World Brief, Evening: November 2, 2026

Explosions on Iran’s Qeshm Island as US officials talk about “defensive” strikes in Hormuz, on the same day Trump says a deal “could happen.” Russian bombs kill 26 people at an aid centre in Zaporizhzhia, and peace talks are set to restart in Abu Dhabi. The Supreme Court turns Trump down on California ballots the night before the midterms. Plus investigators on the Florida jet, the Commonwealth summit opening in Antigua, South Africa and Rwanda losing US trade perks, Ebola in Congo, Rubio’s plan for Venezuela, North Korea on the Binance heist, and Australia’s social media ban in court. Ten stories as of Monday evening, November 2.

1. Strait of Hormuz; Qeshm Island / Iran. Several explosions went off in rapid succession on Qeshm Island late Monday, Iran’s state news agency IRNA said, with witnesses reporting two planes overhead. Fars said blasts were also heard in the port city of Bandar Lengeh. US officials told the Wall Street Journal and AP the US military carried out “defensive strikes” to limit Iran’s ability to attack shipping, targeting “Iranians using surface-to-air missiles against U.S. assets,” Al Jazeera reports. Earlier Monday the Revolutionary Guards said they had captured two US reconnaissance drones south of Qeshm and destroyed an MQ-9. There was no immediate comment from Tehran or Washington.

It all landed on a day of deal talk. “Iran wants a settlement, as soon as possible. It could happen!” Trump posted, and later at the Lincoln Memorial: “It looks like that’s coming together very nicely.” Asked if he was thinking about striking Iran after Tuesday’s midterms, he said “no.” JD Vance said “we’ve certainly made some progress” and that no deadline had been set, Al Jazeera reports. Iran says its seven-step plan to reopen the strait can now be done in two days rather than a week if the US lifts its naval blockade and meets its other conditions. “The ball is in the US court,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said.

2. Zaporizhzhia region / Ukraine. At least 26 people were killed when at least nine 3,000kg Russian aerial bombs hit the village of Komyshuvakha on Monday, the BBC reports. Zelensky says the first strike hit a school “used for humanitarian needs” and a second hit where people were sheltering. The dead include two rescuers and four police officers, and people are still under the rubble. Russian drones forced rescuers to stop several times. Zelensky: “This is yet another proof that Russia does not want any de-escalation.” Tuesday is a day of mourning across the region. The Russian military hasn’t commented.

Meanwhile, US envoy Steve Witkoff says Ukraine, Russia and the US will resume peace talks in Abu Dhabi next week, the first since February, with no big breakthrough expected. And Britain and France will lead about 2,800 troops from 12 European nations in Exercise Koalicja in Poland, November 9–22, a rehearsal for deploying a reassurance force to Ukraine if there’s a peace deal, the BBC reports. “This is not a hypothetical plan, it’s a real force,” UK Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said.

3. Washington / United States. On the eve of the midterms, the Supreme Court turned down the Trump administration’s emergency bid to make California set aside about 20,000 ballots from people the Justice Department says aren’t citizens, with no noted dissents, The Guardian reports. Lower courts had already sided with the state. The department never shared how it built its list. “The highest court in the land firmly slapped down the Trump DoJ’s baseless attack on California’s electoral process,” Governor Gavin Newsom said.

Polls open Tuesday on what’s set to be the most expensive midterms ever, with Open Secrets projecting nearly $12bn in total spending, about 30% more than 2022, the BBC reports. Elon Musk is the biggest individual donor, at almost half a billion dollars for Republicans, most of it in the Texas Senate race. Trump made his closing pitch Monday at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

4. Palm Beach County, Florida / United States. The NTSB says it will look at whether parts of the Learjet 60 broke off before it nose-dived onto Military Trail on Sunday, killing all nine aboard, the BBC reports. Debris was found across sports fields, businesses and homes. The crew had reported ice and moderate turbulence and asked to climb to 37,000 feet. Less than 30 seconds later the jet began to descend and the crew called mayday: “we are in an overspeed condition descending 20,000ft per minute.”

The NTSB says ice and turbulence were factors but the probable cause will take a “lengthy investigatory process.” Families named the passengers as tech entrepreneur Adam Robinson, his wife Helen Sharp, their children Emma and Charlie, Rachael Reed, Charmi Fehr and Anita Maria Cetina. One man on the ground hurt his leg. Investigators are still trying to find out if a cockpit voice recorder was aboard.

5. St John’s / Antigua and Barbuda. Leaders from 56 countries are in Antigua for the Commonwealth summit, and Prime Minister Andy Burnham is coming with a “debt reset” plan for member countries buried in interest costs, plus talks on a formal UK apology for the slave trade, likely next year when Britain holds the G20 presidency, the BBC reports. “By sticking our heads in the sand, we have damaged the ability of the Commonwealth to function,” Burnham wrote.

Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband says a formal apology is something “the British government are open to,” but that Britain won’t pay financial reparations. Kemi Badenoch says an apology would be “a lever to wedge open the door to ask for cash.” King Charles addresses the leaders Tuesday.

6. Pretoria / South Africa; Kigali / Rwanda. Trump has told Congress he’ll pull South Africa and Rwanda out of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, the duty-free trade programme, from January 1, 2027, the BBC reports. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said both were “engaging in practices that are inconsistent” with the rules, citing trade barriers and security concerns, plus corruption for South Africa and human rights and the rule of law for Rwanda. Rwanda’s defence ministry was sanctioned barely a week ago over its alleged backing of M23 rebels in eastern DR Congo.

South Africa sent about $1.7bn of goods to the US under AGOA in 2025, mostly cars, parts, farm products and wine, Al Jazeera reports. Trade Minister Parks Tau called it “unfortunate” and said the country would speed up finding other markets.

7. Democratic Republic of Congo. The Ebola outbreak has now killed 5,376 people, 5,372 of them in DR Congo and two each in Kenya and Uganda, Africa CDC data show, according to Al Jazeera. About 10,444 people have been infected with the Bundibugyo strain, which kills more than half of those it infects. There’s no approved vaccine or treatment for it. Trials of Ervebo, which works against the more common Zaire strain, have started. This is Congo’s 17th and largest outbreak, declared in mid-May. Two suspected cases in northeast Nigeria tested negative.

8. Caracas / Venezuela. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Venezuelan Foreign Minister Oliver Blanco on Monday and reaffirmed Trump’s “three-phase plan for Venezuela: stabilization, economic recovery and political reconciliation, and democratic transition,” the State Department said, according to Al Jazeera. Opposition leader María Corina Machado, back home since last week, says Rubio’s sequence points to presidential elections in 2027. Interim President Delcy Rodríguez has promised elections “with the world as witness” but hasn’t named a date. Machado also said the US oil deal “does not reflect the levels of transparency that Venezuelan society wants.”

9. Pyongyang / North Korea. Kim Yo Jong, Kim Jong Un’s sister, called the FBI’s claim that North Korea stole $6.3bn from the crypto exchange Binance “absurd rhetoric and nothing new,” and warned there were “issues to reconsider” over US hostility, ABC News reports. The FBI blames a state-backed unit called TraderTraitor for what’s thought to be the largest financial heist ever. Binance customers pulled out $4.64bn once it lifted a temporary freeze on withdrawals.

10. Canberra / Australia. The High Court starts two days of hearings Tuesday on challenges to Australia’s under-16 social media ban, one from the Digital Freedom Project and one from Reddit, the BBC reports. The rights group says the ban takes away children’s right to free communication. Reddit says it’s complying in the meantime but “there are better and more effective ways.” Ten platforms are covered, with fines up to A$99m, though nobody’s been fined yet. “We will not be intimidated by big tech,” Communications Minister Anika Wells said last year.