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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
U.S. Vice President JD Vance sent a letter to Iranian Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Mohsen Rezaei in an effort to revive peace negotiations between the two countries, sources told the Wall Street Journal. One source said the letter was sent at President Trump’s direction. Trump yesterday said he approved of Vance’s request to make contact, and added that Iran “need[s] help with medical supplies and various things.” Benoit Faucon, Alexander Ward, and Natalie Andrews report.
Regional mediators led by Qatar are trying to reach a diplomatic deal to restart negotiations between the United States and Iran, sources told Axios. The Qataris are working to convince Iran to allow U.N. inspectors to visit its bombed nuclear sites in return for some sanctions relief from the United States. U.S. and Israeli officials said a renewed bombing offensive appears likely shortly after the midterms if a last-minute deal isn’t made. Israeli military Chf. of Staff Eyal Zamir on Monday spoke with U.S. Central Command Cdr. Adm. Brad Cooper to coordinate ahead of potential attacks. Barak Ravid reports.
IRAN WAR – OTHER DEVELOPMENTS
U.N. Assistant Secretary-General Abdallah Al Dardari told the Wall Street Journal that the economies of the Arab world must channel more investment into productive sectors, as the Iran war has exposed the region’s structural weakness. The U.N. estimates a minimum five-year economic recovery for the region at a cost of $1.4 trillion in reconstruction should the war end today. Joseph Wilkins reports.
South Korean National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac today told a parliamentary audit that South Korea was still considering various options regarding a possible deployment to the Strait of Hormuz, including sending a maritime patrol aircraft. Wi said combat deployment was ruled out in line with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s previous announcement. Kyu-seok Shim reports for Reuters.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region Gov. Oleksandr Hanzha today said a Russian drone that hit a platform crowded with people boarding a train at the main railways station in the city of Dnipro killed 13 people. Ukraine’s state rail company Ukrzaliznytsia said “despite a warning of heightened danger, people were on the platform.” Max Hunder reports for Reuters.
Russia’s capital Moscow’s Mayor Sergei Sobyanin today said Russia downed most of the 613 drones heading toward the city overnight, while Ukraine’s Kharkiv city Mayor Ihor Terekhov said Russian attacks damaged an educational institution in the city. JekaterĪna Golubkova reports for Reuters.
27 Ugandans who were enlisted to fight for Russia’s army in Ukraine have been killed or are presumed dead, according to a letter sent from Uganda’s embassy in Russia to Uganda’s Foreign Ministry seen by Reuters today. Uganda’s embassy said it had received the information from Russia’s Foreign Ministry through a “note verbale.” An official at Uganda’s Foreign Ministry confirmed the authenticity of the letter. Elias Biryabarema and George Obulutsa report.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Foreign Policy Adviser, Yuri Ushakov, yesterday confirmed Russia is discussing sanctions relief with the Trump administration for the Russian Direct Investment Fund. Ushakov told Russian state news that “such a conversation is taking place.” A U.S. official told the New York Times that the Trump administration was assessing the fund’s applications for sanctions to be removed through established procedures as part of an effort to “improve U.S.-Russia relations and help end the war.” Ushakov also said that the timing of the next round of three-way talks on a settlement to the war in Ukraine is linked to the conflict in the Middle East. Anton Troianovski reports; Reuters reports.
The U.S. Defense Department’s watchdog is refusing a bipartisan request to investigate recent disruptions to Starlink and Starshield satellite internet service for Ukraine, according to a response dated to Tuesday obtained by AP News. The Pentagon told the group of nine U.S. lawmakers that their concerns are better answered by the U.S. Air Force, and a congressional aide said that the response is being seen as the inspector general’s refusal to investigate SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and Starlink. Konstantin Toropin reports.
Putin yesterday called Musk a “genius” and revealed that Russia has been in contact with the SpaceX CEO as the country works to develop a rival satellite internet network. Russia has launched over 30 satellites as part of its developing Rassvet network, compared to the nearly 10,000 SpaceX satellites currently in operation. Putin said “we are proud that we have begun to do this, and started to do it independently,” and confirmed Russia is in “close contact with our American partners.” Finya Swai reports for The Hill.
Rights group Global Rights Compliance today said a Russian network of brokers sponsored by North Korea has taken North Koreans to work in Russia in exploitative conditions and in violation of U.N. sanctions, including some at factories that produce items Russia uses in the war in Ukraine. The group said North Korea takes much of the wages earned by its workers who are made to stay in Russia under threat of retribution. Jack Kim reports for Reuters.
OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff today said it detected 10 short-range ballistic missiles fired from North Korea’s eastern coastal town of Wonsan into eastern waters. The Japanese Defense Ministry also said it detected a suspected ballistic missile launch by North Korea. Hyung-Jin Kim reports for AP News.
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde today announced her scheduled resignation on Feb. 7, 2027. EU leaders will now pick a successor before the date. Lagarde said “I leave this institution with a sense of good work done and an ECB that is fit for the future.” Francesco Canepa and Balazs Koranyi report for Reuters.
Brazilian Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro yesterday landed in Miami, Florida and labelled himself the “leader of Brazil.” Bolsonaro’s escape from Brazil relied heavily on deceptions and decoys, and an effort by a small circle of Trump allies, senior U.S. officials, and Argentine President Javier Milei. Bolsonaro thanked Trump for welcoming him to a “land of freedoms,” and Milei for his “courage” and “sense of justice.” Bolsonaro also claimed he “did not flee Brazil,” but “left for the sake of Brazil.” Sources told the Wall Street Journal that after Trump personally approved of admitting Bolsonaro on Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio moved to issue Bolsonaro and his family visas. But the sources added that the Bolsonaro family entered the United States under humanitarian parole, which allows them to remain for one year. Vera Bergengruen, Samantha Pearson, Ryan Dubé, and Phillip Wegmann report; Vanessa Buschschlüter, Ione Wells, and Max Matza report for BBC News.
The U.N. Human Rights Council yesterday said that Nicaragua’s co-presidents Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo have established a dictatorship and that there are “reasonable grounds to believe that crimes against humanity have been committed.” Chair of the council Jan-Michael Simon said the “dictatorship has one clear goal: permanent dynastic rule.” Nicaragua called the UNHRC, which it has withdrawn from, “manipulated, obsolete, and interfering,” and accused “neo-colonialist powers” of weaponizing human rights for “political aggression.” Edith M. Lederer reports for AP News.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
The United States yesterday expelled the First Secretary of the Cuban Mission to the U.N. Richard Tur de la Concepción after he was involved in an altercation with a U.S. official during a shouting match on Tuesday at the U.N. General Assembly. In a video posted by U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz, Tur de la Concepción is seen smacking the cellphone recording him and saying “he violated my personal space.” The State Department said “we have made clear to the Cuba Mission that this individual is not welcome in the United States.” Waltz accused Tur de la Concepción of attempting to intimidate U.N. staff. José de Córdoba and James T. Areddy report for the Wall Street Journal.
A significantly fewer number of countries at the U.N. General Assembly yesterday voted in favor of a resolution disavowing the U.S. economic embargo on Cuba. 130 nations voted in favor of the resolution, with 25 abstaining and 17 voting against, which marks a reduction of 35 countries that had voted in favor last year. Antoni Slodkowski and Dave Sherwood report for Reuters.
Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi in a news conference in the Philippine central province of Cebu yesterday announced that the United States and Japan have agreed to establish a Japanese facility for the joint production of advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles. Koizumi said the missiles that will be produced as part of a joint effort called “Operation Supercharge” are “essential for the F-35,” but did not elaborate on other details of the agreement. Koizumi met his U.S. counterpart Pete Hegseth on the sidelines of an annual meeting of Southeast Asian defense chiefs and their major Asian and Western counterparts. Jim Gomez and Joeal Calupitan report for AP News.
U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS
A report published yesterday by immigration reform advocacy group FWD.us said the number of state and local officers working with ICE has doubled in size in the last eight months. The group analyzed the ICE program called 287(g) that deputizes state and local police for immigration enforcement and found that more than 29,000 officers were deputized by ICE between Jan. 2025 and Oct. 2026, almost three times the amount of deportation officers directly employed by ICE. Jaclyn Diaz reports for NPR.
Leak website Distributed Denial of Secrets yesterday said it has released data on more than 40,000 Department of Homeland Security employees, including details about officials working in sensitive fields such as surveillance and human intelligence. The group said the disclosure draws on information obtained by an entity calling itself “Department of Peace.” DHS said in a statement that it was “aware of a potential breach and is actively working to address the situation swiftly and effectively.” Raphael Satter and A.J. Vicens report for Reuters.
The office of U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro (R) on Tuesday said it would not unseal a search warrant executed by federal agents at the D.C. residence of House Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), and asked a federal judge to deny requests for the warrant’s release. The requests to immediately unseal the search warrant and other related records were made by 15 news organizations, including the New York Times. Pirro said in a significantly redacted court filing that the organizations’ requests were premature, partly because the Justice Department’s investigation is ongoing. Francesca Regalado reports.
U.S. AI DEVELOPMENTS
Dartmouth College yesterday confirmed its provost Dr. Santiago Schnell had resigned after a review found the use of AI in his work fell short of the university’s code of ethical conduct. The faculty-led committee found that Dr. Schnell had used AI to “meaningfully alter his writing” and had failed “to disclose his use of AI.” The investigation followed on from published disclosures by the college’s student newspaper “The Dartmouth,” as well as the news site Semafor. Semafor cited an August commentary by Dr. Schnell published in the Washington Post about the use of AI to cheat in school that Semafor said had been written by AI. Dr. Schnell responded to the claim and issued an apology but maintained his use of AI was limited to “language refinement, copy editing, improving clarity and organization, and making writing processes more efficient.” Stephanie Saul reports for the New York Times.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
Utah yesterday filed criminal charges against Kalshi and its co-founders, CEO Tarek Mansour and COO Luana Lopes Lara, months after a federal judge rejected Kalshi’s attempt to prevent Utah from enforcing its anti-gambling laws. The charges include 13 counts of violating the state’s prohibition on gambling and another charge involving profiting off illegal activity. Utah Attorney General Derek Brown said Kalshi has continued to operate in Utah despite a federal court ruling that Utah’s gambling laws apply to the company. Marc Levy reports for AP News.
Minnesota state prosecutors yesterday charged conservative activists James O’Keefe and Cam Higby with felony identity theft and voting law charges over a stunt the pair said was intended to expose flaws in the state’s election system. The pair used real people’s identities to pose as voters and began applying for ballots, but did not actually cast votes. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said it is “not against the law to be performative,” but the “fundamental issue here is you cannot go into a polling place and misidentify yourself, use other people’s identity and say that our election judges as you apply for a ballot.” Higby on social media said the charges were “lawfare” and that “they want to scare all independent journalists who may challenge them. This is FASCISM.” O’Keefe denied applying for a ballot and accused prosecutors of retaliating against his reporting in a video posted on social media in August which Reuters factchecked. Jalen Buckford reports for POLITICO.
The New York Times yesterday reported that last year, a staffer for Alaska Democrat senate nominee Mary Peltola received instructions from top campaign aides to find people that shared the name Dan Sullivan with Sen. Dan S. Sullivan (R) in Alaska. The staffer complied, and in spring of this year, retired teacher Dan J. Sullivan announced his candidacy for Senate. The Peltola campaign has previously denied any involvement in J. Sullivan’s candidacy. The New York Times report is based on interviews, text messages, and documents prepared for a potential lawsuit against Peltola’s campaign. According to the report, the effort did not stop at finding people of the same name, and Peltola’s campaign worked to coax other would-be spoilers into the race. Trump accused Peltola’s campaign and Democrats of fraud and perjury. Kellen Browning reports; Josephine Walker reports for Axios.
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R) late last night said he was ordering the Department of Public Safety to investigate whether Peltola’s campaign should face criminal charges or civil action following accusations it helped recruit J. Sullivan to run for Senate. Dunleavy on social media said “Alaskans have a fundamental right to vote for the candidate they actually intend to support,” and that “deliberately tricking voters into casting their ballots for someone else strikes at the integrity of our elections.” Victoria Bisset reports for the Washington Post.
The Pentagon is treating a spate of freezer malfunctions that spoiled food at military bases across the United States in August as a suspected hack, sources told Reuters. One official said military investigators were in touch with their French counterparts about a similar cyberattack on commercial freezers that disrupted French supermarkets earlier this month. The Pentagon said a unit of Cyber Command, the military’s cyber force, was “working in close coordination with interagency and law enforcement partners.” Raphael Satter, A.J. Vicens, and Phil Stewart report.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTION
Hegseth fired Army Lt. Gen. Brett Sylvia from his position as Director for Strategy Plans and Policy, J-5 on the Joint Chiefs of Staff without explanation, sources told The Atlantic. No replacement for Sylvia was named, and a former Joint Chiefs of Staff official said “now is not the time when you’d want to lose the J5.” When reached for comment, Hegseth’s office referred The Hill to Joint Staff. Nancy A. Youssef reports; Filip Timotija reports.
Hegseth and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin yesterday told a federal court that Trump’s proposed triumphal arch represents a “generational defense opportunity,” and is not merely decorative. The pair told the court that the arch would be used to counter drone attacks and to serve as a base for snipers. Mullin said the Secret Service would be able to use the monument to enhance security for senior government officials through increased monitoring. Ashley Ahn reports for POLITICO.
According to court papers filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center yesterday in a case that accuses the center of defrauding its donors, federal prosecutors turned an informant of the center into a government informant. The papers assert that the DOJ capitalized on the informant’s financial problems and exposure to indictment to help him pivot from assisting the center in infiltrating hate groups to helping the government build its criminal case. The center’s lawyers argue that the informant went far beyond serving as a normal government witness and came to resemble a member of the government’s investigative team. Alan Feuer reports for the New York Times.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Oct. 9 announced he would drop plans to ban potent opium compound MGPI, in a reversal brought on by lobbying. Kennedy Jr. previously said the ban was needed as the opioid “put American lives at risk.” A number of known kratom companies, the leaf from which the compound derives from, mounted a lobbying push, and the executive of a large kratom distribution company went to the White House to plead his case. Emily Hilliard, a spokeswoman for Kennedy Jr. and the Department of Health and Human Services, told the New York Times that the decision was based on science, and that “neither litigation nor political contributions influenced H.H.S’ recommendation.” Christina Jewett reports.
The DOJ filed notice last night that Trump’s announcements that there are plans for renovating the East Potomac Golf Course and there are plans to close the park beginning Nov. 15 are accurate. A current preliminary injunction temporarily bars the government from removing or damaging any additional trees on the course, and the Trump administration must give 10 days’ notice in writing before making any “irreparable modification” to any “forms or features” of the course while the lawsuit is active. Gary Fields reports for AP News.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
Civil rights group Civil Liberties Union yesterday filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over an initiative to deploy hundreds of investigators to hunt for noncitizen voters. The suit contends that the initiative intimidates naturalized U.S. citizens and subjects them to possible disenfranchisement, and also alleges that the administration is demanding state election officials deny ballots to certain voters based on flawed eligibility data, potentially undermining confidence in next week’s midterm elections. Tom Hals reports for Reuters.
A federal judge yesterday rejected the DOJ’s effort to force California to immediately set aside 20,000 ballots from people the Trump administration suspects are “likely noncitizens.” The judge wrote that the demand for urgent action “would wreak havoc and disrupt the election that is already underway, create a chilling effect on election workers and voters alike, and discount the votes of United States citizens.” Shawn Hubler reports for the New York Times.
Did you miss this? Stay up-to-date with our Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions.
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