Trump says Iran war “militarily is effectively over”; California voters reject billionaire tax; Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta closes

Members of the Novaya Gazeta staff gather outside the daily’s offices in Moscow, Russia, on November 9, 2026. Photo by Tatyana Makeyeva/AFP via Getty Images. Tuesday, November 10, 2026 – Iran: Two tankers on fire in Hormuz after using “unauthorised route,” IRGC says. Trump says Iran war “militarily is effectively over.” GCC establishes military HQ in Kuwait. France accuses IRGC of October cyberattacks on refrigerators and freezers. Palestine: Three killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza on Tuesday.

Israeli settlers and soldiers simultaneously raid Beita, in occupied West Bank. Settlers attack Palestinian farmers. Al Jazeera: UK grants contracts to companies linked to Israeli settlements. Petition for public inquiry into UK complicity in Gaza genocide passes 100,000 signatures, triggering parliamentary consideration. Yemen: Saudi airstrikes on Sana’a kill one person. Yemeni rights group: Over 30 killed in Ansarallah attacks in Taiz over three days.

Saudi pipeline targeted. Lebanon: Israel attacks Lebanon, again violating so-called ceasefire. U.S.: Trump social-media strategist accused of unregistered Qatar work. Democrat Scott Colom maintains lead in Mississippi Senate race. California voters reject proposed “billionaire tax.” Supreme Court clears the way for border construction in Texas’ Big Bend region. Senate facilitates data-center permitting in first legislation advanced since midterms.

Another ranking DOJ attorney resigns. Despite increasing Dem discontent, Jeffries says he is “confident” he will be elected House speaker. Sen. Chris Van Hollen says hasn’t ruled out challenging Chuck Schumer for Senate majority leader. Palestinian socialist Ahmed Moor announces 2028 primary challenge to Sen. John Fetterman. TAP: Trump administration looks to install former subprime autolender in key regulatory role. International: Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta ends operations after pressure from authorities.

France raises minimum wage 1.6% in attempt to quell protests. Hungarian police arrest brother of Viktor Orbán. 2,500+ people flee Darfur for Chad. Gunmen kill guard and 10 relatives, abduct 13 in northwest Nigeria. South African police arrest nine foreign nationals suspected of trying to join Russia’s war on Ukraine. Paraguay expands probe of collapsed bank Ueno, agents raid bank office. Exxon Mobil reaches preliminary, nonbinding deal with Venezuela.

Taiwan accuses China of “area denial” drills in Western Pacific. This is Drop Site Daily, our free news recap We send it Monday – Friday Subscribe Iran Two tankers on fire in Hormuz after using “unauthorised route,” IRGC says: The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Crops (IRGC) said on Tuesday that two oil tankers caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz after using what it said was an “unauthorised route.” In a statement, the IRGC said, “One of these vessels, a supertanker, hit a naval mine and exploded, and the second tanker, which was under the protection of the US aggressor’s fighter jets and was attempting to secretly pass through the illegal route, had an accident and was stopped in its place with a terrible fire.”

Trump says Iran war “militarily is effectively over”: President Donald Trump said on Monday that the Iran war is “militarily effectively over,” while signaling that the U.S. blockade would continue. Trump’s announcement follows talks with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani in Washington, DC. Speaking at a news conference, Trump said “Iran militarily is effectively over. We’re just keeping it the status quo, and we’re doing that really at the behest of countries that are their neighbors.”

He added, “We just had, just in case, another aircraft carrier. We have many. Sailing over and just arriving in the Middle East, so we have three. And they’re all locked and loaded, and hopefully we don’t have to use them.” In a phone interview with C-SPAN on Monday, Trump also claimed that Iran wanted to reach an agreement with Washington. “They want to make a deal. They don’t say that, you know, publicly,” he said. “In speaking with Qatar—as you know, the prime minister was in the Oval Office today—in speaking to Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait … they’d rather do it this way rather than another hit, which would be approximately five times bigger than the first hit.”

Iranian Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Mohsen Rezaei denied Trump’s claims that Iran was seeking a deal. “The war on Iran has already wrecked the U.S. government. But Washington flails like a desperate gambler. FOLD YOUR HAND. STOP manufacturing FAKE NEWS about imaginary talks. Stop denying the West Asian NEW ORDER,” Rezaei wrote in a post on X. GCC establishes military HQ in Kuwait: Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states approved the establishment of an advanced headquarters for their unified military command in Kuwait and the deployment of forces to the facility, GCC Secretary-General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi said in a statement.

“These directives reflect a firm Gulf commitment to safeguarding the security and sovereignty of the GCC states and strengthening their ability to confront common threats,” Albudaiwi added. France accuses IRGC of October cyberattacks on refrigerators and freezers: On Monday, France accused Iran of orchestrating cyberattacks that knocked out hundreds of commercial refrigerators and freezers at French supermarkets in October. French officials said that there would be “consequences” for the attack.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said that he summoned the Iranian ambassador and threatened further European Union sanctions against Iran. On October 11, a series of hacks targeted 700 commercial sites in France, sparking at least 15 fires. A second series of hacks this month hit more than 100 European establishments, including French blood-bank refrigerators. Palestine Three killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza on Tuesday: Two Palestinians were killed, including a child, and several people were wounded in an Israeli air strike on a shelter in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on Tuesday, Al Jazeera reported.

Separately, a Palestinian was killed by Israeli gunfire in Khan Younis. Over the past 24 hours, Israeli attacks killed one Palestinian and injured 16 others across Gaza, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. One body was also recovered from under the rubble. The total recorded death toll since October 7, 2023, has risen to 74,645 killed and 175,978 injured. Since October 11, 2025, the first full day of the so-called ceasefire, Israel has killed at least 1,614 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded 5,849, while 850 bodies have been recovered.

Israeli settlers and soldiers simultaneously raid Beita, in occupied West Bank: On Monday, dozens of Israeli settlers stormed an industrial zone in Beita, south of Nablus, and set fire to three bulldozers, several other vehicles, and equipment belonging to stone-cutting workshops, WAFA reported. Israeli forces raided the town simultaneously. Settlers have repeatedly attacked Beita’s industrial zone, burning facilities and vehicles and opening fire on Palestinians.

Settler attacks across the occupied West Bank more than doubled in October to 1,369, with 353 in the Nablus governorate alone, according to the Palestinian Authority’s Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission. Settlers attack Palestinian farmers: Israeli settlers blocked Palestinian farmers from reaching their olive groves near Silwad, east of Ramallah, on Monday. Settlers also attacked farmers picking olives near the town’s cemetery and forced them off their land, WAFA reported.

Al Jazeera: UK grants contracts to companies linked to Israeli settlements: The United Kingdom has awarded 10.7 million pounds (around $14.4 million) in new public contracts to companies with links to illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, despite the British government’s recent pledge to punish companies that profit from settlement activity, an Al Jazeera investigation found. The contracts were publicized following UK sanctions on Israeli settlements in September.

At the time, the UK government said it would take action against companies aiding settlement expansion. Petition for public inquiry into UK complicity in Gaza genocide passes 100,000 signatures, triggering parliamentary consideration: A petition on the UK Parliament’s website that calls for a public investigation into British government complicity in the Gaza genocide passed 100,000 signatures on Monday, requiring Parliament to formally consider the measure.

The petition specifically demands that the inquiry empower investigators to question government ministers and officials, and to uncover “the sale, supply, or use of weapons, surveillance aircraft, and Royal Air Force bases” in support of the genocide. The petition was launched by Jennifer Forbes, a member of Your Party, the left-wing party headed in Parliament by Jeremy Corbyn. In 2024, an Al Jazeera investigation found that the UK created an air bridge supporting Israel’s war, and that UK firms supplied jet parts to the Israeli military.

Yemen Saudi airstrikes on Sana’a kill one person: A Saudi-led coalition airstrike hit a gas station in Sana’a on Tuesday, killing one person and injuring three others, according to the spokesperson for the health ministry in Sana’a. Another Saudi-coalition airstrike targeted an oil company building in the capital, injuring at least six people, causing “extensive damage” to nearby homes and shops. Ansarallah said that Saudi-led strikes targeted sites in several governorates on Monday and Tuesday, including Hodeidah and Saada.

Yemeni rights group: Over 30 killed in Ansarallah attacks in Taiz over three days: At least 33 civilians have been killed and 58 others wounded in attacks by Ansarallah in the governorate of Taiz over the past 73 hours, the Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedoms said on Monday. The rights group documented 133 violations against civilians and civilian infrastructure, including 216 projectiles fired at residential areas. The group also blamed Ansarallah for an attack on a market in Al-Waziiya district on Friday, which it said killed at least 30 people and wounded 45 others.

Ansarallah blamed Saudi Arabia for the attack. Saudi pipeline targeted: Saudi Arabia’s East-West oil pipeline in the Medina region was “targeted” on Monday, sparking a “limited fire” that was quickly extinguished, the Saudi Energy Ministry said. There were no casualties, and oil operations continued. The ministry did not say who carried out the attack, and no group claimed responsibility for it as of Monday night. Separately, satellite images on November 8 show “possible signs of damage” at Pumping Station 8 along the pipeline, according to the satellite-imagery firm Soar Atlas.

The roughly 1,200 km pipeline carries about 4 million barrels a day to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz. Lebanon Israel attacks Lebanon, again violating so-called ceasefire: Israeli fighter jets attacked the town of Qantara on Tuesday, according to Al Jazeera. Footage shows smoke billowing at the scene. Israeli forces also fired toward the outskirts of the town of Chaqra, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported.

The towns of al-Mansouri and Majdal Zoun were also targeted by Israeli artillery. U.S. News Trump social-media strategist accused of unregistered Qatar work: Derek Utley, a co-founder of the digital strategy firm X Strategies, filed a lawsuit in Florida on Monday accusing his former partner, Alex Bruesewitz , of accepting $500,000 from “individuals associated with Qatar,” arguing that he violated federal law by failing to disclose the payments.

Bruesewitz, who continues to run X Strategies after an acrimonious split with Utley, worked as an aide on President Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign and continues to work on behalf of Republican causes and candidates. He is a senior adviser to President Trump’s primary leadership PAC, Never Surrender. In that work, he runs the popular social-media accounts @TrumpWarRoom and @TeamTrump. Through a lawyer, Bruesewitz denied the claims in Utley’s complaint.

Democrat Scott Colom maintains lead in Mississippi Senate race: Mississippi’s Democratic Senate candidate Scott Colom remains ahead of incumbent Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith , leading by 2,574 votes, according to a Monday tally from the Associated Press. Mississippi election officials have until Tuesday to count provisional (affidavit) ballots and receive postmarked absentee ballots, and all 82 counties have until Friday to certify their results.

Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson said that about 2,800 absentee ballots still need to be counted, most of which are from the Democrat-leaning counties of Hinds and Holmes. Mississippi does not have a mechanism for an automatic vote recount, meaning that a losing candidate must file a lawsuit to gain one. California voters reject proposed “billionaire tax”: California voters rejected Proposition 40, a ballot proposition that would have imposed a one-time 5% tax on residents whose net worth exceeds $1 billion, the AP