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A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the weekend. Here’s today’s news:
IRAN WAR
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy yesterday said two oil tankers “exploded” after striking mines while travelling through an “unauthorized route” in the Strait of Hormuz. Yasmine Ghania and Hatem Maher report for Reuters.
Iranian negotiators yesterday left talks with Qatari mediators aimed at ending the Iran war, and a draft proposal is being circulated with a follow-up meeting possible, an official told Reuters today. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the basis of the talks is a seven-step plan Iran drew up in September to reopen the strait. Qatari mediators on Friday held talks in Iran for more than 12 hours to reach a deal to restart negotiations between the United States and Iran, sources told Axios. One source said Qatari mediators were in regular contact with the White House during the daylong session. Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei on Saturday told the country’s three top commanders that a renewed attack by the United States and Israel must be “met with an immediate and effective response, without geographical limitations” in order to achieve “maximum deterrence,” according to a statement from Khamenei’s office. Andrew Mills reports; Barak Ravid reports; Barak Ravid reports for Axios.
President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday had a phone call about the state of U.S. negotiations with Iran and how quickly to return to combat, sources told Axios. The sources said Netanyahu is pressing Trump to strike Iran immediately after the midterm elections tomorrow, while Trump, for now, wants negotiations to play out. The Israeli source described the call as “tough,” while the U.S. source described it as “direct.” Barak Ravid reports.
Pakistan’s military spokesman Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry on Friday told Reuters that Pakistan’s military is “cautiously optimistic” about its mediation between Iran and the United States. Chaudhry said “why would the Field Marshal [Asim Munir] be going twice if it is not for some positivity? So yes, of course.” Rick Noack reports.
The U.S. naval blockade, economic sanctions, and obstruction of overland export routes have crippled Iran’s economy and intensified pressure on the regime, according to a U.S. Treasury Department report obtained by Axios. Barak Ravid reports.
IRAN WAR – YEMEN
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani on Saturday told the Manama Dialogue security conference in Bahrain that Syria is considering joining the “Mecca alliance,” referring to the mutual-defense pact between Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan. Under the terms of the pact, any armed attack on any of its three members would be considered an attack on all of them. Al-Shaibani said Syria regarded the defense of Gulf Arab countries as essential to its own security, and that “Syria will stand beside all of the Gulf countries.” Euan Ward and Vivian Nereim report for the New York Times.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Saturday said Mohammad el Shami, a Yemeni staff member of the U.N. Human Rights Office, died in Houthi custody after being arbitrarily detained for more than two years. El Shami’s family said they had been informed of his death only recently, more than a month after it had occurred, and had received no explanation of the cause or circumstances. Mohammed Ghobari reports for Reuters.
IRAN WAR – OTHER DEVELOPMENTS
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during a meeting with Deputy Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Bagheri Kani today said all parties in the Middle East conflict should focus on political solutions rather than resorting to war again. Wang told Kani that dialogue and negotiation are the way to resolve Middle East conflicts, and added that China supports Iran in safeguarding its sovereignty and security. Liz Lee reports for Reuters.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
Israeli strikes today killed at least three people and wounded several others in Gaza, according to local health officials. Medics said two people were killed and six others were wounded in two separate airstrikes in the southern city of Khan Younis, while a third person was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the town of Al-Mussadar. The Israeli military said it carried out two strikes in the enclave, targeting Palestinian militants. Nidal al-Mughrabi reports for Reuters.
Israeli strikes yesterday killed at least eight people, including a child, according to local hospitals. Hospital officials said a missile attack hit a group of civilians next to Cairo School in the Al-Rimal neighborhood, killing three people, including a four-year-old boy. The Hamas-run Ministry of Interior said a drone attack in the Al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis killed five police officers as they were carrying out their routine duties. Hugo Bachega reports for BBC News.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
Ukraine and Russia today said their emergency alert apps had been hacked overnight, sending false warnings to citizens about impending air raids, and chemical and nuclear attacks. The warnings coincided with the expiry of a six-day local ceasefire in Russian-occupied southern Ukrainian city Oleshky brokered by U.S. First Lady Melania Trump. Ukraine’s General Staff today said Russian forces had used the ceasefire to strengthen their military positions. Ron Popeski, Bogdan Kochubey, JekaterĪna Golubkova, and Lina Golovnya report for Reuters; Lina Golovnya reports for Reuters.
The U.S. State Department on Friday said it had approved the sale of 500 Patriot PAC-3 missiles to Ukraine for an estimated $2.1 billion. Ukraine will pay for the missiles with contributions from Canada, Germany, and Norway routed through a program called US JUMPSTART. Mike Stone, Andrea Shalal, and Tom Balmforth report for Reuters.
The United States is pushing for a quick resumption of Russian natural-gas sales to Europe via pipelines running through Ukraine as part of negotiations to secure an energy ceasefire ahead of the coming winter, sources told the Wall Street Journal. The idea was proposed by U.S. Special Envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, and would involve selling Russian gas via a U.S. intermediary to circumvent European sanctions. Leaders of European nations have said they have no interest in restoring their dependence on energy supplies from a country they view as their top strategic threat. Yaroslav Trofimov, Drew Hinshaw, and Joe Parkinson report.
Russia’s Federal Security Service on Saturday said it had received information from the United States through established partner channels about preparations for a terrorist attack on Russia’s capital Moscow and was taking appropriate measures. The U.S. Embassy in Russia said separately it was “aware of a credible threat of a mass casualty event” at Moscow’s Tsaritsyno Museum Reserve and that the U.S. government was coordinating with Russian authorities. Anton Kolodyazhnyy reports for Reuters.
OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
Polish government-backed judges on Friday attempted to take control of the country’s top court, the Constitutional Tribunal, from Chief Justice Bogdan Swieczkowski who is aligned with the previous hard-right government of Law and Justice. Poland’s government deployed riot police at the court amid escalating confrontations, and Polish President Karol Nawrocki, who is backed by Law and Justice and Trump, interrupted a trip to Senegal to rush back to Poland’s capital Warsaw and join the fracas at the court. While the pro-government judges took control of the tribunal’s website, Swieczkowski’s supporters still held the court’s social media account and accused their rivals of “committing the crime of a coup d’etat.” Andrew Higgins reports for the New York Times; Claudia Ciobanu reports for AP News.
King Charles III is set to speak with “unflinching honesty” and “sincere sorrow” on the lasting pain for the transatlantic slave trade in Antigua tomorrow, according to Buckingham Palace on Saturday. U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham on Friday wrote in The Guardian that he was “open” to the possibility of the United Kingdom formally apologizing for its role in slavery. It is understood that the Palace was told in advance of Burnham’s comments, and that the King has not made any changes to his speech in light of them. Daniela Relph reports for BBC News.
Spanish Transport Minister Óscar Puente on Friday said rail traffic controllers gave the green light to a train travelling at around 100 miles per hour toward a stopped train last week, causing a crash that killed at least 69 people. Puente said for 17 minutes, controllers at an operations center in Spain’s capital Madrid were able to see on “screens and systems” that one train was moving while the other stood still, and that “those in the control center had full visibility for what was happening,” but did nothing to stop it. Carlos Barragán reports for the New York Times.
A series of drone strikes on a camp for displaced civilians in Ethiopia’s Amhara region killed 15 people, several of them children, sources involved in a rescue operation told Reuters. It was not clear why the camp was targeted or who was behind the attack.
An ethnic armed group, aid worker, and rights monitor today said a newborn baby was among at least 15 people killed by Myanmar military strikes at multiple locations yesterday, including a maternity clinic and a school. Reuters reports.
CLIMATE DEVELOPMENTS
COP17 in Yerevan, Armenia ended on Saturday. Nations reaffirmed their pledge to protect nature but are still off track to meet targets by a 2030 deadline agreed on in 2022 under the U.N. biodiversity treaty. The United States is the only country, with the exception of the Vatican, that is not party to the treaty. Catrin Einhorn reports for the New York Times.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
U.K. Police yesterday said 325 people have been arrested during a protest supporting the banned Palestine Action group outside the U.S. embassy in London. Protesters were arrested for “expressing support for a proscribed organization under the Terrorism Act.” At least 4,000 arrests have been made in relation to the group since it was proscribed as a terrorist organization in Jul. 2025. Tom Symonds reports for BBC News.
NATO countries are bracing for Trump to dramatically step up his attacks on the alliance should the Republican party suffer heavy defeats during the midterm elections, five NATO diplomats told POLITICO. Three of the diplomats said that the countries are worried that should Trump be restrained by Congress on domestic policy, he will seek to cement his legacy on foreign affairs, which he has a freer hand in as commander-in-chief of the U.S. military. Victor Jack and Paul McLeary report.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday urged fellow G20 foreign ministers to work together for greater geopolitical stability and economic prosperity, warning that a series of crises posed serious threats to the global economic order. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s participation at the event roiled many G20 ministers, and U.K. Foreign Secretary addressed Lavrov directly during the meeting, telling him “only yesterday your drones attacked and killed 15 people…. We all know you are the aggressor.” Andrea Shalal reports for Reuters.
Trump on Saturday said Brazilian Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro could stay “as long as he wants” in the United States. Trump added that he has no plans to meet with Bolsonaro. Gram Slattery reports for Reuters.
Brazil’s Foreign Ministry last week summoned Argentinian Chargés d’affaires María Emilia Cortés after Bolsonaro fled the country via Argentina, a source told AP News. Argentinian President Javier Milei is yet to acknowledge Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s win, and Milei’s spokesperson Juan Pablo on social media said the Argentinian administration rescued Bolsonaro “from the claws of communism, which seeks to imprison all opposition figures.” Rubio on Saturday said the Trump administration did not facilitate Bolsonaro’s departure to the United States. Eléonore Hughes reports; AP News reports.
Salvadorian President Nayib Bukele last week sent thousands of troops to Haiti to boost the island’s push to wipe out its gang problem and find four of his military personnel who were captured in a recent ambush, only after he received Trump’s blessing last Tuesday, sources told Axios. Sources said Trump told Bukele on a call to “do what you have to do,” and on Wednesday El Salvador announced it was deploying as many as 2,000 troops to Haiti, with it possible that the number could double or triple. Marc Caputo reports.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday said he had a “good conversation” with Trump on trade and that their teams would hash out an agreement to end their trade war “in the coming weeks.” Carney said the conversation with Trump “builds on our recent constructive discussions on the outlines of a mutually beneficial trade deal that would create jobs for our workers, boost affordability for families, and fully respect Canada’s languages, culture, and sovereignty.” Oliver Ward reports for POLITICO.
U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS
A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the Department of Homeland Security from fast-tracking interviews for unaccompanied minors seeking asylum. The plaintiffs argued that the shortened time frame made it harder for children to prepare, hurting their chances of being granted legal status to stay in the country. The judge said the change conflicted with the federal government’s mandate to provide special protections for unaccompanied minors, and that “it is difficult to maintain that the public has an interest in the perpetuation of a chaotic system that may result in vulnerable children being wrongfully removed.” The order will remain for at least two weeks. Madeleine Ngo reports for the New York Times.
CoreCivic sold a detention facility to DHS for $495 million this year, a year after it had offered the facility to the Minnesota Department of Corrections for $75 million. The Deputy Commissioner and Chief of Staff for MDC Safia Khan told the New York Times that the difference in price tags was “a shock,” while some officials in Minnesota expressed outrage last week after learning about the amount taxpayers paid CoreCivic. The company donated $500,000 to Trump’s inauguration committee and its stock price soared after Trump’s 2024 victory. Ernesto Londoño reports.
ICE officer Mario Alberto Morales on Friday was indicted after allegedly using his vehicle to strike Miguel Parra Hernandez who was running away on foot on Oct. 10, according to local authorities in Texas. Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare said a grand jury charged Morales with the second-degree offense of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. After Morales hit Parra Hernandez, Morales called 911 and told the dispatcher “I tried to get around him and he hit my car,” while Teares said Morales “aggressively steered his vehicle” into Parra Hernandez, and added that Morales was among the “surge hires” for ICE as part of efforts to speed up Trump’s mass deportation agenda. Victoria Albert reports for the Wall Street Journal; Josephine Walker reports for Axios.
DHS is planning to deport Afghans detained in the United States back to their home country via Pakistan, according to court documents obtained by AP News. Immigration rights organizations say those deported could face retaliation from the Taliban. Dave Collins reports.
U.S. TECH DEVELOPMENTS
Crypto exchange Binance on Saturday said it was able to replenish 90% of the stolen assets after a $6.3 billion hack of its platform by North Korean hackers. The FBI on Saturday said the hack was linked to “malicious cyber activity” by an entity known as TraderTraitor, the same group tied to a $1.5 billion Bybit hack last year. Binance customers withdrew $3.6 billion of assets yesterday after Binance reopened. Suryatapa Chakraborty reports for The Hill; Bernard Condon reports for AP News; Osmond Chia reports for BBC News.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on Friday attempted to justify his record $475 million in support of Republicans this cycle and said that a Democrat win “would result in America becoming a permanent one-party state and the end of democracy in any meaningful sense of the word.” Musk added that “all that is needed to ensure this doesn’t happen is 51 Republican senators in 2029. That is why you should vote for Republican senators in this election. Other reasons are irrelevant compared to this one.” Theodore Schleifer reports for the New York Times.
The Vatican on Friday confirmed Pope Leo XIV voted in the 2026 Illinois midterm elections using a mail-in ballot, becoming the first sitting pope known to vote in a U.S. election. The pontiff may be the first to vote in any secular democratic election. The Holy See Press Office said the pope believes “in the right and the duty of citizens to participate in democratic processes.” Josephine Walker reports for Axios.
House Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) yesterday endorsed Republican nominee Mike Rogers in the Michigan Senate race and appeared alongside Rogers at a Detroit church. Stevens attempted to condition a joint appearance with Democrat nominee Abdul El-Sayed, to whom she lost the Democrat primary, on El-Sayed’s rejection of an advertisement from one of his allies that was critical of Israel, and El-Sayed’s team then asked Stevens to stay away from his events. Rogers said he was “honored to have… Stevens’ support.” Trump commended Stevens for her endorsement and on social media said “Wow, this is BIG!” Some House Democrats now want Stevens expelled from their caucus. Lisa Kashinsky reports for POLITICO; Tara Suter reports for The Hill; Andrew Solender reports for Axios.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Saturday warned the state’s top judges that the Trump administration may try to seize midterm election ballots. Newsom said “I have grave concerns federal agents will seek search warrants to seize ballots and ballot materials before the election results are certified.” Shawn Hubler and Alan Feuer report for the New York Times.
Democrat nominee for Senate Mary Peltola at a rally on Friday again denied any involvement in the alleged “ballot-stacking” scheme in Alaska that recent reports are tying to her campaign. Peltola said she is “deeply offended by these accusations about having any involvement with anyone else’s candidacy.” Suryatapa Chakraborty reports for The Hill.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTION
The Justice Department on Friday said its investigation into Democrats who recruited a decoy candidate to run in the Alaska Senate race may never yield criminal charges. U.S. Attorney for Alaska Michael J. Heyman (R) said his office had spent the past few months quietly investigating whether Democratic operatives violated federal laws in recruiting Dan J. Sullivan to oppose the Republican incumbent Sen. Dan S. Sullivan. Anna Griffin and Glenn Thrush report for the New York Times.
The DOJ is investigating the Arizona voter registration efforts of three Democratic-aligned groups after an “undercover” video purported to show volunteers willing to register non-citizens. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona announced it has “opened a case into recent reporting about three non-profit organizations registering non-citizens to vote in Arizona.” Democratic National Committee spokesperson Angelo Fernández Hernández told Axios “We are not aware of any instances of our fellows… registering a noncitizen to vote,” and called the allegations “fabricated” and “inspired by right-wing operatives.” Zach Buchanan reports.
The Social Security Administration and the Internal Revenue Service praised Trump in mass emails sent last Thursday, Friday, and Saturday to people with online accounts, according to copies of the emails reviewed by the New York Times. The IRS email says it is for “informational purposes and does not constitute a communication about a taxpayer’s specific situation.” Several legal experts said the emails’ praise of Trump, coupled with their timing just days before a pivotal election, potentially violated the Hatch Act. Evan Gorelick reports.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
A federal judge yesterday dismissed the DOJ’s lawsuit in Alaska that seeks to block certification if Sen. Sullivan loses his reelection bid to Peltola. The judge ruled that the Trump administration hadn’t shown how the judge could rectify their concerns as ballots are already prepared and Election Day is tomorrow. The judge added that “more fundamentally, the United States provides no workable plan as to how it proposes to segregate ballots cast for… J. Sullivan on Election Day and then conduct a court-ordered unspecified ‘investigation’ of those ballots in a manner that would preserve voter secrecy.” Zach Schonfeld reports for The Hill.
A federal appeals court on Friday rejected the DOJ’s emergency bid to set aside mail ballots tied to more than 20,000 California voters the Trump administration suspects are noncitizens. The 2-1 ruling cited doubts about the DOJ’s voter list and the risk of disenfranchising eligible voters. The dissenting judge argued that counting votes from noncitizens diluted the power of citizens. A legal filing on Saturday said that more than four in ten names flagged as possible noncitizen voters cannot be found on the state’s voter rolls. Josephine Walker reports for Axios; Nicholas Riccardi reports for AP News.
Federal judge Ana C. Reyes on Friday launched a formal inquiry into potential misconduct by Trump administration officials in the lawsuit over East Potomac Golf Course. Reyes ordered Friday’s hearing to seek clarity from government lawyers days after they acknowledged in writing last Wednesday that there is a plan to transform the park, after months of denying a plan had been finalized. Rachel Treisman reports for NPR.
A federal judge on Saturday dismissed for a second time Trump’s lawsuit against the publisher of the Wall Street Journal. The judge said Trump’s allegations “are conclusory, vague, sometimes inconsistent with the article, and often irrelevant.” The judge dismissed the suit with prejudice, meaning Trump can’t file it again. Corinne Ramey and Arian Campo-Flores report.
The governments of Washington D.C. and Virginia on Saturday asked a federal court to block construction of Trump’s planned “triumphal arch,” claiming it’s unlawfully tall and would snarl traffic for years. The two governments’ filing said the “project is flagrantly unlawful.” Ben Berkowitz reports for Axios.
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