“President Donald Trump on Saturday said he had ordered the Justice Department to look into ‘threats’ by Democrats against Republicans in the wake of the GOP’s midterm electoral defeat, adding that those responsible should be imprisoned. Across two Truth Social posts, Trump accused Democrats of threatening Republican donors with imprisonment and Attorney General Todd Blanche and other administration officials with impeachment. He also said Democrats were targeting people ‘just because they happen to be Republicans, or Republican supporters.'” (11/07/26)
“Michel Barnier, the EU’s former Brexit negotiator has warned that the UK cannot ‘cherry pick’ which elements of the single market to which it subscribes, after Andy Burnham said he wanted to explore closer economic ties with Europe. The prime minister has said rejoining the bloc’s internal market was among options he could pursue as part of a reshaping of ties since the UK’s exit from the EU nearly six years ago. But Michel Barnier told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that EU members would insist on the UK readopting certain conditions, such as the free movement of people, to gain access. He said there was not a ‘single market à la carte’ menu from which the UK could pick and choose what elements it wanted to adopt.” (11/07/26)
“Israeli authorities have released Palestinian journalist Abed Abou Shhadeh after detaining him for five days without charge. Speaking after his release, Abou Shhadeh said on Sunday that his detention was part of ‘political measures’ intended not only for him ‘but to intimidate Arab society as a whole’. … Abou Shhadeh was held in a Shin Bet intelligence facility in Petah Tikva, on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, after being detained on Tuesday on suspicion of ‘contact with a foreign agent’. He was suspected of receiving money from foreign sources in order to support Israel’s Arab voters, according to the legal rights group Adalah, which is part of his defence team.” (11/08/26)
“The manager of the late country music star Dolly Parton has dropped a lawsuit against her nephew. The civil case was filed by the company that manages Parton’s business interests less than a month after her death. It included allegations of threats, intimidation and coercion against Bryan Seaver, the relative who publicly confirmed Parton had died in August. A temporary restraining order was also sought. Seaver, who previously served as Parton’s head of security, denied the allegations. In a statement to the BBC’s US partner, CBS News, Seaver’s attorneys said he was ‘grateful to put this misunderstanding behind him so that the family can grieve peacefully’.” (11/07/26)
“The Justice Department closed its antitrust investigation into Fox Corp.’s $22 billion acquisition of streaming platform Roku after the media company agreed to measures aimed at protecting competing streaming services, officials said Friday. The decision allowed Fox to complete its acquisition of Roku, combining its television, news and sports operations with a streaming platform reaching more than 100 million households worldwide. Federal regulators had investigated whether the merger would reduce competition or allow Fox to favor its own programming over rival content on Roku devices. DOJ officials said its investigation found that competition from other streaming platforms would likely prevent the combined company from harming consumers.” (11/07/26)
“The US has announced a reward of up to $20 million for information about Iran’s nuclear programme. The State Department’s Rewards for Justice is also offering to potentially relocate the person who provides such details. President Donald Trump claimed last year that Iran’s nuclear facilities had been ‘completely and totally obliterated’ following a bombing campaign by the US and Israel. Iran insists its nuclear programme is peaceful and that it has no intention of developing a nuclear weapon. Meanwhile, the US military says it is setting up a task force to enhance Washington’s efforts to restrict Iran’s movement of weapons and sanctioned material across its borders.” (11/07/26)
“A Kenyan cult leader has been sentenced to 200 years in prison for the murder of 191 people, all but one of them children, in a campaign of abuse and forced fasting. Paul Mackenzie, founder of the Good News International Church, was sentenced Friday alongside more than two dozen others at the Mombasa High Court. Mackenzie preached that the world would end in August 2023 and that followers needed to fast in order to reach heaven. According to a Kenyan Senate report into the deaths, his teachings were based on ‘doomsday or end-times’ beliefs. Children were scheduled to die first, followed by young people and women. Men were expected to stay alive long enough to bury the bodies before dying.” (11/06/26)
“New Zealand voted in a new government as fog choked the capital, Wellington, on Saturday – and the mood was as palpable as the grey weather. ‘It’s pretty flat,’ 21-year-old Imogen Vlutger says. ‘There’s this kind of apathy and a bit of dread.’ ‘Tired. I think we’re all tired,’ Symone, 28, admits. ‘I didn’t even vote,’ one man in his 40s sheepishly confesses. He couldn’t bring himself to tick any of the boxes, he explains, declining to chat further. ‘Wellington’s a bit of a bubble,’ another voter says, expressing a caveat I heard often, before describing feeling disillusioned. But polling shows this is a pervasive sentiment across the country: the national mood is low and faith in politics is even lower. More than half the country no longer sees it as a land of opportunity, a recent study found, while a similar portion fears that the future looks even worse.” (11/07/26)
“Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R) provided an update on the Last Frontier’s closely watched Senate race as vote counting continues in the state. ‘It’s very close,’ the Alaska Republican said in an interview with John Catsimatidis on WABC radio giving an update on what lies ahead in the process of counting votes. He said that there is a ‘big batch’ of votes coming in next week on Nov. 13, followed by a ‘smaller batch’ on Nov. 15. The final count will happen on Nov. 25. … The race has been neck-to-neck with Peltola taking a slight lead over the incumbent with a little over 48 percent of the votes, according to Decision Desk HQ. Sullivan, on the other hand, has secured 47.9 percent of votes with 70 percent of the expected votes counted.” (11/08/26)
“Media linked to the Houthi movement in Yemen say that at least 25 people, including women and children, have been killed in airstrikes by Saudi Arabia. There has been no comment from the Saudi-led coalition backing the internationally recognised government in Yemen. Live video footage on Al Masirah – a television station run by the Houthis – has shown rescuers pulling bodies out of the rubble of several buildings in al-Shariyah, a town to the east of the capital, Sanaa. The bodies of young children can be seen among those dug out from the ruins. The television station has also shown a number of injured people being carried on stretchers to hospital. Saba news agency, which is also run by the Houthis, said the attack was carried out by Saudi Arabia.” (11/07/26)
