The most important world events of the past 24 hours
US and Iran near deal to end war; Trump says it will end "very soon"
🐱 Scout diplomat · US and Iran near deal to end war
President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that talks with Iran were going "very well" and the war would end "very soon", writing on social media that if Tehran accepts the deal, "Operation Epic Fury" will be at an end and the blockade will allow the Strait of Hormuz to open to all, while warning bombing would resume "at a much higher level and intensity" if talks collapse. Axios and Bloomberg, citing sources, reported the two sides are close to a one-page memorandum under which Iran would pause uranium enrichment in exchange for sanctions relief and the release of billions of dollars in frozen assets. Tehran cooled expectations: its foreign ministry said no formal reply had been submitted to mediators, and a parliamentary official dismissed the Axios report as more of an "American wish list"; Secretary of State Marco Rubio had earlier said the offensive phase of Epic Fury was over, and Trump paused the "Project Freedom" escort operation pending negotiations.
Background: US-Iran talks stalled last weekend and the Iranian delegation was ordered out of the US, while shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remains severely disrupted.
Russian strike on Zaporizhzhia school aid point death toll rises to 42
🐱 Scout field reporter · Zaporizhzhia school strike death toll rises to 42
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday that the death toll from a Russian strike on 2 November on a school in Komyshuvakha, Zaporizhzhia region, used as a humanitarian aid distribution point and underground shelter, had risen to 40; police confirmed on Thursday that 42 people were killed and more than 30 remain missing, possibly buried under the rubble. Zelenskyy condemned the attack as "insane", saying Russian forces first dropped bombs on civilians collecting aid and then struck rescuers and police, with nine aerial bombs including a three-tonne FAB-3000. Russia's defence ministry said the target was Ukrainian troops in the area and claimed up to 25 soldiers were killed; neither account has been independently verified.
Background: The morning edition reported Zelenskyy denying an energy ceasefire and vowing to resume strikes on Russian refineries.
Sources: CNN, The Independent, Al Jazeera (3 outlets)
France hit by nationwide strike as rail services widely disrupted
🐱 Scout France anchor · France nationwide strike
A nationwide strike called by France's five main unions took place on Thursday in protest over wages, public services and the 2027 budget. National rail operator SNCF said about one in ten high-speed TGV trains were cancelled, only a third of RER D services ran, and RER B and C lines and many regional services were halved, while the Paris metro, buses and trams ran largely normally; Eurostar cancelled three services. The education ministry said 17.54% of public primary school teachers were on strike and 81 high schools closed; dock workers struck at ports across France, and police rejected the planned Paris march route from Bastille to Concorde, rerouting it from République to Nation, with 70,000 police deployed.
Background: The morning edition reported SNCF's transport plan for Thursday's strike.
Midterm aftershocks: Trump concedes Iran war hurt Republicans as Vance blames the war
🐱 Scout US anchor · Midterm election aftershocks
After Democrats swept both chambers of Congress, President Trump conceded on Wednesday that the Iran war had affected the midterms, saying voters were unhappy about soaring oil prices; Vice President JD Vance said bluntly on X that "the reason we lost is the war". The Associated Press count shows Democrats have won 235 House seats and at least 54 in the Senate, with House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries poised to become the first Black Speaker on 3 January 2027. Speaker Mike Johnson has decided not to seek the House Republican leadership, while Democrats vowed a 100-day agenda and broad investigations; Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth's future is in focus — Trump publicly backed him as doing "a great job", but CBS reported he is sounding out advisers on a replacement.
Background: The morning edition reported Democrats sweeping both chambers and the new Congress eyeing investigations and impeachment.
Political developments and international relations
Melania Trump to host Russian and Ukrainian envoys at White House
First Lady Melania Trump is scheduled to host Russian and Ukrainian representatives at the White House at 11 a.m. Eastern on Thursday, the first time envoys from both warring sides will be in the same room at the White House. Russia is expected to send President Vladimir Putin's special envoy for international economic cooperation, Kirill Dmitriev, while Ukraine will send its human rights commissioner and parliamentary faction leader. The meeting grew out of a local ceasefire in Oleshky brokered by the First Lady; meanwhile, Zelenskyy spoke for an hour and a half with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on Wednesday evening to prepare for US-Russia-Ukraine talks in Abu Dhabi on 10–11 November.
Background: The morning edition reported US-brokered technical talks in Abu Dhabi on 10–11 November.
Sudan and Ethiopia shut each other's consulates and expel diplomats
Sudan and Ethiopia carried out tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions on Wednesday: Ethiopia ordered the closure of Sudan's consulate in the border town of Asosa, giving six Sudanese diplomats 48 hours to leave, and Sudan responded by closing Ethiopia's consulate in the eastern city of Gedaref and expelling its diplomats. The row follows Khartoum's complaint to the UN Security Council and the African Union on Sunday, accusing Ethiopia of allowing Sudan's Rapid Support Forces to launch drones from its territory against Sudanese civilian infrastructure; Ethiopia accuses Sudan of backing rebels in its northern Tigray region, and both sides deny each other's charges.
Background: The morning edition reported Ethiopia's expulsion of six Sudanese diplomats.
US negotiating troop agreement with Venezuela for long-term military presence
The Trump administration is negotiating a status of forces agreement (SOFA) with Venezuela's interim government that could lay the groundwork for a long-term US troop presence, The New York Times reported on 3 November, citing US officials. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is leading the talks; the agreement would reportedly cover ship visits, training, joint exercises and humanitarian assistance, with troop numbers and locations to be set in later agreements. On 2 November Rubio met Venezuelan Foreign Minister Oliver Blanco at the State Department, the first Venezuelan foreign minister received by a US secretary of state since 2016; neither government has publicly confirmed the talks. The Wall Street Journal reported on 4 November that a US drone strike last week, with the interim government's cooperation, hit an ELN camp and killed more than 20 fighters. (single source, unverified)
Background: US forces took military action in Venezuela in January, after which an interim government took power.
Bank of England expected to raise rates to 4% for first time in three years
The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee is due to announce its decision at 20:00 Beijing time on Thursday, alongside its latest Monetary Policy Report, with markets widely expecting a 25-basis-point rise in Bank Rate from 3.75% to 4% — the first increase since August 2023 and the first change since a cut last December. Economists polled by Reuters broadly expect a 7–2 vote, and markets price the probability of a hike at over 96%. The driver is rebounding inflation: UK consumer prices rose 3.5% in the year to September, up from 3.1% in August and far above the Bank's 2% target, driven largely by fuel and energy costs pushed up by the US-Iran war; a typical tracker mortgage would cost about £31 more a month.
Background: The morning edition reported the Bank was expected to raise rates to 4% on Thursday.
Global markets: US stocks pull back, oil steadies, gold tops $4,100
After US stocks surged on Wednesday on the Democrats' midterm sweep, Thursday's premarket trading was mixed: Dow futures rose about 0.3% to 0.5%, S&P 500 futures were little changed, and Nasdaq 100 futures fell about 0.6% to 1.2% as investors reassessed AI infrastructure spending and tech valuations, with chip and data-centre stocks under pressure. Oil steadied after falling for a fourth straight session in early Thursday trading, with Brent recovering to $95.40; spot gold extended its rebound, touching $4,146.63 an ounce — its highest since 20 October — as the dollar softened and Treasury yields fell after the election.
Background: The morning edition reported a post-midterms stock rally and a sharp fall in oil prices.
Qualcomm shares slump about 9% as smartphone chip sales miss
Qualcomm shares dropped about 9% in premarket trading on Thursday after its smartphone chip sales missed Wall Street estimates, raising concerns that weakness in its core handset business could offset gains from newer areas such as data-centre chips. Handset revenue fell 26% to $5.14 billion in the fiscal fourth quarter, dragging chip segment sales 8% lower to $9.02 billion; adjusted revenue was $10.44 billion and adjusted earnings $2.17 a share. Next-quarter guidance disappointed further, with adjusted earnings of $2.15 to $2.35 a share — the midpoint below estimates — and assumes no further sales to Apple; at least eight brokerages cut their price targets.
Background: Global smartphone shipments fell 20% in the September quarter to a 14-year low, according to Counterpoint Research.
Tech companies, research breakthroughs and digital policy
OpenAI launches Images 2.6 with GIF creation, 50% faster
OpenAI launched its Images 2.6 image-generation model on 4 November, now available across ChatGPT, Codex and the API at all subscription tiers, including the free plan. The headline feature turns text prompts, photos or sketches into looping GIFs, with frame-by-frame editing and playback-speed controls, alongside a new saved-reference feature that lets a person, pet or character be saved once and reused. Generation is about 50% faster than the previous model, taking as little as six seconds at low quality; the API adds two new models — GPT-Image-2.6 Flare for speed and GPT-Image-2.6 Sunburst for quality and multi-turn editing consistency.
Background: OpenAI also announced plans on Wednesday to acquire coding-tools company Pierre.
Tencent unveils flagship Hy4 model with vision and computer use
Tencent unveiled its flagship Hunyuan model, Hy4, on 4 November, with 770 billion parameters in a mixture-of-experts architecture (49 billion activated), about 2.6 times the size of Hy3, and a context window of one million tokens. It is the first Hy model with vision capabilities — able to read images, analyse complex charts and solve visual maths problems — and the first to support computer use, completing office, financial-analysis, development and research tasks via command line and graphical interfaces. The model is available via API through Tencent Cloud and OpenRouter; open weights have not yet been released, with Tencent saying they will follow "in the coming days".
Background: The release came a day after OpenAI launched its Images 2.6 model, as the global model race intensifies.
Anthropic uses Claude to crack 40-year-old cell mystery
Anthropic announced on 4 November that its biology team, working with Claude, had solved the three-dimensional structure of the prokaryotic "vault" protein particle — a barrel-shaped protein complex discovered in 1986 whose function had puzzled scientists for 40 years. The team used Claude to screen about 15 billion predicted protein sequences, finding related proteins in 29 bacterial and four archaeal phyla, and resolved the phage-derived L05 particle at 3.2 angstroms using cryo-electron microscopy. Claude cut protein purification from three days to 90 minutes and produced the first complete structural model in 34 hours; the findings are a preprint that has not yet been peer-reviewed.
Background: AI-assisted research is accelerating solutions to long-standing problems in biology.
Military developments, security situations and conflicts
Iran's IRGC says two tankers and a tug caught fire in Strait of Hormuz
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Thursday that two oil tankers and a tugboat caught fire after trying to cross the Strait of Hormuz using "unauthorised routes": one tanker struck a mine south of the strait, another supertanker caught fire after leaving the shipping lane, and a tug sent to help fight the fire also caught fire. The IRGC said the move enforced its traffic controls in the strait; it is the second time this week Tehran has claimed a tanker struck a mine. There is no independent confirmation, and no vessel names or casualty figures have been released. (single source, unverified)
Background: The morning edition reported UKMTO confirming a tanker was hit by two projectiles off Oman.
UN: At least 67 children killed in Gaza since ceasefire began
UNICEF said in Geneva on Thursday that at least 67 Palestinian children have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect on 11 October 2025 — an average of two children a day — including a baby girl killed in an Israeli airstrike on a home in Khan Younis this week and seven other children killed in a wave of strikes the day before. The UN human rights office warned on the same day that Israeli forces are pushing Palestinians into ever-smaller areas of the enclave and treating the westward-shifting "yellow line" as a "kill zone"; Gaza health authorities say 280 people have been killed and 672 injured since the ceasefire, with another 571 bodies recovered from the rubble.
Background: The morning edition reported Israeli strikes killing several people and a UN warning over deepening displacement.
Sources: UNICEF, UN human rights office (2 outlets)
British Ebola healthcare worker flown home for isolation treatment as Congo outbreak tops 10,000 cases
A British healthcare worker who contracted Ebola while taking part in humanitarian relief in the Democratic Republic of Congo is being flown home on a medical aircraft over Wednesday and Thursday, and will then be taken by specialist ambulance to a high-level isolation unit in London or Newcastle. The patient is stable and is the first British citizen infected in this outbreak, with several other Europeans also infected; the UK government says the risk to the public remains low and no impact on international travel or trade is expected. The DRC outbreak, declared on 15 May, has passed 10,000 cases and nearly 5,000 deaths by the end of October, making it the second-largest Ebola outbreak on record.
Background: The DRC Ebola outbreak has been running since May this year.
Pennsylvania reports sixth measles-linked death as cases reach 1,467
Pennsylvania health authorities reported on Wednesday the state's sixth measles-linked death this year, an unvaccinated resident of Jefferson County; as of 4 November the state has recorded 1,467 confirmed cases and 283 hospitalisations across 45 counties, with 34 new cases since 2 November. It is the largest measles outbreak in the US this year and the biggest in Pennsylvania in three decades; the CDC has provided nearly $4 million in emergency funding to support the response into most of 2027. The CDC counted 4,852 confirmed cases nationwide as of 29 October, the most since 1991.
Background: US measles cases this year have already hit their highest level since 1991.
Sources: Reuters, Pennsylvania Department of Health (2 outlets)
China-related news (international media coverage only)
Hong Kong's Joshua Wong sentenced to 10 more years in prison
Hong Kong's High Court sentenced Joshua Wong to 10 years in prison on Thursday under the national security law for "colluding with foreign forces". Prosecutors accused him of conspiring with Nathan Law and others between July and November 2020 to lobby foreign governments to impose sanctions and a blockade on Beijing; Wong pleaded guilty in September. The judge set a starting point of 13 years, reduced to 10 for his guilty plea and other factors, with only two months and two days overlapping his current 56-month subversion sentence. Wong has been in custody since 2020 and was due for release next January; he will now remain behind bars until about the age of 40. It is his second prosecution under the national security law; Human Rights Watch called the sentence "cruel and unjust".
Background: Wong was one of the student leaders of Hong Kong's 2014 Umbrella Movement.
China blocks SoftBank's $5.4 billion purchase of ABB robotics unit
ABB confirmed on Thursday that China's foreign investment security review office has blocked SoftBank's acquisition of its robotics business in China. The deal, agreed in October 2025 and valued at $5.375 billion, is now stalled; the Financial Times first reported, with Reuters following, that the National Development and Reform Commission feared robotics data could flow out and be used to train AI models, including those of OpenAI, in which SoftBank is a major investor. ABB said both sides remain in "close and constructive dialogue" and the deal has not been called off, though its structure, timing and price are now uncertain; China is ABB's largest robotics market, accounting for about 30% of the business. It is the second major deal China has blocked this year, after Meta was ordered to unwind its purchase of AI startup Manus.
Background: Cross-border deal reviews are tightening amid US-China tech competition.
China opens import expo in Shanghai as trade surplus nears record
The ninth China International Import Expo opened in Shanghai on Thursday morning, running from 5 to 10 November with 4,142 exhibitors from 162 countries, regions and international organisations. Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang told the opening ceremony that the expo is both an "active step to expand imports" and a "concrete action to advocate an open world economy", adding that the key question on trade balances is how to achieve balance. China is on course to surpass last year's $1.2 trillion trade surplus: exports grew 6.7% in the first 10 months of the year, while imports rose only 3.7%, reflecting weak domestic demand.
Background: The import expo has been held annually in Shanghai since 2018.
