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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
The United States yesterday attacked Iran’s Qeshm Island, U.S. officials told the Wall Street Journal. The officials said the attacks are part of a series of strikes the United States has secretly carried out against Iran in recent weeks. Earlier in the day, President Trump told Axios that he was “in no rush” to decide whether to resume fighting in Iran. Trump told other reporters that “we had a war with Iran. We won.” Alexander Ward, Lara Seligman, and Shelby Holliday report; Barak Ravid reports.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei yesterday said Iran is prepared to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in two days if the United States agrees to a set of demands. A Qatari delegation led by Ali Al Thawadi, a senior Qatari official, yesterday arrived in Iran’s capital Tehran to meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and continue talks aimed at achieving an agreement between Iran and the United States, sources told the New York Times. Baghaei said the possibility of opening the strait “depends entirely on Washington’s will and decision” to accept “Iran’s legitimate demands.” Erika Solomon, Sanam Mahoozi, Adam Rasgon, and Vivian Nereim report.
Iran and the United States remain far from a deal to end the war, a senior Iranian official told Reuters today. The official said “mediators are working hard to narrow gaps between Tehran and Washington.” and that “Tehran’s conditions must be met if the US wants Hormuz reopened.” Parisa Hafezi reports.
IRAN WAR – YEMEN
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis have advanced to within 50 miles of Aden, the temporary capital and stronghold of Yemen’s internationally recognized government, military sources told Reuters yesterday. The advance brings the Houthis closer to Aden than at any point since the early months of Yemen’s civil war in 2015, when they briefly entered the city before being driven out. Mohammed Ghobari reports.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region Gov. Mykhailo Semikin today said at least 29 people were killed after Russian bombs hit an aid distribution center in the village of Komyshuvakha yesterday, while another 10 people were injured and 48 were reported missing. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the attack “utterly horrific,” and said Russia “could not have been unaware that the local residents who remained in Komyshuvakha received humanitarian aid there every week.” Jaroslav Lukiv reports for BBC News.
Russia’s Yaroslavl region Gov. Mikhail Yevrayev today said Ukraine set fire to a major oil refinery in Yaroslavl city in an overnight drone strike. Ukraine has struck the Slavneft Yaroslavnefteorgsintez oil refinery at least twice before. Yevrayev said air defense forces had repelled an attack on the refinery involving 124 drones and that two employees had been injured. Reuters reports.
Zelenskyy yesterday warned Russia could use today’s U.S. midterm elections to launch a massive attack against Ukraine. Zelenskyy on social media said Ukraine has “intel that Russia is preparing a new massive attack on our country- primarily targeting energy and logistics,” and that the “assumption is basically that tomorrow the world will be watching the American midterms, and what is happening here in Ukraine… will be overlooked.” Mira Bhakta reports for The Hill.
U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff yesterday said the United States, Russia, and Ukraine will hold peace talks on Nov. 10-11 in Abu Dhabi. U.S. officials told Axios that the meeting to restart a diplomatic effort is a result of talks Witkoff and U.S. Special Envoy Jared Kushner held with Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin in recent weeks. Witkoff said discussions “will focus on post-war security arrangements, de-escalation, humanitarian efforts, and next steps toward peace.” Barak Ravid reports.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz today announced Zelenskyy will visit Germany for talks, and Merz made clear he intends to show his support for the Ukrainian president. Merz said “things will be a bit different,” referencing Zelenskyy’s meeting with Trump in the White House in Feb. 2025. Andreas Rinke reports for Reuters.
The United Kingdom and France are set to lead a military exercise in Poland to test multinational forces’ ability to deploy to Ukraine if there is a peace deal, sources told BBC News. Nearly 3,000 military personnel from 12 European nations will take part in the rehearsal. Jonathan Beale reports.
OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham will join King Charles III in Antigua today at the formal opening of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and begin talks with fellow leaders about the United Kingdom issuing a formal apology for the slave trade within the next year. Downing Street said Burnham would set out his plans for a “debt reset” to support Commonwealth countries having to deal with the growing costs of paying interest on their debts. Burnham said “Britain is bringing a new approach to this meeting.” Chris Mason reports for BBC News.
U.K. senior judges today said U.K. spy agency MI5 and its staff will not face contempt of court proceedings despite the spy agency admitting its evidence to three courts was a lie. The court said the contempt case would be too complex for the court to manage, meaning it is not in the public interest to proceed, but police have the right “investigatory powers and resources” to handle the case. Daniel De Simone reports for BBC News.
U.K. Cyber Chief Richard Horne today said the United Kingdom will likely face AI cyberattacks on its critical infrastructure by 2028 as criminals and states increasingly use AI in their cyber activity. Horne said the technology will allow “vulnerabilities that have been tolerated for far too long” to be discovered and exploited “at a scale that was once unimaginable.” Emma Burrows reports for AP News.
The United Kingdom yesterday agreed a draft deal on removing post-Brexit checks from food and agriculture exports, sources told BBC News. The 200-page draft text has been circulated to EU nations in Brussels for consideration at a meeting today. Similar texts for deals on emissions trading and a youth travel and work scheme have also been circulated alongside a 15-page draft joint statement for United Kingdom and EU top leaders. Faisal Islam reports.
EU Agriculture and Food Commissioner Christophe Hansen yesterday told POLITICO that the European Commission will assess how well supermarkets are prepared to handle cyberattacks after refrigerators in dozens of stores across at least six EU countries were taken offline. Hansen said the attacks would be discussed at the next meeting of its Security College to assess retailers’ contingency plans and their ability to respond to incidents. Gerardo Fortuna reports.
Czech public television and radio workers today launched a one-day strike 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. Czech Television’s 24-hour news broadcast showed a darkened newsroom and moderators dressed in black. Jan Lopatka reports for Reuters.
Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un, today denied any involvement in the recent hack of crypto exchange Binance, dismissing the FBI’s accusation as a “trite provocation.” Kim Yo Jong said this “is not the first time that the U.S. has attempted to spread misunderstanding of the DPRK in the international community.” Hyung-Jin Kim and Kim Tong-Hyung report for AP News.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus yesterday said attacks in Ethiopia’s northern regions that reportedly killed children are pushing the regions’ fragile health systems closer to collapse. Tedros gave no casualty totals or dates for attacks in Tigray or Amhara and did not identify the perpetrators. Khaled Kazziha reports for AP News.
Attackers killed at least eight security personnel in an ambush on a police convoy in Nigeria’s northwestern Zamfara state today, local vigilante officials told Reuters. The dead included five police officers and three members of the Zamfara Community Protection Guard, a state-backed vigilante outfit supporting security operations. Ahmed Kingimi and Camillus Eboh report.
Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella yesterday said an attack on a military base in southern Colombia killed four civilians on Sunday, including a two-month-old baby. Unidentified assailants fired rockets made from gas cylinders at a military base in Planadas, a town in Tolima province, according to Planadas Mayor Juan Camilo Hueje. AP News reports.
CLIMATE DEVELOPMENTS
The U.K. government’s ambition of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050 could be undermined by its new deal on AI data centers, according to BBC News research. U.K. Labour MP Toby Perkins, who chairs the Environmental Audit Select Committee, said a substantial increase in the use of natural gas “can’t be the future.” Hayley Mortimer and Adrian Goldberg report.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
President of the International Criminal Court Judge Tomoko Akane of Japan yesterday accused the Trump administration of trying to obstruct international justice by imposing penalties on the tribunal, and vowed that it would not succeed. Akane addressed the U.N. remotely because of U.S. sanctions, and called on all 193 U.N. member nations, not just the 125 that are a part of the ICC, to “take concrete action, individually and collectively, in defense of the court.” Edith M. Lederer reports for AP News.
The State Department yesterday said Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with his Venezuelan counterpart Oliver Blanco about reforms that lay the groundwork for future elections in Venezuela. The department said “the two discussed progress in the Venezuelan-led reconciliation talks, including institutional reforms that lay the groundwork for free, fair, and credible elections.” Kanishka Singh reports for Reuters.
The United States plans to use peace diplomacy in Myanmar as a way to expand U.S. influence and potentially gain access to the country’s rare-earth deposits, according to a recently published State Department strategy document. Simon Lewis reports for Reuters.
U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) yesterday threatened to sue the Department of Homeland Security over ICE’s alleged use of city property, in a letter addressed to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, acting ICE Director David Venturella, and ICE New York field office Director Kenneth Genalo. Mamdani stated that he is “deeply troubled by recent reports” of ICE officers “using property owned by the City of New York to stage enforcement operations,” and said that if agents “continue any unauthorized use of these lots, New York City will take legal action to prevent this unlawful commandeering of City property.” Tara Suter reports for The Hill.
U.S. TECH DEVELOPMENTS
Snap Inc., the parent company of social media app Snapchat, has settled claims alleging the platform was intentionally designed to be addictive for young users, according to an announcement yesterday by the legal teams for the plaintiffs. The terms of Snap Inc.’s settlement are confidential. Miranda Nazzaro reports for The Hill.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
A super PAC registered less than a month ago called Our Heritage Matters has spent $6.5 million in the last days of campaigning to promote obscure candidates over Republicans it portrays as liberals. The material is an apparent “spoiler” effort to persuade voters who are considering backing a Republican to instead vote for right-wing candidates. Mailers shared with the New York Times show some of the subterfuge used by the super PAC. Theodore Schleifer reports.
George Guthrie, a spokesperson for Washoe County, Nevada’s Registrar of Voters, yesterday told The Hill that thousands of voters in the county received mail-in ballot return envelopes with the word “FALSE” written on them. Guthrie said the affected envelopes were “not limited to voters of any particular political party.” Mira Bhakta reports.
Former director for strategy plans and policy, J-5 on the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Lt. Gen. Brett Sylvia is under federal investigation and may face a court-martial for allegedly leaking to reporters from the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, sources told Axios. Sylvia was fired by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after being accused of misconduct as part of the Defense Department’s war on leaks. Marc Caputo reports.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTION
Trump yesterday said he’d move to protect SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and potentially provide pre-emptive pardons for staff if the Democrats investigate Musk and others after the midterm elections. Trump said in response to rumours about Musk being investigated or having assets seized “it’s talk. But if it is talk, we’ll have to protect them.” Ben Berkowitz reports for Axios.
U.S. intelligence sharing on Iran and other global threats with Congress and across the federal government has slowed, and in some cases temporarily stopped during Trump’s second term, sources told Reuters. Former officials said the disruptions risk leaving policymakers with an incomplete picture of threats facing the country, echoing intelligence failures exposed after the 9/11 attacks. Erin Banco and Jonathan Landay report.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
A federal grand jury last Friday rejected an effort by the Justice Department to indict an individual for voter fraud who prosecutors claimed voted in two jurisdictions during the 2024 election, sources told the New York Times. Grand jury proceedings are held in secret, leaving it uncertain why jurors rejected the case. Michael S. Schmidt and Alan Feuer report.
A federal judge yesterday complicated Trump’s efforts to construct the “triumphal arch” by setting multiple notification deadlines before any work can begin. The judge said she must be told of any decision by the National Capital Planning Commission within an hour, and also set time limits for any decision by the National Park Service and the Department of the Interior. Gary Fields reports for AP News.
A federal judge yesterday granted Harvard University’s motion to dismiss a DOJ lawsuit that sought to force the school to turn over admissions documents for a government discrimination investigation. The judge said the DOJ had not cleared procedural hurdles to justify a court order for the documents, and stressed that “the ruling does not determine whether Harvard has discriminated, whether the agencies may lawfully seek appropriately defined applicant-level data, or whether Harvard may ultimately be required to provide such data.” Mark Arsenault reports for the New York Times.
A federal judge yesterday temporarily barred the DOJ and DHS from sending states lists of registered voters the administration says may not be citizens. Luc Cohen reports for Reuters.
A federal judge late last night turned down a request by Democrat lawmakers and party organizations to prohibit the Trump administration from coercing states into screening incoming ballots. The judge wrote that states like California that were targeted had already largely succeeded in rebuffing the federal government. Zach Montague reports for the New York Times.
The Supreme Court yesterday rejected a request by the DOJ to require California to set aside 20,000 mail-in ballots that the Trump administration claims have been provided to noncitizens. The order was unsigned and gave no reasoning, and came after a divided federal appeals court had rejected the administration’s arguments. No public dissents were noted. Abbie VanSickle reports for the New York Times.
A federal judge yesterday threw out charges against former FBI officials Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides who were accused of lying to Congress about their involvement in the Hunter Biden investigation. The judge stated that he was “deeply troubled” by the DOJ charges and that “what has transpired here cannot be described as anything other than weaponization.” The judge said the case was rife with missteps and said prosecutors failed to show that the former agents had any intent or motive to lie to Congress. C. Ryan Barber and Sadie Gurman report for the Wall Street Journal.
Former head of the FBI’s Chicago field office Douglas DePodesta yesterday sued the DOJ, alleging he was forced out of his job and used as a “scapegoat” for U.S. Attorney for Chicago Andrew S. Boutros. DePodesta named Boutros as a defendant in the lawsuit, accusing Boutros of spearheading politically motivated prosecutions of protestors during the Trump administration’s 2025 immigration crackdown in Illinois, and then blaming DePodesta when those cases fell apart. Julie Bosman reports for the New York Times.
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