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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. Secretary of State Marco Rubio yesterday said that the Trump administration’s economic pressure campaign against Iran was effective enough that “there’s really no need for major combat operations any longer.” Rubio added that the United States might still respond with force if Iran “crosses certain red lines.” Michael Crowley reports for the New York Times.
IRAN WAR – OTHER DEVELOPMENTS
Iran’s Foreign Ministry today announced the country has designated Argentina’s navy and air force as “terrorist organizations.” The move is reciprocal, and follows Argentina’s April designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist entity. Elwely Elwelly reports for Reuters.
Iranian Security Chief Mohsen Rezaei today told Lebanese TV that Iran will not allow even a single particle of enriched nuclear material to leave Iran, and that there will be consequences for any new U.S. strikes. Rezaei said “any new U.S. attacks will also be met with targeting U.S. bases far away.” Elwely Elwelly and Jana Choukeir report for Reuters.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently moved from his home onto a military base amid Iranian threats against his life, sources told the New York Times. The sources said U.S. officials in recent weeks concluded that Iranian plotting against current and former U.S. officials had reached a more advanced stage, based in part on intelligence about threats to Bessent. The severity of the threats to him is unclear. Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan report.
The U.S. Justice Department yesterday announced charges against three Iran-backed operatives that it alleges were involved in a string of plots in the United States and Europe. The DOJ said Iranian agents most recently “orchestrated a terrorist plot at an air force base in the United Kingdom.” Iran has strongly denied any involvement in the Royal Air Force Fairford incident. Jack Burgess reports for BBC News.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
Israeli forces yesterday killed at least seven people, including a father and his 13-year-old son, in Gaza, according to local health officials. Medics said the father and son were killed in an airstrike that hit the roof of a displacement shelter in the Zeitoun neighborhood in Gaza City, and health officials said a third person was killed in an Israeli airstrike near a school in Gaza City’s Daraj neighborhood. The Israeli military said it struck militants in both areas. Later strikes in Gaza city killed three more people, while Israeli gunfire killed a man in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis. The IDF did not comment on these incidents. Nidal al-Mughrabi reports for Reuters.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy yesterday said the first day of trilateral talks between Ukraine, Russia, and the United States in Abu Dhabi were “constructive and quite substantive.” Zelenskyy did not attend the meeting himself, and senior officials from Ukraine and Russia were secretive after the four-hour-long discussions. Rubio also said the meeting had been “very productive.” Laura Gozzi and Abdujalil Abdurasulov report for BBC News.
Officials at the trilateral talks today said Ukraine and Russia have agreed to a large exchange of prisoners of war as the two-day talks come to a close. U.S. Special Envoy Jared Kushner said “one of the positives is we agreed that we’re going to have the biggest humanitarian release of prisoners, which we’re going to finalize the numbers tomorrow.” Head of the Russian delegation Vladimir Medinsky confirmed the planned exchange. Bassam Hatoum reports for AP News.
NATO scrambled jets overnight after at least four drones strayed into the airspace of the Baltic states during Ukrainian strikes on Russia, officials said today. The drones triggered brief alerts to citizens of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia to seek shelter. Lithuanian Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius described the ordeal as a “difficult night” and confirmed there were no reports of injuries. Andrius Sytas and JekaterĪna Golubkova report for Reuters.
NATO allies are considering the biggest overhaul of their military planning in at least two decades to prioritize fighting Russia over providing spare troops for places like Iraq and Afghanistan, four NATO diplomats briefed on the draft planning document told POLITICO. The sources said allies would no longer be expected to provide enough forces to fight a major European war and conduct several smaller crisis-management missions at the same time, but rather enough troops for one scenario or the other. Victor Jack reports.
OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
Russia’s Federal Security Service today said it had arrested two people it described as agents of the Polish secret service for gathering information on military facilities in Russia’s western Kaliningrad region, Interfax reports. Interfax also cited the FSB as stating it had warned seven Polish citizens and three Russian nationals over what it said were their contacts with the Polish security services. Reuters reports.
A U.K. final court of appeal yesterday struck down a centuries-old gay sex ban in Trinidad and Tobago. Jason Jones in Feb. 2017 filed the case, arguing that “buggery” laws dated back to when Trinidad and Tobago were a U.K. colony are unconstitutional. The judge said “those laws cannot be regarded as reasonably justifiable in a society that has a proper respect for the rights and freedom of the individual.” Dánica Coto reports for AP News.
Italian Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara today said at least 300 schools in Italy were evacuated after receiving the same bomb alert message. Valditara told Italian news that the alerts were presumed to be hoaxes, and that the number of schools affected is expected to rise. Alvise Armellini, Giselda Vagnoni, and Giuseppe Fonte report for Reuters.
Israeli leader of the Yashar party Gadi Eisenkot yesterday pledged to reverse many of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s policies as Israel’s new parliament was sworn in. While it remains unclear whether Eisenkot will be able to forge a coalition government, the new Knesset can enact legislation in the meantime. Melanie Lidman reports for AP News.
CLIMATE DEVELOPMENTS
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres today told world leaders at the U.N. COP31 conference in Turkey that the slow international response to climate change had placed the world on a path to destruction, and fast action is needed to avert it. Guterres said “the brutal truth is that the climate crisis is outrunning us. This is the path to mutually assured destruction.” Tuvan Gumrukcu and Valerie Volcovici report for Reuters.
Australia, Bangladesh, Kenya, Nigeria, and Vanuatu yesterday endorsed the Global Rooftop Solar Declaration to double the number of homes with rooftop solar panels worldwide by 2030. The declaration launched on the second day of the U.N. COP31 conference in Turkey. CEO of the Global Solar Council Sonia Dunlop said “this is the future of affordable energy.” Anton L. Delgado, Sibi Arasu, and Suzan Fraser report for AP News.
Climate activist Greta Thunberg yesterday condemned the annual proceedings of COP31 as hypocritical and urged leaders to put people and the planet ahead of profits and power. Thunberg said “it’s a hypocrisy every year that the host countries are given an opportunity to whitewash themselves and we know that these negotiations are filled with lobbyists, paid by the very destructive industries which are benefiting from our extremely violent status quo.” Khalil Hamra, Sibi Arasu, and Anton L. Delgado report for AP News.
AI DEVELOPMENTS
Cybersecurity company CloudSek today published a report that said a hacking group tied to Kazakhstan recently used AI to steal more than 2,000 national security-related documents from Tajikistan. The report said the cyber spies used Hermes, an open-source framework for autonomous AI agents, and CloudSek caught them after they inadvertently left a server exposed to the internet. Raphael Satter reports for Reuters.
Nvidia yesterday announced that it has hired a former acting U.S. attorney of the Southern District of New York Joon H. Kim to investigate its CEO Jensen Huang following reports of Jensen’s intimate relationship with Alice Huang, who U.S. intelligence officials believe was spying for China. Suryatapa Chakraborty reports for The Hill.
Chinese university Northwestern Polytechnical last month bought two of Nvidia’s H200 chips for $123,000 despite being on a U.S. export blacklist due to ties to the People’s Liberation Army, according to an Oct. 21 procurement record on the university’s website viewed by Reuters. According to the records, the chips were purchased for the university’s management school from Shaanxi Bosuan Network Technology rather than directly from Nvidia. Eduardo Baptista reports.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was sent a highly classified memo warning about Jensen’s relationship with Alice, sources told Axios. On May 14, the Commerce Department had cleared around 10 Chinese companies to purchase Nvidia’s H200 chips, and some export approvals predated the warning. Separately, Rubio in May told Trump aboard Air Force One en route to China that the United States had obtained sensitive intelligence showing Jensen was in a relationship with Alice, sources told the New York Times. Maria Curi and Marc Caputo report; Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Swan, Julian E. Barnes, Ana Swanson, and Tripp Mickle report.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
U.K. Counter Terrorism Policing London yesterday said a U.S. soldier was arrested on suspicion of spying for Russia. The police said the man, who had been based at Imjin Barracks in Innsworth, Gloucestershire, had been arrested under section one and section three of the National Security Act 2023. The suspect was arrested as part of an operation involving U.K.’s MI5 in coordination with the FBI, U.S. and U.K. authorities told the Washington Post. Amy Walker reports for BBC News; Greg Miller reports.
U.S. far-right podcaster Candace Owens on Monday confirmed French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte filed a second set of defamation complaints against her. The Macrons had sued Owens and two of he businesses in Jul. 2025 over what they called a lie-filled “campaign of global humiliation,” including the false claim that Brigitte was born a male. Last month, a Delaware judge ruled that he did not have jurisdiction over Owens, who lives in Tennessee, but that the Macrons could sue Owens’ companies in the state. The new lawsuit concerns Owen’s use of a Brigitte doll they called “grotesque,” and said it was used by Owens as a “prop to ridicule her appearance.” Inti Landauro and Elizabeth Pineau report for Reuters.
The federal government in the first nine months of this year received more than $12 billion in revenue from Venezuela’s natural resource exports, according to a confidential report by the global financial services firm KPMG reviewed by the New York Times. The vast majority of the funds were distributed back to Venezuela soon after they were received, but it is unclear if the money stayed in the country or who the ultimate recipients were. Tyler Pager and Anatoly Kurmanaev report.
State Department officials quietly raised objections to El Salvador’s gang-fighting efforts in Haiti, even as Trump offered his full support, sources told Axios. El Salvador on Monday issued a formal rebuke that questioned the “credibility” of the U.S. Chargé d’Affaires to Haiti David Howell, after Howell complained in a text message to Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé that El Salvador wasn’t “coordinating” with the U.N.-backed Gang Suppression Force. A U.S. official said “there is a class of bureaucrats who don’t want to see the change in the Western Hemisphere that POTUS wants.” Marc Caputo reports.
U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS
A deportation flight from Arizona to Pakistan carrying Iranians bound for Iran yesterday turned around midair and landed back in Arizona, a legal defense group and a flight-tracking monitor told the New York Times. The flight turned around after Pakistan abruptly declined to accept them, according to a relative of a detainee who said an Iranian official shared that information, and added that the Iranian detainees were returned to the Arizona immigration detention facility. Pranav Baskar, Hamed Aleaziz, Salman Masood, and Zach Montague report.
At least 19 ICE recruits named in the recent Department of Homeland Security hack were hired despite red flags, according to a background check using public records conducted by the Washington Post. The Trump administration’s accelerated recruitment drive for its immigration agenda resulted in traditional background checks being ignored. At least two of these hires in recent months have been involved in shootings, including one which resulted in the death of a Colombian father. Some of the officers have been fired after the red flags initially missed were discovered. Ted Hesson, Joyce Sohyun Lee, Razzan Nakhlawi, Maria Sacchetti, and Aaron Schaffer report.
David Brouillette, the ICE officer who fatally shot a Colombian migrant in Maine this summer, has a deep-seated anti-immigrant hostility, especially against Colombians, according to copies of emails he sent to his family shared with the New York Times. Brouillette, a former U.S. Army sergeant, wrote disparagingly to his sister and their relatives about a Colombian man with whom his sister had two children. The email said “He can take his non citizen ass back to his country and enjoy his third world luxuries.” Katie Benner and Alexandra Berzon report.
A federal judge on Monday ordered the release of UC Berkeley student and asylum seeker Paula Valentina Albornoz Hernandez. The Colombian national was detained at San Francisco International Airport on Oct. 30. Albornoz Hernandez’s attorneys argued that her detention violated the U.S. constitution because she was deprived of her liberty without an opportunity to challenge it in court, while the DHS said Albornoz Hernandez was deportable because she had overstayed a visa in 2023, her work authorization and pending asylum application did not confer legal status, and that “being in detention is a choice” because immigrants have the opportunity to self deport. The judge said “due process forbids the government from detaining the noncitizen unless they are first provided with adequate notice and pre-deprivation hearing before a neutral arbiter.” Felicia Mello reports for AP News.
The DOJ saw a green card application by the former bodyguard of House Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Abdullahi Mohamed, as an opportunity to gather evidence against Omar, sources told the New York Times. Federal prosecutors earlier this year filed a felony charge against Mohamed for lying to a government official under oath. Mohamed’s lawyer said that prosecutors spent months trying to turn the bodyguard into an informant to bolster their case against Omar. Ernesto Londoño and Abdi Latif Dahir report.
U.S. MIDTERM DEVELOPMENTS
An Alaska state judge yesterday said he expects to issue a swift decision in a lawsuit filed by the campaign of Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola, which is seeking a list of absentee voters whose ballots have been rejected. Peltola’s campaign also said it wants to know the reasons for the rejections and said its intent is to ensure that all qualified voters have their ballots counted. Attorneys for the state say the information requested would violate voter privacy. Becky Bohrer reports for AP News.
House Republicans yesterday elected Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (OH) as their Minority Leader from Jan. 2027. Jordan bested Majority Leader Steve Scalise (LA) by 33 votes. In other elections, current whip Tom Emmer (MN) beat Rep. August Pfluger (TX) to stay on as minority whip, Lisa McClain (MI) beat Reps. Erin Houchin (IN) and Greg Steube (FL) to become Conference Chair, and Brian Jack (GA) beat Rudy Yakym (IN) to become NRCC Chair. Kate Santaliz reports for Axios.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
Federal financial regulator the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has warned Kalshi of potentially imminent charges tied to the launch of certain wagers by the prediction market, a source told POLITICO. The source said CFTC is investigating whether Kalshi failed to properly notify the agency about dozens of new products that were in the works. Declan Harty reports.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on Monday urged the incoming Congress to impeach Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr, accusing Carr of undermining press freedom by punishing news outlets critical of Trump and the Trump administration. The organization claimed Carr has repeatedly used the FCC’s regulatory authority to pursue politically motivated investigations and influence media mergers in ways that benefit Trump and his allies. Executive Director of RSF North America Clayton Weimers in a statement said “few individuals have been more instrumental to the White House’s campaign to weaken the First Amendment than Brendan Carr.” Finya Swai reports for The Hill.
The House Oversight Committee yesterday released a report on its investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his associates which concluded that the federal government mishandled criminal investigations into Epstein, and failed survivors. Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY) said “Epstein operated with impunity, shielded and enabled by powerful connections and a justice system that repeatedly failed his victims.” The report found that the facts revealed by the investigation do not suggest Trump was implicated in any of Epstein’s crimes, while also accusing Democrats of launching an “unfounded witch hunt” by attempting to insinuate that Trump was involved in Epstein’s crimes. Ava Berger reports for NPR.
Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) this week sent a letter to former top adviser at the DHS Corey Lewandowski urging him to preserve records of his time in the role. Hassan said accusations against Lewandowski “remain serious” and that she intends “to use the [Homeland Security and Government Affairs] committee’s full authorities – including where necessary compulsory process – to expose corruption and waste.” Madeleine Ngo reports for the New York Times.
Trump told former president Biden that he knows “how much you love the American people,” in a letter Biden had previously not disclosed the details of which has been reviewed by the New York Times. Biden in 2021 told supporters that Trump had left him a “very generous letter,” and the letter has now been reprinted into Biden’s new book. Biden said the letter makes it appear “as if there were two Donald Trumps.” Tyler Pager reports.
House Republicans yesterday evening voted to block an effort to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The vote to refer the impeachment measure back to committee passed 211-204, with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) the only Republican to vote “no.” Prior to the vote, Vice President JD Vance said the vote to impeach Hegseth “isn’t about Iran,” but rather his willingness to take on challenges at the Pentagon. Kate Santaliz reports for Axios; Julianna Bragg reports for Axios.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTION
A security agent for Hegseth yesterday warned reporters awaiting the start of Hegseth’s first news briefing in six months that they will be physically removed if they do not maintain decorum and act professionally. The warning was a first in recent memory, and the security agent provided no further clarification when asked what they meant. Joel Valdez, one of Hegseth’s political staffers, later offered to explain the rules off the record, but when several reporters objected, Valdez walked off. No one was removed from the roughly 30 minute meeting in the end. Tara Copp reports for the Washington Post.
The Department of Agriculture, Food, and Nutrition Administration yesterday proposed a regulation that would restrict eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, removing an additional 6.3 million people from the program. The proposal would take aim at a policy that allows states to expand participation in SNAP if a person qualifies for a different type of assistance. SNAP Director at the Food Research and Action Center Gina Plata-Nino warned that should the change take effect, it would have far-reaching consequences and “particularly impacts what we call the working poor.” Linda Qiu reports for the New York Times.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Erica Schwartz yesterday told Reuters that the department’s response to measles outbreaks will not fundamentally change even if the United States loses its measles elimination status this month. Global health experts convened by the Pan American Health Organization will determine whether the United States has lost its official measles-free status which it earned in 2000. Dr. Schwartz said she expected a PAHO decision by early next week. Yasmeen Abutaleb reports.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
The Kennedy family on Monday entered the legal battle against Trump’s proposed “triumphal arch.” The court filing made by the Kennedys requested that the court bar the Trump administration “from taking any steps to approve, authorize, or construct the Arch absent congressional authorization, designation by Congress of a sponsor, and compliance with all statutory requirements.” Tara Suter reports for The Hill.
A federal judge yesterday ruled in favor of The Atlantic in a defamation lawsuit brought by FBI Director Kash Patel. The ruling shields the news outlet from potentially intrusive demands for its reporting materials and confidential sources while the court weighs dismissing the case entirely. The judge said Patel “misrepresents Defendants’ argument, the court’s reasoning in Moldea, and the standard applicable in this District.” Josephine Walker reports for Axios.
A federal appeals court yesterday blocked an order requiring LinkedIn to give the Trump administration extensive private data on a group of reporters for a leak investigation. The ruling said that the request went too far, would reveal the identities of numerous unrelated sources, and “would tip the balance against informed discourse in a manner inimical to democratic health.” Devlin Barrett and Charlie Savage report for the New York Times.
A federal appeals court yesterday unanimously ruled that the Trump administration illegally fired the head of Voice of America, a federally funded news group that broadcasts news to countries with limited press freedom. The Trump administration has sought to close the independent news group, calling it the “voice of radical America,” and accusing it of producing politically biased news content. Minho Kim reports for the New York Times.
A federal judge has rejected BBC’s bid to dismiss Trump’s defamation lawsuit against it. The judge found that the lawsuit plausibly outlined a claim for defamation over the splicing together of comments Trump made in his Jan. 6, 2021 speech at the Ellipse as the Capitol Riot was getting underway. The judge repeatedly noted that the BBC apologized for juxtaposing the two comments Trump delivered at distant points in his speech, and said “this was not trimming around the edges but creating something different than what was stated in the speech.” Josh Gerstein reports for POLITICO.
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