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MIDDLE EAST WAR | Day 249.

• Reports cite U.S. officials as saying the U.S. military carried out limited strikes overnight on Iran's Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, describing them as defensive measures against Iranian surface-to-air missile threats to U.S. assets and not a resumption of major combat operations. [more]
• Amidst stalled negotiations to end the Middle East war, U.S. President Donald Trump suggested last night that the U.S. "might have to" target Iran's Pickaxe Mountain, an underground site near the Natanz nuclear complex. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 1,711 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• At least 29 people were killed, and 48 others remain missing, following a Russian bomb strike yesterday on a humanitarian aid distribution site in Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhia region, according to Ukrainian officials. [more]
• Ukraine says Russia launched 289 drones, 17 ballistic missiles, and 59 cruise missiles at targets in nine regions of Ukraine overnight, killing at least one person, wounding scores of others, and triggering emergency power cuts. Russia's Defense Ministry says the strikes hit four power plants and two electricity substations that it claims supply Ukrainian military factories and the army. [more]
• U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff announced yesterday that the U.S. will mediate "working-level" negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi on November 10 and 11. Reports note that the last U.S.-mediated talks between the two countries took place in February. [more]
• Britain and France say some 2,800 troops from 11 European countries will take part in a November 9–22 exercise in Poland to rehearse the deployment of the Multinational Force Ukraine, which would move into Ukraine upon the end of the Russia-Ukraine war to help rebuild the country's armed forces and provide other support. Officials note that the multi-national force is "the military arm of the Coalition of the Willing, a group of nations who have pledged strengthened military, economic, and diplomatic support to Ukraine." [U.K. Ministry of Defence announcement] [more]

U.S. GUN VIOLENCE | Authorities in Monterey County, California, say two people were killed, and two others were injured, early yesterday in a shooting at Moss Landing State Beach, between Santa Cruz and Monterey. The victims have not yet been identified, and authorities say they have not determined what led to the shooting, which remains under investigation. [more]

U.S. ELECTIONS | In developments as Americans vote in today's mid-term elections:

• As Election Day opens, data compiled by the University of Florida's Election Lab indicates that more than 58 million people across the U.S. had cast early in-person or mail-in ballots as of last night. [UF Election Lab early vote tracker] [more]
• The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday rejected the Trump administration's emergency request that California set aside the ballots of some 20,000 registered voters the administration alleges may not be citizens. [more]
• A federal judge in Washington, D.C., yesterday temporarily barred the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security from sending states lists of registered voters the administration says may not be citizens, or from asking election officials to set aside those voters' ballots. [more]
• According to a projection by campaign finance tracker OpenSecrets, total spending in the 2026 mid-term election cycle is expected to reach nearly $12 billion, which would make it the most expensive mid-term election on record. [OpenSecrets projection] [more]

NEW YORK | State and county health officials say a child in New York's rural Lewis County has died after contracting measles – the state's first measles-related death in 30 years. [joint statement] [more]

U.S., SOUTH AFRICA, AND RWANDA | Citing trade barriers and what it calls threats to U.S. national security and foreign policy interests, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said yesterday that South Africa and Rwanda will be suspended from the African Growth and Opportunity Act, a U.S. duty-free trade program for sub-Saharan Africa, on January 1. South Africa's trade ministry is reported to have said it will support affected industries and accelerate the diversification of its export markets. [USTR statement] [more]

U.S. AND INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT | Speaking remotely to the U.N. General Assembly yesterday because of U.S. sanctions, the president of the International Criminal Court, Judge Tomoko Akane, accused the Trump administration of trying to obstruct international justice and called on all U.N. member states to "take concrete action" in defense of the court. [ICC statement] [more]

GLOBAL CLIMATE | In a report released last week by the *Lancet Countdown* on health and climate change, researchers say climate change has become a "global health emergency," with heat linked to an average of more than 540,000 deaths a year from 2016 to 2023. [full report] [more]

GLOBAL HEALTH | The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a generic version of lenacapavir, the only twice-yearly injection to prevent HIV, for sale in 120 low- and middle-income countries at an expected cost of $40 per person a year. Global health organizations say the shot, which nearly eliminated new infections in two major studies, could reach many of the estimated 20 million people worldwide who need HIV-prevention medication. [more]

U.K. AND E.U. | The BBC reports that the U.K. and the E.U. have agreed on a draft deal to remove post-Brexit checks on food and agricultural exports, ahead of a U.K.-E.U. summit later this month. In return, the U.K. would be expected to follow E.U. rules on plant, animal, and food standards. [more]

U.K. IMMIGRATION | U.K. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said yesterday that the government will double, to 10 years, the time most foreign workers must wait to qualify for permanent residency, with exemptions for care workers and higher earners. Under the new rules, set to take effect next year, refugees who arrive by unauthorized routes, such as small boats, could wait as long as 30 years. [Home Secretary's statement] [more]

ISRAEL | Israel's Arab-led parties, which won a record 19 seats in last week's parliamentary election, are reported to have said this week that they will back opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot's bloc in parliament in an effort to unseat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, though not necessarily as part of a governing coalition. Combined, the Arab-led parties and Eisenkot's bloc would hold 67 of the Knesset's 120 seats. [more]

MEXICO | A federal ban on cellphones in Mexico's elementary and middle school classrooms takes effect today, amidst concerns from some parents that they will be unable to reach their children during outbreaks of violence or other emergencies. [more]

PAKISTAN | Authorities in Pakistan say suspected militants shot and killed two police officers guarding polio vaccination workers in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province today. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack. [more]

SOCCER | Citing travel disruptions and logistical complexities arising from the Middle East conflict, the Asian Football Confederation today postponed the start of the 2027 Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia by almost a year, from January 7, 2027, to December 23, 2027. [more]

ENTERTAINMENT AWARDS | The Kennedy Center yesterday named singer-songwriter Paul Anka, music producer David Foster, actor Andy Garcia, playwright David Mamet, and country singer Barbara Mandrell as this year's recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors. The December 7 ceremony will be held at Washington's Capital One Arena while the Kennedy Center remains closed amidst a legal dispute over President Donald Trump's plans to renovate the building. [full honoree info] [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1957, the Soviet Union launched the Sputnik 2 spacecraft, which carried the dog Laika, the first living creature to be sent into space and orbit Earth. [more history]