Iran hits U.S. radar in Bahrain; Van Hollen challenges Schumer; Trump considers military operation against Cuba

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) speaks at an event in St. Paul, Minnesota, on August 8, 2026. Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images. Friday, November 13, 2026 – Iran: Iran destroys U.S. early warning radar in Bahrain, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says. Another tanker hits mine in Hormuz, IRGC says. Iran tells UN nuclear agency inspections cannot proceed while under threat from U.S. IEA: Global oil market returning to surplus.

Palestine: Israeli military shoots and kills Palestinian in Gaza City. 49 countries call on Israel to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. Israeli forces conduct raids, arrest Palestinians across occupied West Bank. Yemen: Saudi-led coalition kills five civilians in Saada. Airlines extend suspension of flights to Saudi Arabia amid continued Ansarallah attacks Lebanon: Israel attacks southern Lebanon, again violating so-called ceasefire. U.S.: Sen. Chris Van Hollen announces he will run for Senate majority leader.

CBS: ICE deported a record 483,200 people in 2026. Democrat Mary Peltola maintains lead over Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan in Alaska’s Senate race. Politico: New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani plans to disband police protest unit. President Donald Trump urges Senate Republicans to pass $350 billion in defense spending. Donald Trump Jr. leaves advisory role at prediction market Kalshi. Families of U.S. Navy sailors told to prepare for 12-month deployment.

Trump says possibility of U.S. military operation against Cuba “before I leave.” International: Drop Site Exclusive: Al-Shabaab ambushes U.S.-trained Somali special forces. Imran Khan’s sisters released from prison. Pakistani police and Taliban exchange fire; 10 officers, up to 18 Taliban fighters dead. U.S. State Department releases report on whereabouts of $12 billion taken from Venezuela. Russian court sentences rights lawyer for treason.

Russian soldier killed in St. Petersburg car-bombing. Italian schools mostly stay open despite second day of hoax bomb threats. Indonesian vice president resigns; wiretapping investigation ongoing. Former senior Bolivian judge arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking. Sudanese military leader meets with heads of state from Turkey, Pakistan, and Libya at climate summit. UN peacekeepers, South Sudanese authorities failed to prevent massacre in South Sudanese village, Amnesty says.

This is Drop Site Daily, our free news recap We send it Monday – Friday Subscribe Iran Iran destroys U.S. early warning radar in Bahrain, IRGC says: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said that it destroyed a U.S. early warning radar system in Bahrain in response to an attack on a telecommunications tower in the southern Iranian port of Sirik on Thursday. Bahrain is home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet. It is the first Iranian attack on Bahrain since September.

“This serves as a serious warning to the aggressor enemy to cease its aerial provocations and oil smuggling in the Strait of Hormuz. Should these violations and acts of aggression recur, the IRGC Aerospace Force stands in full readiness to engage without limits,” the IRGC said. Iran’s navy also said that it shot down an U.S. MQ-1 Predator drone over the Strait of Hormuz, the state-aligned Islamic Republic News Agency reported. The drone was downed on the southern Sirik coast.

Another tanker hits mine in Hormuz, IRGC says: A liquefied petroleum gas tanker struck a mine in the Strait of Hormuz, causing an explosion, the IRGC said, adding that the Iranian navy sent repeated warnings against using an “unauthorized” south passage through the strait. Iran tells UN nuclear agency inspections cannot proceed while under threat from U.S.: Iran told the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) this month that discussions on nuclear monitoring cannot proceed while it is under threat from military attacks, the Associated Press reported , citing a confidential report by the IAEA circulated to member states on Friday.

Iran said that discussions on nuclear inspections cannot resume amid “a series of persistent, explicit, and public threats by the President of the United States of America . . . to commit further acts of armed aggression” against Iran, “particularly targeting its nuclear facilities.” In a letter to the IAEA, Iran expressed concern about the U.S. State Department’s recent announcement that it would pay up to $20 million for information on Iran’s nuclear program.

Iran has not granted IAEA inspectors access to nuclear sites targeted by Israel and the U.S. during the 12-day war in June 2025. The IAEA expressed “increasing concern” about a fuel enrichment plant in Isfahan. Inspectors were due to visit the facility on the day the U.S.-Israeli strikes began in June, but cancelled the inspection. The IAEA said in its report that it “does not know” the site’s “exact location or whether it contains nuclear material.”

IEA: Global oil market returning to surplus: The global oil market will return to a surplus in the fourth quarter of 2026, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its monthly oil. Exports from the Middle East are recovering despite continued attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. “The oil market is showing tentative signs of rebalancing, with global oil supplies surpassing demand for the first time since the outbreak of the war in Iran,” the IEA said.

Palestine Israeli military shoots and kills Palestinian in Gaza City: A Palestinian was killed by Israeli gunfire in the Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza City on Friday morning, according to Al Jazeera. 49 countries call on Israel to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza: On Thursday, 49 countries issued a joint statement urging Israel to ease its restrictions on aid, warning that its near-total blockade was worsening public-health conditions in Gaza.

The signatories called on Israel to allow aid to enter Gaza unhindered, demanding that it reopen humanitarian corridors and approve essential supplies, including so-called “dual-use items” that Israel bans from entering Gaza. “As winter sets in, far too many people in Gaza are still without adequate shelter, and risk exposure to hypothermia, respiratory infections, waterborne diseases and other preventable illnesses,” Britain’s ambassador to the United Nations, Sarah MacIntosh, said at the UN headquarters in New York on Thursday.

The appeal specifically emphasized supplies needed for shelter, fuel, water, sanitation, and medical care. It also called on Israel to allow medical patients in Gaza to receive care in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. The countries also noted that medical and humanitarian workers and facilities must be protected, urged expedited criminal investigations into Israeli attacks on medical personnel, and demanded that Israel grant senior international delegations and journalists access to Gaza.

The initiative was led by Britain, Qatar, and Jordan and backed by countries including Australia, Canada, Egypt, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Spain, and Turkey. The United States did not sign the statement. Israeli forces conduct raids, arrest Palestinians across occupied West Bank: Israeli forces conducted raids and arrested Palestinians across the occupied West Bank on Friday, WAFA reported . Israeli soldiers arrested four Palestinians in towns around the city of Jenin.

Troops stormed the town of Al-Ubeidiya, east of Bethlehem, firing sound bombs and taking up positions in the town. They raided several neighborhoods in Nablus, and searched homes in the nearby towns of Beit Furik and Beit Dajan. The Israeli army invaded the village of Marda, north of Salfit, with soldiers searching a large number of homes, detaining a number of young men, and subjecting them to field interrogations before releasing them.

Yemen Saudi-led coalition kills five civilians in Saada: Shelling by the Saudi-led coalition in the northern governorate of Saada killed five civilians on Friday, Al Jazeera reported. Ansarallah carried out raids on sites in Taiz and attacked government military camps with six ballistic missiles, Al Jazeera reported, citing Ansarallah sources. Airlines extend suspension of flights to Saudi Arabia amid continued Ansarallah attacks: International airlines extended flight suspensions to several cities in Saudi Arabia as Ansarallah targets airports, energy facilities, and infrastructure in missile and drone attacks.

Several Indian airlines announced that flights to Saudi cities including Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, and Medina would remain suspended until late November. Emirati and Omani carriers announced similar extensions. KLM has cancelled service to late November while British Airways postponed the resumption of its London-Riyadh route until January 2027. Lebanon Israel attacks southern Lebanon, again violating so-called ceasefire: The Israeli military shelled several towns in southern Lebanon on Friday, the Lebanese government–aligned National News Agency reported.

Among the towns Israel attacked were Mayfadoun, Talloussah, and Bani Haiyyan. No casualties were reported. U.S. News Sen. Chris Van Hollen announces he will run for Senate majority leader: Maryland Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen announced that he will challenge Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) for Senate majority leader. In an announcement on Thursday, Van Hollen said that “the American people called for change” in the midterms, adding that the Democratic Party “needs new leadership.”

He said that if he was elected, he would use every tool available to the majority to end the Iran War, including leveraging a December funding deadline. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed (D-Mich.) endorsed him after his announcement, while Sens. Angus King (I-Maine) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) criticized Van Hollen’s challenge and defended Schumer as an architect of sweeping Democratic wins in the midterms. Congressional Democrats will choose their leaders in a closed-door caucus in December.

To become the party’s majority leader, Schumer or Van Hollen will need the support of 28 of the party’s 55 Senators. Keep track of where senators stand on the leadership vote with Drop Site’s Whip Count . CBS: ICE deported a record 483,200 people in 2026: Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported a record 483,200 people in fiscal year 2026, according to Homeland Security data obtained by CBS. The total tops the prior record of 442,640 ICE deportees in the 2025 fiscal year.

The nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute found that only about 20% of roughly 980,000 ICE and CBP deportees since January 2025 had ever been convicted of a crime. Exit polls from the midterm elections showed that voters rejected the Trump administration’s far-right immigration policies. Peltola maintains lead over Sullivan in Alaska’s Senate race: As of Friday morning, Democratic Senate nominee Mary Peltola leads Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan by 3,975 votes in Alaska’s Senate race, which has not been called.

According to data from Decision Desk HQ, Peltola has received over 48.5% of votes, and Sullivan has received over 46.9%. Tens of thousands of ballots from Anchorage and other rural areas have yet to be counted. Politico: Mamdani plans to disband the NYPD’s protest unit: New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani plans to disband the New York Police Department’s Strategic Response Group, a controversial crowd-control unit that has repeatedly cracked down on nonviolent protesters, Politico reported.

A formal announcement is expected as early as next week. Civil-rights advocates and activists have accused the police unit of excessive force and misconduct. NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch has supported keeping the SRG unit. Trump urges Senate Republicans to pass $350 billion in defense spending: On Thursday, President Donald Trump said that Republican legislators must pass a new $350 billion in defense spending before losing their Congressional majority.

“Republicans must deliver for our Warriors. The Democrats never will. The time is NOW,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Thursday. A budget outlined passed by the House includes Iran war funding, but it has stalled in the Senate for almost four months. The budget outline provides $60 billion for the Pentagon. Donald Trump Jr. leaves advisory role at prediction market Kalshi: Donald Trump Jr. is leaving his advisory role at the prediction market Kalshi, Bloomberg reported.

A Kalshi spokesperson said that Trump Jr. and Kalshia “mutually agreed to end Don’s advisory role after his firm’s significant investment in a competitor this past summer,” a reference to his firm 1789 Capital’s stake in the rival prediction company Polymarket, where he is also an adviser. Families of U.S. Navy sailors told to prepare for 12-month deployment: At a November 9 town hall, Navy leaders said that the USS George H.W. Bush aircraft carrier will not be home for the holidays.

Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao told families at the town hall that the soldiers would return home when there is a “non-nuclear