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A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the last 24 hours. Here’s today’s news:
IRAN WAR
Iran is deploying new tactics to target ships sailing through the Strait of Hormuz as it seeks to keep oil prices high and influence the U.S. midterm elections, senior Iranian officials told Reuters. The two officials declined to provide details of the new strategy, but one said Iran had started using different offensive tactics about 10 days ago against vessels it considered in violation of its restrictions. Parisa Hafezi, Jonathan Saul, and Phil Stewart report.
Three fishermen today were seriously injured after a fishing boat was struck by an “enemy drone” off Iran’s southern coast, according to the Iranian southern province Hormozgan governor’s office. Reuters reports.
IRAN WAR – YEMEN
The Saudi-led military coalition today said it intercepted a ballistic missile fired by the Iran-aligned Houthis towards Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh. New explosions had been heard in Riyadh by residents, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. The Houthi-run Health Ministry yesterday reported two dead in attacks in Yemen and blamed the Saudis. Samy Magdy reports for AP News.
The Saudi Energy Ministry yesterday said strikes hit an administrative building in the eastern city of Dhahran owned by energy giant Aramco. The statement said the strike caused “a limited fire” and no injuries. The Houthis claimed responsibility for the strike today and vowed to continue attacks on airports and oil facilities in Saudi Arabia. Ismaeel Naar and Pranav Baskar report for the New York Times; Timour Azhari, Jana Choukeir, and Tala Ramadan report for Reuters.
A report by Conflict Armament Research viewed by the Wall Street Journal before its release said the Houthis are attempting to produce their own advanced medium-range ballistic missiles using Chinese-delivered parts. The Houthi missile would have a range up to 1,200 miles, putting all of Saudi Arabia and Israel within reach. Laurence Norman and Benoit Faucon report.
IRAN WAR – OTHER DEVELOPMENTS
A supervisor in the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Division of Market Oversight was told by Mel Gunewardena, a senior advisor to CFTC Chairman Michael Selig, to retract the analysis of suspicious oil trades that occurred when President Trump backed away from threats to strike Iranian power plants on Mar. 23, sources told Bloomberg. The division filed a referral to the Division of Enforcement based on the timing of the trading they observed and who was behind it, and the two divisions met and talked through how best to collaborate on the issue. The sources said Selig was intervening to scuttle the referral and oversee the gathering of data himself. Charles Gorrivan, Lydia Beyoud, and Nicola M. White report.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
The State Emergency Service of Ukraine today said at least three people were killed and 21 injured in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian overnight strikes have left at least 600,000 Ukrainians without electricity and called the attacks an “ostentatious disrespect” to Trump’s peace efforts. Russia’s Defense Ministry said the strikes overnight targeted communications and energy facilities in the Kyiv and Kharkiv regions used by Ukraine’s military. Jaroslav Lukiv reports for BBC News; Dan Peleschuk reports for Reuters.
Russian bank and technology company Sberbank Deputy CEO Alexander Vedyakhin today said Ukrainian drones hit Russia’s biggest data center but did not disrupt operations. The strike occurred in the Saratov region. Elena Fabrichnaya reports for Reuters.
Zelenskyy yesterday told NPR that the Trump administration warned it could cut off intelligence sharing with Ukraine unless Ukrainian forces stop long-range drone strikes on oil refineries inside Russia. Trump yesterday said that the United States was “sharing intel” with Ukraine, but after a late night strike in Kyiv, Zelenskyy on social media said “once again, no warning from our partners.” Ukraine did not receive intelligence reports about a strike on Monday night either, but Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha yesterday said it was because Russia used a “special type of weaponry” that went undetected. Zelenskyy also said Trump’s diesel deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin will not bring down fuel prices, and refuted Trump’s assertion that Ukraine was to blame for the rise in diesel fuel prices and said the rises are because of the Iran war. Joanna Kakissis reports; Constant Mehéut and Carlotta Gall report for the New York Times.
A bipartisan coalition of 12 U.S. senators yesterday published a letter calling Trump’s diesel deal with Putin a “betrayal of the people of Ukraine” and a “gift to our adversary.” The senators said the deal will not achieve “just ends, nor will it benefit Americans,” and urged Trump to ramp up economic pressure on Russia as called for in the sanctions bill named after the late Sen. Lindsey Graham. Avery Lotz reports for Axios.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni today said the diesel deal between the United States and Russia is a “very risky choice” that runs counter to attempts to end the war in Ukraine. Meloni said the deal provides Russia with “legitimacy as its bombs continue to fall on Ukrainian cities, generates revenue to finance the war, and implicitly weakens the effectiveness of sanctions.” Giuseppe Fonte reports for Reuters.
Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski on social media today asked SpaceX CEO Elon Musk if he was “playing politics” with Starlink after Ukraine said SpaceX had introduced a limit on some services. Ukrainian presidential adviser Serhiy Beskrestnov today said Ukraine did not receive warning about the limitation of services and “this led to the disruption of several missions.” Poland pays for Ukraine’s Starlink subscription. Musk in 2025 previously stated that Ukraine’s “entire frontline would collapse if I turned [Starlink] off.” Alan Charlish reports for Reuters; Yuliia Dysa reports for Reuters.
Ukrainian Serhii K, accused of blowing up Russia’s Nord Stream gas pipelines to Germany in Sep. 2022, today will go on trial in Hamburg, Germany. Serhii K denies the charges, as does a second suspect who is fighting extradition from Croatia. Zelenskyy has maintained that Ukraine had “nothing to do with” the blasts, but in their indictment German prosecutors allege the saboteurs conceived the plot “acting by order of Ukrainian state agencies.” Paul Kirby and Jessica Parker report for BBC News.
U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham yesterday offered his “rock-solid” support to Ukraine as Zelenskyy is set to visit the United Kingdom today. Burnham urged allies to strengthen sanctions on Russia and called on Putin to agree to an energy ceasefire. Noah Keate reports for POLITICO.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov today said Putin will discuss cybersecurity with top Russian officials, describing it as an increasingly pressing issue but denying the meeting was prompted by recent Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian data centers. Peskov said the meeting was “much more systemic,” and was not connected to the “specific, isolated attacks.” Dmitry Antonov reports for Reuters.
OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
Head of the U.K. spy agency MI5 Sir Ken McCallum at an annual speech in London yesterday said the agency is devoting more resources to countering state threats than during the Cold War. McCallum said Russia was waging hybrid warfare at a time when AI was “supercharging the cyber-security contest between attackers and defenders,” and said that Russian interference in the 2016 Brexit referendum must not be overstated as there is an “important difference between interference attempted and outcome swayed.” McCallum also warned of “extreme right-wing terrorism,” and that the biggest threat from the misuse of AI was extremist groups using the technology to harness new and existing bioweapons. Frank Gardner and Adam Goldsmith report for BBC News; Becky Morton reports for BBC News.
Ethiopian government troops have advanced to Zalambessa, a town on the border with Eritrea previously controlled by Tigrayan rebels, sources told Reuters yesterday. It was unclear if Eritrean troops who crossed the border last week were still present in the town.
Colombia’s transitional justice system, the Special Jurisdiction for Peace, also known as JEP, yesterday charged 10 former members of the rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia with multiple war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against five Indigenous groups. JEP said that between 1996 and 2016 the suspects oversaw the torture, murder, and forced displacement of Indigenous leaders. JEP magistrate Catalina Diaz said the system is “delivering justice to the most forgotten people of a segregated Colombia.” AP News reports.
Colombia today opened its embassy in Jerusalem. Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella reversed his predecessor’s break with Israel by also restoring a free trade agreement between the two countries. Colombia is only the 10th country to establish its embassy in Jerusalem, as while Israel regards Jerusalem as its capital, Palestinians also seek East Jerusalem as the capital of a future independent state. Steven Scheer reports for Reuters.
Human rights groups yesterday criticized the uncontested election of 15 members to the U.N. Human Rights Council, saying it resulted in countries with poor rights records winning seats. U.N. Director at Human Rights Watch Louis Charbonneau said the “uncompetitive vote makes a mockery of the word ‘election’,” and called on U.N. member nations to “insist on competitive slates so they can reject candidates with poor human rights records.” Edith M. Lederer reports for AP News.
U.S. AI DEVELOPMENTS
The Justice Department yesterday said the FBI arrested Saudi national and OpenAI employee Abdulrahman Alfozan last Friday and charged him with planting a recording device concealed in toilet paper in a company executive conference room. OpenAI on or around Sep. 30 discovered a sophisticated recording device inserted into the back of a TV in an executive conference room, and determined the device was installed a couple of days prior. The DOJ said the contents of the device were encrypted. Ashley Ahn reports for POLITICO.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
The DOJ yesterday announced the arrests of U.S. citizens Michael James Bostelle and Juan Cecilio Pena Carrillo, who are accused of helping North Korean IT workers to steal identities and obtain fraudulent employment at U.S. companies to earn money for the North Korean government. The pair are charged with wire fraud, money laundering, and identity theft as part of the alleged scheme. A.J. Vicens reports for Reuters.
Kimberly Guilfoyle yesterday resigned as the U.S. Ambassador to Greece after the White House asked her to do so following a recent string of damaging reports. Trump said that while Guilfoyle “was doing a good job,” he “didn’t like what [he] read,” and downplayed his personal connection to Guilfoyle, who was once engaged to his son Donald Trump Jr., saying “she wasn’t a member of my family.” Tyler Pager reports for the New York Times.
The DOJ has agreed to not prosecute former C.I.A. analyst Sue Mi Terry who was accused in 2024 of serving as a secret agent for South Korea’s intelligence service, according to court documents filed yesterday. Federal prosecutors said Terry had shared nonpublic government information, facilitated access for South Korean officials to U.S. officials, and accepted luxury gifts in exchange for advocating South Korean government positions during media appearances. The DOJ said to put Terry’s prosecution on hold for a year, and drop them completely if she stays out of legal trouble. AP News reports.
The State Department yesterday said the acting U.S. envoy to Nicaragua Elias Baumann has returned to the United States for “critical consultations” after Nicaragua rejected the U.S. pick for ambassador Natasha Franceschi. The department added that the decision by co-Presidents Daniel Ortega and his wife Rosario Murillo “demonstrates the hypocrisy of their rhetoric of mutual respect and their desire to engage in political theater at the expense of the Nicaraguan people.” Costas Pitas, Diego Ore, Daina Beth Solomon report for Reuters.
U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS
The first flight transporting third-world country nationals from the United States to Jamaica arrived yesterday. The deportees were sent to an undisclosed location after arrival in Jamaica’s capital Kingston and the media was not given access. John Myers Jr. reports for AP News.
The Department of Homeland Security’s new refugee policy takes effect today, and will reduce the number of days refugees have to challenge the revocation of their status from 30 to 10 days. The goal of the new policy is to “mitigate potential risks,” according to the Trump administration. Gisela Salomon reports for AP News.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro yesterday said her office is probing House Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) financial disclosures. Omar’s office pointed Axios to reporting last month that the Office of Congressional Conduct recommended that the House Ethics Committee dismiss allegations that she possibly violated House rules or law by reporting false or incomplete financial disclosure information. Pirro said the prior ethics probe which cleared Omar is the “subject of an investigation as well.” Avery Lotz reports.
Harris County, Texas District Attorney Sean Teare (D) yesterday said an ICE agent appeared to use a vehicle to intentionally strike Miguel Parra Hernandez who took off running in Houston, and that an investigation opened by his office could result in criminal charges. Parra Hernandez needed surgery for a broken leg after being hit by a car last Saturday, according to the Executor Director of FIEL Houston, an immigrant rights organization, Cesar Espinosa. Tim Oberle, a spokesperson for ICE in Houston, on Saturday said as “ICE officers attempted to apprehend illegal aliens, Miguel Parra Hernandez ran in front of an ICE vehicle and was struck.” AP News reports.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
The Supreme Court yesterday announced it would review a dispute over how much information the Department of Government Efficiency formed by Musk must disclose in response to public records requests. Nonprofit watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has pressed for information about DOGE’s operations and previously filed an expedited request for records under the Freedom of Information Act. After it did not receive the records, CREW filed a lawsuit alleging DOGE had violated public record laws. Ann E. Marimow reports for the New York Times.
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) and New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin (D) have reached a deal to abolish the city’s horse carriage industry, a spokesperson for Menin shared with POLITICO. The deal backs a bill that would make it illegal to operate a horse-drawn carriage in the city starting Jun. 2028. Chris Sommerfeldt reports.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTION
Advertisements promoting Trump and his policies continued to be paid for by taxpayer money after Trump announced on Oct. 5 that his MAGA Inc. super PAC would begin funding the ads, according to an analysis by NPR. Of the $22 million in taxpayer money spent to air the ads, nearly $10 million of that total was spent after Oct. 5. Tamara Keith reports.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
Trump’s lawyers recently canceled his deposition in the defamation lawsuit he filed against the BBC on Oct. 16 and said Trump is unavailable until at least mid-Dec., according to a court filing. The BBC is asking a judge to force Trump to set a firm date to submit to questioning in the case. Josh Gerstein reports for POLITICO.
A federal judge yesterday extended his order restoring White House press credentials to journalists for CNN, MS NOW, and POLITICO. The judge said Trump’s mass cancellation of hard passes for nearly 80 reporters likely violated due process because Trump didn’t give the media outlets advance notice that concerns over their reporting could jeopardize access to the White House, and that Trump’s oft-aired grievances with the three outlets’ reporting bolstered the court’s conclusion that the ban likely amounted to “retaliation” and “viewpoint discrimination” in violation of the First Amendment. Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney report for POLITICO.
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