Evening Brief: Iran hits Omani navigation site in Hormuz; Ukraine talks end with swap deal, envoys to see Putin; Russia's U.S. envoy dies; Trump at Arlington vows "total victory"
Plus Europe's school bomb-threat wave, a 70% heating-oil jump, the White House warning on subpoenas, Bessent's move to a military base, and Trump's asylum ban among 11 Supreme Court relists.
5 PM CT video brief · 1:37Presenter voice and image generated with AI tools.Read transcript
I'm Nora Vale with your 5 PM World Brief for Wednesday, November 11. Iran hits navigation systems on Oman's Didamar island. Abu Dhabi talks end with swap deal; envoys to see Putin Thursday. Russia's U.S. ambassador Alexander Darchiev dies at 66. Trump at Arlington: "We must have a total victory." Trump's asylum ban among 11 relists for Friday's conference. In national weather, from the National Weather Service: Tropical Storm Pena, with top winds near 45 mph, may bring impacts to parts of Hawaii. Strengthening coastal storm to bring a soaking rain to the Northeast Thursday into Friday, with accumulating snow likely in the higher elevations of New York and northern New England. Our opinion. Keep the pressure on Iran, insist on real guarantees for Ukraine, and the Court should hear the asylum case. Full stories and sources at WorldBriefNow.com. I'm Nora Vale.
Iran attacked ship navigation systems on the Omani island of Didamar in the Strait of Hormuz, three sources with knowledge of the matter confirmed Wednesday, Reuters reported via Arab News; Iranian state media said Tuesday the Revolutionary Guard had destroyed "enemy navigation systems" there. The sources gave no damage assessment, Reuters could not determine whether any systems were destroyed, and shipping sources said the impact on commercial traffic would likely be limited because other systems are in place. Separately, Iran's army said Wednesday an oil tanker struck a mine and caught fire after entering a prohibited area of the strait.
Russian and Ukrainian negotiators agreed in principle to a major prisoner exchange as two days of U.S.-brokered talks ended Wednesday, with numbers to be set Thursday, but U.S. envoy Jared Kushner said "there is no trust right now between the sides" and territory remains the hardest issue, Reuters reported. Kushner and Steve Witkoff meet Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday, will press to bring European negotiators into the talks, and then plan to meet President Volodymyr Zelensky in Dublin, the New York Post reported. Ukrainian negotiator Davyd Arakhamia called it "one of the toughest" rounds, while Russia's Vladimir Medinsky said "every inch" of Russian land would be returned to Russia, Reuters reported.
Russia's Foreign Ministry announced that Alexander Darchiev, its ambassador to the United States, "passed away suddenly" on Wednesday at age 66, and Fox News confirmed the death happened in Russia, not the U.S. No cause of death was immediately announced, the Washington Examiner reported. Darchiev, appointed by Vladimir Putin in March 2025 and previously Russia's ambassador to Canada from 2014 to 2021, oversaw a softening of embassy restrictions during the Trump administration's push to mediate the Ukraine war, the Examiner reported.
Hundreds of schools in Italy were evacuated Wednesday after threatening emails were sent to more than 6,000 schools, along with threats against public buildings and officials, and no bombs were found, the Washington Examiner reported. Hundreds of schools in the United Kingdom and Ireland also received threats, signed "Mikhail Andropov, leader of the Vilayat of Misoginistan," according to Reuters as cited by the Examiner. Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said the sender has not been confirmed, and Russia and Iran have denied any role.
American households are projected to spend an average of $1,002 on home heating this winter, up 7.1% from last year, while households in New York and nearby states that use heating oil face costs of $2,977, a 70.2% jump, according to a National Energy Assistance Directors Association forecast reported by the New York Post. "Heating oil costs are a direct consequence of the Iran war," supply-chain consultant Joe Adamski told the Post. NEADA said about one in six households are already behind on utility bills, owing about $23 billion.
Speaking at Arlington National Cemetery on Veterans Day, President Trump said "America did not start a war with Iran. Iran has been waging war on America since 1979," cited the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing, and said "We must have a total victory," adding that "we lost 18 beautiful souls" and the conflict will be over "soon," Fox News reported. Trump laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and said he will dedicate "a magnificent triumphal arch to our veterans," a project a federal judge has put on hold as lawsuits proceed, the New York Post reported. He also warned, "We're not going to allow anyone to hurt or damage our country with bad foolish horrible ideology," the Post reported.
White House counsel William Scharf wrote to Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., the Oversight Committee's ranking member who is poised to chair it next year, to "remind you of the foundational limits that the Constitution imposes on congressional investigations and subpoenas," saying compulsory process is for oversight functions "and only for oversight functions," Fox News reported. Garcia responded that "It appears Donald Trump has something to hide" and that Congress' authority "comes from Article I of the Constitution, not from the permission of the White House." Fox noted Garcia had warned "Lawyer up" on Election Day and Rep. Emily Randall said Democrats would pass out subpoenas "like candy."
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has relocated from his Washington-area home following an Iran-linked threat against his life, becoming at least the fifth Trump administration official to move into military housing, the Washington Examiner reported. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and War Secretary Pete Hegseth live on Generals' Row at Fort McNair, and chief of staff Stephen Miller's family moved to military housing in October 2025 after protests and death threats, the Examiner reported.
The justices relisted 11 new petitions for Friday's conference, up from four last week, and the most consequential may be Mullin v. Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, the government's appeal of a D.C. Circuit ruling that the President cannot categorically deny asylum by Proclamation 10888, SCOTUSblog reported. Iowa and 21 other states back the government, and the D.C. Circuit's mandate is stayed, leaving the asylum restrictions in place for now. Also relisted is GEO Group's challenge to a roughly $37 million judgment over paying Washington's minimum wage to ICE detainees in a voluntary work program, where the solicitor general recommends review, SCOTUSblog reported.
Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett each urged Americans to study their system of government and its history in interviews filmed by the Federalist Society ahead of its National Lawyers Convention this week, Fox News reported. "The ideas in the Declaration of Independence that all of us are created equal, that every one of us has God-given rights — they don't come from government, they come from God," Gorsuch said. The Court is closed for Veterans Day and the justices meet in conference Friday.
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