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US president warns Iran to make a deal, as IRGC says two tankers have hit mines and caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz.

Senator Chris Murphy, a fierce Trump critic who is not up for re-election in the midterms, is ‘alert’ after a stroke.

United States Senator Chris Murphy, a high-ranking Democratic legislator, has suffered a stroke but is “awake and alert”, his senior aide said.

Murphy remained hospitalised on Sunday after seeking medical care for numbness in his arm the day before, his chief-of-staff, Allison Herwitt, said in a statement.

She said he was “responding well to treatment” at John Hopkins, one of the country’s top hospitals.

“The doctors are encouraged by his progress, he is awake and alert, and we are optimistic he will make a full recovery,” Herwitt said.

Murphy is not up for re-election in Tuesday’s midterms that will decide which party controls Congress, but is considered a potential presidential candidate in 2028.

A 20-year senator from the state of Connecticut, Murphy serves as a top Democrat on two powerful Senate committees: appropriations, which decides how US government funds are allocated, and foreign relations.

Murphy toured the Middle East in October, the first regional trip by a US Democrat since the US-Israel war on Iran began in February.

He has been a fierce critic of US President Donald Trump and the Iran war, pledging that Democrats will withhold funding for the war if they win the Senate on Tuesday.

He accused the US Defense Department of denying him access to a US military base in Qatar during his trip last month and has pledged to investigate Trump and his family for alleged corruption if Democrats win the Senate.

Trump said he was “really surprised” to learn about Murphy’s stroke, adding that “nobody wants to have that”.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Saturday that diplomatic contacts with Iran have continued despite escalating tensions in the Middle East, stressing that Washington remains open to a peaceful solution provided its core security concerns are addressed, Anadolu reports.

Speaking to reporters in Atlanta, Rubio said there was no set timetable for the ongoing diplomatic efforts, but emphasized that communication channels remained open.

“There are multiple talks. Talks have actually never stopped,” he said, adding that conversations were taking place both directly and, more often, through intermediaries.

“The president’s preference in any challenge around the world is to try to solve it diplomatically and peacefully, if possible,” Rubio said, referring to President Donald Trump’s approach.

He added that Washington would welcome a diplomatic outcome, provided it did not endanger US national security or leave its principal concerns unresolved.

READ: Iran war damage to US bases may cost billions in reconstruction: Report

At the center of those concerns, Rubio said, are Iran’s nuclear program and what Washington sees as Tehran’s destabilizing role across the region.

He accused Iran of targeting commercial shipping in international waters, warning that attacks on vessels carrying oil, natural gas and other cargo threaten not only maritime security but also global energy and food supplies.

Rubio also pointed to Iran’s support for regional groups, including the Houthis in Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon, arguing that their activities have contributed to instability and security concerns for neighboring countries.

Addressing Gulf security, he reaffirmed Washington’s defense commitments to Saudi Arabia, saying the US remained in regular contact with Riyadh and intended to honor its agreements.

The longest multi-day truce between Russia and Ukraine, limited to Ukraine’s eastern Kherson region, has come to an end with no violations reported by either side, but also no sign of an extension.

The truce, which ended on Sunday night, allowed hundreds of besieged residents of the Russian-occupied Ukrainian town of Oleshky to be evacuated in a rare joint operation between Kyiv and Moscow.

Russian strikes elsewhere in Ukraine on Sunday left hundreds of thousands of households without power, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. In Russia, meanwhile, authorities reported major ⁠damage to an industrial site following Ukrainian drone attacks on the Nizhny Novgorod region.

The six-day localised ceasefire in the front-line Oleshky and the surrounding area was reached after mediation efforts by United States First Lady Melania Trump and with the involvement of Pope Leo XIV. It was set to expire at 10:59pm Ukraine time (20:59 GMT).

On Sunday, Ukraine’s military said it evacuated 167 more people from threatened areas of the southern Kherson region, including 22 children and 21 people with limited mobility requiring special assistance.

“Units of civil-military cooperation of the ‘South’ group of forces, in cooperation with representatives of local authorities, evacuated 167 civilians to safer points in the Kherson region,” Ukraine’s General Staff wrote on Telegram.

An estimated 2,000 civilians were in Oleshky when the temporary truce took hold. They were offered the choice to evacuate to Kyiv-controlled territory of Ukraine or territory occupied by Russia, or to remain in the city with replenished food and medical supplies.

“The ceasefire across Oleshky and the surrounding Kherson region has provided residents with the freedom to move, access to food, clean water, medicine, plus a renewed sense of dignity without the constant threat of attack,” Melania Trump said on social media. “Let Oleshky become the starting point for lasting peace.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, quoted by Russian news agencies, said Moscow had a positive view of how the operation was conducted in Oleshky, as well as of the coordination between the two countries’ human rights commissioners.

A Ukrainian official, however, told the AFP news agency that Russia reportedly refused an offer to extend the ceasefire after Kyiv’s Foreign Ministry proposed it.

Since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbour in February 2022, Moscow’s forces have occupied most of the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, as well as the majority of territory in Ukraine’s southern Kherson and Zaporizhia regions.

Residents urged to remain vigilant

Kherson Governor Oleksandr Prokudin urged residents to be vigilant as the expiry of the ceasefire neared on Sunday.

“I also strongly urge you not to visit the so-called ‘red zones’ – areas and settlements near the Dnipro [River],” Prokudin wrote on Telegram. “The intensity of Russian strikes there remains high, and the threat to life is extremely high.”

Residents in Kherson city, one of the remaining areas of the region still controlled by Ukraine, remained calm, despite knowing the quiet of the localised ceasefire would soon end.

“Don’t be afraid, keep holding on,” Oleksandr Knyha, head of the Mykola Kulish Kherson Regional Academic Music and Drama Theater, told the audience as he opened a concert.

Knyha is from Oleshky and used to commute from there to Kherson for work. He has not given up hope of returning home.

“That’s also what keeps me here,” he told the Associated Press news agency.

Fighting elsewhere

Elsewhere, Moscow and Kyiv have continued air strikes, with Zelenskyy saying on Sunday that Russia continues to target Ukraine’s energy systems before winter. Attacks on power infrastructure in four Ukrainian regions overnight cut electricity to hundreds of thousands of households, he said.

A Russian attack also killed three people, including a 13-year-old girl, in the Ukrainian region of Vinnytsia, when a drone hit the grounds of a vocational school, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said. Four others were wounded.

Russian drone attacks targeting Ukraine’s Kyiv region for a second consecutive day wounded a woman and damaged homes, energy infrastructure and a retail establishment, regional authorities said.

In its daily report on Sunday, Ukraine’s Air Force said that Moscow’s forces attacked Ukraine with 433 drones overnight, of which 371 were destroyed or suppressed.

Meanwhile, more than 100 Ukrainian drones were shot down over the skies of Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region east of Moscow, Governor Gleb Nikitin said on Sunday.

The attack sparked a blaze at the Kstovo oil refinery, Russian media outlets reported, sharing images of black plumes of smoke over the horizon.

Zelenskyy said Kyiv also struck a factory for missile components and air defence facilities in Russia’s southern Rostov region.

“We are justly defending ourselves against Russian aggression and doing everything to reduce Russia’s capability to continue it,” Zelenskyy said.

Canadian PM Carney announces progress in Canada-US trade deal talks ahead of US midterm elections on November 3.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced progress towards a future trade deal with the United States, which could help ease tensions between the two North American neighbours.

The Sunday announcement came just two days before the November 3 US midterm elections, which will determine control of the US Congress.

“Good conversation with US President Donald Trump on the future of Canada-U.S. trade,” Carney posted on X on Sunday.

Ties between Ottawa and Washington have been strained by an escalating trade war, with Canada and the US imposing billions of dollars in tariffs on each other’s goods in recent months.

“Teams from both countries will be working in the coming weeks to deliver that outcome,” Carney said. “This builds on recent constructive discussions on the outlines of a mutually beneficial trade deal.”

In his second term, Trump has upended global trade by imposing tariffs on many of the US’s allies, including Canada – one of the US’s biggest trading partners.

In August, high-level trade talks between Ottawa and Washington broke down, and Trump imposed a 50 percent levy on $20bn of Canadian goods, or 5.5 percent of its exports. Canada responded with equivalent tariffs on US steel, dairy, appliances, farm equipment, pulp and paper, and electronics.

Trump said last week that he expected a new trade agreement with Canada to be reached “pretty soon”, but offered no details.

The trade tensions with Canada have become an issue in the midterm elections, particularly in Michigan and Maine, where Republican candidates have faced pressure over tariffs that have hurt local businesses.

Canada has sought to diversify its trade options and recently welcomed a European Union offer to become an “associate member”.

Carney praised the proposal’s ambition, describing his goal as a “unique alliance” rather than conventional EU membership.

Arsenal win at Anfield for the first time since 2012 to earn a three-point lead at the top of the Premier League table following an end-to-end match that leaves Liverpool frustrated to have taken nothing.

MATCH REPORT: Premier League – Liverpool 0-1 Arsenal

Available to UK users only.

The war on Iran has emerged as a major campaign issue in the United States midterm elections.

Voters are preparing to cast their ballots on Tuesday, November 3, and for many, the effects of the Iran conflict at home are top of mind.

Fuel prices have skyrocketed, driving up the prices of other goods, too.

Polls suggest many Democrats – and Republicans – say this conflict was not worth the consequences.

So will the election shift the Senate and House of Representatives in Democrats’ favour? And what would that mean for the rest of President Donald Trump’s time in the White House?

Presenter: Mohammed Jamjoom

Guests:

Hassan Ahmadian – Associate professor at the University of Tehran and deputy director of the Middle East Scientific and Strategic Studies Center

Patrick Mara – Chairman of the Washington, DC Republican Party

James Butler – Democratic Party strategist

Arsenal record first win at Liverpool in 14 ttempts thanks to Kai Havertz goal

Arsenal went three points clear of Manchester City at the top of the English Premier League after a statement 1-0 win at Liverpool.

The Gunners had not won at Anfield since September 2012, when current coach Mikel Arteta captained the away side to a 2-0 victory, and had gone winless in their past 13 visits.

However, Kai Havertz turned home a low cross from Declan Rice after the home side were caught trying to play out from the back to silence the Kop on 16 minutes. The visitors withstood wave after wave of pressure from Andoni Iraola’s side thereafter.

Liverpool responded strongly with Florian Wirtz curling a free kick against the bar and Alexis Mac Allister heading a good chance over.

Arsenal weathered the storm, though, and defended superbly to keep Liverpool largely at arm’s length after the break, denying the home side a shot on target for the second meeting in succession.

Arteta’s side replaces Manchester City at the top with 24 points from nine games, with City on 21 after losing at home to Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday.

Liverpool’s second league defeat of the season left them nine points behind Arsenal in fifth place.

Hebron’s economic losses surpass $3.8m as Israeli forces demolish West Bank homes and close hundreds of businesses.

Israeli forces are maintaining their siege on Hebron for the 10th consecutive day, threatening to expand their offensive and forcing more Palestinian families from their homes.

The lockdown in the occupied West Bank city was enforced after an attack on October 23 near Hebron in which two Israeli soldiers were killed.

More than 3,300 Palestinians have since been displaced or affected, with homes destroyed and businesses shut, according to the local municipality.

Mayor Yousef al-Jabari told Al Jazeera on Saturday that daily economic losses were estimated to exceed 12 million shekels ($3.8m), with more than $1.9m worth of damage to infrastructure, along with losses in the health and environmental sectors estimated at about $160,000.

He said Israeli forces have demolished 15 homes and other structures and forced 327 businesses to close. About 80,000 students have been unable to attend school for 10 days, he added.

The mayor said Hebron accounts for about 40 percent of the Palestinian economy and the siege amounts to “collective punishment”.

Palestinian families in and around the city fear the army could soon extend its attacks.

Raids and settler attacks

Israeli arrests of Palestinians in Hebron and other cities in the occupied West Bank continued on Sunday.

Israeli forces arrested 10 Palestinian teachers in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron and seized their vehicle, reported the Palestinian news agency Wafa.

Video shared by Palestinian media and verified by Al Jazeera showed the Israeli military raiding a school run by the United Nations in the Shufat refugee camp in occupied East Jerusalem.

The United Nations humanitarian office, OCHA, said Israeli settlers carried out 397 attacks on Palestinians across the occupied West Bank in October, the highest monthly figure since monitoring began in 2006, Wafa said.

Between October 20 and 26, settler attacks targeted 49 Palestinian communities, mostly while Palestinians harvested olives on their land.

Nine children were among 57 Palestinians injured by settlers and Israeli forces: 34 by military gunfire and physical assaults and 23 in settler attacks.

Since the start of 2015, Israeli authorities have issued 9,518 demolition or stop-work notices against Palestinian property in the occupied West Bank, reported the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission. The Palestinian government commission added that 344 of those notices were given in the first nine months of this year.

World Athletics described her as “an inspiration to many, on and off the track”, highlighting her historic European gold medal in Rome in 2024.

Athletics Ireland, the country’s governing body for the sport, said Mageean was “much-loved and inspirational”.

“Her courage, warmth and spirit will leave a lasting legacy,” the organisation said.

Conal Heatley, the chief executive of Commonwealth Games Northern Ireland, described Mageean as “one of the best of us”.

He told BBC News NI she had carried herself with “incredible dignity” throughout her illness and was a “fantastic figure for the island of Ireland”.

The Camogie Association also paid tribute to Mageean, with its president Brian Molloy describing her as a great friend of the sport, both as a player and a supporter.

“In her all-too-short life, Ciara touched the hearts of so many,” he said.

“Her self-belief and commitment to her craft will always be inspirational and she will be fondly remembered by all who had the privilege of knowing her.”

Israeli strikes in Gaza have killed at least eight people, including a child, according to hospitals, despite a year-old ceasefire.

In Gaza City to the north, hospital officials said a missile attack hit a group of civilians next to Cairo School in the Al-Rimal neighbourhood, killing three people, including a four-year-old boy.

In the southern city of Khan Younis, the Hamas-run ministry of interior said a drone attack targeted a group of police officers in the Al-Mawasi area, killing five, as they were carrying out their routine duties.

The Israeli military said it had carried out two attacks on what it described as military operatives but has not yet provided evidence or further information.

Outside Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital, video showed a crowd of men gathered to pray next to two body bags and the tiny body of the child, which was wrapped in a white towel.

“My son and his child were martyred. They were sitting in their tent, bothering no one, and nothing else was happening in the area when suddenly, a missile struck them, and they were martyred,” Ali Oweis told AFP news agency. “There is no ceasefire; the war is ongoing — don’t you see?”

At Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, women despaired as body bags lay on the floor, video showed. The interior ministry named the five police officers killed, who were between the ages of 23 and 53, and called the attack a “horrific massacre”.

A ceasefire came into force in Gaza in October last year, but Israeli air strikes have continued almost every day.

Since then, 1,580 people have been killed, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the UN. Israel says it is targeting Hamas, but often civilians are also killed.

Meanwhile, a peace plan for Gaza, brokered by the Trump administration, has stalled.

The ceasefire saw thousands of Palestinians held by Israel released in return for all of the 48 remaining hostages held in Gaza, and an agreement to end the war – which was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, when about 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.

Since the war began, 74,594 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the territory’s health ministry.

Additional reporting by Jacob Phillips

Alina Habba Mildon signed the lucrative contract while working at the Justice Department, before Trump pardoned the bank

US President Donald Trump has criticised one of his former lawyers for signing a contract worth more than $50 million with the family of a Venezuelan banker whom Trump later pardoned.

Alina Habba Mildon reportedly signed the lucrative deal while working as a federal prosecutor and later began working for the banker’s family while still being employed as an adviser to the US Department of Justice.

“I thought it was totally obnoxious and outrageous, and it’s not acceptable,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida on Saturday.

“Not acceptable at all,” he added.

According to The New York Times, Habba Mildon signed a four-year contract in October 2025 with a company owned by the family of Julio Herrera Velutini, a Venezuelan banker who was seeking a presidential pardon.

Herrera was accused of bribing former Puerto Rico Governor Wanda Vazquez Garced in exchange for removing a financial regulator who was investigating his bank. He was facing federal bribery charges in the US before reaching a plea deal with prosecutors in August 2025.

Habba Mildon’s contract with his family’s company guaranteed her more than $50 million over four years, including an annual salary of $10 million and bonuses.

When she signed the deal, Habba Mildon was the acting US attorney for New Jersey, a position Trump had appointed her to after working as his personal lawyer.

She left that position in December after a court ruled she could not legally serve in the role. She then immediately took another job at the Justice Department as a senior adviser to the attorney general.

On January 1 , Habba Mildon officially began working for the banker’s family while still employed by the Justice Department.

Two weeks later, on January 15 , Trump granted Herrera a full presidential pardon.

The arrangement has raised questions about potential conflicts of interest, given Habba Mildon’s government position and her ties to Trump.

The company that hired her, Concord Partners, has no public profile and its business activities remain unclear, according to The New York Times.

Habba Mildon has denied having any role in securing Herrera’s pardon.

Last week, she said she had never been paid to obtain a pardon, had never discussed one with anyone at the White House or the Justice Department and had never worked to secure a pardon for anyone.

Trump was reportedly furious when he learned about the size of her contract.

The New York Times reported that he told aides and allies that Habba Mildon should donate some of the money to his future presidential library or another Trump-related organisation.

He also reportedly told at least one ally that Herrera’s family should stop paying her the remainder of the contract.

Speaking on Saturday, Trump said he told Habba Mildon he did not want her to be paid, describing the situation as “terrible”.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.

The family of Henry Nowak have said the trauma of learning he had been murdered was made worse by watching police footage of officers handcuffing him as he lay dying.

They told ITV their “world has changed twice”, first when they were told he had died, and again when they watched the body-worn camera video.

His killer, Vickrum Digwa, falsely told police Henry had racially abused him, and officers handcuffed the student as he repeatedly said he had been stabbed.

His father Mark, stepmother Katie, mother Lucy and sister Olivia were speaking to ITV for the documentary Dear Henry: Our Fight For Justice.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has announced an independent review into the murder, led by former lord chancellor Alex Chalk, which will look at “any missed opportunities to intervene”.

Henry, 18, was stabbed five times as he walked home from a night out with friends from his football team in Southampton on 3 December 2025.

Digwa, 23, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 21 years.

It took officers another 24 hours to identify Henry’s body and tell his family.

“I jumped out of bed and I saw the police car on our driveway,” said Katie.

“One of the police officers was holding his hat in his hand, and I just knew straight away that something horrific had happened.”

She said Mark fell to his knees when he heard the news.

“He let out a cry that I’ll never forget,” she said.

“I just remember saying ‘it’s Henry’ and breaking down in tears,” Mark said. “It’s just unbelievable pain.”

Morocco has welcomed the defeat of a US-drafted resolution which sought to extend the mandate of the UN mission in the disputed Western Sahara.

The mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) expired on Saturday after a veto by Russia, leaving the future of the peacekeeping mission in limbo. In 1991, the UN established MINURSO to monitor a ceasefire and prepare a referendum on the territory’s future.

Morocco has considered Western Sahara its own territory since 1975, when Spain withdrew from the desert region in northwest Africa which is roughly the size of Britain. The Algeria-backed Polisario Front seeks to establish an independent state called the Sahrawi Republic.

So, why is Morocco celebrating the failed UN resolution? What does it mean for the future of the disputed region?

Here is what we know:

What happened at the UN Security Council?

On Friday, the US, which is a permanent member of the UN Security Council, proposed a resolution to support the principle of self-determination in the disputed Western Sahara.

Russia vetoed the resolution, despite support from 11 of the 15 council members, including fellow permanent members France and the United Kingdom.

The US draft would have extended the mission for a year, removed “referendum” from its name and made Morocco’s autonomy proposal the only basis for further talks.

Last October, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution that offered genuine autonomy to Western Sahara. Under that plan, the territory would manage its internal affairs, but remain under Moroccan sovereignty.

The Security Council had already made the proposal a basis for negotiations last year and asked UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to submit a review of the peacekeeping mission.

Speaking after the vote, US ambassador Mike Waltz said it was truly unfortunate that in 2026 the veto was used to “preserve the letter R (in the Mission’s name) for referendum”.

He added that Washington’s proposal “would have moved the 50-year conflict forward” and added that the status quo is not acceptable.

Russia’s UN ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, said at the same meeting that Moscow opposed the draft because it favoured one side.

“We stress the fact that the Security Council cannot automatically predetermine matters relating to sovereignty,” he said.

Instead, Russia proposed renewing the existing mission without those changes. But that draft also failed to secure the nine votes needed for adoption, receiving two votes in favour, one against and 11 abstentions.

MINURSO’s mission has 155 military personnel and is set to cost $62m in the fiscal year that began in June, according to a UN report. But its mandate expired on Saturday.

How did Morocco and Algeria react to the failure of the UN mission?

Morocco’s royal palace welcomed the failure to renew MINURSO, saying on Friday that UN personnel and equipment should leave the territory in the coming days and that the Western Sahara issue should now be withdrawn from the Security Council’s consideration. Morocco said it remained committed to the ceasefire.

According to a UN media statement, Morocco’s UN representative also questioned why Algeria’s delegate was giving the Security Council “lectures” on the Western Sahara.

“Let these people [in the Western Sahara] go back to Morocco,” he said, “let them go home”.

Algeria expressed regret on Saturday over the failure to renew MINURSO’s mandate. Its foreign ministry criticised what it described as the US draft’s excessive bias towards Morocco.

According to a UN media statement, Algeria’s delegate to the UN thanked Russia for its draft resolution and all other member nations “who have chosen not to associate themselves” with an egregious injustice and a flagrant attack on “the very foundation of our organisation”.

Algeria’s UN representative noted that the country has been a refuge for hundreds of thousands of Sahrawi people who have been denied their right to self-determination.

The “tragedy being endured by the Sahrawi people has oddly been diluted to the concept of refugee populations”, he added.

Sidi Omar, the Polisario Front’s representative at the UN, told reporters on Friday that he welcomed Russia’s veto because the US proposal would undermine Sahrawi self-determination.

What is the Western Sahara dispute all about?

The Polisario Front, the political and military representative, does not recognise Morocco’s annexation of the territory following Spain’s withdrawal in 1975. It has been seeking a UN-supervised referendum for self-determination.

In 1976, it declared the independent Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.

Decades of fighting drove at least 170,000 Indigenous people into refugee camps in Tindouf in neighbouring Algeria, which backs the Polisario Front.

The Polisario Front signed a UN-brokered ceasefire with Morocco in 1991. It called for a referendum within six months, but it was never held.

Morocco, which retains control of its lucrative phosphate and fishing resources in Western Sahara, claims historic and pre-colonial ties to the land and views the region as an integral part of its territory [“Greater Morocco”].

For decades, the US has provided military and diplomatic support to Morocco. But in 2020, Donald Trump recognised Moroccan sovereignty over the territory during his first term in office. Morocco soon established diplomatic ties with Israel as part of the so-called Abraham Accords.

The region is now the last United Nations-designated “non-self-governing territory” in Africa, where between 100,000 and 140,000 Moroccan military personnel are based.

Low-level fighting has also continued since the Polisario Front said it was resuming armed struggle in 2020.

Why is Morocco celebrating the failed UN resolution?

MINURSO was set up to monitor the 1991 ceasefire and hold a referendum in Western Sahara. The expiry of its mandate will likely boost Morocco’s stance on the referendum question, though its autonomy proposal has already been adopted by the UN.

On Saturday, according to a video report by the Reuters news agency, a festive atmosphere prevailed in the streets of El Aaiun, the capital of Western Sahara.

In the central Mechoua Square, dozens of people were wearing melfas, the traditional Sahrawi women’s garments, and long robes known as darra, as they waved Moroccan flags and displayed portraits of Morocco’s King Mohammed VI.

Selim Balouati Lakhloufi, a historian and researcher based in Morocco, said that Morocco is pleased because “diplomatic developments at the United Nations are supporting its strategy regarding the [disputed Western] Sahara”.

“The support of powers such as the United States, France and the United Kingdom for Morocco’s autonomy proposal strengthens its international position and is gradually shifting the debate away from the right to self-determination and the possibility of independence toward a solution based on autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty,” he told Al Jazeera.

What does this mean for the future of the Western Sahara?

The collapse of MINURSO’s mandate could escalate the dispute in the Western Sahara, according to aid organisations.

Oxfam has warned that losing MINURSO’s “monitoring and de-escalation functions risks undermining security and stability”.

Lakhloufi said that the UN mission’s expiry is also unfavourable for Sahrawi independence aspirations.

Regarding the future of the Western Sahara, he said that Morocco will likely continue to consolidate its territorial, economic and administrative control, while the Polisario Front will face greater difficulties in securing international support.

“The proposal for autonomy could end up becoming the main framework for negotiations, pushing independence further and further out of reach,” he added.

Thousands have marched through New Delhi demanding the resignation of India’s chief election commissioner over changes to voter lists that opposition parties say favour Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling party.

Rahul Gandhi of the Indian National Congress led Sunday’s protest, the latest in more than a month of demonstrations accusing Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of overseeing a biased revision of electoral rolls.

Opposition leaders say the removal of more than 130 million names disproportionately affected Muslims and other minorities, who are less likely to back Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The Election Commission has denied favouring any party and says voters whose names were wrongly deleted can re-register.

The BJP has accused the opposition of undermining democracy by challenging legitimate procedures.

India’s next general election is scheduled for 2029.

All 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 35 of the Senate’s 100 seats are being contested on Tuesday.

Tehran, Iran – Ongoing contacts through mediators have provided a potential diplomatic opening between Iran and the United States, even as both sides express readiness for renewed military escalation.

After two days of Qatari-mediated talks, Iranian authorities have signalled that a deal remains possible provided that their demands are tangibly implemented. At the same time, they have doubled down on a willingness to expand attacks or even launch preemptive strikes if they deem war is inevitable.

“We are prepared for all scenarios,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Al Jazeera on Saturday. “We have upgraded our weaponry, addressed our vulnerabilities, and tested new arms. Our forces are at the highest level of readiness.”

His comments came as US President Donald Trump said on Saturday the talks were going “fine” but added that Iranian authorities were not “reliable”.

The Republican leader, who ordered attacks alongside Israel against Iran on February 28, has repeatedly raised prospects of once more hitting the country’s civilian infrastructure. In recent weeks, he has suggested that an attack could potentially take place after the November 3 midterm elections in the US.

“We still have to take care of, I would say, one or two sites, but we can do that in 10 minutes,” Trump told reporters at a Halloween party at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida about further bombing Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Sequencing and timeline

The mediated talks in Tehran on Friday, and then in Qatar on Saturday, appear to have produced a new tangible result by shortening the period after which Iran’s proposal to partly reopen the Strait of Hormuz can be enforced.

Tehran had previously offered seven days, but that has now come down to two, Araghchi said in his interview with Al Jazeera.

Negar Mortazavi, a senior fellow with the Center for International Policy, said there are “indications” of US interest in a negotiated settlement, citing the continuing Qatar-mediated talks and US Vice President JD Vance’s recent outreach.

“However, Iran is seeking a series of concessions while the United States insists on progress on Iran’s nuclear programme before concessions are made,” she told Al Jazeera.

“Therefore the central difficulty is sequencing and leverage. Each side wants the other to act first.”

Araghchi’s two-day offer indicates some flexibility over sequencing that could also allow both sides to claim an initial diplomatic achievement without immediately resolving their fundamental disagreements, according to Hamidreza Azizi, a senior Iran analyst at the International Crisis Group.

“However, the military statements show the limits of this opening. Iran appears increasingly determined to prevent a repetition of previous scenarios in which negotiations or temporary ceasefires were followed by renewed military conflict,” he wrote on social media. “From Tehran’s perspective, the objective is to make another attack so costly and unpredictable that Washington would have to reconsider the option altogether.”

As the talks were ongoing on Saturday, the office of Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said he had a meeting earlier with top military commanders to demand “maximum deterrence” through preparedness for an immediate response “without geographical restriction” to any threat.

Targets would include “tangible and intangible” US and Israeli assets, Khamenei said. Iranian authorities have previously said if Iran’s civilian infrastructure is attacked again, seabed cables and infrastructure across the region could also become targets.

After Khamenei’s statement, commanders of the general staff of the armed forces, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the traditional army separately expressed readiness to launch missile, drone and other attacks in case of an escalation of conflict.

State media on Sunday also aired footage of missiles and drones being taken out of massive underground storage sites and deployed during the eight months of war so far.

The authorities also signalled that they expect more potential attacks from the US and Israel, including against Iran’s power grid.

Gholamreza Jalali, commander of the National Organization for Passive Defense, said during a speech on Sunday that they have identified 14 sectors most dependent on electricity that would need support if the war restarts, without naming any.

“Adopting preventive measures in the area of passive defence for the electricity grid is a fundamental principle that all authorities must follow up in their capacities,” he said, adding that officials were considering “network islanding” practices to create different segments that would not all be simultaneously affected by potential bombing.

‘Positive change in tone’

In and around the Strait of Hormuz, vessels continue to be attacked if they refuse to coordinate with the Persian Gulf Strait Authority, the entity set up by Iranian authorities to enforce control and sovereignty in the critical waterway.

At least four tankers were identified as being hit on Friday and Saturday, although not all attacks are reported by vessels and monitors. According to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, a vessel carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) was struck by three Iranian projectiles on Saturday about 40 nautical miles (74km) south of Iran’s Lavan Island, deep into the Gulf.

Transit in the strait and surrounding waterways will not return to normal unless the US takes steps towards Iran’s conditions, security chief Mohsen Rezaei told state television during an interview on Saturday night.

For the sequencing to work, he said Tehran wants the US to lift its naval blockade that has halted oil exports and the majority of Iran’s trade, which used to be facilitated through its southern ports. The US must also issue waivers for oil sanctions, unfreeze Iran’s assets abroad, stop fighting on all regional fronts, including Lebanon, and recognise a bilateral Iran-Oman arrangement for Hormuz.

Rezaei said he has yet to respond to a letter addressed to him by Vance, although he said the missive indicated a “change in tone” that he described as “positive”.

Mostafa Najafi, a Tehran-based political analyst said to be linked with Rezaei, said if the conditions are not met, the letter is likely to go unanswered and negotiations – including on Iran’s nuclear programme – will not enter a higher level.

“It is unclear how willing Washington is to accept these demands. It is clear that not recognising rights emphasised by Iran will lead to the failure of the negotiations,” he wrote on X.

The US has also doubled down on the effectiveness of its Operation Economic Outcast involving the blockade, sanctions and pressure on overland trade and aviation.

A report by the US Treasury to inform Trump’s decision-making, which was publicised by news outlet Axios, said no new oil had been loaded onto tankers at Iran’s terminals since August 25. It also showed overseas crude deliveries were down, while Iran’s year-on-year inflation neared 90 percent in September and the national currency continued to dwindle.

The report said Iran’s economy was “crippled” by the combined measures, but did not argue that it was close to collapsing.

MotoGP says Yamaha’s lack of participation at next weekend’s event in Lusail ‘carries sporting implications’.

Yamaha has withdrawn its MotoGP team from next weekend’s race in Qatar, citing “the situation in the Middle East”.

The Japanese manufacturer announced its decision shortly after the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday.

“Yamaha has not identified sufficient grounds to change its existing company-wide travel restrictions,” Yamaha said in a statement.

Among the racers on the MotoGP grid riding Yamaha bikes is France’s Fabio Quartararo, the 2021 world champion. Alex Rins of Spain is the other racer on the Yamaha team.

The sport’s governing body, the MotoGP Group, said it was “disappointed” by the decision and “Yamaha’s non-participation also carries sporting implications”.

“While we recognise the team is subject to a broader corporate policy restricting travel to the Middle East, we do not believe this decision reflects the extensive assurances provided to all championship stakeholders,” it said.

MotoGP said talks with the organisers in Qatar and safety advisers had not flagged any reasons to change plans for the event, which will run from Friday to November 8 at the Lusail International Circuit outside Qatar’s capital, Doha.

“We communicated that position, together with the latest available information, to all manufacturers and teams today and welcome the confirmation from the remainder of the grid that they will compete in Qatar, and we thank them for that commitment,” the MotoGP Group said.

The statements were released shortly after the Malaysian MotoGP in Sepang, after which there are just three races left in the season.

Ducati’s reigning seven-time world champion, Marc Marquez, won the race at Sepang and could clinch the title in Doha.

Qatar was subject to Iranian attacks from February to April after the United States and Israel began a war on Iran. On Friday, a Qatari liquefied natural gas tanker was hit by unidentified objects in the Gulf, and in September 2025, Israel carried out an air strike on Doha that killed and injured Hamas leaders.

Al Jazeera has requested a comment from the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation.