The most important world events of the past 24 hours
Paraguay's President Peña resigns, lower house votes 78-0 to impeach
🐱 Scout anchor · Paraguay president resigns and is impeached
Paraguayan President Santiago Peña announced his resignation on Thursday after the collapse of digital bank Ueno froze the savings of about 2.9 million customers — nearly half the country's population — and triggered three days of protests that turned his own Colorado Party against him. Minutes after his announcement, the lower house voted 78-0 to impeach him, sending the charges to the Senate, which began a trial on Thursday night that is expected to continue on Friday. The attorney general has opened three criminal cases against Peña and other former officials, and Vice President Pedro Alliana is expected to be sworn in to serve out the term through August 2028.
Background: The central bank seized Ueno on November 3 after its solvency ratio fell below half the required minimum; six executives have been jailed and 27 people charged.
US stocks plunge: Nasdaq drops 5.5% into correction, S&P posts worst day since April
🐱 Scout banker · US stocks plunge on Thursday
US stocks closed sharply lower on Thursday, wiping out the post-midterm rally: the S&P 500 fell 4.36% to 7,353.73, its worst day since April 2025, the Nasdaq Composite dropped 5.52% to 24,315 — 11.9% below its October 6 record close and into correction territory — and the Dow lost 1,833 points (-3.44%) to 51,523.06. The PHLX Semiconductor Index plunged 12.25%, with AMD down 17.3%, Micron down 17.5%, Nvidia down 9.3% and Qualcomm down 9.5%, while the VIX volatility gauge jumped nearly 70% to 28.18. Reuters tied the sell-off to growing opposition to data-center expansion after the Democrats' midterm sweep, alongside profit-taking, as selling spread from chip stocks across the market; the October jobs report is due on Friday.
Background: Stocks had posted their biggest one-day gain in three months on Wednesday after the Democratic wins, with the Dow up 1,569 points.
More tankers burn near Hormuz as Iran rejects US proposal
🐱 Scout field reporter · Tankers attacked near Hormuz
The UK Maritime Trade Operations center said a tanker was hit by two projectiles about 50 nautical miles north of Madinat ash Shamal, Qatar, late on Wednesday, with crew status and damage unconfirmed; Iran's Revolutionary Guard said on Thursday that two tankers and a tugboat caught fire after attempting to use "unauthorized routes" through the Strait of Hormuz, with one tanker striking a mine south of the strait. Iran's top security official Mohsen Rezaei has rejected Washington's latest response, saying it failed to address Tehran's seven conditions and that the strait will only reopen once they are met, while the US Treasury imposed new sanctions on companies in India and Turkey for supporting Iran. Oil rebounded on Thursday: Brent crude rose about 2.2% to around $96.70 after falling below $100 on Wednesday, and WTI crude settled at $90.96.
Background: US-Iran talks stalled last weekend and the Iranian delegation was ordered out of the US, with shipping through Hormuz still severely disrupted.
First lady Melania Trump hosted Russian and Ukrainian representatives at the White House on Thursday morning, calling on both sides to choose "humanity over war" and to pursue a full peace deal. Russia sent Putin envoy Kirill Dmitriev and human rights commissioner Yana Lantratova, while Ukraine sent human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets and lawmaker David Arakhamia; Melania Trump handed the delegations personal letters addressed to Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The gathering marked the six-day ceasefire she helped broker in the Russian-held city of Oleshky, which evacuated about 800 civilians before expiring on Sunday, and was the first in-person contact between Russian and US officials since the midterm elections; US-mediated trilateral talks are set for November 10-11 in Abu Dhabi.
Background: The morning edition reported that the US will mediate technical-level talks between Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi on November 10-11.
Political developments and international relations
France's nationwide strike: government counts 600,000 marchers, 448 detained
France's nationwide strike day unfolded on Thursday as five major unions protested wages, public services and the 2027 budget. The Interior Ministry said about 600,000 people demonstrated nationwide — the CGT union put the figure at 1.6 million — with 448 people detained and 53 police officers injured; about 15% of teachers walked out, roughly a third of high schools were closed or disrupted, nuclear output fell by 2.4 gigawatts and the Eiffel Tower closed, though Paris transport saw no major disruption. Unions are demanding an immediate 10% minimum-wage rise (CGT) or an extra 100 euros a month (CFDT), and Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu will meet unions and employers on November 9 to discuss living costs and pay; Yellow Vest groups have called for further protests on Friday and Saturday.
Background: The first round of France's presidential election is set for April 18, 2027, and Emmanuel Macron cannot run again.
Midterm aftershocks: Alaska and Mississippi Senate races still uncalled
Democrats have secured at least 54 Senate seats and 235 House seats, but two Senate races remain undecided: Alaska uses ranked-choice voting and final results are not due until November 18, while Mississippi's race is razor-thin with absentee and affidavit ballots still being checked — and the state has no formal recount process, so the outcome may end up in court. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries set out four priorities for the incoming majority: undoing Medicaid cuts, extending health insurance tax credits, reclaiming Congress's say over tariffs and ending the war with Iran. On the Republican side, Speaker Mike Johnson will not seek the party leader post, with Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan competing in a vote on November 10.
Background: The evening edition reported the Democratic sweep of both chambers and Trump's admission that the Iran war hurt Republicans at the polls.
Poland arrests four over alleged spying for Russia, two more over military shipments
Poland's Internal Security Agency (ABW) said on Thursday it had arrested four people on charges of spying for Russian intelligence services and providing them with military components, while two others accused of participating in an organized criminal group were placed under non-custodial preventive measures. The six suspects include five Poles aged 25 to 52 and a 37-year-old Russian woman; the four espionage suspects have been remanded in pretrial detention for three months. Poland's special services chief said about 100 people have been suspected in espionage and sabotage cases since January 1, 2024.
Background: Poland has uncovered a series of alleged Russian espionage and sabotage cases in recent months.
Bangladesh's Hasina vows to return next month despite death sentence
Bangladesh's ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina told AP News that she remains committed to returning to Bangladesh next month despite being sentenced to death over her government's deadly crackdown on protesters. Hasina has lived in exile since her government fell last year, and Bangladeshi authorities sentenced her to death for the crackdown; she insists she will return to face the situation. (single source, unverified)
Background: Hasina's government fell last year after its deadly crackdown on protesters.
Bank of England raises rates to 4%, first hike in three years
The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee voted 8-1 on Thursday to raise interest rates from 3.75% to 4%, the first increase since August 2023; the sole dissenter, Catherine Mann, wanted a bigger rise to 4.25%. The Bank expects inflation to reach around 5% in the middle of next year, far above its 2% target, driven mainly by energy prices pushed up by the US-Iran war; Governor Andrew Bailey signalled another increase may be needed unless inflation risks ease, while cautioning against seeing the move as the start of a long series of rises. The next rate decision is due on December 17.
Background: Eurozone inflation also rose to 4.0% in October, a three-year high; UK CPI was 3.5% in September.
SoftBank shares fall 6.8% as ABB robotics deal hangs in doubt
SoftBank shares closed 6.8% lower in Tokyo on Thursday and ABB fell 1.1% after ABB confirmed that China had prohibited SoftBank's acquisition of its robotics business in China. The deal, agreed in October 2025 at an enterprise value of $5.375 billion, is now in doubt; the Financial Times reported that China's National Development and Reform Commission was concerned robotics data could be transferred abroad to train AI models, including those of SoftBank-backed OpenAI. ABB said both companies remain "in close dialogue and are working constructively on the transaction," which has not been terminated, though its structure, timing and price are all uncertain; China is ABB Robotics' largest market, accounting for about 30% of the business.
Background: The evening edition reported that China had blocked SoftBank's acquisition of ABB's robotics business.
Tech companies, research breakthroughs and digital policy
Moonshot AI seeks to rent Nvidia Blackwell compute in Europe to bypass export controls (single source)
Moonshot AI, the Chinese lab behind the Kimi models, has discussed renting Nvidia's latest Blackwell GPU capacity from European cloud providers, including clusters of 8,000 or more GPUs, to circumvent US export restrictions on advanced chips to China, CNBC reported. The approach relies on leasing compute capacity from facilities in Germany and the Netherlands rather than importing hardware directly into China. The Financial Times reported on November 3 that Nvidia told cloud providers they must sell at least 51% of their services to non-Chinese customers, and a US bill, the Remote Access Security Act, would extend export controls to cloud access. (single source, unverified)
Background: Reuters reported the same day that about 600,000 Nvidia H200 chips are stuck in Hong Kong as Beijing withholds import approval.
Nvidia and Oracle expand Vera Rubin partnership to multi-gigawatt scale
Nvidia and Oracle announced at Oracle AI World on November 5 that they will expand Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) Superclusters with Nvidia Vera Rubin NVL72 systems to multi-gigawatt scale and bring Nvidia Vera CPUs to OCI, with plans to introduce Rubin HGX NVL8 systems. The superclusters combine NVLink-connected GPUs with Spectrum-X networking to train frontier models and run agentic applications; Oracle said OpenAI has trained GPT-6 Astra on an OCI Supercluster with more than 100,000 Nvidia Blackwell GPUs.
Background: AI infrastructure spending has become a focal point as Wall Street reassesses technology valuations.
Sources: Nvidia and Oracle announcements (via tech media)
Military developments, security situations and conflicts
Russia pounds Ukraine's energy grid; Kyiv's power and water gradually restored
Russia kept up its assault on Ukraine's energy infrastructure this week: on November 2-3 it launched 289 drones, 17 ballistic missiles and 59 cruise missiles at power plants and substations across nine regions, followed overnight by 310 drones, including 81 jet-powered ones, and Moscow said it hit two power stations in the Kyiv and Zhytomyr regions. Kyiv suffered its worst water outage since the full-scale invasion began, with supplies cut for more than a day across most districts, and DTEK, Ukraine's largest private energy company, said three of its five thermal power plants were knocked offline; grid operator Ukrenergo said energy facilities had been struck more than 20 times in 24 hours. Supplies were later restored and emergency shutdowns in Kyiv ended, though officials warned the grid remained fragile; the Kremlin has confirmed trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi on November 10-11, with Putin aide Vladimir Medinsky leading Moscow's team.
Background: The morning edition reported Zelenskyy denying an energy ceasefire and Ukraine resuming strikes on Russian refineries.
Saudi Arabia and Syria sign defence agreement as Houthi threat to Yanbu oil hub grows
Saudi Arabia issued alerts on Thursday warning of potential danger in Yanbu, its Red Sea oil export hub, as Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis continue attacks on the kingdom. The Houthis said on Wednesday they had attacked Riyadh's international airport while Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa visited the kingdom, where he witnessed the signing of a defence agreement with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman; no details were provided on what the agreement entails. Saudi Arabia has been requesting defensive and offensive support from countries ranging from the US to Europe and the Middle East, and Turkey is set to ratify a mutual defence pact with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
Background: The Houthis have attacked Saudi airports and oil facilities with missiles and drones since October, at one point shutting Riyadh airport entirely.
Iran war is stripping US naval forces from the western Pacific, Defense One reports
Half of the US Navy's Japan-based destroyers are currently supporting the war on Iran, Defense One reported on November 5, belying administration strategy documents that called the Pacific theater a top priority. Five of the 10 destroyers homeported in Yokosuka, along with the Yokosuka-based aircraft carrier George Washington, are deployed to US Central Command's area of responsibility, and crews of at least some of those destroyers have been told they will not return home until 2027. Although Operation Epic Fury officially concluded in June, the Pentagon is keeping a large force in the region, making occasional attacks and waiting to see whether President Trump will order more.
Background: The US-Iran war has lasted eight months, with shipping through the Strait of Hormuz severely disrupted.
Bavaria's deputy premier Aiwanger found dead in Berlin hotel; prosecutors rule out foul play
Hubert Aiwanger, Bavaria's deputy premier and economy minister and leader of the Free Voters party, was found dead in his hotel room in Berlin's Mitte district on Wednesday evening, aged 55. Aiwanger had travelled to Berlin for the opening of his party's new office but pulled out of the event after feeling unwell, according to Bild. Berlin prosecutors said on Thursday that no external causes were involved in his sudden death, while forensic examinations continue and no cause of death has been specified. Bavarian premier Markus Söder called the death "an absolute tragedy" and ordered flags flown at half-mast on state government buildings.
Background: Aiwanger had led the Free Voters in Bavaria since 2006 and served as deputy premier since 2018.
WHO approves trials for two new Ebola vaccines as Congo outbreak passes 5,300 deaths
The World Health Organization on Wednesday approved clinical trials for two new Ebola vaccines designed for the Bundibugyo virus: ChAdOx1 BDBV, developed by the University of Oxford with the Serum Institute of India, and Moderna's mRNA-1469. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said the outbreak has killed more than 5,300 people since May, with 10,444 cases confirmed and a fatality rate above 50%, making it the largest Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo's history. A trial that began last month used the Ervebo vaccine, which is approved for the Zaire strain but not for Bundibugyo; the new trials are led by the DRC's National Institute for Biomedical Research, with results expected in early 2027.
Background: The evening edition reported a British healthcare worker infected with Ebola being evacuated from Congo to the UK.
French blood service hit by cyberattack; plasma freezers reset to 110°C, no products lost
Hackers manipulated refrigeration controls at three French blood-storage facilities overnight on November 1-2, changing temperature and defrosting thresholds on plasma cold rooms from minus 30°C to 110°C, France's national blood service (EFS) confirmed. The attack ran through remote monitoring software operated by refrigeration supplier Coolworld; an on-call technician spotted the abnormal settings in time, products were moved to other sites, and EFS said no blood products were lost, no patients were affected and collection and distribution continued uninterrupted. France's national cybersecurity agency and the Health Ministry are investigating; the incident is part of a wider wave of attacks on internet-connected refrigeration controllers across Europe, which hit about 700 French supermarkets on October 11-12 and more than 100 shops in nine other countries on November 2, with no group claiming responsibility.
Background: The French weekly Le Canard enchaîné first reported the attack, which the Health Ministry confirmed on Wednesday.
China-related news (international media coverage only)
China withholds approval for Nvidia H200 imports; about 600,000 chips stuck in Hong Kong
About 600,000 of Nvidia's H200 artificial intelligence chips are stored in Hong Kong awaiting shipment to mainland China, Reuters reported exclusively on November 5, as Beijing withholds approval for large-scale imports despite demand from Chinese technology firms. A small number of chips have been allowed in over recent months — several major Chinese internet companies have each obtained about 10,000 — but Beijing has yet to approve large-volume imports, reflecting its reluctance to increase reliance on US technology. An eight-card H200 server was offered for more than 6 million yuan (about $900,000) in mainland China by the end of October, about three times its price a year earlier. The US gave Nvidia permission last year to sell H200 chips to approved Chinese customers, but Beijing has imposed its own constraints; ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent have ordered more than 3 million Nvidia RTX Pro 5500 graphics cards, with a combined sticker price exceeding $35 billion.
Background: Export controls and countermeasures on advanced chips keep escalating amid US-China technology competition.
