Morning Brief: Trump says he's 'not in that much of a hurry' for an Iran deal as Doha talks enter a third day; Russia's 433-drone strike darkens Ukraine; judge tosses Trump's WSJ suit
Iran's security chief says Hormuz stays shut until seven conditions are met; FBI visits 'Decoy Dan' donors; the Supreme Court's November sitting opens Monday.
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I'm Nora Vale with your 6 AM World Brief for Sunday, November 1. Trump: U.S. 'not in that much of a hurry' for an Iran deal. Iranian negotiators hold a third day of talks in Doha. Iran's security chief: Hormuz 'cannot reopen' until seven conditions are met. Tanker fire reported after mines. Russia launches 433 drones at Ukraine overnight; hundreds of thousands of families without power. Judge dismisses Trump's WSJ defamation suit with prejudice; his team vows to press on. FBI visits 'Decoy Dan' donors in Alaska; Trump calls it 'voter fraud at the highest level.' Supreme Court returns Monday; Catholic preschools' case is argued Nov. 3. In national weather, from the National Weather Service: Impactful flash flooding expected in the Great Basin and Four Corners today. Thunderstorms associated with severe wind gusts and a tornado threat are expected this evening into tonight from parts of New Mexico northeastward into the southern High Plains. A more isolated severe threat will be possible in parts of the Desert Southwest this afternoon, a level 2 of 5 severe storm risk. Our opinion. Negotiate from strength, pay Iran nothing in advance; a peace that holds in Ukraine; equal treatment for faith schools. Full stories and sources at WorldBriefNow.com. I'm Nora Vale.
Asked at a Halloween event at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday night whether there is a time frame for the Qatari-mediated talks, President Trump said the U.S. is not "in that much of a hurry" because Iran's navy, air force and anti-aircraft equipment have been "knocked out," the Washington Examiner reported; Al Jazeera reported he called the talks "going fine" but said the U.S. still had sites to "take care of," singling out Pickaxe Mountain. Iranian negotiators were in Doha on Sunday for a third consecutive day of talks with Qatari mediators, Reuters reported via Iran International. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Qatar helped shorten Iran's reopening plan for the Strait of Hormuz to two days, with U.S. steps on day one and shipping resuming on day two, Investing.com reported.
Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, told state television that Washington has made three proposals, that Tehran is "now waiting for the Americans' response," and that the Strait of Hormuz "cannot reopen unless Iran's seven conditions are met," Iran International reported. Al Jazeera reported Rezaei said Iran would use "new weaponry" against any new attack and that the government was weighing a change to its nuclear doctrine, while Iran International quoted him saying "There has been no new decision" on that doctrine. Iran's navy said a tanker caught fire after striking mines east of Hormuz without naming the vessel, and U.S. Central Command said its blockade of Iranian ports has redirected 144 commercial ships, Investing.com reported.
Ukraine's Air Force said it downed 371 of the 433 drones Russia launched overnight into Nov. 1, with strikes recorded at 16 locations, and regional officials said Russian attacks killed one person and injured at least 47 over the past day, the Kyiv Independent reported. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said energy infrastructure in at least four regions was hit and that "hundreds of thousands of families remain without electricity," and DTEK introduced emergency power outages in Kyiv. Separately, Zelenskyy said after talks in Istanbul that he had agreed with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to work on a new Black Sea grain corridor, Anadolu reported.
Nizhny Novgorod Governor Gleb Nikitin said a "massive UAV attack" overnight caused "significant damage" to an industrial facility in the Kstovsky district, that more than 100 drones were destroyed, and that early information showed no casualties, Euronews reported. Telegram war-monitoring channels said the target was the Kstovo oil refinery, also known as Lukoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez, one of Russia's largest; Lukoil says the site produces diesel and aviation fuel. Nikitin warned of possible temporary power cuts and reduced heating in some residential networks during repairs.
About 320,000 people marched across France on Saturday, down from about 410,000 the week before, and police arrested 565 people nationwide, the interior ministry said, the Guardian reported; four police officers and one gendarme were injured in Paris. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said about 150 planned marches were peaceful but police faced an "extraordinary" level of violence from some rioters, and he called a Molotov cocktail thrown at a riot officer an "attempted murder." Youth-led protests in Germany also turned violent in places, with at least two stores looted in Frankfurt, the Guardian reported, citing a Reuters witness.
Russia's FSB said it received information from the U.S. about the preparation of a terrorist attack and that "appropriate work is underway," after the U.S. Embassy warned of "a credible threat of a mass-casualty event" Saturday at the Tsaritsyno Museum Reserve, ABC News (Australia) reported. The museum reserve was closed and visitors evacuated Saturday, then reopened on Nov. 1, Meduza reported, citing the park's call center; Meduza, citing Spiegel, said Germany's embassy issued a similar warning. Neither outlet reported an attack.
U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles in Miami on Saturday dismissed President Trump's lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal with prejudice in a 20-page ruling, finding he did not show the defendants made defamatory statements with actual malice and saying the suit was "grasping at straws," CBS News reported. Gayles had dismissed the original suit in April; Trump's team refiled it. A spokesperson for Trump's legal team said he "will continue to press forward," and a source familiar with his strategy said the decision will likely be appealed.
FBI agents have contacted donors to Dan Sullivan, the Alaska Senate candidate who shares the Republican incumbent's name, in at least two remote Alaska communities and in Massachusetts, asking whether they were misled about which candidate they supported, the AP reported via the New York Post; donors who spoke said they were not confused. Alaska U.S. Attorney Michael Heyman said the probe has run for several months, and that New York Times reporting that Mary Peltola's campaign appeared to be involved in recruiting Sullivan led to a "significant surge of law enforcement assets." At Mar-a-Lago Saturday night, Trump called it "voter fraud at the highest level"; Peltola has denied involvement, calling the allegations "garbage."
In a tele-rally Saturday for Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, attorney general candidate Saritha Komatireddy and congressional hopeful Anthony Constantino, President Trump said Hochul "may be the worst governor in the history of New York State" and that he expects Blakeman to win, the New York Post reported. The Post noted recent polls show Hochul ahead by 11 to 14 points; her spokesperson said Blakeman "defends everything Trump does." Trump also said on the call, "We're winning very easily the war with Iran."
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Saturday that President Trump agreed to grant a visa to the mother of Javits Frimpong, a 15-year-old who was shot and killed in the Bronx on Thursday, the Washington Examiner reported. Frimpong, who moved from Ghana to live with his father about a year ago, was shot in the abdomen Thursday morning on his way to school near Crotona Park and died later that day at St. Barnabas Hospital, police said.
On Monday the justices hear Maxwell v. Dinis, on a federal inmate's use of the habeas statute to challenge the Bureau of Prisons' refusal to speed his transfer to a halfway house or home confinement, and Younge v. Fulton Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office, Georgia, on raising an affirmative defense at summary judgment, SCOTUSblog reported. On Nov. 3 the Court hears the Catholic preschools' challenge to their exclusion from Colorado's universal preschool program, which they say is religious discrimination; Colorado says they remain welcome if they follow the same equal-opportunity rules as other publicly funded preschools, SCOTUSblog reported. The Archdiocese of Denver, two parishes and two parents are the challengers; the 10th Circuit ruled for the state.
The Trump administration's emergency application asking the Court to pause a preliminary injunction halting border-wall construction in the Big Bend sector (Mullin v. Friends of the Ruidosa Church, 26A560) was filed Oct. 21, and Justice Alito called for a response due Oct. 29, SCOTUSblog's case page shows. An environmental group, a local landowner and a group formed to preserve a church filed that response Thursday urging the justices to deny the request, SCOTUSblog reported. No order is listed as of this edition.
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