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The strike took place on 2 November, on the eve of the US midterm elections. Washington said the move was defensive.

President Donald Trump and the Republicans have found it hard to defend the war against Iran in their campaigns. Reports say the war is unpopular.Share

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told state media that indirect talks with Washington were taking place through mediators. He said consultations were very intensive. US Vice President JD Vance said the US had made some progress and would see if it could make more.

A senior Iranian official said Tehran was ready to open the strait within two days if Washington agreed to its list of demands. Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that Iran wanted a settlement as soon as possible.

Hours later, a Wall Street Journal report said the US had carried out a string of limited, secret strikes on Iran in recent weeks. Iranian state media reported five explosions on Qeshm island. The report weakened the diplomatic overtures.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei warned that any act of aggression would meet a response that was powerful, immediate and comprehensive. Trump said he might still have to give Iran "the hammer" at some point. He said he also had to deal with one or two targets, including Pickaxe mountain, a suspected nuclear site that Tehran denies is one.Share

The study says Johannesburg will grow to 8.9 million people by 2050. It puts the city's population at 7.1 million in 2025. Statistics South Africa reported 4.8 million in its 2022 census, and the study uses a broader urban definition than municipal boundaries.

The study puts Cape Town's population at about 4.5 million. It says the city will no longer rank among the largest in the region. It says Luanda's population may top 20 million.

Other cities will grow fast. The study projects that Bamako will grow by 80% to 7.6 million people over the next 25 years. It projects 64% growth for Mogadishu over the same period.

The study says the urban population of sub-Saharan Africa will rise by 320 million to 823 million by 2050. The figure rises to 1.7 billion when peri-urban areas and towns are included. The World Bank and the European Commission's Joint Research Centre assessed current city sizes together.Share

Hypersonica develops hypersonic long-range missiles. Reports of the funding round said it would push the company's valuation to roughly €700mn.Share

The rights group FundaRedes first reported nine deaths. Its coordinator, Juan Francisco Garcia, later said another 10 bodies had been taken to San Fernando. FundaRedes monitors rights violations in Venezuela's border states.

A Venezuelan military source spoke on condition of anonymity. The source said US intelligence supported the attack and that most of those killed were Venezuelan nationals. The source also said the guerrillas had no time to react and that forces would keep combing the area because there are more camps.

Rocio San Miguel, a human rights advocate and military affairs expert, said the attack reflects a change in doctrine within the Venezuelan military. Colombia has accused Venezuela's leftist government of ignoring Colombian rebel groups in border areas for years.Share

The Learjet 60 took off from Austin and was bound for North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas. The crash site is near Lake Worth Beach. The 600 evacuated residents went to two shelters in the county.

An audio recording from the Miami air traffic control centre, posted on LiveATC, has the cockpit reporting mayday while the jet descended at 10 000 feet per minute. Flight tracking website Flightradar24 said the descent rate passed 32000 feet per minute at one point. The recording puts 35 seconds between the first mayday and the last cockpit transmission.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis spoke at a press conference near the site. He said: "It was like a missile coming down, and a massive explosion, debris going everywhere." County Commissioner Joel Flores described a "massive crater" at the site.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called the crash a horrific tragedy. The Federal Aviation Administration issued a statement on the crash.Share

The UK tax authority is looking at the partnership structure of the consulting firm. Partners in such firms are usually taxed as self-employed owners, not as staff. A change in their status would change the tax and contributions due.

The filings describe the inquiry as part of a push on the taxation of senior staff at professional services firms.Share

Yotova is the interim president of Bulgaria. Gyurov is the pro-western candidate who ran against her.

The vote took place as Moscow's strikes against Ukraine reach Bulgaria's shores.Share

Senior Middle East diplomats said a threatened escalation of the war between the US and Iran would probably be even more damaging than earlier rounds of the conflict.

Reports said Trump pressed Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu to persist with diplomacy. These reports are not confirmed by either government.Share

Trump told the crowd the US may have to give Tehran "the hammer" at some point. He said the only reason he is not finished with Iran is that he wants to be nice and save lives.

He gave the rally speech in Iowa, days before the US midterm elections on November 3. In the speech, he said: "And the only reason why I'm not finished with Iran is I want to be nice."Share

The US District Court for the Southern District of Florida dismissed the case with prejudice. The ruling ends Trump's pursuit of the refiled defamation suit. Gayles wrote that the paper's investigation was thoughtful and detailed.

Trump's lawyers argued that the paper should have dropped the story after he denied involvement with Epstein. The judge rejected the case as a whole. He wrote: "As with his first attempt, he has failed,"Share

OTW first called the outage maintenance and said the work would take at least 12 hours. Later it said restoring the site could take around two weeks, with up to four weeks possible. OTW said it was still working out how far the damage goes.

OTW said no data was deleted, so works, comments, kudos and bookmarks are safe. It said the user database holds user names, email addresses, IP addresses and hashed versions of passwords. OTW said it does not currently believe the database was stolen.

OTW hopes to bring back a degraded version of the site sooner, possibly read-only. It said it might have to take the site down again without warning. Reports said AO3 hosted 18.4 million works as of September.Share

Healey made the remark in an interview with Channel 4. Asked whether he agreed that the UK should rejoin the EU in his lifetime, he said he did not expect it. Reports said Burnham had told Cabinet ministers to follow collective responsibility on the UK's future relationship with Europe.

Burnham has said he wants the UK to rejoin in his lifetime. He also said: "I'm not going to move ahead of the public." Some accusers claim he is gagging Eurosceptic frontbenchers. One report said 13 Cabinet ministers opposed rejoining, but it did not name its source.

Critics also accused Healey of raiding contingency funds to meet military commitments. A senior Labour MP said he is kicking security "into the long grass".Share

Stubb and Støre said the call followed a meeting in Oslo on 20 October and took place in consultation with Ukraine. Stubb said the call was frank and substantive. He said Russia's neighbours have a direct stake in how the war ends.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said: "It was not coordinated with any of us." She also said Europe should stick together rather than go alone, according to Danish media. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson also cast doubt on the move. Støre said Europe should speak with Russia to complement the messages sent by the US administration.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the call offered nothing new. The Kremlin said Russia's interests must be taken into account in any settlement.

Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said on Wednesday that European nations will not be invited to the next Russia-US-Ukraine talks. Moscow has agreed in principle to a fourth round, with mid-November and Abu Dhabi floated. Three rounds have so far excluded Europe, as US President Donald Trump presses Kyiv to strike a deal.Share

Wu Peng spoke on the second day of the forum. He said trade between China and South Africa reached nearly $15bn from May to August, up almost 24% year on year. Chinese exports to South Africa grew 23% in the same period.

The ambassador said agricultural exports to China reached nearly $500m, up more than 35% year on year. He said talks on market access for other farm products should follow a September protocol on South African cherry exports. He also said the two countries have 66 sister-province and sister-city partnerships.

Wu argued the zero-tariff policy could help South Africa sell more than minerals and add higher-value products. He said it could make South Africa a more competitive base for firms that export to China. He said this could draw more Chinese investment, and named Chery and West China Cement.

Wu said the policy could support local industrialisation and create jobs. He said Beijing intends to open its domestic market further to international trade in its next five-year planning period.Share

Nearly 200 nations struck agreements at the two-week UN summit. Ecuador won the right to host the next biodiversity talks in 2028 after it defeated Panama in a secret vote.

French Ecological Transition Minister Monique Barbut said the outcome was "not commensurate" with the crisis facing the natural world. She said the progress that was not achieved is a series of missed opportunities to speed up the response to biodiversity loss.

Decisions on the design of the Cali Fund are deferred for two years. Pakhi Das of the nonprofit Plant-for-the-Planet said this all but ensures the fund stays empty until then.

Guido Broekhoven of WWF International called the text a positive step forward, with weaknesses on harmful subsidies. An Lambrechts of Greenpeace International said the text expresses political momentum on harmful incentives in weak terms. Observers and delegates also accused some countries of undermining efforts to approve key reports.Share

Oman's Maritime Security Centre issued a statement on the RITI rescue. The Revolutionary Guards said the three tankers were halted after incidents or mine strikes. They said the ships used an unauthorised route through the strait.

The Guards also said the tankers switched off their navigation and positioning systems. They said the ships tried to leave with the support of the US military, which they called terrorist. One supertanker, which carried two million barrels of oil, stopped after an explosion, the Guards said.

US Central Command chief Brad Cooper said in a video released on Friday that US forces had cleared the main transit routes of Iranian sea mines. He said Washington had helped Gulf countries export more than 1.5 billion barrels of crude through the strait since summer.

The British maritime security agency UKMTO reported that a ship was struck 40 nautical miles (74 kilometres) south of Lavan island. Iran has restricted traffic through the strait since the Middle East war began on 28 February with US-Israeli strikes.Share

Thompson sits in the Northern District of California. Her order expires on 16 November. The United States holds its midterm election on 3 November.

The Justice Department had sought to set aside the ballots of more than 20,000 California voters, saying they might not be citizens. A federal judge rejected that move on Wednesday and called it brazen pre-election interference.

Critics say the administration of President Donald Trump is trying to cast doubt on election results. The order says the defendants "shall not threaten, intimidate or coerce state or local elections officials or workers" over the processing of ballots.Share

WAN-IFRA said the terms would require publishers to let Meta collect and reuse their content without payment. This would be a condition of using Meta's business services. The body says its members include almost 20 000 publications in more than 120 countries.

The Oslo District Court has temporarily suspended the plan after a legal challenge by Norwegian media organisations. The UK Competition and Markets Authority said it would examine whether Meta is abusing its dominant position. The authority said the terms would let Meta collect content without offering publishers a choice, and use it to develop its own products, including AI features.

Zuckerberg said Meta would not change its terms until a full consultation with the media industry has ended. WAN-IFRA said Meta platforms are a main gateway to news for many users. In the letter, it wrote: "Producing journalism requires substantial financial resources."Share

The claim about China comes from the mining company. It says the embargo stops it from using mapping technology in its exploration work.

Bill Gates backs the company. The request for help went to Washington.Share

Ahead of the budget, Healey said it would move "money and power out of Westminster and into every postcode around Britain". Reports said he planned to close a 4.7-billion-pound funding gap in the defence plan inherited from the previous Labour leader.

Healey also planned a crackdown on foreign online sellers who avoid VAT. Reports said this could raise as much as 1 billion pounds to help fund business rate cuts for high street shops. Extra funding of 1 billion pounds was also expected for social and affordable housing in England, within 39 billion pounds planned over the next decade.

Helen Miller of the Institute for Fiscal Studies said Healey faces a forecast in which borrowing is still expected to fall and the fiscal rules are still being met.

Burnham is expected to seek closer ties with the EU next month and to publish a 10-year strategy document in December. Other hard issues ahead include immigration, welfare reform and North Sea oil drilling.Share

Two members of the Federal Open Market Committee, Lisa Cook and Beth Hammack, voted against the pause. They wanted a 25 basis-point increase. Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh said the midterms and politics "played no role in the decision".

Reports said a surge in fuel prices linked to the Iran war is a major driver of inflation. Todd Bitter of NEXA Lending said uncertainty around the Iran war and the midterms guided the decision. Morgan Stanley economists said the Fed might not be done tightening, and that future hikes will depend on incoming data.

CME Group's FedWatch tool showed 77.9% of traders pricing in a 25-basis-point hike in December. Warsh also announced the Fed will cut the number of meetings at which it votes on rates from eight to seven next year. It will cut the number by two in 2028.Share

Arab parties are projected to win 19 seats, which is an unprecedented figure. The projections could still change as counting continues. The vote was Israel's first election since the attack of 7 October 2023.

Markets reacted. The shekel weakened about 1.6 percent to 3.10 to the dollar, and Tel Aviv's key indexes fell by more than 3 percent.

Guy Lurie of the Israel Democracy Institute said a caretaker government has the same formal powers as a regular one but a duty of restraint. That includes powers over the war with Iran. Israeli security experts say the result could let Netanyahu launch a new bombing campaign against Iran with the US.

Netanyahu has spoken of a "singular historical opportunity" for joint action with US President Donald Trump. Eisenkot warned that Netanyahu might use security for political ends. Netanyahu's office has rejected earlier accusations that he uses the Iran conflict for political gain.Share

Reports put the number of staff in the data at more than 41,000, with one account saying nearly 42,000. The data includes more than 21,000 Border Patrol personnel and nearly 6,600 ICE agents. It lists names, work addresses, phone numbers and job duties.

DDoSecrets said the Department of Peace and the Swiss hacktivist maia arson crimew supplied the information. Emma Best, a co-founder of DDoSecrets, said the data identifies officials who oversee covert and undercover operations and key deportation-program staff. Best said the aim is to "replace anonymity with accountability".

A Homeland Security spokesperson said the department is aware of a potential breach. The spokesperson said it is working to address the situation. Maia arson crimew built an online search tool for the data, called Icepick.Share

The department's Office of Energy Dominance Financing announced the offer on Tuesday 27 October. Energy Secretary Chris Wright made the announcement during a visit to Constellation's Byron Generating Station in Illinois. The eight plants have 15 operating reactors.

Constellation said the commitment could lower its financing costs and help it add nuclear capacity at greater scale. It said recent 20-year agreements with Google and Amazon encouraged it to invest more than $7 billion to add approximately 1,080 megawatts. The company said the added electricity could power over 930,000 homes.

Constellation said uprates are one of the fastest and most cost-effective ways to add dependable power without building new generation or transmission. Reports said most of the new capacity is already committed to Google, Amazon and Meta.Share

The fall in deal volumes followed a rise in bond yields. A new cycle of central bank rate increases also began. Together, these ended hopes for a recovery in office valuations.Share

The firm has about 1,200 lawyers. Its leadership acted after a failed attempt to stop partners leaving. Reports said talks on a merger with Willkie Farr & Gallagher ended days earlier.

Some counts say around 40 partners left in 2026 before this week. Private equity partner Christopher Machera was one who moved, to Paul, Weiss. The firm said it will serve clients during the wind-down over the coming months.

An adviser to the firm said it believes it can wind down solvently. That would make it a dissolution, not a bankruptcy. Reports also said the firm brought in Brian Resnick, a bankruptcy partner at Davis Polk.Share