooperation and to explore opportunities for companies from both sides to enter third-country markets together. Bilateral trade reached a record $10.7 billion last year.

Unions and housing-rights associations from seven European countries, meeting in Paris, called for coordinated demonstrations against the cost of living for November 20, 21 and 22. Organizations from France, Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Greece and Belgium are taking part, and they hope to bring “millions” of people into the streets. Their demands include guaranteeing public services such as education, healthcare and public housing, defending the “right to work” without “excluding migrants,” “taxing the rich” and an “end to rearmament policies” and to the expansion of “fossil fuels.” In Spain, the death of 87-year-old pensioner Maricarmen Abascal after an eviction in September triggered a wave of protests and led Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to call early legislative elections for November 29; the country’s main unions have called a general strike for November 11. In the European Union, housing prices rose more than 60% between 2010 and 2025 and rents by about 29%.

Al Jazeera journalist Montaser Nassar was detained in raids near Hebron, in the occupied West Bank, according to the network itself.

US officials acknowledged having launched strikes on the Iranian island of Qeshm, in the Strait of Hormuz, and told CBS, the BBC’s US partner, that the operation was limited and responded to fire from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) at a US aircraft. Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported several explosions on the island on Monday. According to The New York Times, US Central Command (Centcom) has a plan to strike Iran as early as Wednesday, after the midterm elections, when three aircraft carriers will be in the region. Some cabinet members want more time for sanctions and a US blockade, saying that economic pressure would eventually bring down Iran’s government; other officials see little prospect of its collapse without further strikes. Trump told Axios he was in no rush: “Either way, we will do something, but there is no rush. We have weakened them financially.” In an interview with Fox News, he said the US “may need to strike Pickaxe,” a site linked to Iran’s nuclear program.

A tanker was struck by two unidentified projectiles northeast of Lima, Oman, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), which said in its first update that no casualties or environmental impact had been reported. India’s foreign ministry said an unidentified aerial object struck a commercial ship off Oman on Monday and killed an Indian national; 13 other people were rescued, according to the ministry. Over the eight months of the US and Israeli war on Iran, about two dozen seafarers have been killed in attacks on more than 120 commercial ships in Hormuz.

The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthis says it intercepted a drone in the Mecca region, home to Islam’s holiest city, while the Houthis reported 17 people killed in Yemen over two days, according to The Hindu. Saudi Arabia has accused the Houthis several times of targeting Mecca and Medina, accusations the group systematically rejects.

The Africa Energy Bank, a US$ 5 billion institution set up by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the African Petroleum Producers’ Organization (APPO), was established to finance oil and gas projects across Africa, according to OilPrice. Oil and gas investment in Africa fell from US$ 68 billion in 2016 to about US$ 37 billion in 2025. The Independent Petroleum Producers Group (IPPG) estimates that Africa needs US$ 200 billion in annual energy investment, and around 600 million people across the continent lack access to electricity. S&P Global says the bottleneck is turning investor appetite into bankable projects and that US$ 5 billion covers only a sliver of the gap.

Israel’s attorney general, Gali Baharav-Miara, asked the Shin Bet to report on the progress of its investigation into claims of electoral fraud by parties of Palestinian citizens of Israel and said no evidence had been submitted so far, according to Middle East Eye. In a statement sent to the media by her spokesperson, she said that if the Shin Bet or any other authority holds evidence that would justify opening an investigation, it is invited to present it.

South Africa and Rwanda will lose their duty-free access to the US market after being excluded from the AGOA (African Growth and Opportunity Act) program, according to France 24. With the program ending, South Africa is bracing for some job losses.

Yair Golan, leader of the Democrats party, called an “enormous failure” the decision by US President Donald Trump to end military aid to Israel and said a responsible prime minister would have fought to increase US assistance, not end it. Golan is the second Israeli opposition figure to attack Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the episode, after Gadi Eisenkot said he must be replaced. Trump said he had reached an agreement on the issue with Netanyahu.

Iran offered to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and resume talks on its nuclear program if the US lifts its naval blockade on Iranian ports, waives sanctions on Iranian oil sales and observes a ceasefire, including in Lebanon. Parliament speaker and chief Iranian negotiator Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said the country had delivered a “firm and rational response” to the Americans and that it is now up to Washington to prevent war. The head of the Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaei, said the US response to Tehran’s demands was not convincing and that the strait will not reopen until the US addresses Iran’s conditions. Iran opened its third military training center in Tehran and announced plans to train 1 million paramilitary volunteers nationwide. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi called on Iran and the US to negotiate an agreement and warned against further military escalation in the region. US military cargo aircraft departing from Fort Bliss were tracked arriving at bases in Israel in recent days, according to FlightRadar24 data.

Óscar Puente resigned as Spain’s transport minister six days after the high-speed train collision that killed at least 69 people. He announced the decision in Congress, after giving evidence on the previous Wednesday’s disaster near Urda, south of Madrid, when a train smashed into the back of another that had stopped on the same line. Puente justified his departure by citing two serious accidents in less than a year, and mentioned January’s crash on the same line, which killed 46 people. He also withdrew his name from the candidate lists for the early legislative elections on November 29. According to Puente, the control center run by Adif, Spain’s state-owned rail infrastructure manager, allowed the AVE train to keep running even though its LZB automatic safety system had failed, and the train covered about 25 kilometers at more than 160 km/h before the collision. Around 200 people were injured in the crash, in addition to the 69 dead.

Gadi Eisenkot of the Yashar party has so far secured 48 party recommendations to form Israel’s next government, against 46 for Benjamin Netanyahu, according to the Jerusalem Post, with consultations with President Isaac Herzog set for Wednesday and Thursday. The ultra-Orthodox Shas party and two far-right parties said on Tuesday they would recommend Netanyahu. Netanyahu’s bloc holds 53 seats in the 120-member Knesset, against 48 for the opposition and 19 for Arab parties, leaving neither side with the 61-seat majority needed to govern. Opposition leaders agreed to recommend Eisenkot and begin negotiations on policy guidelines and coalition agreements. Arab parties have not yet confirmed their recommendations.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he hopes the upcoming US-mediated talks with Russia in Abu Dhabi will lead to a three-way meeting of leaders that includes Russian President Vladimir Putin. The talks are scheduled for November 10-11, and, according to the Northeast Times, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz says Russia has yet to engage seriously.

The management of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, under Russian control, said on Tuesday that a Ukrainian drone had killed two people in a car, including a female employee at the station, according to Reuters, in a text republished by Street Insider. The statement gave no indication where the attack occurred and said the employee was the third killed in the past two weeks and the 13th since April. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said last week that an employee at the plant had been killed, but gave no details. Ukraine did not comment on the accusation. Russian forces seized the plant, Europe's largest, with six reactors, in the first weeks of the invasion that began in February 2022. The facility is offline, and IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi has repeatedly called for military restraint around it.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that President Donald Trump has not made a decision on resuming military action against Iran, and said Trump wants to solve the Iran war “peacefully”.

Iranian media reported on Tuesday night, citing unnamed sources, that shots had been fired toward vessels allegedly violating restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iran International. The Tasnim news agency, affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, had earlier reported sounds of gunfire in the cities of Bandar Abbas and Sirik, citing accounts from local residents.

Israel informed the United Nations (UN) and the Egyptian committee on Monday evening that it is imposing a “complete and comprehensive” closure of the Rafah crossing, blocking humanitarian aid, commercial shipments, food, fuel and cooking gas entering Gaza through the Egyptian route, according to Drop Site News. The route handles 50 to 60 trucks a day, and fuel and gas come entirely through it, according to the outlet. The October 2025 ceasefire agreement calls for 600 aid trucks a day in Gaza, but Israel had been allowing an average of around 200.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) will rule on November 19 in the case in which Gambia accuses Myanmar of genocide against the Muslim Rohingya minority, the court said on Tuesday, according to Reuters, in a text republished by U.S. News. The judges will start reading out their judgment at 8:00 GMT on November 19. Gambia argues that the 2017 offensive by Myanmar government forces, which forced at least 730,000 Rohingya to seek refuge in Bangladesh, constituted genocide. Myanmar denies the accusations and says the offensive was a legitimate counterterrorism campaign. It will be the first genocide judgment by the court in more than a decade and only the third in the tribunal's history. Gambia brought the case in 2019, and the outcome is likely to shape future cases, including South Africa's 2023 case accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza, a charge Israel denies.

Up to 300 voting machines in Westchester County, New York, stopped accepting ballots on Tuesday, when polls opened at 6 a.m., according to CBS News. The county board of elections attributed the failure to a programming change in a single municipality: machines elsewhere in the county kept the original programming and could not recognize the ballots being used for Election Day. County Executive Ken Jenkins said at a press conference that up to 250,000 ballots were affected, according to Newsweek. Voting continued under contingency procedures, with ballots kept under bipartisan oversight and scanned and counted after polls close in accordance with established procedures. Rep. Mike Lawler said both camps agreed to count the ballots after voting concludes, in an agreement to be submitted to a judge on Tuesday afternoon; 10 machines will be set up at the Westchester County Board of Elections headquarters, with capacity to process 2,000 ballots per hour, according to ABC7 New York. The disruption came on the day of the midterm elections, which in New York include the governor's race between Governor Kathy Hochul and Bruce Blakeman.

Sheikh Yahaya Masussuka, an Islamic cleric respected in Katsina, was shot dead by two armed men on a motorcycle outside his home in Dutsin-Ma, northern Nigeria, last week. The group Ansaru claimed responsibility for the killing in a four-minute video obtained by Nigerian newspaper Premium Times, in a report republished by AllAfrica.

Israeli forces accompanied by heavy machinery raided the Haska Road area northwest of Hebron in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday and demolished five Palestinian-owned commercial businesses, local sources said. Nearly 750,000 Israeli settlers live in 156 illegal settlements and around 360 outposts across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, according to Palestinian figures.

Protests against the cost of living and rent prices began with the occupation of a square in the city of Porto three weeks ago, where demonstrators set up tents, and were repeated at Rossio Square in Lisbon. This weekend, Lisbon’s administrative court authorized the occupation of Rossio to remain until November 24. Housing costs in Portugal rose 41.5 percent from 2020 to 2025, the largest increase in the whole European Union, whose average rise was 3.2 percent in the period, according to the Pordata portal.

13 people and three companies are standing trial at the Paris criminal court for complicity in tax fraud and money laundering by an organized gang, for having allowed more than a hundred wealthy French taxpayers to escape at least €54 million in taxes between 2007 and 2018. Other proceedings over the scheme are under way in Belgium and Switzerland. The newspaper L’Humanité points to €200 million that the accused are alleged to have made disappear from the tax authority’s radar, through offshore companies and bank accounts in several countries.

The US Space Force activated on Monday the Space Forces Special Operations Command, a service component of US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. It is the first new service component in USSOCOM since 2006. According to the release, Guardians in the component are assigned to Special Operations Forces formations in an operational capability called Space Special Warfare Teams.

The Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (ARDA) has delivered more than 187,000 metric tons of summer cereals and 60,529 metric tons of winter wheat to the Grain Marketing Board, according to 263Chat, in a report republished by AllAfrica. The authority also aims to cultivate 100,000 hectares in the 2026/27 summer season. Agriculture Minister Anxious Masuka said Zimbabwe is “almost 100 percent certain” to have below-normal rainfall, and that the warming of the central South Pacific associated with El Niño is expected to exceed three degrees Celsius.

Iliana Yotova and her running mate, Kiril Valchev, received 57.58 percent of the vote and defeated former caretaker Prime Minister Andrey Gyurov in the second round of Bulgaria’s presidential election, according to official results. Deutsche Welle (DW) reported 57.6 percent to 39.5 percent.

United Nations (UN) spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said on Tuesday that partners supporting the collection of solid waste in Gaza warn that only half of their vehicle fleet is operational. According to him, persistent Israeli restrictions on the entry of enough engine oil and spare parts required to keep the vehicles running are increasing public health risks, as only some of the trash can be collected. He called for a wider range of critical supplies to be allowed into Gaza, with less red tape and more crossings open for deliveries.

Israeli opposition candidate Gadi Eisenkot said on Tuesday that the phaseout of US aid announced by US President Donald Trump shows that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must be replaced. For him, the fact that Israel’s defense establishment is learning of a shift in the strategic relationship through the media, at the same time as the Israeli public, shows “how dangerous Benjamin Netanyahu’s conduct is” and that he “can no longer be trusted”.

Israeli air strikes and artillery fire hit the outskirts of the town of Aita al-Jabal, in southern Lebanon’s Bint Jbeil district, according to the Lebanese national news agency. Israeli forces also opened machine-gun fire toward the entrance of Kunin, a town in the same district.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a phone call with Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Maria Theresa Lazaro, made at her request, that relations between the two countries are facing “malicious interference”. Wang said a “handful” of Philippine politicians have attacked and smeared China out of political bias and self-interest and have crossed Beijing’s “red lines”. Lazaro said the Philippines attaches great importance to its relations with China, remains committed to the one-China policy and is willing to handle maritime issues through dialogue and consultation.

The confirmed death toll from the Russian attack on a school used to distribute humanitarian aid in Komyshuvakha, in the Zaporizhzhia region, has risen to 33, according to the latest figures cited by Ukrainian media. Two waves of aerial bombs hit the town on Monday, during the weekly food distribution, and killed 29 people in the toll released that day. Latvia has called an extraordinary meeting of the United Nations (UN) Security Council after the Russian attacks on civilians in Ukraine, including the aid distribution center in Komyshuvakha.

The Houthis have launched multiple cross-border raids into Saudi Arabia in recent months, according to a Western official and an Arab official with direct knowledge of the raids. The raids are small in scale and have hit border posts in the kingdom’s rugged, mountainous southwest. The 2027 Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia has been postponed by almost a year, and the tournament is now scheduled from December 23, 2027, to January 21, 2028, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) announced on Tuesday. Yemen’s government army said it had carried out 1,208 military operations against Houthi positions and claimed to have “neutralized” around 370 commanders and militants.

At least seven flights and a cruise ship in Europe received bomb threats on Tuesday, causing disruption at airports, and no devices were discovered. Two flights to Warsaw, two to Sofia, two to Rome and one to Murcia airport in Spain were targeted; an airport in Warsaw was briefly shut and the Italian Air Force accompanied one of the flights to Rome. The UK government described the incidents as “malicious hoax threats,” and authorities from various countries will cooperate to assess whether this was a coordinated action designed to disrupt airspace. The Panama-flagged cruise ship Crown Iris, preparing to depart the Greek port of Syros for Haifa, was searched by a bomb disposal team and had 940 passengers and 597 crew members on board. According to Greek media, the captain received a warning directly by radio saying that an explosive device had been placed on the hull below the waterline; an initial search found no suspicious objects, and a second, more thorough inspection by the Coast Guard’s underwater missions unit was expected.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) posted on X on Tuesday, Election Day, that anyone who votes illegally will be found, tracked, arrested and prosecuted, and that there will be no escape. Non-citizens, including legal permanent residents, cannot vote in federal, state and most local elections, according to the US government’s official page with election rules. The Supreme Court denied a request from the Trump administration to set aside contested votes in California until voters’ citizenship could be verified, without detailing its reasons. According to the Department of Homeland Security, 50,925 immigrants were detained by ICE in August 2026 alone, a record for the Republican administration.

Democrats are preparing, should they win one chamber of Congress, an investigative agenda covering the Trump family’s business dealings, son-in-law Jared Kushner, crypto and the Epstein files. If they win one or both chambers, they will have broad powers to launch probes and hold hearings into the conduct of administration officials. Trump family business dealings and broader allegations of corporate corruption will be a top priority for California Representative Robert Garcia, who is set to lead the House Oversight Committee if Democrats win the chamber. Democrats have already requested information on Kushner’s business dealings, citing his dual roles as an informal foreign policy adviser to the president and the head of a private equity firm that does business with foreign governments, and are pushing for investigations into the Trump family’s investments in crypto. Trump’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein will also be a focus, with an investigation into whether the Justice Department violated the Epstein Files Transparency Act by withholding or improperly redacting documents. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, likely to chair the Senate Judiciary Committee, said that “more than 90 percent of voters think that government has been corrupted” and that investigative work must not distract from immediate cost problems American families feel.

Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Director General Shatrujeet Kapur said Indian and Chinese troops confronted each other at several locations along the de facto border in Arunachal Pradesh and that the standoff continues, in remarks to reporters last month. “In the past few days, a situation arose where a face-off happened” with Chinese troops at various locations in Arunachal, he said. Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu acknowledged the transgressions but downplayed the episode, saying such incidents were not new and the situation along the border was normal. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal attributed the incidents to Chinese actions.

Europe is entering the winter heating season with its lowest natural gas storage levels in more than a decade, and tight conditions in the global market may extend well into 2027, according to a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA). In European Union countries, storage sites are entering the 2026-27 season at their lowest levels since 2013. The effective halt of liquefied natural gas (LNG) flows through the Strait of Hormuz reduced loadings from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The IEA projects a 3% fall, or almost 20 billion cubic meters, in global LNG supply in 2026. QatarEnergy extended force majeure on LNG deliveries to most customers to the end of December 2026, according to OilPrice.

The Greenlandic parliament approved on Tuesday the security agreement with Denmark and the United States by 16 votes to none, with seven abstentions. Signed in September by Donald Trump, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, the text paves the way for two new US military bases and for the “Golden Dome” missile defense system, keeping the island under Danish control and reaffirming Greenlanders’ right to self-determination — according to a Reuters report republished by USA Today. The executive agreement enters into force once Denmark and Greenland ratify it and does not require approval from the US Senate; the Danish parliament gives the bill a first reading on November 11, with a vote on November 19. Naleraq opposition party chair Pele Broberg said Greenland is looking for a better agreement for when it becomes an independent state and that no economic benefit has been gained from the agreement.

Israel has shared with the United States intelligence asserting that Iran is considering the use of chemical weapons against its adversaries, information met with alarm by some American officials, according to The New York Times. According to JFeed, which reports the contents of the article, some US officials expressed deep skepticism about the information’s credibility, and some compared it to the flawed 2002 intelligence on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. Some American and Gulf officials suggested that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may be trying to draw President Donald Trump back into military action against Iran. According to the newspaper, Trump said he would not order an attack before Tuesday’s midterm elections.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Tuesday that Poland prevented what appeared to be an attempted provocation on its border with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad overnight. According to him, “individuals with flashlights” were seen in the area and the border guard told him, just after midnight, of “disturbing movement” on the Polish-Russian border; the guards prevented any incident. Police, the military, border guards and intelligence services reinforced security along the borders with Russia and Belarus, including near Kaliningrad, and counter-terrorism units were sent to the northeast after “more precise” information that acts of sabotage, including a possible incursion by “armed people,” were possible in the first half of November. Tusk said it was not possible to confirm with full certainty that the episode was an attempted provocation and that Russia’s escalation would continue, not limited to that incident. In the Warmian-Masurian region, Polish services intervened near Sępopol, where no one crossed into Polish territory and those observed withdrew into Kaliningrad, according to an RMF24 account carried by United24 Media.

France has opened a judicial investigation into a war crimes complaint over an Israeli strike on a residential building in Lebanon, according to the complainant’s lawyer, Clemence Bectarte, speaking to AFP. French-Lebanese artist Ali Cherri, whose parents were killed in the Beirut strike in 2024, filed the complaint as a civil party this year with the International Federation for Human Rights. The crimes against humanity unit of the Paris Judicial Court appointed two investigating judges to the case, a decision the lawyer called “a first.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and other factions of the outgoing coalition are seeking to delay the publication of the official election results, citing two ongoing investigations into suspected election irregularities. The chairman of the Central Elections Committee, Noam Sohlberg, insisted that the committee is not empowered to delay the publication, which under Basic Law: The Knesset must occur eight days after the election. Netanyahu’s coalition of ultra-Orthodox and far-right parties lost its Knesset majority, winning a combined 53 seats; Likud was again the largest party, with 27. The other 67 seats are split between Jewish-led parties (48) and Arab-led parties (19). Once the result is published, Herzog will have seven days to assign the task of trying to form a new government.

UK funding for the Commonwealth nations that previously had bilateral aid programs will be cut from £546m in 2024-25 to £131m in 2028-29. Of that total, £68m will go to Nigeria, leaving £63m for other countries. Sierra Leone will see its aid cut from nearly £30m to £5m, Rwanda from nearly £30m to £5m and Tanzania from £60m in 2025-26 to £5m in 2028-29. At least 26 Commonwealth countries have been prevented from receiving funds under the longstanding Darwin funding stream, worth about £40m a year for nature projects.

Rystad Energy cut Brazil’s announced data center pipeline by roughly two-thirds, from 21 GW to about 7 GW, citing regulatory uncertainty, severe grid congestion and limited access to reliable power. Under the Redata tax regime (Law No. 15,504/2026), enacted in September, the tax exemptions are neither automatic nor permanent: they are time-bound and contingent on meeting strict operational criteria. Still pending is the decision on whether natural gas generation qualifies as low-emission power. Bill 3716/2026, which reallocates battery storage integration costs from generators to all system users, is being fast-tracked in Congress and must be approved before the Brazilian electricity regulator ANEEL holds its inaugural capacity auction in December.

Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) and the Office of the Prosecutor General charged Yuliya Mendel in absentia, Zelensky’s former spokesperson, with high treason under martial law and with justifying Russia’s actions against Ukraine. According to the SBU, investigators argue that Mendel used public statements and social media posts to discredit Ukraine on the international stage. She is currently outside the country, and the agency said comprehensive measures are being taken to bring her to justice.

Hongkongers moving to the United Kingdom under the British National (Overseas) visa scheme, known as BN(O), will be exempt from plans to double the qualifying period for settlement to 10 years, according to an official announcement. The exemption retains stricter English-language requirements and tighter rules on criminal records, alongside existing conditions: five years of continuous residence and passing the Life in the UK test. On Monday, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood outlined plans to overhaul immigration rules, under which migrants would no longer gain the right to live permanently in the UK almost automatically after five years.

Crude oil exports from Persian Gulf producers averaged nearly 12 million barrels per day in September and the first 20 days of October, below the pre-war level of approximately 18 million bpd, Rystad Energy estimated. The consultancy assesses that the security situation in and near the Strait of Hormuz has deteriorated even as flows recovered, with a higher number of attacks on tankers in recent weeks. In Rystad’s view, a comprehensive settlement between the United States (US) and Iran would require addressing Iran’s nuclear program, sanctions, Tehran-backed armed groups in the region and the security of maritime shipping, while also taking into account Israel’s security interests.

Israel’s finance ministry was unaware of any plans to immediately end US military assistance before President Donald Trump’s announcement on Tuesday, according to Israel’s Channel 12. The $3.8bn in annual aid was expected to provide a significant source of funding for Israel’s defense budget in 2027 and 2028, Channel 12 economics correspondent Yuval Sade reported. In the same interview in which he spoke about the strike on Iran, Trump announced that the US would end $4 billion in funding to Israel after the end of this year.

A Russian delegation will travel to Abu Dhabi on November 10-11 for trilateral talks with Ukraine and the United States (US), Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed: “Yes, I can confirm that date.” Negotiator Vladimir Medinsky will again lead the delegation, as in the previous round, interrupted after the conflict between Iran, on one side, and the US and Israel, on the other. It will be the first trilateral meeting since February. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he had seen no sign that Russia wanted to negotiate seriously: “I have not seen any sign of that so far.” Merz also promised more aid and help with energy supplies for Ukraine going into winter and said Russia risked further escalation and a global food crisis through attacks in the Black Sea, according to Reuters, in a text republished by StreetInsider. Zelensky defended a ceasefire in the Black Sea, where attacks have intensified in recent months.

A Russian missile destroyed Dnipro’s hospice on Monday night, and nearly 50 terminally ill patients were transferred to other facilities; the oldest was 90 years old. In Kharkiv, a hospital was hit and 73 people were wounded, most of them elderly patients, according to Volodymyr Zelensky. Russian strikes on an aid center, a hospice and a hospital killed at least 38 civilians and injured scores of others in 24 hours. Kyiv’s water supply was entirely cut off “due to enemy attacks and damage to the capital’s energy infrastructure,” the supplier Kyivvodokanal said, and the entire metro network was suspended on Tuesday. Russia also struck energy infrastructure in nine regions, affecting water and heating. Zelensky said Russia launched 289 drones, 17 ballistic missiles and 59 cruise missiles overnight across the country, and three thermal power plants of Ukraine’s largest private energy company were out of operation, according to the company. The UN human rights monitoring mission said the aid distribution at the school in Komyshuvakha had been highly publicized and that the attack “seems to have violated the most fundamental principles of international humanitarian law.”

President Donald Trump confirmed that US forces struck Iran on Monday night, at a target he described as a “minor attack” on an anti-aircraft facility. “They built an anti-aircraft facility… As soon as it was completed, we hit it last night very nicely,” he said in a Fox News interview. Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency also reported several explosions on Qeshm Island, near the entrance to the strait. The US deliberately kept the attacks quiet to reduce the risk of escalation, according to The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the strikes, and one US official described the strikes as “defensive.” According to that report, in one exchange the Revolutionary Guard fired a surface-to-air missile at a US warplane, which fired back in self-defense, and another strike came after the US intercepted a missile fired from Qeshm at a commercial vessel. Iran said it downed a US MQ-9 Reaper drone and two Lucas drones near the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday.

Drax unveiled plans to build an artificial intelligence data center at the site of its biomass power plant in North Yorkshire, using the plant’s surplus energy capacity, in a partnership with Radiant, according to City AM, in a text republished by OilPrice. The first phase is to deliver up to 100 megawatts by 2028 and the second an extra 500 megawatts by 2031, with total capacity above one gigawatt and potential investment exceeding £20 billion, of which £2.5 billion in the first stage. Drax shares rose 8.5% to 877 pence on Tuesday morning, making the stock the biggest riser on the FTSE 250.

At the opening of the Commonwealth summit, King Charles III called the transatlantic slave trade “a monstrous injustice”. British Prime Minister Andy Burnham is holding talks with leaders of the bloc about a formal apology but ruled out paying the financial reparations demanded by some Caribbean countries, saying over the weekend that he was open to saying sorry. Britain will allocate £40 million for Caribbean infrastructure and is pursuing a debt relief plan for the poorest Commonwealth countries.

Israel’s military chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, is resisting a new joint offensive with the United States against Iran, according to Haaretz, in a text published by Opera Mundi. Zamir had already opposed Benjamin Netanyahu’s intention to attack Iran before the October 27 legislative elections. Opposition leader and former chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot said that, until a new government is formed, he would back military operations “only in the event of a clear and imminent danger to Israel that cannot wait for the new government to take office”. Also according to Haaretz, Netanyahu openly advocates toppling the Iranian government, while Donald Trump seeks to press the country into a deal more favorable to US interests that would restrict its nuclear program and allow the Strait of Hormuz to reopen.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said two US LUCAS drones were destroyed over Bandar-e Khamir by fire from its Imam Sajjad air defense unit, which operates within the national air defense network. The previous night, the force had announced that two MQM-170 reconnaissance drones were brought down south of Qeshm Island using electronic warfare, and said the number of aircraft of that type captured had reached four.

Fighting between the Houthis and Yemeni government forces is concentrated around Taiz, in the country’s southwest, and the Houthis have largely blocked the delivery of goods to the city, which is under the control of government forces. Yemeni authorities have warned civilians about sniper fire from the surrounding hillsides. The International Organization for Migration said fighting had displaced around 134,000 people in Taiz governorate, almost half of the more than 319,000 displaced across western Yemen, in figures dated November 1. Niku Jafarnia, Yemen researcher at Human Rights Watch, said the Houthis had blocked fuel, water and medical supplies, “basically all things required for hospitals to function properly”. The latest WHO Health Cluster situation report records at least 1,677 people killed and 7,395 injured in Yemen as of October 25.

Egypt and Sudan reaffirmed in a joint statement on November 2, after the third round of their “2+2” consultation mechanism bringing foreign and irrigation ministers together in Cairo, that Ethiopia’s operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) without a binding agreement threatens downstream water security, according to Egyptian local media. The 1959 agreement invoked by the two countries allocated 55.5 billion cubic meters a year to Egypt and 18.5 billion to Sudan, while making no provision for Ethiopia, which was not a party to the treaty. The dam, built through domestic financing, has an installed generation capacity of approximately 5,150 megawatts and a reservoir capacity of about 74 billion cubic meters, making it Africa’s largest hydroelectric project.

Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal announced on October 30 the one-month suspension of its president, Bogdan Święczkowski, and its vice president, Bartłomiej Sochański, in an order signed by Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska. President Karol Nawrocki turned his Senegal-bound plane back to Warsaw and told the judges present that they “are not Constitutional Tribunal judges”. Święczkowski had been suspended after refusing to let a new member nominated by Donald Tusk and approved by parliament take his seat, an episode CNN describes as a chapter in the clash between the pro-European prime minister and the pro-Trump president. The prime minister said on October 31 that reform had been “blocked by the president and PiS” and that “on certain matters there can be no compromise”.

Oman and China signed a currency swap agreement between the two countries’ central banks, along with 23 investment and strategic partnership deals and 14 cooperation documents, in Beijing during Sultan Haitham bin Tariq’s state visit. The yuan–rial swap was set at 30 billion yuan (1.5 billion Omani rials), with a five-year term, in a ceremony witnessed by the leaders of both countries. Xi Jinping told the sultan that the Gulf region, in the Middle East, should not become an arena for great-power rivalry and geopolitical conflict, according to China’s Foreign Ministry, which said special envoy Zhai Jun would visit Iran, Oman and Saudi Arabia this month.

No official English text of the Iranian seven-condition plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz has been published: the circulating list is reconstructed from statements by officials, according to the Tehran Times, based on remarks by Araghchi, Qalibaf, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei and Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi. In that reconstruction, the conditions include a full ceasefire on all fronts, including Lebanon, an end to the naval blockade, a license to export oil, the release of at least $12 billion in frozen assets, cancellation of post-June unilateral sanctions, an end to strikes and acceptance of the Iran-Oman safe navigation route.

Binance said hackers used fake job interviews and a compromised internal artificial intelligence tool to breach its systems and drain $6.3 billion in cryptocurrency. An engineer was instructed to download malware disguised as an “assignment” during a second interview, and the code used obfuscation techniques to evade detection. The agencies investigating the case said the hack bore the signs of having been orchestrated by North Korea, and Pyongyang denied on Tuesday that it was behind the theft. The exchange froze $2.85 billion in assets and replenished about 98% of the affected tokens with company funds.

Syrian authorities said they arrested two members of a Hezbollah cell and seized explosives allegedly intended for use on the Homs refinery, the last facility operational after the civil war. The state agency SANA reported the foiled plot on Sunday, and in early October Damascus had reported sabotage attacks first against an oil pipeline and then a gas one.

Four planes landed safely after bomb threats were made across Europe on Tuesday, among them two Warsaw-bound flights and a Scandinavian Airlines flight that departed from Copenhagen. Polish officials said they had received bomb threats involving two Warsaw-bound flights, but the planes landed safely and no explosives were found. A Ryanair plane from Manchester made an emergency landing at Murcia in southern Spain, with no explosives found; a fourth flight, from Israel, was forced to land in Sofia, Bulgaria. The Scandinavian Airlines plane landed at Warsaw’s Chopin Airport, where a security inspection did not turn up any explosive devices, and the airport closed a landing strip but was able to continue operating. The Times of Israel treated the incidents as hoax threats that forced the temporary closure of an airport.

Israeli forces prevented all cooking gas shipments from entering the Gaza Strip on Sunday and sent the trucks back empty, according to the Palestinian outlet Palinfo. Gaza’s General Petroleum Authority said no cooking gas entered the territory throughout the day and that the trucks were sent back without delivering their supplies. On Tuesday, Israeli forces blocked the entry of commercial goods and humanitarian aid from Egypt through the Rafah crossing, cutting off a route that accounts for nearly one-fifth of the goods entering the besieged territory each day. Even when deliveries are permitted, the territory receives only four or five trucks of cooking gas per day, far below the more than 20 needed to meet daily demand.

The Palestinian Prisoners Society and the fiancée of detainee Hassan Salameh, Ghufran Zamel, said Israeli prison guards shot him nine times last month. According to them, the assault came after National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir stormed his cell and filmed himself threatening to kill him. The type of ammunition used and the precise circumstances of the shooting remain unclear. According to Zamel, three days after the assault Salameh was taken to have his injuries photographed and was then returned to his cell without medical treatment and given only painkillers. In 1996, Israel convicted Salameh of orchestrating several bombings that killed and wounded scores of Israelis, and he was sentenced to 48 life terms. He has spent 14 years in solitary confinement since his imprisonment 30 years ago.

Brent plunged more than $6 a barrel on Tuesday morning, from $107.24 to $100.80, before recovering to around $104 shortly after 10 a.m. Eastern as traders reacted to a succession of conflicting reports about peace negotiations between the United States and Iran. The drop followed a 7.6% decline on Monday that left Brent at $104.77. Prices initially rose overnight after reports of US strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island, near the Strait of Hormuz, before reversing sharply on Tuesday morning. Qatar confirmed that both sides were reviewing proposals and that no agreement has been announced.

More than 230 million eligible voters can vote on Tuesday in the United States, in elections that decide who will represent them in Congress for the last two years of Donald Trump’s term. All 435 House seats and 35 of the Senate’s 100 seats are being contested, along with the governorships of 36 states; Republicans currently hold both chambers. More than 57 million early votes were cast before Election Day, and the first polling sites opened at 6 a.m. Eastern in Connecticut, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Missouri, New Jersey, New York and Virginia. The rising cost of living is top of mind for voters, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found, which had a margin of error of 3 percentage points for registered voters.

Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi formally accepted the credentials of ambassador Michael Lotem at a ceremony in Hargeisa, the territory’s capital, where officials also laid the cornerstone for an Israeli embassy. Israel is the only state in the world to have recognized Somaliland, which also enjoys substantial economic ties to the United Arab Emirates. The mutual recognition between the two countries was signed on December 26, 2025. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said the appointment of ambassadors is another important step in deepening the ties between the two countries. Abdullahi said during the ceremony that it was the first time a Somaliland president had received the credentials of an ambassador from a UN member state recognizing its independence.

A spokesman for Benjamin Netanyahu said he did not know about Donald Trump’s statement that American military aid to Israel would end and that he would check for details. The aid follows a memorandum of understanding of $3.8 billion a year that is approaching its expiration in 2028, with conversations under way on how Washington’s assistance to Israel would evolve beyond that date. Trump, who announced on Tuesday the cut of $4 billion a year at the end of this year, said Netanyahu brought the matter up and that the prime minister said it would be appropriate not to receive the aid because he understands that this is one of the points of contention. Yair Golan, head of the left-wing Democrats party, said the end of American aid deals a severe blow to Israel’s security and to the quality of life in the country.

Serbia is going through a wave of arrests and resignations after the Student List won the parliamentary elections on October 25 and Aleksandar Vučić left power for the first time in over a decade. The Student List won 140 of the 250 seats in parliament but, without a clear leadership structure, may take some time to form a government. On November 1, Marko Kricak, head of the Criminal Police Directorate, and Bosko Sekulovic, a police commander tasked with fighting organized crime, were arrested on charges of abusing their positions as part of an investigation into a complex murder case in May. On November 2, Davor Macura, owner of Alta Bank, was arrested in Belgrade after the bank had its license revoked by the National Bank of Serbia on October 30. Manja Grcic, director of the public broadcaster RTS, dismissed the head of the news department on October 28 and resigned the same day under pressure from employees and representatives of the student protest movement. Vučić told TV Pink he is not afraid of a possible arrest because there will be no evidence against him.

Czech public television and radio workers launched a one-day strike on Tuesday against a government plan to cut financing and move funding to the state budget, which they call an attempt to hurt the broadcasters’ independence and viability. The media would receive about 15% less money than they do now, which could likely lead to layoffs, limited production and program cancellations. The bill passed a preliminary vote last month and now awaits further debate in parliament. Prime Minister Andrej Babiš denies an attempt to control the media and says the change fulfills a campaign promise to lighten the financial burden on the population: “There is no fight over democracy. Nobody wants to take over the public media or bring them under state control,” he said. Michal Kubal, chief news editor at Czech Television, said the strike is unprecedented in the history of Czech public service media. The strike has the backing of labor unions, university rectors, churches, international media organizations and hundreds of athletes.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said the attack on Komyshuvakha targeted Ukrainian military units near the village and in two other settlements in the Zaporizhzhia region, according to Reuters, in a text republished by UOL. In a statement released on Tuesday, the ministry said up to 25 Ukrainian soldiers were killed and that 15 vehicles and an electronic warfare station were destroyed. Both Russia and Ukraine deny deliberately targeting civilians in the conflict. Ukrainian authorities say the school that was hit was being used as an aid distribution point and shelter; President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian forces first dropped aerial bombs on the school, used for aid distribution every Monday, and that no classes were being held. The acting head of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration, Mykhailo Semikin, said five people were wounded and nearly 50 were still missing.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, ruled out telephone talks with Russia, saying Moscow would use the conversation as a pretext to avoid further meetings; he spoke at a press conference alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin. In the German capital, Zelensky ruled out inviting Vladimir Putin to Kyiv and said no Ukrainian intends to go to Moscow. The president confirmed that Ukrainian, Russian and US officials will meet in Abu Dhabi on November 10 and 11, and that Kyiv wants a halt to attacks on energy infrastructure, safe passage for grain shipments through the Black Sea and further prisoner exchanges. Merz said he does not see Russia seriously engaging in ceasefire negotiations and that Europe needs a voice on sanctions and post-war security.

Japan’s defense minister, Shinjiro Koizumi, again called for an open and frank discussion on nuclear weapons in the country, at a symposium in Tokyo, according to the Russian state agency TASS, which cites Kyodo News. “We must create conditions in which the security measures necessary for Japan can be discussed openly and frankly,” he said. The statement comes amid the review of the national security strategy, which also touches on Japan’s three non-nuclear principles: not to possess, produce or introduce nuclear weapons into its territory. Koizumi also once again left the door open to potentially equipping the country’s navy with nuclear submarines.

The leaders of Israel’s four Jewish opposition parties met in Herzliya on Tuesday and agreed to immediately launch coalition negotiations and coordinate their parliamentary strategy ahead of the new Knesset’s swearing-in next week. Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc lost its parliamentary majority, but the Jewish opposition parties hold just 48 seats to his 53; they can command a majority only with the support of the two Arab parties, which won a combined 19 seats. The leaders reaffirmed their support for recommending that President Isaac Herzog give Gadi Eisenkot the first chance to form a government and agreed that negotiating teams will begin drafting coalition agreements and policy guidelines. The first item on the parliamentary agenda will be replacing Likud’s Amir Ohana as Knesset speaker, which would open the way for a state commission of inquiry into the Hamas-led attack in southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Likud said the opposition intends to form a “dangerous government” reliant on “supporters of terrorism.” The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) Unit 730, responsible for protecting senior officials, is set to directly take over security arrangements for Eisenkot, senior sources confirmed to The Jerusalem Post.

Britain’s government set out before Parliament the “earned settlement” model, which ends the almost automatic grant of permanent residence after five years. People earning more than £50,271 a year and some public service workers, such as doctors, nurses and teachers, will be able to settle after five years; others will wait 10 years as the new default. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said settled status “until now has been given almost automatically” and that, “from today, it must be earned.” People found to have breached immigration rules will have to wait at least 20 years to settle, and anyone who arrived by small boat or another clandestine means faces an additional 10-year wait, which could reach 30 years. The new rules are due to come into effect next year and do not affect people who already have settled status.

Brazil’s government presented on Tuesday the world’s first global roadmap for phasing out fossil fuels, arguing that countries can break their dependence on coal, oil and gas without waiting for new technologies, according to the Guardian. The roadmaps are not binding, contain no deadlines or milestones and leave it to each country to diagnose its own dependence on fossil fuels before choosing policies. Among the suggested steps are urgently cutting the flaring and venting of gas at extraction sites, reducing fossil fuel subsidies and expanding renewable generation. The forests roadmap estimates that about US$300 billion a year will be needed by 2030 and US$500 billion a year by 2050, against about US$85 billion available today. André Corrêa do Lago, Brazil’s president of the UN climate summit (COP30), said the roadmaps are documents of implementation and should be taken up by finance, transport, energy and infrastructure ministries in each country. Joeri Rogelj, a professor at Imperial College London, said the roadmaps are valuable but fall short of indicating the pace of change needed because they include no timeline or key benchmarks.

The secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaei, said on Tuesday that the United States’ response to Iran’s rights and demands was not convincing and that Washington must provide a comprehensive and explicit response. In a televised speech, President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran stands ready for battle “with its finger on the trigger” but has also given the American side a “powerful and rational” response, and that the ball is now in America’s court to prevent war. Donald Trump told Fox News he is “not looking to kill lots of people” in Iran and described the action on Qeshm Island as a “minor attack” rather than a resumption of war, saying the US has Iran “totally where we want” and could “finish them off” or “be nice and let thousands of people live that would get killed in a war.”

An unprecedented leak exposed the personal information of South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, first lady Kim Hea Kyung, senior aides, bodyguards and journalists accompanying them overseas. The breach, reported by local broadcaster KBS on Monday, exposed sensitive personal information belonging to 168 people aboard the presidential aircraft over a period of about five months, including passport numbers and issue dates. The government has launched an investigation and moved to reissue passports for Lee and the first lady, and the presidential office ordered a sweeping review of security protocols for presidential overseas trips. South Korea’s Foreign Ministry is examining the possibility that the leaked document originated from its protocol office, which is responsible for the presidential aircraft’s passenger list.

The European Commission said representatives from Ukraine, the United States (US), France, Germany, Britain, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the World Bank will meet in Brussels on Wednesday, on the eve of the resumption of US-mediated talks, according to spokesperson Paula Pinho. US special envoy Steve Witkoff said Washington will also mediate working-level talks between Ukraine and Russia in Abu Dhabi on November 10 and 11. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that a Russian delegation will travel to the United Arab Emirates and that presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky will lead the team. Peskov ruled out the European Union joining the Abu Dhabi talks because the agreed format is trilateral, between Russia and Ukraine with US mediation.

The death toll from a Russian attack on a site where people had gathered to receive humanitarian aid in Komyshuvakha, in the Zaporizhzhia region, rose to 31 on Tuesday, with dozens still missing under the rubble. The dead included four police officers and two rescue workers, according to the acting head of the regional military administration, Mykhailo Semikin, and at least five people were hurt. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia launched 289 attack drones, 17 ballistic missiles and 59 cruise missiles across nine regions, triggering emergency power cuts. In Kharkiv, a combined Russian missile and drone attack wounded at least 62 people, according to local authorities. Russia’s Ministry of Defense said it shot down 856 Ukrainian drones overnight, and Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 493 drones were fired toward the capital.

The office of US first lady Melania Trump announced that she will convene Russian and Ukrainian representatives at the White House on Thursday and deliver remarks about the temporary ceasefire in Oleshky, a Russian-occupied city in Ukraine’s Kherson region, which she helped negotiate. The White House credited Melania Trump with independently initiating discussions between the two countries and securing the localized truce, which allowed humanitarian aid to reach civilians and residents to evacuate. The announcement did not specify who will attend the meeting or provide details about the agenda.

France’s Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez confirmed at the National Assembly that the country is holding technical discussions with the Taliban authorities to return Afghans in an irregular situation. Nuñez cited Germany as a precedent and said some of these Afghans may pose threats to public order, making it a priority to be able to return them. Green MP Léa Balage accused the government of a beginning of normalization of diplomatic relations with a regime that commits crimes against humanity and practices gender apartheid. France has not had diplomatic relations with the Taliban since the group’s return to power in August 2021, and a diplomatic source said the talks do not call that position into question.

General Zhang Shengmin, vice-chairman of China’s Central Military Commission, received Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov in Beijing in his first publicly reported meeting with a foreign official since he became a member of the Politburo. At the meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, Zhang pledged to deepen military cooperation and strategic coordination with Russia. According to Reuters, in a text republished by Internazionale, Zhang and President Xi Jinping are the only two active members of China’s supreme military command, after five of the seven members appointed in a 2022 reshuffle were purged.

A spate of cyber-attacks hit supermarket chains across at least 10 European countries on Monday, prompting European Union (EU) officials to warn of a deliberate attempt to disrupt the food supply chain. Supermarkets reported problems in Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Germany and Sweden, and the rise in freezer temperatures, reportedly as high as 50°C, forced retailers to discard food. The EU’s food and agriculture commissioner, Christophe Hansen, said the bloc was taking the incidents very seriously and warned of further disruption in the future. In Belgium, dozens of stores reported refrigeration failures and federal prosecutors opened an investigation.

Gaza’s interior ministry said police officers were killed and wounded in an Israeli air strike near the southern city of Khan Younis. The Palestinian Health Ministry counted 19 Palestinians killed in the Gaza Strip since Saturday, six of them in the previous 24 hours, after 13 deaths over the weekend. Among Tuesday’s deaths were a Palestinian who succumbed to his wounds after the bombing of the displacement camp where he was staying in Khan Younis, and another killed in an air strike on a group at the University College of Applied Sciences in the same city.

US President Donald Trump said in an interview with Fox News that he struck a deal with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the $4 billion annual military aid to Israel, with the commitment to stop paying the country by the end of this year and to help if needed, according to Reuters, in a text republished by The Jerusalem Post. Trump said Israel no longer needed financial support from Washington and that Democrats and left-wing politicians were using the funding for Israel to criticize Republicans.

The chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces, Ali Abdollahi, presented a plan with five conditions for lasting security, including an end to hostilities on all fronts, the complete lifting of sanctions and the unfreezing of Iranian assets and the payment of war reparations, according to the Tasnim news agency. The plan also calls for recognition of Iran’s sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz and a guarantee against future aggression under a regional security framework for West Asia. Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said a Qatari delegation met Iranian officials in Tehran for more than three hours on Monday and that both sides are now reviewing Qatar’s proposal. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it downed two US MQM-170 reconnaissance drones south of Qeshm and destroyed an MQ-9 east of the strait, while the Revolutionary Guard navy told Brasil de Fato that the two MQM-170s were captured intact by electronic warfare without being destroyed. Iran’s Parliament speaker and chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said Iran’s military response to any miscalculation by the enemy will be unpredictable.

The United States has urged Venezuela to release the remaining political prisoners held in the country. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met his Venezuelan counterpart, Oliver Blanco, on Monday, when he called for their release and discussed reforms aimed at laying the groundwork for free and credible elections, according to the State Department. More than 1,000 political prisoners have been freed since US forces seized Nicolás Maduro in a raid on Caracas on January 3 and took him to New York, where he faces trial on drug-trafficking and torture charges. Venezuelan prisoners’ rights group Foro Penal says 322 people remain in detention. The State Department reiterated its commitment to Donald Trump’s three-phase plan, which provides for stabilization, economic recovery and political reconciliation, and democratic transition.

Samsung Electronics will use its second semiconductor plant in Taylor, Texas, to produce base dies for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips for AMD and Nvidia, according to South Korea’s Maeil Business Newspaper, which cited industry sources, in a Reuters report published by WHTC. Construction is due to start formally this month, with the plant having secured orders for its entire output, most of it for AMD. The facility will use 2-nanometer technology and cover about 2.7 million square feet, roughly 1.5 times the size of the first plant, which has a contract with Tesla. Equipment is expected to be installed from February 2029, with mass production in 2030.

China has pledged to work with Pakistan to advance “high-level security cooperation” and ensure the security of the two countries’ joint infrastructure project, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), according to the South China Morning Post. The messages were conveyed by Liu Haixing, head of the International Department of the Chinese Communist Party, in separate meetings with Pakistan’s top military leader Asim Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday, on his first official visit to the country since taking office just over a year ago. In his meeting with Munir, Liu said Beijing stands ready to deepen exchanges with Islamabad and pursue the “2.0” version of the corridor, according to a statement from the department released on Monday.

ADNOC Gas will supply up to 1.6 million tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to TotalEnergies over five years, under an agreement announced on Tuesday by the gas unit of Abu Dhabi’s state energy firm and the French oil major. The first LNG deliveries will begin as early as this year, according to TotalEnergies. OilPrice notes that LNG flows through the Strait of Hormuz have been severely constrained for eight months and that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) remains confident that long-term global demand will stay on the upside. The Ruwais LNG project, under development in Abu Dhabi, will have 9.6 million tons per annum of capacity, most of it already committed to buyers in Asia and Europe under long-term agreements.

Congolese opposition figure Prince Epenge, arrested on October 25, was transferred on October 31 to Makala central prison, in Kinshasa, after a court rejected his request for provisional release the day before. President of the ADD Congo party, spokesperson for the Lamuka coalition and a member of the C64 platform, Epenge is accused of “spreading false rumors”, tied to his denunciation of the killing of a party activist at the September 15 opposition march in Kinshasa. He was detained at N’djili International Airport as he was about to fly to Rome, where the opposition gathered in C64 was to hold a meeting.

China appears to be testing a stealthy new trimaran at sea, according to a photograph circulating on social media, in what could be a further effort to develop unconventional naval platforms, the South China Morning Post said. The image first emerged on Weibo on Sunday and appears to show a vessel featuring an inverted wave-piercing bow, a three-hull design and angular superstructure surfaces that could reduce its radar signature. The newspaper noted that the time and location of the picture have not been independently verified and that details about the boat’s specifications, intended role and operational status remain unclear.

Italy’s government held emergency talks with intelligence chiefs on Tuesday after cyberattacks on supermarket freezer systems in at least nine European countries, according to AFP, in a report published by RFI. Supermarkets in Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden reported refrigeration problems that forced some retailers to discard food after temperatures rose. In Italy, cabinet undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano called the meeting with intelligence officials and the National Cybersecurity Agency, which also issued technical advice for retailers. European Commissioner for Food and Agriculture Christophe Hansen said the bloc takes the incidents “very seriously” and described them as a deliberate attempt to disrupt the food supply chain and undermine consumers’ confidence in it. Carlos Cancinos, a spokesperson for the Coop chain in Sweden, said there had been no further attacks overnight and that the affected shops had resumed “normal functioning”. The refrigeration equipment affected was connected to “old 4G networks”, he said.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said the country remains in a “state of war”, with its forces mobilized and prepared for any scenario, in remarks to the Tasnim agency carried by Opera Mundi. According to him, Iran neither started nor sought the war, but will respond firmly to any new aggression. Tehran demands an end to the US naval blockade of its ports, the suspension of new economic sanctions and guarantees for selling its oil before fully restoring circulation in the Hormuz region, with the measures implemented within 48 hours, according to the same source. According to Russian agency Sputnik, the United States has no intention of escalating attacks on Iran after the strike on Qeshm Island, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. A US official cited by Reuters said the Qeshm operation was defensive in nature and hit anti-aircraft missile systems used against US forces. Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf warned that Iran’s military and strategic response to any miscalculation by the enemy would be unpredictable.

The presidents of South Korea, Lee Jae Myung, and of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, signed in Seoul a memorandum on cooperation in financing nuclear projects to support the participation of South Korean companies in Turkey’s new nuclear power projects. Lee said cooperation on the Sinop plant project, including site assessments and the work of a joint working group, was “progressing smoothly” under the memorandum on nuclear energy cooperation signed in November 2025. The project aims to build Turkey’s second nuclear power plant, on its northern Black Sea coast, with the state-run Korea Electric Power Corporation seeking to participate. The two countries also agreed to deepen defense cooperation by expanding joint production and technological cooperation and jointly exploring opportunities for companies from both countries in third-country markets. The governments also signed an agreement on natural resources and mining and plan an intergovernmental channel to diversify critical mineral supply chains. Bilateral trade reached a record US$ 10.7 billion last year, according to Lee, after surpassing US$ 10 billion for the first time in 2023, a decade after the free trade agreement took effect in 2013.

The South African government confirmed the intention of the United States to withdraw the country’s benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) from January 1, 2027, with 60 days’ advance notice, according to SAnews, the South African government’s news service. Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau said the decision does not define the broader relationship between the two countries and that a solution depends on the willingness of both sides. According to the government, Washington introduced new issues outside the scope of the negotiation process that began in 2025. South African exports under AGOA totaled nearly US$ 1.7 billion in 2025, down from US$ 4 billion in 2024, and accounted for roughly 1% of the country’s total exports. Bilateral trade reached US$ 28.8 billion in 2025, with more than 600 American companies operating in the country. South Africa supplies the United States with 12 of the 50 minerals Washington deems critical and 70% of the isotopes used in cancer treatments.

Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) opened criminal proceedings over the events of November 2, 2026 in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka, in the Kyiv region, under Part 5 of Article 426-1 of the Ukrainian Criminal Code, which covers exceeding authority or official powers by a military official. The events unfolded near a private house used to temporarily accommodate National Guard service members who had returned after leaving their unit without authorization. According to the SBI, investigators will establish the circumstances and conditions of the service members’ stay in the house and verify reports of possible coercion against them. The conflict near the house escalated into clashes, during which shots were fired and official police vehicles were damaged. National Guard Commander Oleksandr Pivnenko confirmed that National Guard service members were in the house after leaving their unit without authorization and that four of them required medical attention and were taken to a hospital. The National Guard said it will no longer use the building and that the people who had been staying there have already left.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Tuesday that Poland prevented what appeared to be an attempted provocation on its border with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad overnight. Tusk gave few details but said that “individuals with flashlights” had been observed in the border area and that Polish guards prevented any incident from happening. According to the prime minister, additional police and other troops, including counterterrorism units, were directed to Poland’s northeastern border regions after authorities received “more precise” information that acts of sabotage, including a potential incursion by “armed people”, were possible in the first half of November. Members of Poland’s GROM special operations unit were deployed to the border with Kaliningrad to take part in a police operation aimed at preventing “planned acts of sabotage”, according to Russian state agency TASS; Tusk announced the deployment ahead of a cabinet meeting. Tusk said it was not possible to confirm with full certainty that the incident was an attempted provocation, and that Russia’s escalation would continue and was unlikely to be limited to that episode.

A Criteria poll found 25% approval and 65% disapproval for José Antonio Kast's government, his worst figures since taking office. The previous measurement, on October 25, showed 27% approval and 64% disapproval, until then his lowest levels, and the gap between approval and disapproval reached 40 points.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang said at the opening of the World Internet Conference in Wuzhen that China opposes the overgeneralization of the concept of national security and the erection of a digital iron curtain. Alibaba Chairman Joe Tsai said that only open source can popularize artificial intelligence and, with that, create a sustainable and inclusive industry. According to him, Alibaba is using 25 billion dollars in free cash flow from its e-commerce business to fund AI infrastructure and models and has doubled its investment in computing capacity every year for the past three years.

An Iranian military spokesperson warned that any renewed attack by the United States (US) will be met with a harder and broader response than Tehran's past retaliations. According to him, a new war would not remain limited to West Asia, and US facilities, equipment, personnel and interests in any location within Iran's reach could become targets. On the diplomatic track, Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said that efforts to bring the US and Iran closer are ongoing and that both countries are studying proposals.

German auto supplier Schaeffler will cut 3,460 jobs and close five sites in Europe, the company said on Tuesday, citing weakening demand for combustion-engine vehicles, slower-than-expected electric-vehicle adoption and intense competition. The cuts affect 16 sites, including four plants in Germany and one in Belgium, with about 2,660 jobs eliminated in Germany by 2028, roughly 9% of the company's core German workforce. Schaeffler expects annual savings of about 300 million euros by 2030, with one-off costs of roughly 480 million euros, most of which will be booked in 2026.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan drew up a cooperation blueprint in Seoul covering areas from nuclear energy, the defense industry and infrastructure to advanced technologies, biotechnology and energy. “Today, our two countries drew up a blueprint for mutual prosperity across diverse areas,” Lee said. Erdogan called the bilateral relationship a “blood alliance,” recalling Turkey's participation in the 1950-53 Korean War. The two countries mark 70 years of diplomatic relations in 2027.

Warsaw Modlin Airport resumed operations on Tuesday after a Boeing 737 Max arriving from London landed at 10:01 and passengers disembarked, and two aircraft that arrived from London and Copenhagen were being inspected after separate bomb threats. A second flight, an SAS plane from Copenhagen also bound for Chopin Airport, received a bomb threat and landed as scheduled. The threats come a day after a Wizz Air flight from London Luton made an emergency landing in Budapest, escorted by a Hungarian fighter jet.

Lebanon's Labor Minister Mohammad Haidar, who was appointed by Hezbollah, visited Syria on Monday with three other Lebanese ministers, the first time a member of the group has been formally welcomed in Damascus since the fall of the Assad regime. The delegation, led by Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri, discussed refugee returns, border security, education and bilateral cooperation. Haidar said the trip is ministerial work with no partisan link.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Tuesday that three oil tankers exploded and caught fire after striking naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz, after switching off their navigation and identification systems and taking an unauthorized route. According to the statement, the vessels were left along the southern shores of the strait and were still ablaze, and fishermen in the east saw a night lit by the flames.

A suspected cyberattack hit grocery stores in at least nine European countries on Monday, and the European Union (EU) warned of a deliberate attempt to disrupt the bloc's food supply chain. European Agriculture and Food Commissioner Christophe Hansen said the incidents are “a deliberate attempt to disrupt our food supply chain and undermine consumers' confidence.” The Paris prosecutor's office counted around 700 victims in October's attack on French supermarkets, and around 40 Delhaize supermarkets in Belgium and Luxembourg were affected, along with a smaller number of shops in Sweden, Ireland, the Netherlands, Estonia and Finland.

The French judiciary opened a judicial investigation into a war crimes complaint over an Israeli strike on a residential building in Lebanon, according to a lawyer who spoke to AFP on Tuesday. The crimes against humanity unit of the Paris Judicial Court appointed two investigating judges to the case, a move the lawyer described as a first. The complaint, seen by AFP, concerns the November 26, 2024 bombing that killed seven civilians, including Cherri's parents, aged 87 and 77, in a 12-story building in central Beirut; three floors were destroyed.

Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot ruled out joining a government led by Benjamin Netanyahu even if US President Donald Trump asks him to. “I will not sit in a government led by Netanyahu,” he was quoted as saying. According to the same account, he would attend if invited by Trump but would argue that forming a government is Israel's internal affair and that he would prevent any interference. With anticipated endorsements from the Joint List and Ra'am, Eisenkot could secure recommendations from 67 of the 120 Knesset members, against 53 for Netanyahu's alliance.

Voters in the United States (US) deliver a verdict on Tuesday on the first two years of President Donald Trump's second term, with polls and nonpartisan analysts favoring Democrats to wrest the House of Representatives from Republicans while control of the Senate remains uncertain, according to Reuters, in text published by Investing.com. All 435 seats in the House are up for election, along with 35 of the Senate's 100 seats; Democrats must flip at least three House seats and four Senate seats to win a majority in each chamber. Final polls suggest Trump's approval rating is around 38%. The price of a gallon of diesel, which was $3.75 before the war with Iran started in February, hit a record high of $6.52 in September.

Warsaw-Modlin airport is closed until further notice on Tuesday after the unplanned landing of a plane from London due to information on an explosive device on board, the airport said in a statement. Security services were verifying the reported threat, it added.

Shell agreed to sell its 16.67% stake in Australia's North West Shelf project to subsidiaries of XRG, the international arm of Abu Dhabi's state oil company (ADNOC), for $1.45 billion, according to Reuters, in text published by MarketScreener. The deal is expected to close in 2027 and includes an additional milestone-linked contingent payment on top of the base consideration. It is XRG's first investment in Australian liquefied natural gas (LNG); the project has 14.3 million tonnes a year of liquefaction capacity.

Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever tendered his resignation to King Philippe on Monday as coalition talks deadlocked over a deficit-cutting budget, with the monarch putting off his decision until the end of the week; the government is seeking savings and new revenue to cut a budget deficit that exceeds five percent of GDP. The king will launch discussions with the different party leaders of the governing coalition and will receive De Wever again on Friday. All Belgian political forces oppose using frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine, and a possible resignation of De Wever would not change that position, the Rapporteur portal reported, as cited by Sputnik.

The Indian Navy freed the fishing vessel Azini from armed pirates and rescued all 20 crew members without casualties or injuries, in an operation spanning more than 48 hours. The vessel had been hijacked last month off the northeast coast of Somalia and there was a risk it would be used as a “mother ship” for further attacks on merchant shipping in the region. Marine commandos were dropped by precision airdrop from an Indian Air Force C-17 aircraft, after the vessel was located and contained by non-kinetic measures. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said the operation was completed on November 2, more than 3,000 km from Mumbai. The 20 crew members were Iranian, according to the Mehr News agency.

A billboard towering over the busy Enghelab Square in Tehran reads “We will kill Trump”, depicting the US president behind bars with his head bowed. Another billboard nearby shows Trump alongside Vice President JD Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with bloodied faces and ragged suits against the background of worn-out Israeli and US flags. Since the war began on February 28, when US and Israeli strikes killed the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, new designs of billboards mocking Trump and vowing revenge have frequently been set up around Tehran.

A People's Liberation Army (PLA) air defence unit intercepted two new types of missile simultaneously during a drill for the first time, including one that made a sudden change of direction in flight, according to Chinese state television. The system used was the HQ-9B, of the Central Theater Command Air Force's “Shenwei Missile Battalion”, according to CCTV; the targets included ballistic missiles and one missile that suddenly changed direction during flight.

Spanish police cleared the housing protest camp at Madrid's Puerta del Sol in the early hours of Tuesday, and municipal cleaning staff swept away remaining debris, tents and tarpaulin in the morning. The central government delegation in the Madrid region said the eviction took place overnight “without incident or episodes of violence”, with 334 people removed and two arrested. Firefighters, social services and 400 national and municipal police officers took part in the operation. In a post on Telegram, protest organisers called it “a violent police operation” that left several people injured after being hit or as a result of tear gas. The camp began on September 26, after the eviction and subsequent death of Maricarmen Abascal, 87, who had lived seven decades in the same home. Major unions called a general strike for November 11 in defence of housing and wages sufficient to afford it.

The first contingent of 109 troops of the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) left Mogadishu on Friday, following an announcement by Uganda's army chief, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba. The withdrawal is being carried out in phases and is expected to be completed in August 2027. Around 4,500 Ugandan troops are stationed in Somalia as part of the African Union mission (AUSSOM), as well as about 2,000 deployed under bilateral agreements. Uganda was the first African country to deploy troops to Somalia, under the African Union mission established in 2007 to help protect the country's transitional government from attacks by Islamist militants. Uganda's army said the withdrawal will mark the end of its 20-year peace and stabilization operations and permit the Somali Armed Forces to assume full responsibility for security in the country.

The European Union (EU) and the UK have completed their deal to remove Brexit checks on imports and exports of food and animal products ranging from sausages and cheese to leather goods and flowers. The sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) deal is not expected to be implemented until the first quarter of 2028, after a six-month delay to the second EU-UK summit, now due on 20 November. British trade with Europe has dropped by a third since 2019. The deal should remove the need for £200 export health certificates per shipment.

The death toll from a Russian attack on a site where people had gathered to receive humanitarian aid in Komyshuvakha, in southern Ukraine, rose to 29 on Tuesday, with 48 people still missing; in the same wave of overnight strikes, hospitals were damaged and scores of people wounded. The head of the Zaporizhzhia regional military administration, Mykhailo Semikin, said the attack left 29 dead, 5 injured and 48 people whose whereabouts are unknown. President Volodymyr Zelensky said that after the first strike on the local school “used for humanitarian needs”, there was a second attack on the place where people were sheltering.

The Palestinian ministry said, according to TRT World, that Israeli attacks killed 22 students and education workers in Gaza in October. Damage to schools, fuel shortages and restrictions on supplies and travel are further disrupting education across the enclave, with officials warning that the system faces collapse.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told the Financial Times that “work is under way” on organizing a meeting between Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump and Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, scheduled for Shenzhen, China, on November 18-19. China’s foreign ministry said Beijing was “in communication with relevant parties” about a possible meeting between the Chinese and Russian heads of state, but omitted any mention of Trump. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko said there is no final decision or confirmation yet on the trilateral meeting.

Israeli forces have killed at least four Palestinians in attacks across Gaza, and a fifth person died of wounds sustained in an earlier assault, according to medical sources and media reports. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, Israeli attacks have killed at least 1,593 Palestinians and wounded 5,748 since the US-brokered ceasefire began in October 2025. Overall, Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 74,609 Palestinians and wounded 175,872, according to the same ministry. Indiscriminate Israeli gunfire from military positions, tanks and quadcopter drones has killed and wounded hundreds of civilians since the ceasefire, particularly displaced families living near the so-called Yellow Line.

An Israeli military order issued on October 28 placed 26,500 m² of land in the villages of Deir Nizam, Umm Safa and Atara under military control, for “military purposes,” according to the Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission. The land is designated for a route called the Ateret–Neve Tzuf emergency axis, intended to connect illegal Israeli settlement sites in the area, and the order will remain in effect until the end of 2028. The commission said 5,891 m², or around 22.3 percent of the seized area, are classified by Israeli authorities as “state land,” while another 20,582 m² fall outside that classification.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group’s armed forces carried out three operations in 48 hours, hitting Dammam airport in two phases with two drones. According to Saree, the operation disrupted air traffic at Dammam and a drone scored a direct hit on the early warning radar in Jizan. There was no immediate confirmation from Saudi authorities regarding the attacks or the damage claimed by the Houthis.

North Korea tested a dispersal warhead for a strategic cruise missile, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported, in a Yonhap story. Monday’s test was overseen by Kim Jong-sik, a member of the Workers’ Party Central Military Commission. The country’s Warhead Institute said the mid-sized dispersal warhead is capable of “turning into ashes” a target area of 5 to 6 hectares. On Saturday, the country had tested a cluster bomb for tactical ballistic missiles and vowed to field various types of cluster warheads by the end of the year.

Bulgaria has elected Iliana Iotova as its first female president, official results showed on Monday, in a Reuters text republished by Internazionale. Iotova, 61, won 57.6% of the votes cast in Sunday’s runoff contest, while her rival, former caretaker prime minister Andrey Gyurov, 50, won 39.5%. The presidential vote comes against the backdrop of a series of drone attacks in the past month on merchant ships off Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast, which have killed at least 24 seafarers. Prime Minister Rumen Radev said the strikes’ outcome “benefits the Russian Federation.”

The United States launched limited strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island late on Monday, hours after Vice President JD Vance said he was optimistic that diplomatic efforts to end the war were moving in the right direction. The strikes targeted surface-to-air missiles being used against US assets, according to Reuters and the Associated Press (AP). Several explosions were heard on Qeshm on Monday evening, according to Iranian state media, with local outlets describing their cause as unclear. The Wall Street Journal reported that the US had been carrying out a series of smaller-scale strikes, purposefully kept secret by the Trump administration so as not to signal any intent of resuming the military campaign against Iran.

The United States will mediate technical-level talks between Ukraine and Russia in Abu Dhabi on November 10 and 11, special envoy Steve Witkoff announced. According to Witkoff, discussions will focus on post-war security arrangements, de-escalation, humanitarian efforts and next steps toward peace. The US delegation is expected to include Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, according to Reuters. The Kremlin said presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky will remain Russia’s chief negotiator in the new round, according to Sputnik.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said it had downed 856 Ukrainian drones over Russia’s regions overnight, with two employees injured at the Yaroslavl refinery and emergency services fighting a fire at the site, according to Evrayev — Russia’s Battlegroup South said it had shot down 87 Ukrainian copter drones over the past day.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) says that EU gas stocks enter winter 2026–2027 at their lowest since 2013, that low stocks in Europe combined with limited capacity in Asia and South America could sharpen competition for liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes and pressure spot prices, and that restocking in summer 2027 could keep tensions high until the middle of next year — according to the IEA, the near-paralysis of LNG flows through the Strait of Hormuz cut cargoes from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates by more than 60 billion cubic meters between March and October 2026, with a projected 3% fall in global LNG supply in 2026, about 20 billion cubic meters, and a drop of about 1.5% in world gas demand, about 65 billion cubic meters — German stocks, the largest in Europe, stood at 61.03% on November 1, against an EU average of 74.62%, according to Gas Infrastructure Europe data, and TotalEnergies chief executive Patrick Pouyanne said Europe will face no gas shortage this winter but will pay more, and that the continent loosened storage requirements a year too early.

Sudan’s army said on Tuesday that its air defenses shot down a “hostile” drone that crossed the border from Ethiopia and was intercepted over Blue Nile State, without identifying the operator, the origin, the target or the circumstances of the interception, amid border tensions, with the army repeatedly accusing external actors of backing the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

China’s securities regulator told investment banks to pause initial public offerings and suspend large share sales by existing shareholders until markets recover, according to the Financial Times, which cited three people with knowledge of the discussions, in informal guidance given at meetings in recent days, as reported by Reuters and republished by Street Insider — the move follows the CSI300 index falling 8.5% in October, its worst monthly performance in more than a decade, with Reuters saying it could not immediately verify the report, and comes after regulators adopted measures on Monday such as swap operations and an upgraded lending facility for stock buybacks.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Monday that Washington intends to suspend South Africa and Rwanda from duty-free access to the US market under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), with South Africa as the largest beneficiary, exporting about 1.7 billion dollars in goods in 2025, citing barriers to US trade and investment, corruption and threats to US national security and foreign policy interests, as well as South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice — the South African government said it had received 60 days’ advance notice of the withdrawal of benefits effective January 1, 2027, with Trade Minister Parks Tau saying the decision does not define the broader relationship between the two countries and that a solution will depend on both sides’ willingness to engage, and that about 10% of exports to the US entered under AGOA in 2025, down from 28% in 2024.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Tuesday that Iran delivered a “firm and rational” response to the US, that Washington must decide whether to prevent another war and that a new American strategic mistake would open a new battlefield, while Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said the revised seven-stage diplomatic proposal could be fully implemented within two days, conditioning security in the Strait of Hormuz on an end to the American naval blockade and measures such as sanctions relief and the release of frozen assets — according to Sputnik, Iran’s Armed Forces are at the highest level of defensive readiness.

Leaders of the so-called change bloc are meeting on Tuesday morning in Herzliya to coordinate the bloc’s next steps, in the first meeting since the election, with the bloc holding 48 seats against 53 for Benjamin Netanyahu’s camp, 27 of them from Likud, with all leaders saying by Monday that they will back Gadi Eisenkot to form the next government, while Netanyahu said a clear majority of the Jewish public chose Likud as the largest party and chose him to lead the next government — Arab lists hold a record 19 seats, 8 for Ra’am and 11 for the Joint List, with Arab-Israeli turnout at some 80%, compared with 53.2% in the 2022 election, while President Isaac Herzog urged leaders to accept the result and find creative solutions to avoid a new election, and Naftali Bennett’s B’Yachad faction announced support for Eisenkot.

Taiwan’s armed forces want to acquire more than 1,400 coastal surveillance and reconnaissance drones, over 200,000 coastal attack drones and 1,320 one-way attack uncrewed surface vessels. Parliament passed on August 27 the law providing NT$ 240 billion over six years, with procurement priority for domestically produced low-cost, high-performance uncrewed systems. US company Maritime Tactical Systems announced that Taiwan’s coast guard will buy 25 of its uncrewed vessels, to be made in the United States and Taiwan, and the country aims to become an Asian hub for drone production free of Chinese components, capitalizing on its lead in artificial intelligence and semiconductors.

Donald Trump told Fox News that the United States could go after Pickaxe Mountain, a suspected underground nuclear complex in Iran, if there is no deal — the operation could be done in one hour — and did not rule out resuming the war, but said there is a good chance of a deal. A senior Iranian official told Reuters, in a text republished by the Jerusalem Post, that the two countries are far from an understanding to end the war and that Tehran will not accept Washington’s excessive demands, while Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said in a televised address that the ball is now in the United States’ court to prevent war.

The United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) ceased operations on November 1, 2026, after 35 years, and entered a liquidation period, after its mandate expired on October 31 with the Security Council approving neither of the two draft resolutions. The United States text received 11 votes in favor, 1 Russian veto and 3 abstentions, and the alternative Russian text, which extended the mission until October 31, 2027, received 3 votes in favor, 1 vote against from the United States and 11 abstentions. The US text removed the word referendum from the mission’s name and made the Moroccan autonomy proposal the sole basis for further negotiations. The Russian delegation said it could reverse the entire resolution process and called the vote a life-saving veto, Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita said the end of the mission does not mean the end of the ceasefire, and Oxfam warned that losing the monitoring role could undermine stability, with serious consequences for civilians.

Aramco posted net profit of 135.9 billion riyals (about 32.3 billion euros) in the third quarter, compared with around 101 billion riyals (24 billion euros) in the same period a year earlier, a result that included a 25.9 billion riyal gain from selling its stake in the PRefChem joint venture to Malaysia’s Petronas, while the Iranian-backed Houthis have regularly attacked Saudi tankers, pipelines, storage facilities and refineries since hostilities resumed in July. Adjusted net income stood at US$ 31.2 billion, up from US$ 28.6 billion a year earlier, above the median analyst estimate of US$ 30.66 billion; downstream posted adjusted earnings before interest and taxes of US$ 10.3 billion, up 234% in a year on stronger refining margins, and the board approved a base dividend of US$ 21.9 billion, up 3.5% in a year. Chief executive Amin Nasser said geopolitical uncertainty and attacks on energy facilities kept amplifying the global supply crisis in the quarter, with serious implications for energy security.

The 2027 Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia was postponed because of the conflict in the Middle East, in a decision justified by the exceptional circumstances in the region, with logistical complexities and travel disruptions, according to the AFC organizing committee. The tournament, scheduled for January 7 to February 5, 2027, moves to December 23, 2027 to January 21, 2028, and other events in the country were canceled, among them the Six Kings Slam tennis exhibition in Riyadh. In October, a missile attack by Yemen’s Houthis against Riyadh airport killed 13 people and wounded more than 300.

The attack on Binance began in the early hours of October 29 and, in about 20 minutes, became the biggest crypto hack in history, with more than US$ 6 billion stolen, and by November 2 the company had returned 100% of the amount to customers. The company secured assets covering approximately 95 percent of the US$ 6.3 billion stolen, after net outflows of US$ 3.6 billion in the first nine hours, about 2 percent of the US$ 171 billion under management, while stablecoin issuers froze approximately US$ 3 billion of the affected funds. The preliminary investigation points to a compromised laptop belonging to an engineer, which could have allowed unauthorized withdrawal transactions. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said two days after the attack that North Korea was responsible for the theft, attributed by security firms to the TraderTraitor group.

About 32,300 companies, equivalent to 6% of all firms in the country, closed in Argentina between December 2023 and July 2026, according to a survey by the Fundar research center. Industrial output fell 3.2% in August from the same month in 2025, according to the national statistics institute (Indec). Economists say the country probably entered a technical recession in the third quarter of 2026, after two consecutive quarters of contracting activity.

Russia's Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that its forces struck facilities of Ukraine's energy complex in the Vinnytsia, Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkiv regions that supply military enterprises. The ministry said the strikes also hit port infrastructure in the Odesa region and naval vessels used for military purposes.

Israel's Shin Bet security agency is investigating suspicions that the Palestinian Authority transferred money to members of Arab political parties in an attempt to influence Israel's October 27 election, according to N12, in a report by the Jerusalem Post. The investigation remains at a preliminary stage, with investigators yet to establish whether money was transferred, how much was involved or what its intended purpose was.

Talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia are ongoing, with the aim of reaching new regional security arrangements without foreign military involvement, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Tuesday in a post on X. Araqchi also said Iran harbors no hostility toward the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, according to Reuters, in a text republished by Devdiscourse.

San Diego's Registrar of Voters was evacuated on November 2 over a suspected bomb threat, the day before the midterm elections, according to the Hindustan Times. The evacuation order was lifted within about two and a half hours and the affected streets were reopened.

US exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) hit their second-highest level in history, driven by a rise in European demand ahead of the start of winter, which pushed LNG prices higher. Shipments to Europe rose by 1 million tons last month, to 6.89 million tons, according to LSEG data cited by Reuters. European gas prices stood above 100 euros for the first time in four years.

Iran conditions the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz on the end of the US naval blockade and on meeting Tehran's demands. “The Strait of Hormuz cannot reopen unless the blockade ends and Iran's demands are met”, an Iranian spokesperson said, according to Brasil 247.

The Russian flag was raised in the Western Sahara territory controlled by the Polisario Front, in gratitude for Moscow's position at the UN Security Council on the conflict, Mohamed Yeslem Beissat, head of the Polisario delegation that visited Moscow this spring, told Sputnik. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said the country could not support an initiative that would strip the people of Western Sahara of their right to vote.

The UN General Assembly's First Committee approved on Monday, November 2, by 180 votes in favor, two against and no abstentions, a draft resolution on conventional arms control at the regional and subregional levels. India and Israel were the only countries to vote against the text in the 193-member body. An Indian representative argued that “this assumes that the security concerns of States politely stop at their regional borders. They do not”.

One Indian was killed in an attack on a commercial vessel near Limah, Oman, India's foreign ministry said on Tuesday. Of the 14 Indian nationals aboard the MSV AL JUSUFI, 13 were rescued after the incident, which occurred on Monday.

The People’s Bank of China announced on Tuesday that it would raise the reserve requirement ratio on foreign-exchange deposits by 2 percentage points, to 6 percent, effective November 15, a move expected to tighten onshore foreign-currency liquidity and ease appreciation pressure on the yuan, which recently broke through 6.65 per US dollar to its strongest level since June 2022.

More than 3,000 data centers already operate in the United States, with more than 1,500 others in development, according to the Pew Research Center, and at least seven Bay Area cities, including San Francisco and Richmond, have passed temporary moratoriums on data center construction in the final two months before the vote; in the race for Nancy Pelosi’s House seat, Scott Wiener opposes any ban while Connie Chan promises to seek a national moratorium pending artificial intelligence (AI) regulation.

US Vice President JD Vance said Washington had held a number of good conversations with the Iranians and that he and Donald Trump felt optimistic about a negotiated settlement, with some progress already made and more work ahead.

Yaroslavl Governor Mikhail Yevrayev said that two staff members of the Yaroslavl oil refinery suffered shrapnel injuries in a Ukrainian overnight drone attack and were hospitalized, with the refinery’s infrastructure damaged even as defenses and electronic warfare repelled, according to him, 124 drones; Russian defenses further claim that 493 drones flew toward Moscow between the night of November 2 and the morning of November 3, with 187 neutralized approaching the capital.

Oil bounced back following reports of US strikes on Iran, with Brent crude trading at $105.26 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) at $97.07 per barrel, after the Wall Street Journal cited unnamed US officials on the strikes.

A 47-year-old Indian national was killed and another passenger injured when two helicopters collided while landing on Tuesday in Nepal’s Solukhumbu district, at Pheriche, according to police; the deceased was identified as Vasanth Kumar Balaramaramadu, a passenger aboard the Fishtail Air helicopter.

Yashar party chairman Gadi Eisenkot ruled out joining a government led by Benjamin Netanyahu, refusing even if US President Donald Trump personally asked him to, according to public broadcaster KAN; at a closed-door meeting he said he would not sit in a government led by Netanyahu, while opposition leaders Naftali Bennett, Yair Golan and Avigdor Liberman announced they would recommend Eisenkot to President Isaac Herzog to form a government.

Health authorities in Nigeria confirmed on Monday that the two suspected Ebola cases investigated in the country’s northeast tested negative after two rounds of testing, with both people isolated while teams carried out contact identification and laboratory testing.

A report by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) published on Monday warns that 86 percent of crimes against the press remain unpunished, with more than 1,600 journalists murdered worldwide over the last twenty years — a 20 percent increase in the past three years; the Middle East remains by far the most dangerous region, with 97 journalists killed there over the past two years, many in connection with the war in Gaza.

Under the new rules, most foreign workers will have to wait 10 years to settle in the UK, while higher earners can qualify sooner, and refugees who arrive on “small boats” may wait as long as 30 years for residency, according to Al Jazeera.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk pledged on Saturday to ensure the country’s Constitutional Tribunal operate in accordance with the law, after President Karol Nawrocki accused the government of forcibly taking control of the court, in an escalating political dispute over the judiciary, according to CGTN.

Grocery stores in at least nine European countries suffered refrigeration failures on Monday in a suspected cyberattack, and the EU warned of a deliberate attempt to disrupt the bloc’s food supply chain, according to AFP. Security researchers said the cause was internet-connected refrigerators made by Danish company Danfoss, which was no longer providing security updates.

The Israel Football Association accused Republic of Ireland head coach Heimir Hallgrímsson of “hypocrisy and stupidity” over comments about the upcoming Nations League fixtures between the two countries. Israel plans to file a complaint with UEFA against Ireland over the coach’s “genocide” remarks.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang received Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tarik during a two-day state visit that began on November 1, the first by an Omani head of state to China since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1978. Li said China wants to deepen cooperation across the entire oil and gas industry chain and carry out more high-quality clean energy projects.

Six months after their abduction, Mali junta critic Mountaga Tall and his son, Cheick Mamadou Tall, remain missing, their fate unknown and the authorities silent, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW), which also records the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances’ call for Malian authorities to locate and protect the two.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it shot down two more US MQM-170 drones over Qeshm Island and destroyed an MQ-9 east of the Strait of Hormuz.

Yemen’s Houthi-run Health Ministry said at least 17 Yemeni civilians were killed and 59 wounded, most of them children, in Saudi airstrikes over the past 24 hours. The Houthis on Tuesday reported an airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition on a shoe factory in Taiz province that the group said killed three people and wounded eight others.

The November 3, 2026, midterm elections are on track to be the most expensive in US history, with the total cost projected at nearly $12 billion, according to OpenSecrets, an independent organization that tracks campaign finance. Elon Musk has given $445 million to federal committees this year, surpassing his own record of nearly $300 million in contributions to conservative committees in 2024, while Ripple and Coinbase contributed a combined $63 million to super PACs promoting the crypto industry.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei ordered the armed forces on Saturday to give an “immediate, effective and with no geographic limits” response to any threat from the United States and Israel, according to the EFE news agency, in a text republished by swissinfo.ch.

Nine states are voting in the November 3, 2026, midterms under new congressional district maps: 15 districts were redrawn potentially favoring Republicans and six in favor of Democrats, a net of nine seats in the US House of Representatives, according to KETV. The vote also tests Republican redistricting in Texas and beyond, according to Al Jazeera.

New York state reported the first measles-linked child death in over 30 years, amid an outbreak. The case is the state’s first measles-linked death in more than three decades, according to the South China Morning Post.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) raised its key interest rate from 4.6% to 4.85%, its fifth hike this year, to try to regain control of surging inflation, which reached 4.3% in the year to September.

Israeli soldiers blindfolded, handcuffed and arrested Al Jazeera correspondent Montaser Nassar during a raid on his home in Dura, south of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, Al Jazeera reported.

Americans vote this Tuesday, November 3, in an election The Hindu describes as a referendum on Donald Trump’s presidency. All 435 House seats and 37 seats in the 100-member Senate are at stake, along with governorships in 36 states, according to the newspaper.

The US military carried out what US officials called “defensive strikes” in the Strait of Hormuz. On Qeshm Island, the blasts came in rapid succession late on Monday, and witnesses told the state-owned IRNA news agency they saw two planes flying over the island. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had downed a US MQ-9 drone over the eastern Strait of Hormuz, the 55th such drone brought down.

Israeli citizen Moriah Dahan, 35, a resident of West Hills in Los Angeles, was arrested on Monday on suspicion of voting in the November 2024 American presidential election without American citizenship, according to the Jerusalem Post, citing the United States Justice Department. It is the second case in a short period involving an Israeli, and six new defendants brought the total charged in California under the operation to 34.

Forces of Yemen’s internationally recognized government carried out air strikes against Houthi positions west of Taiz, while Houthi-affiliated media reported that a strike north of Taiz hit a plastic shoe factory, killing three people and injuring eight.

Cartoonist and graffiti artist Yasser Mounbir was sentenced at first instance in Casablanca to four years in prison for insulting the king and fined 40,000 dirhams, with his lawyers announcing an appeal.

Prosecutors intend to charge Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s chief of staff, Tzachi Braverman, over his role in the 2024 leak of classified documents to the German newspaper Bild, after he allegedly tipped off the affair’s chief suspect, Eli Feldstein, about the investigation — according to the Times of Israel, citing Hebrew media.

United States President Donald Trump notified Congress of his intention to remove Rwanda and South Africa from the AGOA (African Growth and Opportunity Act) preferential trade program from January 1, 2027, citing barriers to American trade and investment and national security and foreign policy concerns in the region. An annual review found that both governments engage in practices inconsistent with the eligibility criteria, Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said.

United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Venezuelan Foreign Minister Oliver Blanco in Washington on Monday to discuss the country’s political future, nearly a year after US forces seized former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro in Caracas. The State Department reaffirmed Donald Trump’s three-phase plan for Venezuela — stabilization, economic recovery and political reconciliation, and democratic transition.

The Ebola outbreak has killed 5,376 people — 5,372 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and two each in Kenya and Uganda, with 10,414 confirmed cases in the country as of October 30. The current outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain, with no known vaccine or treatment.

The death toll from the Russian bombing of an aid distribution center and a neighboring shelter in Komyshuvakha, in the Zaporizhzhia region has risen to at least 26, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the emergency services said. Five people were injured and 27 reported missing after at least nine 3,000 kg aerial bombs hit the village. Zelenskyy said the first strike hit the local school used for humanitarian needs and the second hit the place where people were sheltering.

Rada member Artyom Dmitruk claimed on Telegram that there were fatalities and serious injuries in clashes during protests near Kyiv, according to TASS, still without independent confirmation. Dmitruk wrote that fighters dispatched by Volodymyr Zelenskyy beat people and opened fire on them.

The United Kingdom National Cyber Security Centre assesses it as highly likely that AI-powered malware will have been used in a ransomware attack on UK critical infrastructure by 2028. The center chief, Richard Horne, said the United Kingdom will likely face AI cyberattacks on critical infrastructure by 2028, from criminals and states — including China and Russia.

North Korea tested on November 2 a dispersal warhead for a strategic cruise missile, according to state media. The KCNA claimed the middle-sized dispersal warhead can turn a target area of 5 to 6 hectares into ashes, in a November 2 launch that came a day after the cluster-bomb warhead test, amid rising tension with Seoul after a landmine blast wounded three South Korean soldiers at the border.

Latvia's armed forces briefly warned on Monday of a threat in the airspace over two regions and activated NATO air-policing fighter jets, according to Reuters, in a text republished by Street Insider, and later said the danger had passed, with the object believed to be on the ground in Latvia near the Russian border.

Emergency alert systems in Russia and Ukraine were hit in cyberattacks overnight, with fake warnings of possible nuclear strikes broadcast to users in both countries, according to France 24, and have since been restored, with attribution still unknown.

Nearly 3,000 military personnel from 12 European nations are taking part this month in Poland in Exercise Koalicja, running November 9–22, 2026, according to the BBC, a rehearsal, led by the UK and France, of how to move, protect and supply a multinational force in Ukraine if there is a peace deal.

The US embassy in Saudi Arabia issued a security alert for American citizens over possible attacks on airports, airspace closures and flight disruptions, amid escalation involving the Houthis and Saudi Arabia, according to the Hindustan Times, while the State Department ordered non-emergency staff and family members to leave Saudi Arabia as of October 23, 2026 over safety risks.

The US attacked Qeshm Island in Iran on Monday, according to US officials cited by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), in the latest of a series of limited strikes Washington has secretly carried out against the country in recent weeks.

US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are expected to represent the US in talks with delegations from Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi on November 10–11, 2026, according to a US official cited by Reuters, while American negotiators meet this week in Brussels with France, Germany, the UK, the EU and NATO to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine, Europe's future security framework and economic support for Ukraine's reconstruction.

Federal judge Boasberg ordered on Monday that Donald Trump's administration stop demanding that California election officials segregate ballots cast by people on lists of suspected noncitizens, according to Reuters, in a text republished by WDSM, finding the lists flawed and saying the executive has no authority to unilaterally impose its procedures on the states.

Iran's foreign ministry said on Monday that contacts with the US on ending the eight-month war are continuing, after days of talks with Qatari mediators ended with altered proposals but no breakthrough, according to Reuters, in a text republished by Investing.com, adding that the basis of the dialogue remains Iran's seven-step proposal, now condensed for implementation within two days.

The sister of North Korea’s leader, Kim Yo-jong, called the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) allegation that Pyongyang stole US$ 6 billion from the crypto platform Binance a “grave political provocation”, in a statement released by the state-run KCNA news agency. The FBI attributed the theft to a North Korea-affiliated group called TraderTraitor. Kim said the claim was “absurd rhetoric and nothing new,” citing earlier US allegations about last year’s major hack of Bybit.

The US Supreme Court declined to stop California from counting the votes, rejecting a request from the Justice Department. The department had ordered the state to segregate and not count about 20,000 ballots from people it claims are non-citizens. District Judge David Carter had already rejected the request in an October 28 ruling.

Israel has asked the Lebanese government to deploy troops to set up roadblocks in areas where Hezbollah operatives live, to prevent the group from joining a new war with Iran, according to an Israeli broadcaster cited by The Times of Israel. The request was relayed by US mediators, with the warning that fighting in Lebanon will flare up again if Hezbollah attacks Israel.

Some 32 percent of respondents approved of Donald Trump’s handling of the presidency, 1 percentage point above his rating two weeks ago, in a Reuters/Ipsos poll. Asked about a generic congressional candidate, 46 percent preferred Democrats compared with 38 percent who preferred Republicans.

Germany enters winter with its gas storage at 61%, well below the European Union’s 80% target. The country has the bloc’s largest storage capacity, more than a fifth of the total. The TTF contracts for December 2026, January 2027 and February 2027 are trading above 100 euros per megawatt-hour, according to OilPrice.

Israeli forces launched raids on several towns in the occupied West Bank late on Monday, according to local sources. Among the targets are Qabatiya, south of Jenin, and the city of Qalqilya.

The doctor who reported the existence of a basement used to hold servicemen near Kyiv was detained by police during a live broadcast, according to the Russian state news agency TASS. She had insisted that the people held there be hospitalized.

The so-called Coalition of the Willing holds on November 9, 2026 its first large-scale military exercise in Poland, in Nowa Deba in the southeast, with nearly 2,800 soldiers from 10 countries in the region bordering Ukraine. The Koalicja exercise runs until November 22. France and the United Kingdom are the main contributors, alongside Estonia, Lithuania, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Belgium. The alliance, led by France and the UK, has 36 nations and does not include the United States.

US Vice President JD Vance said Washington has made progress in talks with Iran and that he and President Donald Trump feel optimistic about a negotiated settlement. Asked whether Iran had been given a deadline before strikes resume, he said: “No, we haven’t set deadlines.” Vance tied a deal to a firm and verifiable commitment that Iran does not rebuild its nuclear program. Trump said Iran wants a settlement as soon as possible and that it could happen.

The United States, Russia and Ukraine will hold peace talks in Abu Dhabi on November 10–11, 2026, according to Axios. Discussions will focus on post-war security arrangements, de-escalation, humanitarian efforts and next steps toward peace. Kushner and Witkoff will lead the U.S. delegation. Lower-level U.S. officials will meet this week in Brussels with representatives from France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine.

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the African Petroleum Producers' Organization (APPO) have formally launched the Africa Energy Bank, a financial institution focused on oil and gas projects across the continent, with authorized capital of US$5 billion. The bank will support projects across the energy value chain, from exploration and production to transportation, processing, refining and distribution, and has a mandate to reduce reliance on imported petroleum products and promote intra-African trade in energy goods. The new lender is private-sector-led, with majority ownership held by APPO and Afreximbank. Its inaugural general meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, on October 31 appointed Helmy Ghazi as president and formed its first board of directors, with members from the public and private sectors and policy institutions.

Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman said Monday that he spoke by phone with US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth about bilateral defense cooperation and efforts to de-escalate regional tensions. In the account he posted on X, the minister said the call covered “the continued Houthi terrorist attacks against the Kingdom.”

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that after the humanitarian operation in Oleshky there was a moment when the next steps could have shown that progress toward peace was possible, and that the strike on Komyshuvakha, in the Zaporizhzhia region, showed Russia was “sending an entirely opposite signal” and “counting on more killings.” He called for “a strong and tough response” from the world. Zelenskyy wrote on X that after the first aerial strike there was a “double-tap strike” with nine more bombs aimed specifically at the shelter where people were taking cover. The death toll differed between sources: Ukraine's emergency services counted at least 24, and TRT World reported 26.

Germany's federal cybersecurity office (BSI) said over the weekend that members of the Bundestag, Germany's parliament, and other unnamed public figures had received warnings from Apple that they may have been targeted by cyberattacks. Government spokesperson Stefan Kornelius said, according to the Financial Times, that Berlin was “taking the incident and the warning very seriously,” but he did not say who in the federal government had been targeted or whether Chancellor Friedrich Merz was among them. Apple does not attribute attacks to specific governments or say whether someone's phone has actually been compromised. For that reason, the BSI said anyone who receives an Apple threat notification “should therefore assume that their device may have been compromised.”

Israeli forces advanced into the village of al-Asbah in rural southern Quneitra with five military vehicles, according to a Syria TV report published by Middle East Eye. According to Sijil, a Syrian initiative tracking Israeli violations in the country, Israeli forces committed seven violations on Monday before the latest incursion, including other incursions, checkpoints and aircraft overflights.

The Aerospace Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it brought down two US MQM-170 reconnaissance drones south of Qeshm Island using electronic warfare. Explosions were also heard on the island, according to the state-run IRNA news agency, with no known cause and no official statement on their origin.

The European Union (EU) described as a deliberate attempt to disrupt the bloc’s food chain the cyberattack that hit refrigeration settings on supermarket freezers in at least eight countries, including Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Israel’s National Cyber Directorate warned retail chains, food companies and logistics centers because of the wave of attacks, and a retailer reported freezers reaching 50 degrees Celsius.

Donald Trump said on Monday that the United States is not going to attack Iran after the midterms, one day ahead of the election. Asked by a reporter in Washington whether he was considering striking the country again, he answered “no” and said that “Iran wants a settlement, as soon as possible. It could happen!”

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), created in 1978, has around 7,500 peacekeepers from 46 countries and a mandate until December 31, 2026, with personnel due to leave over the following year and their positions gradually handed over to the Lebanese army, according to RT. The decision to end the mission followed pressure from the United States and Israel, which accuse the force of failing to contain Hezbollah, and a resident of the south told RT that UNIFIL failed to protect local residents but he warned that the absence of peacekeepers would create a “security vacuum” that Israel would seek to exploit.

International Criminal Court (ICC) President Tomoko Akane told the UN General Assembly on Monday that US sanctions against the court are an attempt to obstruct the course of justice. In a virtual address, she said the measures, imposed on October 9 — the same day the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Peace Prize to former ICC judge Navi Pillay — target 13 independent judges and prosecutors, including herself, and strike at “the heart of the sovereign equality of states.”

Ukrainian National Guard Commander Alexander Pivnenko has acknowledged that the basement of a house in Petropavlovskaya Borshchagovka, near Kiev, was being used to hold servicemen who left their units without authorization and newly mobilized men, according to TASS. The house belongs to the Azov group, according to Strana, and Volodymyr Zelensky’s office said there are many buildings like it in Ukraine.

Uganda has begun withdrawing its troops from Somalia, and the first contingent has already returned home. The withdrawal of all its forces, including those deployed under the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), is due to be completed by the close of 2027, days after the UN ended its political mission in Somalia.

The Brent fell 7.6% to close the day at $104.77 a barrel, while US crude dropped 7.3% to $96.46. On the European exchange, gas fell to nearly $1,100 per 1,000 cubic meters, the lowest level since October 29, amid news of peace talks between Iran and the United States, according to TASS.

The Caribbean Community (Caricom) reaffirmed at the Commonwealth summit in Antigua and Barbuda, which opened on Sunday, its demand that the United Kingdom take institutional responsibility for slavery and pay compensation. Saint Lucia’s prime minister and Caricom’s chair pro tempore, Philip J. Pierre, said in a statement that moral reparations and economic compensation cannot be left out of the negotiations or replaced by a symbolic apology, and Buckingham Palace said King Charles III will not apologize on behalf of the country.

The US midterm campaign is set to be the most expensive on record, with total cost projected to reach nearly $12bn (£9bn), according to OpenSecrets, an independent organization that tracks campaign finance. The latest Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings, which run to mid-October, show more than $9.5bn spent in this cycle. AdImpact reported that the Texas Senate race became the most expensive non-presidential race on record, with more than $573 million spent as of October 30.

Israel's National Security Minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, accused Police Commissioner Daniel Levy on Monday of ordering “harsh violence” against Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) protesters to appease the opposition after last week's election. Ben Gvir also petitioned the High Court to cancel an April injunction that forbids him from interfering in the police's use of force. On Thursday, three protesters were arrested after a Haredi protest near Bnei Brak turned violent, leaving three police officers wounded and several protesters injured.

Qatari mediators and Iranian officials held two rounds of talks last week, and diplomatic efforts have made progress toward a framework in which Iran would cease its attacks in the Strait of Hormuz in return for the United States lifting its blockade on Iran's ports, according to two officials. On Sunday, Iranian negotiators were in Doha for a third consecutive day of talks with Qatari mediators aimed at reaching a deal to end the US-Israeli war on Iran, according to an official briefed on the discussions.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pushing for a new wave of strikes on Iran after Tuesday's midterm elections in the United States, according to two regional officials and a third person familiar with the matter. In a weekend call, he pressed President Donald Trump to strike, and Trump would not commit to taking military action, according to a person briefed on the conversation. Sources told Axios that Netanyahu is pressing Trump to strike Iran immediately after the elections; for now, Trump wants to let negotiations play out — a strategy that concerns Netanyahu.

October has already recorded the highest monthly number of settler attacks resulting in casualties or property damage since documentation began in 2006, with 397 incidents between October 1 and 26, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Between October 20 and 26, 62 settler attacks were documented across 49 West Bank communities, including 38 related to the olive harvest.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio received Venezuela's foreign minister, Oliver Blanco, in Washington on Monday in the first meeting between the two countries' top diplomats since the US military attack on the South American country on January 3. The meeting took place two weeks after Venezuelan authorities and the opposition agreed on a blueprint to reform the country's electoral process that would allow free and fair elections at some point in 2027, and the Trump administration has stepped up pressure on the interim government and opposition groups to move quickly on election preparations.

The UK is open to a formal apology for Britain’s role in the slave trade but rejects reparations. In a Guardian article ahead of a Commonwealth leaders’ summit where the subject is expected to dominate, Andy Burnham went further than any previous prime minister toward offering a formal apology for Britain’s role in the transatlantic slave trade, but rejected demands from Caribbean countries and campaigners for financial reparations, maintaining the position of successive governments that British people today cannot be held liable for the past.

Acting President Iliana Iotova won Bulgaria’s presidential runoff with 57.6% of the vote and will become the country’s first elected female head of state, according to the Associated Press (AP), in an article published by the Los Angeles Times, and pledged to bridge political divisions. The official results released on Monday were a political boost for Prime Minister Rumen Radev, who had backed her for the largely ceremonial role.

Cristina Kirchner did not rule out running for Argentina’s presidency in 2027 against Javier Milei, provided she can overturn the lifetime ban on holding public office handed down in the Vialidad case. She summed up the condition: “When I recover my political rights, why not?”. The six-year prison sentence and the lifetime ban have already been upheld by the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation.

Iran has a two-day plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and resume nuclear talks with the United States, Tehran said on Monday, shortening a process originally expected to take seven days, and has conditioned the reopening on Washington accepting its demands. They include an end to military operations on all fronts, the end of the US naval blockade of Iranian ports, the unfreezing of Iranian assets held abroad and the suspension of sanctions on the country’s oil sector.

The UN peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara had its mandate expire at midnight on Saturday, after the Security Council failed on Friday to agree on its future; a US draft resolution was vetoed by Russia, and a rival Russian text failed to win the nine votes needed for adoption. The end of the peacekeeping mission was confirmed on Sunday by UN Secretary-General Guterres.

Zambian police and military forcibly disappeared, arbitrarily detained, beat and threatened opposition members and supporters, as well as lawyers, journalists and government critics, in the days before and after the August 2026 general elections, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). The report documented 14 cases of apparent enforced disappearance involving opposition members and supporters, as well as 61 cases in which detainees, their lawyers or relatives alleged beatings or other violent abuse during arrest and detention. The group called on Zambian authorities to halt the clampdown on the political opposition launched after Hakainde Hichilema’s victory in disputed elections in August.

A sanctioned Iranian tanker carrying about 500,000 barrels of liquefied petroleum gas slipped past the US naval blockade and delivered its cargo to China, according to United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), which says it filmed the ship at a Malaysian anchorage along the way. On October 8, the US Treasury Department sanctioned the tanker as one of 17 shadow-fleet vessels, saying the Comoros-flagged ship, owned by Marshall Islands-based Gravion Maritime Company, had transported more than 2 million barrels of Iranian propane and butane since September 2025.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Monday night for parties that oppose terrorism to sit with Likud and form a “broad national government” in a social media post and said he should lead the government, since Likud won the most seats in parliament. Likud won 27 seats, with Netanyahu’s bloc at 53 overall; Yashar, led by Gadi Eisenkot, won 21 seats and its bloc 48; the Arab parties won 19. Netanyahu said the broad government should be formed without the Arab lists.

The chairman of Israel’s Central Elections Committee, Justice Noam Sohlberg, rejected on Monday Likud’s demand for a briefing on suspected foreign interference before approving the election results. Likud wanted to delay certification of the election results amid a foreign interference probe.

Israeli security forces arrested 18 settlers who rioted and attacked troops during the evacuation of an illegal outpost in the West Bank, according to the Israeli military. The military announced on Monday evening that the detainees are suspected of assaulting security personnel working to halt construction at the outpost.

The Houthis launched multiple cross-border raids against Saudi military posts in recent months, expanding the conflict beyond Yemen, according to a Western and Arab official with direct knowledge of the raids, who spoke to Middle East Eye. The Ansar Allah movement claimed drone and missile attacks on Saudi Arabia, including a military base just over the border with Yemen.

The campaign of Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Michigan, raised $2.4 million on Sunday, a record fundraising day, after his former primary rival endorsed the Republican nominee in a last-minute decision. Haley Stevens’s endorsement of the Republican brought backlash against her.

Iran rejected the transfer of its enriched uranium abroad and conditioned the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz on the United States ending its naval blockade and meeting Tehran’s demands, according to the Tehran Times. Asked whether the possibility of transferring Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpile to another country was raised in the talks and whether Iran might agree, Iran said no, according to Al-Monitor.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Monday that Washington intends to suspend South Africa and Rwanda from duty-free access to the US market under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), according to Reuters.

Britain will require some migrants to wait 10 years or more before they can settle, while granting concessions to some care workers to defuse a political row. The sweeping reforms to the immigration system were unveiled on Monday.

Five Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes and gunfire across the Gaza Strip on Monday, according to the Palestinian Civil Defense, and the Israeli army said it had targeted “several terrorists” in the territory. The Palestinian agency Wafa counted the five deaths in different areas of the Gaza Strip since Monday morning, one of them a wounded man who succumbed to his injuries, along with several other wounded.

French high school students resumed school blockades on Monday, and the country is bracing for more protests. President Emmanuel Macron called for classes to resume after the government announced new measures to address the education crisis, which student groups found insufficient. The head of a student union had said on Sunday that the blockades would restart on Monday.

Twenty-four people were killed and five injured in a Russian bombing of an aid distribution center in Komyshuvakha, in the Zaporizhzhia region, according to regional head Mykhailo Semikin, who said at least nine 3,000 kg aerial bombs hit the village. Another 27 people were initially reported missing. President Volodymyr Zelensky said 10 guided bombs targeted an area that included a school building used to distribute aid and a nearby shelter, and Ukraine’s emergency services counted 24 dead.

Russia ratified an agreement setting out the principles of its relations with Burkina Faso, by decree signed by Vladimir Putin, according to the state-run TASS news agency. The text provides for regular dialogue and exchanges of views at various levels on bilateral and multilateral cooperation.

Cartoonist and graffiti artist Yasser Mounbir was sentenced on Friday, October 30, to four years in prison in Morocco over caricatures of the king, according to Le Monde.

An Emirati-owned offshore tug, the Selat Storm, was hit by a projectile in the Strait of Hormuz northwest of the Musandam Peninsula, and was seen partially submerging on Sunday evening. It was the second likely Iranian attack on a tug in the strait since October 18, when a projectile hit the Dutch-flagged tug JIF Barracuda.

Russian airstrikes killed at least 18 people and wounded five in Komyshuvakha, in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region, according to Volodymyr Zelensky. The Ukrainian president said the strikes had been hitting the settlement since the morning and that a school used as a humanitarian aid distribution center had been struck.

The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to order California to set aside more than 20,000 ballots cast by voters who, according to the executive branch's review, are likely not US citizens, a day before the midterm elections. The request says the executive branch identified more than 20,000 people registered in California based on publicly accessible information. On Friday, a divided panel of the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit turned aside the administration's emergency request to segregate the ballots.

UNESCO counted 189 journalists killed worldwide in 2024 and 2025, the highest number since 2014/2015, when it recorded 215 cases. Of the total, 127 deaths (67%) occurred in countries that are conflict zones, up 24% from 2022/2023. Palestine accounted for 62 deaths, one third of the total.

The EU strongly condemned the Houthis' escalation in Yemen and their attacks on Saudi Arabia, particularly those targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure. The Houthis targeted Dammam Airport in two phases with two drones over the past 48 hours, according to military spokesman Yahya Saree. There was no confirmation from Saudi Arabia of damage or casualties at the airport at the time of publication.

Prosecutors from 10 EU member states — Spain, France, Italy, Portugal, Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Sweden and Finland — plus Australia are cooperating and sharing information on complaints of torture, kidnapping and ill-treatment of their nationals who took part in the Global Sumud Flotilla missions, intercepted by Israel in international waters. According to legal sources who spoke to El País, the investigations target Israeli politicians, officials and military commanders, including members of Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet. Those sources say the meeting took place on September 16 in The Hague, within a framework coordinated by Eurojust, the EU's judicial cooperation agency, with Australian representatives attending as guests.

Israeli airstrikes killed at least four Palestinians on Monday in Khan Yunis, Al-Mussadar and the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City, according to medical teams and Palestinian health authorities. Gaza's Health Ministry, in figures released by Reuters, counts at least 1,580 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes since the ceasefire began in October 2025.

Tucker Carlson said Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are allegedly planning a nuclear strike on Iran's Pickax Mountain, where Israeli intelligence claims the Iranian government has restarted its nuclear enrichment program. According to Carlson, the program sits in tunnels under 300 feet of solid granite, and only a nuclear strike would penetrate them. He said Netanyahu calls Trump about it every day and that a US nuclear strike would make a third world war inevitable.

Britain's governing Labour Party decided to stop cooperating with the Green Party in 11 councils across England after the Greens adopted a policy last month that “Zionism is racism.” Through a vote of party activists at the Green Party's annual conference in October, the Greens became the first major party in the UK to recognize Zionism as a form of racism and to back a single democratic Palestinian state with equal rights for all ethnic and religious groups, rather than a two-state solution.

Oil prices plunged nearly 7% on Monday after Washington and Tehran both signaled they would give diplomacy a chance. Brent traded at $105.60 per barrel, down $7.85, and WTI fell $7.20 to $96.92. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the Supreme Leader had granted the government “certain authorities” over the peace talks and that Tehran “will try to resolve the problem with dialogue,” state media reported.

Ukraine's General Staff said on Monday that Russian forces had used last week's humanitarian ceasefire in the Russian-held southern town of Oleshky to strengthen their military positions. The six-day ceasefire, brokered through US first lady Melania Trump, was meant to allow aid deliveries and civilian evacuations from the frontline town. In total, nearly 800 people were evacuated, Melania Trump said on X.

Iran's Army Navy said a tanker caught fire after colliding with a naval mine in an area it described as restricted and insecure east of the Strait of Hormuz. The vessel had turned off its navigation systems, the statement said.

A federal judge dismissed a criminal complaint on Monday against two former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officials accused of falsely downplaying their knowledge of a laptop the Justice Department says belonged to Hunter Biden. “There is no denying this investigation was rushed,” Judge Faruqui said during a roughly hourlong hearing, later adding that it “cannot be described as anything other than weaponization” of the Justice Department.

Ukraine and Russia said their emergency alert apps had been hacked overnight, sending citizens false warnings about impending air raids and chemical and nuclear attacks. In Ukraine, one of the alarms said Russia had launched a hypersonic Oreshnik missile — one capable of carrying a nuclear warhead — and that a nuclear alert had been declared.

Yemen's Houthis from the Ansar Allah movement said they had carried out drone strikes on airports in the eastern Saudi city of Dammam and the southern city of Jazan. Houthi military spokesperson Yahia Saria said the rebels struck an early warning radar in Jazan and a military transport aircraft at the city's airport.

An attack on a military base in southern Colombia killed four civilians, including a two-month-old baby, President Abelardo de la Espriella said on Monday. The preliminary toll from the attack in Planadas counted four dead, including the child.

At least seven migrants have died aboard a boat carrying 139 people bound for the Canary Islands after a storm hit. Rescuers reached the boat early on Monday, about 150 km from Arrecife. Five bodies are missing at sea and two have been recovered.

Detained in the United States since January 3, 2026, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro sent a message to the Venezuelan people on Sunday, November 1, asking for prayers. “Pray for us and know that Cilia and I are with you every step of the way,” the text says, closing with embraces and blessings for families in Venezuela and elsewhere.

Ukraine has hit three Russian refineries since Friday. The Novokuibyshevsk refinery, owned by Rosneft, was targeted in a drone attack on Friday, the first Ukrainian strike on a Russian refinery since October 15; over the weekend, drones hit a Rosneft refinery in Bashkortostan and Lukoil's Kstovo refinery in Nizhny Novgorod.

Saudi Arabia's economy shrank 3.8% year on year in the third quarter, and oil activities fell 20.4% compared with the same period in 2025, according to the General Authority for Statistics, which released the figures on Sunday.

China will send its Middle East envoy to Iran, Oman and Saudi Arabia later this month for shuttle diplomacy visits aimed at promoting peace talks and easing tensions, a foreign ministry spokesperson said. The announcement followed separate meetings in Beijing between Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Ali Bagheri Kani, deputy secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, and between Wang Yi and Saudi national security adviser Musaed bin Mohammed Al-Aiban.

Al Jazeera condemned the Israeli authorities' decision to extend a ban on its operations in Israel for another 90 days, including the suspension of its broadcasts, the closure of its offices and the restriction of access to its websites and digital platforms. The network says the extension was based on secret material that neither the network nor its lawyers could see or contest, and calls for the ban to be lifted immediately.

Supermarket chains in Sweden, Belgium and Luxembourg said the temperatures of their refrigerators and freezers in dozens of stores rose overnight, raising fears of a cyber-attack similar to one that caused millions of euros in food losses in France. In Sweden, the Coop chain told the daily Aftonbladet that six of its stores had been affected, and ICA said a “limited number” of stores had their refrigeration and freezer systems impacted.

All forces, including those under the African Union mission, will exit Somalia by the end of 2027 in the phased withdrawal Uganda has begun after nearly two decades of military involvement in the country.

Iran's Supreme National Security Council head, Major General Mohsen Rezaei, held a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, Iranian state media reported. Both sides stressed the importance of continuing strategic cooperation in accordance with the roadmap outlined by the two countries' leaders.

Israeli strikes killed at least three Palestinians and wounded several others in the Gaza Strip on Monday, November 2, 2026, the territory's health officials said. Two people were killed and six wounded in two separate air strikes in Khan Younis, in the south of the enclave, and a third person was killed in an air strike in the town of Al-Mussadar. The Israeli military said it carried out two strikes in the enclave targeting Palestinian militants, without giving further information.

Lebanon’s agriculture minister, Nizar Hani, said Israeli attacks have caused over US$1 billion in agricultural losses in the country and damaged nearly a quarter of the farmland, or about 56,000 hectares. According to the minister, the cumulative damaged agricultural area reached 49,564 hectares, around 22% of the farmland, mostly in the South and Nabatieh governorates.

Yemen’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates criticized the ongoing Saudi airstrikes on civilian infrastructure and non-military facilities in the country and promised retaliation. In a statement late on Sunday, the ministry said “these constant crimes and attacks will not go unpunished, and will certainly draw painful responses that will hit the heart of Saudi Arabia, particularly the installations belonging to parties funding the aggression”. The statement added that “the incessant targeting of Yemeni civilian facilities will place all vital and critical installations inside Saudi Arabia in a databank of targets that Yemeni Armed Forces will pound in retaliation”.

More than 53.1 million US voters had already cast their ballots early as of November 1 ahead of the midterm elections, according to data from the University of Florida’s Election Lab.

Denmark has reached an agreement with Estonia to recover the money from a military aid package meant to supply artillery ammunition to Ukraine. Estonia paid 9.5 million euros to Datasel as a prepayment but did not receive functional artillery shells in return.

A Wizz Air flight from London Luton Airport to Sofia was escorted by a Hungarian fighter jet to Budapest after a mid-air bomb threat. The airline later confirmed an inspection had been “completed and nothing was found” and said the plane would depart again shortly.

Negotiations to end the US-Iran war produced a draft deal: Iranian negotiators left Qatar on Sunday and a draft proposal began circulating for a possible follow-up meeting, according to a Reuters source cited by OilPrice. On Monday morning, Brent traded at $108.61 a barrel, down 4.25% on the day, and WTI fell 4.32% to $99.62.

Japan’s government and ruling coalition are weighing defense spending of 70 trillion to 80 trillion yen (US$457 billion to US$508 billion) over the five years from April 2027, about 1.8 times the 43 trillion yen in the current plan, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), which cites sources quoted by Reuters. Some of the money is expected to fund purchases such as large numbers of drones, and a weaker yen has pushed up the cost of procurement, one of the sources said.

The United Nations political mission in Somalia (UNSOM) ended after a two-year transition, closing a chapter of more than three decades of UN peace operations in the Horn of Africa country. UNSOM was established by the Security Council in 2013 to support Somalia’s transition to democracy and the rule of law after more than two decades of conflict involving militias, Islamist groups and criminal gangs.

About 250 rabbis from across the United States urged Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and former US President Barack Obama to take their concerns about El-Sayed’s position on Israel more seriously, shortly before a rally featuring the two in Detroit on October 24, 2026. The group says 4,560 people have signed its petition, including out-of-state rabbis who joined the movement in recent days.

The Democrats party announced on Monday that it would recommend Yashar leader Gadi Eisenkot to President Isaac Herzog as its candidate to form the next government, ahead of the president’s consultations with party representatives beginning Wednesday. The two other leaders in the bloc seeking to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Naftali Bennett (B’Yachad) and Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu), also said they would recommend Eisenkot. The election results gave 53 seats to Netanyahu’s bloc in the next Knesset and 48 to the opposition.

A missile strike hit the Al-Suqya health center in the Al-Mudaribah and Al-Arah districts of Lahj province, southwestern Yemen, on Monday, according to state media. At least 20 civilians were killed or wounded in the attack that state media attribute to Houthi militia, without breaking the count down into dead and wounded.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy said that 11 tankers violating passage rules in the Strait of Hormuz had caught fire since October 25, some of them sinking. In a post on X on Monday, the force counted the nine days since the visit of US Central Command (Centcom) commander Brad Cooper to the strait and said the tankers sank “to the depths of the sea”.

Belgium’s Prime Minister Bart De Wever will offer his government’s resignation to King Philippe on Monday, after overnight budget negotiations failed, local media report. The government must save 10 billion euros to stay within European Union (EU) spending limits: the deficit reached 5% last year, while European rules allow a maximum of 3%.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with US President Donald Trump on Saturday about US negotiations with Iran and pressed him to strike Iran immediately after the midterm elections on Tuesday, Axios reported, citing one Israeli and one US source. Trump said he would rather give negotiations between the two countries a chance first than bomb Iran right away, according to the same sources.

Human Rights Watch accused Zambia of a violent post-election crackdown on the opposition. The group’s report documented 14 cases of apparent enforced disappearance involving opposition members and supporters and 61 cases in which detainees, their lawyers or relatives alleged beatings or other violent abuse during arrest and detention.

Iran says, according to Sputnik, that it is not discussing the removal of its highly enriched uranium to third countries. A reported preliminary draft calls for transferring the country’s enriched uranium stockpile to an agreed third country or lowering its enrichment level, with China potentially acting as guarantor.

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara (MINURSO) has ended its operations after its mandate expired at midnight on Saturday, and a liquidation period began on Sunday, November 1. Secretary-General António Guterres said the mission’s departure “does not abrogate” the people of the territory’s “inalienable right to self-determination” and that the UN continues to seek a political solution through his Personal Envoy, Staffan de Mistura. He recognized MINURSO’s central role since 1991 and paid tribute to the 20 mission personnel who died during its 35 years in the territory. Meanwhile, Sahrawi refugees cling to hopes of return.

Oil prices fell more than 4% as hopes grew that US-Iran peace talks would ease supply disruptions in the Middle East. Brent dropped 4.5% to $118.3 a barrel, and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell 4.37% to $99.57 at the time of the quote.

The United States proposed resuming Russian natural gas sales to Europe through Ukraine, according to The Wall Street Journal. The idea was raised by envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff during trips to Moscow and Kyiv in September and would involve selling the gas through a US intermediary to circumvent European sanctions.

Israel’s first ambassador to Somaliland presented his credentials to the president of the breakaway territory, who formally accepted them at a ceremony in Hargeisa, where officials also laid the cornerstone for an Israeli embassy.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II said the kingdom would not be shaken by a deadly attack on a church in the western city of Karak last month. The attack, two weeks ago, hit an Orthodox church in Karak Province, in the west of the country, and left nine people dead and about 40 wounded.

Bangladesh’s garment factories reopened on Monday, November 2, 2026, after widespread closures and production disruptions a day earlier, and manufacturers remain concerned about further unrest over workers’ demands for higher wages. Workers are asking for a minimum monthly wage of 30,000 taka ($243), up from 12,500 taka, according to Reuters, in a text republished by WHTC.

A new daily record for gas supplies to China via the Power of Siberia pipeline was set on November 1, according to Gazprom. The company said Russia expects to supply 39 billion cubic meters to China this year through the route.

Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said on Saturday, during a session on regional security at the Manama Dialogue in Bahrain, that Damascus is considering joining the Mecca alliance, a mutual defense pact between Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan. Under the agreement, signed on August 7 in Mecca, an attack on one signatory is treated as an attack on all three, an arrangement similar in principle to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which has 32 member states. Samy Akil, an analyst at Syria Report, told Middle East Eye the talks are at an early stage and that Syria is unlikely to become the pact's fourth member in the near term.

At the opening of parliament, Jordan's King Abdullah said that there would be no security in the Middle East until the Palestinians' right to their homeland is fulfilled. He said the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza continues, as do the attacks in the West Bank and Jerusalem, and that Israel's expansionist ambitions remain the greatest threat to the region's future and hopes.

Dozens of supermarkets in Belgium and Sweden have been hit by a suspected cyber-attack affecting refrigerators and freezers, according to the BBC. In Belgium, around 40 Delhaize stores and 15 Carrefour stores were affected; in Sweden, ICA and Coop shops, and thirteen SuperValu shops in Ireland. Thousands of euros worth of food had to be thrown away, according to local media reports, and one ICA store in Sweden said its freezers' temperatures had been set to 50 C (122F).

A confirmed total of 189 journalists and other media workers lost their lives in 2024-2025, 20 percent more than during the previous biennium and the highest number since 2014-2015, according to the biennial report of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco). The impunity rate reached 86 percent in 2024-2025, its first rise in more than a decade, and 127 of the dead, 67 percent of the toll, were in conflict zones. Drone strikes killed 50 journalists, 40 percent of killings in conflict zones, a threat Unesco called disturbing.

The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) says that 500 soldiers were killed and 800 wounded in clashes with the Ethiopian federal government's army and allied forces in the country's northern Tigray region. The figures were reported by the TPLF-affiliated Dimtsi Weyane television station, could not be independently verified, and the Ethiopian government has not commented on the claims.

Japan launched a new national agency to boost its disaster response. Reconstruction Minister Goshi Hosono, newly named to serve concurrently as disaster management minister, spoke at a press conference at the National Disaster Management Agency in Tokyo on November 2, 2026.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Monday that all parties in the West Asia conflict should focus on political solutions rather than resorting to arms and that China supports Iran in safeguarding its sovereignty and security, according to The Hindu.

Former Israeli military chief Herzi Halevi said in New York on Sunday that the October 7, 2023 attack was a failure that could have been prevented, but that there was “absolutely no internal betrayal”, according to The Times of Israel.

Türkiye has moved Abdullah Ocalan, founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), to a newly built section of the island prison where he has been held for 27 years, pro-Kurdish legislators said.

Sudan has lodged a complaint against Ethiopia with the United Nations (UN) Security Council and the African Union’s Peace and Security Council after a series of deadly drone attacks this year, according to Al Jazeera.

Police said on Sunday that five people were killed in two separate incidents in India’s northeastern state of Manipur, as fresh ethnic violence erupted in the conflict-hit region. Officials said on Monday that the deaths occurred in the Kangpokpi and Noney districts.

Uganda has begun withdrawing its troops from Somalia after nearly two decades of military involvement in the country, according to the BBC. The withdrawal is being carried out in phases and is expected to be completed in August 2027.

The chief executive of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), Sultan Al Jaber, said that global reserves have shrunk by nearly 1 billion barrels because of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Speaking in Abu Dhabi, he said diesel fuel reserves in some countries are at their lowest seasonal levels in 35 years and that other nations face a supply deficit of 600 billion cubic feet of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

United States (US) President Donald Trump reiterated on Sunday his threat to resume strikes against Iran, telling a campaign rally he may have to give Tehran “the hammer” at some unspecified time. On Monday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that signals that new military actions are planned against Iran cause alarm.

Authorities in Ukraine and Russia said their emergency alert mobile apps were targeted by cyberattacks late Sunday, with users in Ukraine receiving false warnings of dangerously high radiation levels in the capital, Kyiv. Hours later, Russia said its own alert system had also been hacked.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said on Monday that the country was open to the possibility of reopening the Strait of Hormuz within two days if the United States met Iran's demands. According to AFP, the conditions include ending the Middle East war on all fronts, unfreezing Iranian assets abroad, lifting sanctions on its oil sector and ending the US naval blockade.

French students blocked some high schools on Monday, November 2, as they returned from the autumn holidays, determined to reinvigorate the protest movement despite government concessions during the break. Turnout for the blockades is uncertain, and the students vow to “keep up pressure”.

Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) delivered the first two FA-50 light combat aircraft to Malaysia under a 2023 contract to supply 18 jets to the Southeast Asian country. The two FA-50M aircraft departed KAI's headquarters in Sacheon on Thursday and arrived at Malaysia's Kuantan Air Base on Sunday.

US President Donald Trump repeatedly called Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed a “jihadist” at a rally in Iowa on Sunday and made remarks about the Michigan Senate candidate's Muslim faith as voters prepare to go to the polls for Tuesday's election. Trump said Congress would need “a special metal detector for Abdul” if the candidate were elected. Democrat Haley Stevens endorsed Republican Mike Rogers, drawing criticism from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

A ceasefire of several days in a Russian-occupied Ukrainian city has ended after allowing hundreds of residents to leave. Moscow and Kyiv assessed the truce in Alyoshki positively, according to the press review of the Russian agency TASS.

Iliana Iotova won Bulgaria's presidential runoff with 1,093,852 votes, 57.56% of the total, against 750,251 votes, 39.48%, for the ticket of Andrey Gurov and Georgi Kandev, with 99.68% of ballots counted. Iotova is the country's seventh president and the first woman elected to the post. Turnout stood at about 27%.

Iraq's oil exports through the Kurdistan Region's pipeline to Turkey doubled from 250,000 to 500,000 barrels a day, according to Baz Karim Barzanji, head of the Erbil-based energy company KAR Group, who wrote on X on Saturday. The crude shipped on the route is marketed by the state-run Somo. Oil Minister Basim al-Abadi said exports through all routes had risen above 3.4 million barrels a day since the start of October.

The FBI attributed the theft of $6.3 billion from the Binance cryptocurrency exchange to North Korean hackers.

In a joint statement, Beijing and Muscat urged the United States and Iran to resume dialogue and reach a “comprehensive agreement that includes the nuclear issue”. China's Foreign Ministry said the country's special envoy for Middle East affairs will visit Iran, Oman and Saudi Arabia this month, according to Reuters, in a text republished by Mehr News.

Somali pirates seized the Iranian fishing vessel Azini, carrying 23 people, and the Maritime Security Centre Indian Ocean warned the ship was approaching a commercial shipping lane and could become a floating base for further attacks. The Azini was hijacked on Thursday between Bandar Bayla and Hafun in northeastern Somalia, a Maritime Police Force officer from Puntland said on Sunday. According to the officer, 12 pirates seized the vessel, which was carrying 21 Iranian crew members and two Somali guards.

South Korea is seeking to finalize by the end of this year a comprehensive agreement with the US on relocating jointly used air bases across the country, including facilities in the southwestern city of Gwangju, a source familiar with the matter said on Monday. South Korea’s Defense Ministry said it is consulting with the US side to include the temporary relocation of US military facilities inside Gwangju Air Base in the agreement on relocations now under negotiation.

US President Donald Trump is weighing blaming his defense and military chiefs for the handling of the war on Iran, according to a Sunday report by The Atlantic, in a text republished by the Times of Israel, while considering resuming attacks after Tuesday’s midterm elections. In a conversation described by sources as tough and direct, Netanyahu pushed Trump to restart the campaign, while Trump wanted to allow more time for negotiations, according to Axios, in a text republished by the Times of Israel.

The liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier Al Mayeda, carrying cargo from Qatar to Pakistan, was struck by unidentified objects near the Strait of Hormuz, despite reports that Pakistani authorities had prior Iranian clearance for safe passage. Qatari carrier Nakilat confirmed in a statement that the attack happened on the evening of October 30, with no crew injuries and no reported environmental damage, and shipping data indicates the vessel changed course and headed back toward the Gulf.

Five Britons detained in France on suspicion of harassing migrants were fined, expelled and banned from entering the region for six months on Sunday, November 2, according to French authorities. An aid group had accused them of violence against undocumented migrants, but investigations found no evidence of violent offenses, prosecutor Charlotte Huet said in a statement on Sunday.

Iranian negotiators left Doha on Sunday after three consecutive days of consultations with Qatari mediators on a deal to end the US-Israeli war on Iran, according to Reuters, in a text republished by Arab News. An official briefed on the talks told the agency on Monday that the departure was not due to difficulties in the discussions. Iran’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday it is weighing a proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within two days if the US meets its conditions.

Xi Jinping told Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, in Beijing, that the Gulf should not become an arena of great-power rivalry and that China wants to work with Arab nations for lasting peace, while Oman said it was open to a preferential bilateral trade and investment agreement with China, its largest trading partner, according to The Jerusalem Post.

The Taliban government expressed concern on Monday over reported United States (US) plans to deport more than 150 Afghans from the US to Pakistan for eventual return to Afghanistan, with advocacy groups warning of the risk to their lives. The Taliban government urged on Monday that the United States (US) “act responsibly” in the deportations, saying it was ready to address the issue constructively.

Ukraine has formally denied considering severing diplomatic relations with South Korea in the dispute over the repatriation of two North Korean prisoners of war, and spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said remarks by South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun at a parliamentary hearing were a hypothetical response and that both countries are working to avoid further escalation, according to UPI.

The United Nations (UN) demands a thorough investigation into the death of Mohammad el-Shami, of the UN Human Rights Office, while in Houthi detention in Yemen — dead for more than a month, with his family only recently notified, after arbitrary detention since June 2024 — and Secretary-General António Guterres said he was dismayed and demanded the immediate release of all detained personnel, according to Al Jazeera.

The frigate Admiral Golovko, armed with Zircon hypersonic missiles, set out from Severomorsk on a long-distance deployment toward the Atlantic, where over the coming months its crew will carry out flag-showing and naval-presence missions in operationally important areas, the Northern Fleet's press service reported.

Binance customers withdrew $3.64bn as the exchange reopened on Sunday following the record hack, which hit $6.3bn in digital assets and led to the suspension of all transactions — an attack the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) blames on North Korea, according to the BBC.

Russia vetoed on Friday the United States' (US) proposal on Western Sahara, backed by 11 of the 15 Council members, including France and the United Kingdom, while the rival Russian draft received two votes in favor, one against and 11 abstentions, falling short of the nine needed — and Morocco's royal palace welcomed the outcome, said United Nations (UN) personnel and equipment should leave the territory and that the issue should leave the Council's agenda, while remaining committed to the ceasefire, according to Al Jazeera.

The Saudi-led coalition intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis toward southern Saudi Arabia, spokesperson Maj. Gen. Turki al Maliki said on Monday. The coalitionʼs air defenses destroyed the missile on its way to the southern region.

A South Korean army staff sergeant died after suffering external injuries at a frontline unit in Cheorwon near the North Korean border on Monday morning, Seoul's Defense Ministry said. A South Korean sergeant was killed on the border with external wounds, as tensions with the North escalate.

Crude oil prices started the week lower on renewed optimism about a possible peace deal between the United States (US) and Iran, following mediation talks involving Iran and Qatar over the weekend, OilPrice reports. At that time, Brent crude traded at US$109.82 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate at US$100.57 per barrel.

Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever may resign after a meeting with King Philippe on Monday, according to De Standaard newspaper. The reason would be the failure of attempts to agree on the federal budget. The premier meets at the Palace at 9:30 a.m. and is expected to submit the government's resignation after the kern failed to reach a budget deal, according to RTBF.

Russia and Mozambique are working on launching a direct sea freight line, the Mozambican transport and logistics minister said. The draft memorandum on direct maritime transport between the countries is under discussion, with signing expected in 2027.

The chairman of the Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, Ebrahim Azizi, warned the US of a devastating response from the Armed Forces if Iran is attacked.

Israeli artillery shelling hit Sarbine, Al-Mansouri, Kafr Tibnit, Al-Qantara, Beit Yahoun, Bani Hayyan and Al-Qusair in southern Lebanon, according to field sources. Israeli forces also set off an explosion in the town of Ainatha, according to the Lebanese news agency.

Hebron governor Khaled Dudin announced on Monday that Israeli forces withdrew from the city after a 10-day siege. According to him, Palestinian security forces took control of the area and displaced families can return. The Hebron Governorate reports more than 3,300 Palestinians displaced or otherwise affected and 15 homes and structures demolished in the operation, which began on October 23 after a shooting attack that killed two Israeli soldiers, wounded three and ended with both attackers killed.