united states

US President made the remarks following a meeting with the Qatari PM in Washington, DC.

A lawsuit had sought to block border wall construction in the Big Bend National Park by targeting the waivers that sidestep environmental protections.

The United States Supreme Court has allowed President Donald Trump’s administration to build a border wall through a remote section of Big Bend National Park in West Texas.

In its decision on Monday, the court granted the government’s emergency request to lift a lower court’s injunction that had paused construction while the matter was litigated.

The injunction, it said, “impedes the Government from advancing its ‘compelling interests’ in border security and integrity”.

The border wall has long been a signature part of Trump’s platform to restrict immigration into the US.

During his first successful bid for the presidency in 2016, for instance, he rallied supporters with chants of “Build the wall!”

But the push to expand the border barrier through the popular national park has met pushback from conservationists, local officials and some members of Trump’s own Republican Party.

Big Bend National Park includes mountain ranges and desert that serve as a home to endangered species like the Mexican long-nosed bat.

Opponents say the plan to build the wall through the park would disrupt the ecologically and culturally significant landscape.

The Trump administration, however, has depicted the project as an urgent priority for national security and immigration control. It has described the Big Bend area as an artery for irregular border crossings and drug trafficking.

US District Judge Kathleen Cardone blocked the construction in October, noting that while the Big Bend sector makes up more than 25 percent of the US-Mexico border, it accounts for only 0.3 to 2.2 percent of migrant apprehensions.

“Therefore, if the Big Bend Sector is an area of high illegal entry, so is every other sector, and the waiver authority would apply to the entire US-Mexico border,” Cardone wrote.

The Supreme Court, however, said the government was “exceedingly likely to prevail” on its argument that Cardone lacked jurisdiction under the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, which limits the ability of lower courts to rule on border barriers.

Under that law, district courts can only hear claims alleging a violation of the US Constitution. The Supreme Court found that the challengers’ claim did not qualify, writing that “there is no such thing as a ‘constitutional’ major-questions claim”.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the only justice to indicate she would have denied the government’s request. She did not explain her reasoning.

The Center for Biological Diversity was among the plaintiffs who brought the lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security, along with Friends of the Ruidosa Church and a local river guide and landowner.

The lawsuit challenged waivers used by the agency to fast-track border construction and sidestep environmental and conservation laws.

Without those waivers, plaintiffs said that construction would have to comply with laws such as the Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Historic Preservation Act to alter the landscape in “one of the most remote and ecologically and culturally significant landscapes in the United States”.

United States President Donald Trump has signalled that he considers the US-Israeli war against Iran “effectively” at an end, after meeting with mediators from Qatar.

In a surprise briefing on Monday, Trump reiterated his position that the US had destroyed Iran’s military. But his remarks suggested he faced pressure from allies in the Middle East to bring hostilities to a close.

“Iran, militarily, is effectively over. We’re just keeping it the status quo,” he said. “We’re doing that really at the behest of countries that are their neighbours.”

The US president clarified that the “status quo” would involve continuing the US naval blockade against Iranian ports, as well as the newly announced Task Force Iron Gate, which seeks to cut off trade by land and through the Caspian Sea.

“Much was discussed with respect to the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Trump said.

“Most importantly, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait and others would prefer the status quo, that we remain as is — in other words, a continuation of the greatest naval blockade in the history of our country. Probably in the history of the world.”

Trump’s comments come shortly after he and Vice President JD Vance hosted Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani at the White House to discuss the Iran war.

The prime minister posted on social media that he was “grateful for the positive discussions on reaching a deal and bringing peace to the region”.

It is unclear whether Trump’s latest statements significantly change US posture in the war. Trump himself declined to commit to any long-term ceasefire.

“I don’t guarantee anything,” he told the White House briefing room. “But if we do have to go back in, we are locked and loaded and ready to go.”

Iranian officials, meanwhile, dismissed Trump’s latest remarks as a distraction. Both sides have claimed victory throughout the conflict.

“The war on Iran has already wrecked the US government. But Washington flails like a desperate gambler,” Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei wrote in a post on social media.

“FOLD YOUR HAND. STOP manufacturing FAKE NEWS about imaginary talks.”

Separately, through Iran’s state-aligned Tasnim News Agency, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said that Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei had called for an end to the situation, which he described as “neither war nor peace”.

Pezeshkian added that Iran was open to further negotiations but would not be coerced. “We will not surrender to force and bullying,” he said.

Since the war on Iran began on February 28, the conflict has spilled into surrounding countries and roiled international trade.

Almost as soon as the US and Israel began their attacks, Iran moved to shut down the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for fossil fuels and fertiliser, among other goods.

Iran has also responded to US and Israeli strikes with missile and drone fire in countries like Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and the UAE, with many of the attacks targeting US military installations.

Other, related conflicts have since emerged. Saudi Arabia has renewed its fighting with the Iran-backed Houthis, and Israel began its occupation of southern Lebanon, as well as deadly airstrikes.

In the nearly nine months since the war began, the US offensive against Iran has grown sporadic, with intermittent exchanges of fire. In recent days, for instance, the Trump administration announced “minor strikes” against Iran’s Qeshm Island.

It also offered a $20m reward for the “information about Iran’s nuclear program, including its facilities, equipment, and associated personnel”.

After the Twelve-Day War in June 2025, Trump had claimed that Iran’s uranium enrichment programme had been obliterated. But he has since made curtailing Iran’s nuclear programme a central premise for the ongoing war.

Iran has long denied seeking a nuclear weapon, maintaining its uranium enrichment programme is for the purposes of civilian energy generation.

It was another bold statement from United States President Donald Trump: An edict in his usual inflated style, claiming that the US had almost sealed Iran off from the rest of the world.

“Very little gets into, or out of, Iran!” the US president posted on his Truth Social account on Sunday, a day after the US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced its latest plan to choke Tehran’s military supply networks.

On Sunday, CENTCOM announced Task Force Iron Gate – a unit targeting land routes and the Caspian Sea, which will aim to prevent Iran from using ground routes to transport advanced weapons and other materials.

Trump’s message on Truth Social claimed that the task force was “in full force and effect” in Iran – and that between this and the US naval blockade of the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the US had virtually cut off what enters and exits the country.

But analysts say a small intelligence-focused unit cannot seal Iran’s borders or stop its extensive procurement networks without regional cooperation.

They did warn, however, that attempts to disrupt these networks could draw neighbouring countries into the conflict and undermine ongoing diplomatic efforts in the US-Israel war on Iran.

“I see Task Force Iron Gate as a desperate attempt to extend the American naval blockade into Iran’s continental supply networks without deploying American troops along its borders,” Andreas Krieg, an associate professor of defence studies at King’s College London, told Al Jazeera.

An ‘intelligence fusion cell’

Task Force Iron Gate aims to find out where “weapons systems are coming in, how they could potentially be cut off” and how “Iran is transporting its energy”, Michael Mulroy, a former US deputy assistant defence secretary for the Middle East, has told Al Jazeera.

Based in Tampa, Florida, the unit will coordinate with other US government agencies “on preventing the movement of advanced weapons systems, dual-use technologies, sanctioned materials and illegal revenue streams across Iran’s land borders and the Caspian Sea”, CENTCOM has said.

Analysts said the task force could coordinate sanctions enforcement, pressure foreign suppliers, and work with partner countries to disrupt smuggling.

According to Matthew Savill, director of military sciences at the Royal United Services Institute, the US mission would rely on a combination of satellite imagery, drones, intercepted communications, financial intelligence and intelligence-sharing.

“Then, frankly, I would expect some use of force – strikes or discreet ground operations – to confiscate components, whether done by US forces or the Israelis,” the analyst told Al Jazeera.

“They would want to pass some intelligence on and bring legal and economic pressure to bear outside the Middle East if they think dual-use components are coming from the West … but if the target is supplies from Russia and China, that will be tougher.”

While CENTCOM’s announcement did not explicitly identify Iran’s weapons trade with Russia, analysts say the unit could be seen as an attempt to disrupt supply networks that include Russian connections.

US media have reported that Russia has sent drone components and explosives to Iran via the Caspian Sea. There are also claims that Russian technology could be helping Iran develop advanced supersonic cruise missiles.

Krieg agreed the task force would combine methods, but stated that it would operate largely as an “intelligence fusion cell”.

“Twenty people cannot police thousands of kilometres of frontiers,” he said.

“The objective is not necessarily to stop every shipment, but to make Iranian military procurement progressively more expensive, slower and riskier,” he added.

The obstacle the US mission will face, however, is political rather than technological, he argued. Iran’s neighbours will be largely unwilling to cooperate.

“Iraq offers Washington some leverage, but Iranian-aligned networks remain deeply embedded in its economy and security institutions,” he explained.

Azerbaijan could cooperate discreetly, while Turkmenistan would be “extremely reluctant” to jeopardise its neutrality or relationships with Russia and China, said the professor.

Pakistan is particularly unlikely to participate openly because it is currently mediating between Washington and Tehran, he added. Turkiye also has little interest in turning its border with Iran into another confrontation, said Krieg.

“Without these countries’ cooperation, Washington can disrupt individual networks but cannot effectively seal Iran’s borders,” he said.

Rami Khouri, a public policy fellow at the American University of Beirut and a non-resident senior fellow at the Arab Center Washington DC, has previously told Al Jazeera that Iran’s history as a trading nation for thousands of years makes the US mission near impossible.

“There’s an enormous web of contacts that Iran has had for thousands of years with traders and partners and allies all over the region, especially in Asia – it’s virtually impossible for the US to seal off every one,” he said.

“There are people all over the region who have links with Iran, some very close, some just commercial,” he said.

Mission creep or mission impossible?

Krieg expressed concern about the potential for mission creep — that the task force’s action could widen the war to new arenas.

“Intelligence gathering can quickly become pressure for seizures, border closures or military strikes against suspected logistical infrastructure,” he said.

“This would extend America’s economic war into the sovereign territory of neighbouring states.”

Iran’s response in turn would likely be asymmetrical, “intensifying maritime coercion in Hormuz and potentially using the Houthis to increase pressure around Bab al-Mandeb and Saudi Arabia”, Krieg added.

Joe Kent, a former top US counterterrorism official, has also argued that the new task force is an attempt by CENTCOM to subvert ongoing diplomatic efforts.

“This is CENTCOM inviting Iran to escalate while the vice president is attempting to negotiate with the Iranians,” Kent, who resigned in March in protest against the US’s war on Iran, said on X following the US military’s announcement.

“This is, as CENTCOM calls it, ‘policy by CONOP’, when the military finds a way to subvert the White House without blatantly disobeying the President, by taking actions that will ensure a war escalates or perpetuates.”

The Wall Street Journal, meanwhile, has reported that CENTCOM chief Brad Cooper is among the many officials, alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, pressing Trump to renew attacks on Iran.

Some analysts, however, argue that without US access to the Caspian Sea, troops on the ground, or cooperation from neighbouring states, the task force will have limited practical impact.

Mahjoob Zweiri, a professor of contemporary history and politics at Qatar University, has told Al Jazeera that the new initiative may just be symbolic because of the lack of US military presence on the Caspian Sea.

“America has no access to the sea, unless some of the neighbouring countries like Azerbaijan or Armenia or others collaborate [with them] … And they’re not collaborating on this because they don’t want to upset Russia,” said Zweiri. “It will require … troops on the ground, and this is unlikely to happen.”

Ali, who fled Somalia’s civil war and settled in London, won the controversial split-decision fight against American Kreps to claim IBO and WBF junior featherweight belts.

Ramla Ali, a British Somali boxer whose life story is the subject of a new film, has realised a long-held dream and won her first world title to claim two vacant junior featherweight belts in the United States.

The 36-year-old landed the biggest titles of her career by winning the IBO and WBF belts in a controversial split-decision victory over American fighter Mikiah Kreps in Arlington, Texas, on Sunday.

The nail-biting nature of the 10-round contest should not have come as too much of a surprise as the duo are former sparring partners and ended the night with an expression of mutual respect.

“Mikiah, I want to share this victory with you because you pushed me for 10 rounds,” an emotional Ali said while addressing her opponent, whom she stopped from exiting the ring after being declared winner.

“I kept saying I’m so tired because your work rate was next level. I don’t know how I kept up, so thank you for being such a great boxer.”

The 30-year-old Niagara Falls native reciprocated the emotion. “I respect you,” Kreps said as both fighters wrapped an arm around each other.

During the fight, Ali had Kreps on the canvas in round three, but she was behind her younger opponent in the overall punch count at the end of the fight.

The outcome of the fight caused controversy from the moment the referee lifted Ali’s arm when the decision was announced.

According to the official punch statistics from the fight, Kreps outlanded Ali by 115 blows to 78 and the American was also way ahead in the power shot count.

One judge scored the bout 98-91 for Kreps but the other judges saw the fight differently and gave Ali the decision win with scores of 97-92 and 96-93.

Veteran promoter Lou Di Bella wrote on social media, “Mikiah Kreps won that fight and it wasn’t even close. Stevie Wonder could see that.”

From Somalia’s civil war to world champion

The external noise would have mattered little to Ali who dropped to her knees when the scores were announced.

Ali and her family are no strangers to adversity, having settled in London in 1992 after fleeing Somalia during its civil war.

Years after picking up the sport as a teenager in East London, Ali became the first Somali boxer to compete at the Olympic Games when she represented the country of her birth at Tokyo 2020. She later became the first Muslim woman to win an English amateur boxing title.

Ali’s journey has provided the inspiration for the movie ‘In the Shadows’ starring Top Boy actor Jasmine Jobson.

The fighter lost her father earlier this year and said she stayed up all night prior to the fight, wishing he would have been around to see her in the ring.

“My father passed away in May so I was really emotional,” she said in a post-fight interview with All The Smoke Boxing.

“Every round, I kept going to my corner to tell my coach I couldn’t do it anymore because I was physically exhausted. I boxed through my skin and I’m glad I got the victory.”

Ali’s career has always been multi-dimensional. As a model and Unicef ambassador, she has projected her voice beyond sporting arenas.

“I can’t put into words what this means to me and what this means to all of Somalia,” she said, fighting back tears, while standing inside the ring.

“I’ve hopefully inspired so many young girls and boys out there to dream big and that’s all I’ve ever wanted to do.”

Leslie Preer’s murder went unsolved for 21 years. Her husband was the longtime suspect, but the case went cold. Then, new DNA technology pointed detectives to someone else entirely – a suspect thousands of miles away. Identifying him was one thing. Catching him meant setting a trap.

The illustrations in this video have been created by artists aided by AI-powered software.

In this episode: 

• Dan Morse (@DanMorseWP), Reporter, The Washington Post
• John McCarthy, State’s attorney for Montgomery County

Episode credits:

True Crime Reports is an Al Jazeera Originals Production. Our host is Halla Mohieddeen. This episode was written by Ryan Gaffney. The Head of Podcasts is Jo de Frias. Our executive producer is Fahrinisa Campana. Our senior producers are Leo Danczak and Marthe van der Wolf. Catherine Nouhan is our producer. Our production coordinator is Ashley McCarry. Our senior script editor is Danylo Hawaleshka. Fact-checking by Catherine Nouhan, Zaina Badr and Chiara Brambilla. The head of creative & design is Mohamad Darwiche. Our post-production supervisor is Nacho Cobella. Our video editor is Isaac Bencid. Osama Alsaadi and Hamdi Samali are our AI animators. Bishoy Milad is our graphic artist. Alan Leer is the supervising sound editor. The sound designer is Lizzy Andrews and the music composer is Tom Biddle. Adam Abou-Gad is our engagement producer.

Connect with us:

@AJEPodcasts on X, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube

Trump concedes some voters were unhappy with his administration’s controversial deportation drive.

United States President Donald Trump has said his immigration policy may have been too extreme for voters, conceding that his deportation policy had damaged his Republican Party’s performance in the last week’s midterm elections.

During his first television interview since his party lost control of the US House of Representatives and the Senate last week, Trump said some voters were unhappy with his administration’s controversial deportation drive, which led to widespread protests.

“I think it might be too tough,” he told CBS’s 60 Minutes programme, which aired on Sunday.

He said he may be able to work with the new Democratic-controlled Congress on some kind of immigration agreement.

“The deal would be we would work something out,” he said, adding, “I think that’s something that’s actually doable.”

The interview was aired after he appointed Stephen Miller, the chief architect of his hardline immigration policy, to replace Susie Wiles as his White House chief of staff, prompting questions about the direction of his immigration policy.

In a post on X, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said, “Trump says his immigration crackdown went too far”, adding, “Apparently, his solution was to put the man responsible for it in charge of the White House. That’s not a course correction. That’s a promotion.”

Trump had promised an immigration crackdown during his campaign to return to office, blaming undocumented migrant “killers” and “drug dealers” for soaring crime.

Extensive operations to detain and deport immigrants were launched in multiple US cities, causing arrests to soar.

Two US citizens – Renee Good and Alex Pretti – were killed by federal officers during protests against the operations.

Democrats have said oversight of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Homeland Security is a priority for the new Congress.

During his interview, Trump said a moderate immigration deal would still deport criminals, but allow “good people” who had lived and worked in the country “paying taxes” to stay.

Trump says Washington’s land blockade on Iran is now in effect, as Tehran threatens to ‘rain down hell’ if US resumes attacks.

United States House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has thrown his support behind impeaching Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, as the Democratic Party prepares to use its incoming congressional majorities to probe President Donald Trump’s administration.

In a Sunday appearance on the Television show This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Jeffries weighed in on the upcoming impeachment resolution, anticipated for the coming days.

“I’m a hard yes on the Hegseth resolution,” Jeffries said. “The so-called secretary of defence has abused his power, undermined our national security, and engineered this reckless and costly war of choice in Iran.”

The impeachment resolution has been spearheaded by outgoing Republican Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky, a vocal critic of the US-Israel war on Iran.

“Pete Hegseth has got to go,” Jeffries added. “I believe there will be incredibly strong support for that resolution.”

Investigating ‘unprecedented corruption’

Jeffries is poised to become the next speaker in the House of Representatives after Democrats notched a historic victory in the November 3 midterm elections.

Both the House and the Senate flipped into Democratic control, with the left-wing party making some of its biggest gains in the lower chamber in more than half a century.

Democrats are expected to use their new congressional majorities to launch investigations into the Trump administration.

There have also been concerns, voiced by Trump himself, that he and other top officials could face impeachment.

In Sunday’s interview, Jeffries said the Democratic majority would move “aggressively” in its first 100 days in office, both to address affordability and “unprecedented corruption” under Trump.

“We are committed to cleaning up the mess wherever it’s found,” Jeffries said. “That’s in Congress, in the Supreme Court, and with respect to this administration.”

Currently, Republicans hold a government “trifecta”, with control of both chambers of Congress and the presidency. The Supreme Court also boasts a conservative supermajority, shaped by three Trump appointees.

But a new Congress will be sworn in on January 3. In the coming weeks, Democrats will choose their party leaders for both chambers.

Representative Robert Garcia formally announced his bid to lead the House Oversight Committee in a letter to colleagues on Thursday.

The committee is the chamber’s principal investigative panel, with the power to subpoena witnesses and documents.

‘Very serious’ allegations

On Sunday, Garcia told CNN that Stephen Miller‘s influential role in the Trump administration warranted investigation.

Miller, who was named last week as White House chief of staff, has been closely associated with Trump’s hardline immigration policies since his first term as president.

“What we think is that Stephen Miller is the architect of this horrific, unjust policy happening across the country,” Garcia said, pointing to policies of separating immigrant families and accusations of due process abuses.

“Stephen Miller is at the centre of major policy decisions that are happening in the administration, and it does deserve oversight and investigation.”

Garcia also signalled interest in questioning businessman Elon Musk over his leadership in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a federal initiative that led to widespread federal workforce cuts at the start of Trump’s second term.

DOGE also sought access to sensitive government data, including Americans’ personal information.

“What happened with DOGE, in particular, and the federal employees losing jobs the way they did and people’s data likely being compromised, I think, is very serious,” Garcia said.

Congressional committees have the power to hold hearings, subpoena witnesses, and demand documents, giving lawmakers a constitutional check on the executive branch.

The House can also impeach administration officials if a simple majority votes in favour.

Conviction and removal, however, require a two-thirds vote in the Senate, a high bar even with Democrats controlling the chamber.

Trump’s camp bites back

The White House was quick to draw its own battle lines.

Speaking on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, Attorney General Todd Blanche said there could be investigations into Democratic lawmakers over their “threatening” rhetoric.

He added he was ready to counter Democratic efforts to probe and impeach Trump officials.

“If that’s what this new incoming leadership wants to do, we are ready,” said Blanche, a former personal lawyer for Trump. “If you work in this administration, you have a lawyer. It’s me.”

Trump, meanwhile, made similar remarks in a Truth Social post on Saturday.

He called on the Justice Department to investigate Democrats over their plans to haul his allies before congressional committees, branding them as “SLEAZEBAGS” who “should go to jail”.

“The threats being made by the Democrat Party against innocent Republican Donors and Party Members are absolutely unprecedented, and totally illegal,” the president wrote.

United States-based chipmaker Nvidia is investigating its chief executive officer, billionaire Jensen Huang, after he confirmed he had an intimate relationship with a woman accused of working for Chinese intelligence.

In an announcement on Sunday, Nvidia said the probe would be conducted by a “committee of independent directors” with outside counsel.

“While the board has no reason to believe that either national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised, the board’s inquiry will examine all available information,” Nvidia’s board of directors said.

It said the board continued to have “confidence in Jensen and his leadership team”. Huang will continue to lead Nvidia during the probe.

The investigation follows a report in The New York Times last month that Jensen may have been the target of a Chinese espionage plot.

China and the US have been in competition to dominate key tech sectors like artificial intelligence (AI).

Amid the AI boom, Nvidia has seen demand for its chips and programming interfaces explode, resulting in the company being valued in the trillions of dollars.

For years, the US has sought to restrict the export of advanced chips to China, fearing the Asian superpower could gain an edge over its technology and military sectors.

But on October 29, The New York Times said it had obtained exclusive information that a Chinese woman named Alice Huang, or Huang Le, sought to cultivate close ties with Jensen Huang in an effort to glean information about Nvidia’s technology.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC, has denied any allegations of spying in the case.

The New York Times also reported that Alice Huang’s employer, Megaspeed, had become one of Nvidia’s largest buyers, purchasing some $4.8bn in equipment from the US firm.

Jensen Huang’s ties to Alice Huang, who is of no relation, spurred fierce bipartisan backlash in the US Congress in the aftermath of the report.

“For months, bipartisan members of Congress have raised concerns about NVIDIA’s advanced AI chips going to China,” Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote in a statement.

“NVIDIA’s Jensen Huang and NVIDIA’s board owe Congress answers. And we need to pass bipartisan legislation we have ready to stop advanced American technology from going to China.”

Republican lawmakers in the House of Representatives also called on Huang to appear and testify before Congress about the affair on November 18.

“It is vital that Congress determines the extent to which US national security has been placed at risk,” Republicans John Moolenaar, Brian Mast and Rick Crawford said in a statement.

In an email to Nvidia staff on Sunday, Huang had admitted to having an extramarital relationship.

“I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse ‌for what I did,” Huang said.

Nvidia has grown rapidly in recent years with the rise of AI, producing chips for large language models developed by companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta and Google.

Huang has also been closely working with US President Donald Trump since the Republican leader returned to office in 2025.

In August of that year, the Trump administration announced it would take a 15 percent cut of certain Nvidia chip sales to China.

Trump reportedly bought as much as $1.6m in Nvidia stock and sold about $1m in August, ahead of November’s midterm elections.

After the midterm races last Tuesday, stocks for AI-related companies, including Nvidia, tumbled in reaction to widespread Republican losses.

Trump has pushed back against calls to regulate AI companies, but many Democrats during the midterms campaigned on placing restrictions on the companies, including on the construction of data centres.

Nvidia lost $450bn in market value in a single trading day last week, but it rebounded on Friday, regaining 4 percent of its losses.

Pope Leo XIV’s visit marks the first papal trip to Argentina in nearly four decades, amid tensions with the Milei government.

Argentinian President Javier Milei has welcomed the head of the Catholic Church, Pope Leo XIV, upon his arrival at Jorge Newbery airport near Buenos Aires.

Milei and his sister, presidential secretary Karina Milei, greeted the pope on Sunday amid tensions between the government and Argentina’s Catholic Church over austerity measures.

Prior to his arrival, the pope spent three days in Uruguay, the first stop on his tour of Latin America.

He is the first pontiff to visit Argentina in nearly four decades, since John Paul II’s trip in 1987.

“Without a doubt, it gives us great joy that this pope is visiting us,” said Jorge Silanes, religious director at the Pequeno Cottolengo Don Orione, a home for people with disabilities in the Buenos Aires province.

In Argentina, Pope Leo’s schedule includes attending a welcome ceremony at Plaza San Martin and a meeting with Milei at the Casa Rosada, the official presidential palace.

But the pontiff’s visit comes amid shrinking membership in the Catholic Church in Latin America, as well as a sometimes fractious relationship with politicians like Milei.

Catholics comprise the largest religious group in Latin America, with as many as 425 million people identifying with the church.

But their numbers have shrunk over the last decade. A Pew Research Center survey found that, in Argentina, the percentage of self-identifying Catholics slipped from 71 percent in the 2013-2014 year to 58 percent a decade later.

Milei himself has suggested he considered converting to Judaism, though he was raised in the Catholic faith.

The Catholic Church has also criticised Milei’s austerity measures, which included slashing social spending and safety-net programmes for the poor.

Milei has defended the budget cuts as necessary to bring inflation under control.

Some members of the Catholic clergy, however, have taken a visible role in the protests against Milei’s measures.

Leo, 71, the first US-born pope, will remain in Argentina until Wednesday and meet with officials, diplomats and civil society representatives.

He will also visit a prison and celebrate mass in Buenos Aires, Lujan, and the province of Cordoba, before travelling to Peru, where he spent years serving as a bishop.

The previous pope, Francis, was born in Buenos Aires in 1936 and was the first pope from the Americas, but he never visited his home country as head of the Catholic Church. Francis died in 2025.

He and Milei had a notably contentious relationship, with the Argentinian president calling the late pontiff a “communist” and an “imbecile who defends social justice”.

“Leo is going to make the visit that Francis never did,” said Reverend Lorenzo “Toto” de Vedia, who works with poor communities in a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires.

US President Donald Trump warns that United States forces are ‘locked and loaded’ and ready to strike if necessary.

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has warned that Tehran will “rain down hell” if the United States resumes attacks, serving Washington with an ultimatum in an attempt to end the two countries’ eight-month war.

“Our 2-day proposal stands: meet the requirements, including end to war on all fronts, and you will see results,” Araghchi wrote in a post on X on Sunday.

“Or choose war, and see our alert and battle-hardened warriors rain down hell,” he said.

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that renewed strikes on Iran are “highly unlikely” if negotiations progress over Tehran’s nuclear programme and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

‘Locked and loaded’

“It depends on whether or not they sign a very strong agreement,” Trump said when asked about continued US strikes on Iran during a phone interview reported by CNN. “I would [continue], if necessary, but we hit them really hard,” he added.

Trump warned that US forces have three aircraft carriers stationed in the region “fully locked and loaded”, ready to continue strikes if need be. He also said that the US has 38 bridges in Iran’s crosshairs that US forces “can knock down in literally one hour”.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry also quoted Araghchi in an earlier statement on Sunday that said Iran would “not go easy on American targets” in the region.

Araghchi’s statements came after reports by state media that an oil tanker caught fire earlier that morning after hitting a naval mine east of the Strait of Hormuz, citing Iran’s navy.

The navy claimed the ship’s identification systems were turned off and it was travelling in the no-go zone of the strait.

‘Devastating and severe’ response

An adviser to Iran’s commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Aerospace Force made threats that echoed those of the Iranian foreign minister and said that weapons have been “secured for years to come”.

“The armed forces are at the ready, and if the enemy makes a mistake, Iran’s response will be devastating and severe,” warned IRGC Brigadier-General Ali Belali in a statement on Telegram.

“As senior commanders of the armed forces have pointed out, we have upgraded our capabilities in the post-Ramadan War period,” Belali said.

The back-and-fourth between Iranian and US leaders comes following US midterm elections in which the Democratic Party won control of both chambers of Congress, soundly defeating Trump’s Republican Party.

Araghchi alleged that negotiations have been delayed as a result of the elections, but he awaits the path forward, Iranian state media reported.

“It will take some time for things to settle down and for the atmosphere to become conducive to the mediators resuming their visits,” the foreign minister said. “We have to wait.”

On Tuesday, the United States held midterm elections. Every one of the 435 seats in the US House of Representatives was up for election and 35 of the 100 US Senate seats were on the ballot.

The result of the elections was overwhelmingly in favour of the Democratic Party, or the blue team, as the US media has taken to referring to them. It was a blue wave. A blue tsunami. Democrats flipped at least 40 House seats and seven Senate seats. It was a clear message to Washington that much of the US is unhappy with the direction the country is headed.

Texas had not elected a Democrat in a statewide race for more than 30 years. Democrats dominated in Texas. Kansas hadn’t sent a Democrat to the Senate since 1932. Come the first week of January, there will be one representing it. Susan Collins, the powerful Republican chair of the Senate Committee on Appropriations and the most bipartisan voting Republican in the US Senate had been Maine’s senator for 30 years. She was voted out. The depth and breadth of the Democratic victory stunned many.

The war with Iran clearly had an impact. It wasn’t the conflict itself nearly as much as the economic impact it has had on the average American. Virtually every American uses an automobile and the price of petrol has skyrocketed during the war. The high fuel prices have impacted every other segment of the economy because nearly every product, especially food and grocery items, is delivered using the roadway system, which, of course, means petrol and diesel prices add to their cost.

The Democrats taking control of both the House and the Senate will dramatically change the next two years in Washington. They will restore the oversight functions of Congress and will investigate Trump and his team for countless violations, real or imagined. Congressional priorities will change. Impeachment will be a word that is commonly used again. If a vacancy occurs on the Supreme Court, the president will have a much more difficult time filling it. The impact of the elections is very real.

Is it historic though? In a word, no.

Losing seats to the opposition party is actually quite common in the midterms. Dozens of House races are still being counted, so the final tally may yet grow, but since World War II there have been at least seven midterm elections with seat losses comparable to or larger than what the Republicans have experienced so far in 2026: 1946, 1958, 1966, 1974, 1994, 2010 and 2018 when President Donald Trump’s party lost about 40 House seats in his first midterm.

The largest midterm loss belongs to President Barack Obama’s party in 2010. The Democrats lost 63 House seats and six seats in the Senate. The Democrats would then lose nine seats in the US Senate in the midterm elections held during Obama’s second term.

The Democrats under President Bill Clinton also took a beating in 1994 when the opposition Republicans gained 54 seats in the House, taking a majority for the first time in a generation, and flipping eight seats in the Senate.

The pundits at the time wondered aloud if it was the end of the Democratic Party. The losses were staggering. Both presidents, however, went on to govern effectively and find ways to work with the opposition. In fact, Clinton worked with the Republican Congress to pass the first balanced budget in memory. In that case, the split in government forced them to work together and produced a benefit to the American people.

None of this is new. President Harry Truman’s Democrats lost 55 House seats and 12 Senate seats in 1946. President Dwight Eisenhower’s Republicans took it on the chin in 1958, losing 48 House seats and 13 Senate seats. Presidents Lyndon Johnson, Gerald Ford and George HW Bush all took big losses. Even Ronald Reagan lost 26 House seats in his first midterm elections.

The point is the American public has always demanded accountability from Washington. No one should be surprised that at a time when only 14 percent of Americans think Congress is doing a good job and the prices for basic necessities are increasing, Americans demand change. They have done it over and over, regardless of the party in power.

The next logical question is where do we go from here? Is Trump’s reign as leader of the GOP over? Has he lost his influence?

There will not be a great deal of time spent trying to decipher what went wrong. Both Trump and Vice President JD Vance have already acknowledged the war in Iran and its economic effects are the primary reasons for the loss. This acknowledgement will hasten the healing process within the party, as will the need to push through a number of agenda items together in the remaining weeks the Republicans have control of Congress.

Because the US Constitution limits a president to two terms, any time any president enters his final two years, he is known as a lame duck. His influence, while still enormous simply by the reality of the office, begins to wane. The closer it gets to the end of his final term the less influence he has, particularly on the domestic agenda. Many presidents spend the majority of their time near the end of their term on foreign policy.

As of January 3, Democrats will set the agenda on Capitol Hill. They will control every committee. They will control virtually every vote. Congress controls the purse strings, so their impact is large, but don’t count Trump out yet.

His personality and his outward embrace of even the most difficult conflicts are unique. Whether in business, in election wins and losses, in courtroom clashes or in international affairs, Trump doesn’t back down. Admittedly this sometimes works to his detriment, but it is a trait that will likely serve him well as he battles with a Democratic-controlled Congress.

The president has veto authority over any legislation Congress passes. Rather than sign the legislation, he can reject it. If he rejects it, two-thirds of both the House and the Senate must vote to override his veto or else the legislation does not become law.

If Trump feels the Democrats are pushing an agenda too radical or too far left, he will wield the veto pen with great regularity.

Ideally the two sides understand the power each holds, and they will work together, as did a Republican-dominated Congress and Democratic President Clinton. If they do work together, all Americans will benefit. If each side digs in and refuses to compromise, it will be a long, unproductive two years.

Speaking of two years, 2028 is the next presidential election, and the question of who will be the nominee for each party is already being kicked around – and, in particular, how these midterm elections will impact the potential Republican candidates like Vance or Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

The stark reality is that two years is an eternity in politics. Anything can happen, despite the Republican defeat on Tuesday. The biggest question is whether the American public will be feeling “Trump fatigue” during the 2028 presidential election season.

If the public has grown weary of team Trump, anyone affiliated with his administration may be tainted goods and face a bigger challenge getting the party’s nomination. Vance, Rubio and others directly tied to him have the greatest name recognition right now, but that may prove to be baggage rather than an advantage.

Outsiders such as a state governor or a past political figure may generate public enthusiasm for a different direction. The list is long. Even Trump has said his party has a deep bench, and it’s true.

Trying to predict the 2028 nominee now, in such a volatile political time and with two years to go, while entertaining, is a fool’s errand.

Some in the media have begun to write the Republican Party’s obituary after Tuesday’s losses. The final numbers are not yet in, and in the Senate, the seven seats already lost exceed the six Obama’s party gave up in 2010.

Still, history shows that parties and presidents have come back from setbacks of this scale before, as Obama and Clinton both did. Trump and the Republicans can do the same.

A version of this piece was first published by Al Jazeera Arabic.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

As the threat of renewed war grows, Washington is expanding efforts to choke Tehran’s military supply networks, including through Task Force Iron Gate – a unit targeting land routes and the Caspian Sea.

With it, the US military ⁠⁠⁠⁠is trying to prevent Iran from using ground routes to transport advanced weapons and other materials, the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on Saturday.

The same day, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced ambitious plans for underground complexes capable of sustaining missile and drone production under bombardment. That announcement came amid reports of ongoing construction near Iranian missile bases, based on satellite imagery and previous claims by Tehran that US strikes failed to destroy its underground facilities.

Here’s what we know about the US task force:

What is the purpose of the task force?

Task Force Iron Gate will aim to find out where “weapons systems are coming in, how they could potentially be cut off” and how “Iran is transporting its energy”, Michael Mulroy, a former US deputy assistant defence secretary for the Middle East, told Al Jazeera.

It expands on the US blockade of Iranian ports to cover Iran’s land borders and the Caspian Sea and will reportedly be run by 20 civilian and military personnel.

Iran shares borders with seven countries – Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Pakistan Turkiye and Turkmenistan.

Based in Tampa, Florida, the unit will coordinate with other US government agencies “on preventing the movement of advanced weapons systems, dual-use technologies, sanctioned materials and illegal revenue streams across Iran’s land borders and the Caspian Sea”, CENTCOM said. Task Force Iron Gate will reinforce “the success of our ironclad blockade against Iran at sea”, CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper said.

If US President Donald Trump ramps up the war, there will likely be attacks on this “series of targets”, said Mulroy.

“Unlike Operation Epic Fury, which primarily (focused) on military targets, I think these targets will be focused on economic and infrastructure targets, as part of this comprehensive plan to cut the regime off from its ability to fight and ability to fund itself,” Mulroy said. “It’s primarily a coordination body that’s looking for how the US can increase its economic strangulation strategy by going after the ground routes as they’ve already covered a majority of the maritime routes.”

The IRGC dismissed the US military plan as “just a play on words”.

“The Americans cannot achieve their goal through this, which is to apply severe economic pressure to collapse and disintegrate the Iranian economy,” said IRGC spokesman Sardar Mohebi, as reported by the Fars news agency.

Washington previously “claimed that Iran will suffer an economic collapse within two weeks, but we witnessed that this did not happen”, he added.

Is the task force a response to reports of Russia-Iran weapons ties?

While CENTCOM’s announcement did not explicitly identify Iran’s weapons trade with Russia, analysts say the unit could be seen as an attempt to disrupt supply networks that include Russian connections.

US media have reported that Russia has sent drone components and explosives to Iran via the Caspian Sea. There are also claims that Russian technology could be helping Iran develop advanced supersonic cruise missiles.

Mahjoob Zweiri, a professor of contemporary history and politics at Qatar University, told Al Jazeera that reports of military equipment imported via Russia are a “real concern” for the United States.

The task force therefore could “cause a confrontation with Russia”, he said.

Rami Khouri, a public policy fellow at the American University of Beirut and a non-resident senior fellow at the Arab Center in Washington, said of the new unit: “The US really doesn’t quite know what to do about Iran as we’ve seen, and it’s doing things off the cuff” – a strategy that has led to little success.

Can the US really choke off Iran’s supply lines?

Khouri pointed to Iran’s history as a trading nation for thousands of years as evidence that the US mission is near impossible.

“There’s an enormous web of contacts that Iran has had for thousands of years with traders and partners and allies all over the region, especially in Asia –  it’s virtually impossible for the US to seal off every one,” he said.

While the US can impose a blockade or sanctions on Iran, it cannot control the behaviour of everyone from the Russians, to the Chinese, to the Emiratis and beyond, said the analyst.

“There are people all over the region who have links with Iran, some very close, some just commercial,” he said.

A lot of the materials that go into Iran’s weapons systems are bought from some other countries, – some even from the US or Europeans – and then they are channelled through companies in Asia, Khouri added.

Could this change the course of the war?

Former Trump aide and top counterterrorism official Joe Kent, who resigned in March due to the US’s war on Iran, said the new task force is an attempt by CENTCOM to subvert ongoing diplomatic efforts.

“This is CENTCOM inviting Iran to escalate while the vice president is attempting to negotiate with the Iranians,” Kent posted on X. “This is, as CENTCOM calls it, ‘policy by CONOP’, when the military finds a way to subvert the White House without blatantly disobeying the President, by taking actions that will ensure a war escalates or perpetuates.”

According to The Wall Street Journal, CENTCOM chief Cooper is among the many officials, alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, pressing Trump to renew attacks on Iran.

The task force may also just be symbolic because the US has no military presence on the Caspian Sea, said Zweiri.

“America has no access to the sea, unless some of the neighbouring countries like Azerbaijan or Armenia or others collaborate [with them] … And they’re not collaborating on this because they don’t want to upset Russia,” he said. “It will require … troops on the ground, and this is unlikely to happen.”

Zweiri also said that the Caspian Sea’s contribution to Iran’s economy is just 11 percent, so the task force’s actions won’t have much negative impact on Tehran.

Al Jazeera could not independently verify this figure but the Caspian Sea accounts for only a fraction of Iran’s overall maritime trade, according to the Soufan Center based in New York City.

The Argentinian scored 26 goals in regular season, topping the charts and leading Inter Miami to the MLS Cup playoffs.

Lionel Messi has become the first player to win back-to-back Golden Boot awards in Major League Soccer after leading his club Inter Miami to a second-place finish in the Eastern Conference.

MLS defending champions Miami earned a wasteful 3-3 draw against Charlotte on the final day of the regular season on Saturday.

The Argentinian superstar did not score but set up the first two goals at Miami’s Nu Stadium, both from corners, to help secure home advantage for his club in the first two playoff rounds.

Ian Fray, Luis Suarez and Rodrigo De Paul racked up three first-half strikes for Inter Miami before Liel Abada’s brace soon after the break led to a comeback sealed by Rodolfo Aloko’s late strike.

Runaway overall leaders Nashville broke the all-time MLS points record for a season with a whopping 77 after beating Cincinnati 2-0. At 23-3 with eight draws, Nashville won the East and broke the mark of 74 points set by Miami in 2024.

Miami finished second in the East on 60 points as third-place New England failed to take advantage of Inter’s draw with a surprise 1-0 loss at Orlando to end on 58.

At Miami, Messi’s 14th-minute corner fell unexpectedly to Charlotte’s Luca de la Torre, who spooned it up for Fray to open the scoring.

Another Messi corner in the 33rd minute found Suarez wide open at the near post. The Uruguayan glanced in his header for 2-0.

De Paul made it three before half-time, but Abada pulled back a goal for the visitors early and bagged a second in the 55th minute.

In the 90th minute, Aloko bagged the equaliser, reacting first to the ball as Smalls’s shot ricocheted off the post.

A visibly frustrated Messi hit the post in stoppage time before Aloko came inches from bagging an unlikely winner with a thunderous shot into the outside netting.

Messi’s 26 goals this season were enough to make him the first to successfully defend the top goal-scoring honour. Petar Musa of Dallas was second with 22 goals but did not score in his club’s 3-1 home victory over Colorado.

The 39-year-old finished with 29 goals the previous season, becoming the second player in league ⁠⁠⁠⁠history to score at ⁠⁠⁠⁠least 25 times in back-to-back years.

Messi recently retired from international football after an illustrious 21-year career with the 2022 world champions, but recently signed a contract extension ⁠⁠with the MLS club through 2028.

Inter Miami are the holders of the MLS Cup, which they won in Messi’s second season with the club in 2025.

Playoffs for this season’s MLS Cup begin ‌‌on November 19.

Messi’s men will face Columbus to begin the MLS playoffs. Other East matchups send New England against Philadelphia, Charlotte against Chicago and top seed Nashville against the wild-card winner, Orlando or Cincinnati.

Columbus took advantage of the Cincinnati loss with a 4-3 victory at Chicago to finish seventh and avoid the wild-card round.

Rybakina pulled out on the eve of the Indian Wells tournament, with Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk replacing the top seed.

Defending champion Elena Rybakina has pulled out of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Finals, saying she was not physically ready to compete, allowing Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk to take her place in the eight-player field at Indian Wells.

Organisers on Saturday cited a viral illness as the official reason for the world number one’s “disappointing” withdrawal, but said the world number one needs time to recover from the physical toll of a demanding year.

Tournament director Garbine Muguruza, a former world number one and two-time Grand Slam champion, said she had spoken with Rybakina and that the Kazakh had been unable to recover in time after struggling with physical problems late in the season.

“We love Elena, and we know that she was feeling so-so in Tokyo as well,” Muguruza told the Reuters news agency. “I spoke to her today, and she really couldn’t recover on time.

“What we want is for her to feel good, to go rest, to recover. We don’t want her to feel like she has to play — only if she’s ready to.”

Rybakina, who won two Grand Slam titles this year, also withdrew from ⁠the quarterfinals of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo last month because of a neck injury.

‘Amazing field’ despite Rybakina absence

Rybakina’s absence deprives the event of some star power, but Muguruza said the round-robin format and depth of the field would ensure a high-quality tournament.

“We have the best players,” said Muguruza, who triumphed at the WTA Finals in Guadalajara in 2021.

“I know our world number one is not going to be able to play, but we have an amazing field, the very best,” she added.

“Every match could be a Grand Slam final. You really need to be ready. You cannot give one inch.”

Kostyuk, who is making her WTA Finals debut after a breakthrough season that included the Madrid title and a rise into the top 10, was already in Indian Wells as an alternate and practising when Rybakina withdrew.

Muguruza said the Ukrainian, known for her signature post-match backflip celebrations, had earned her opportunity.

“Marta is great. She’s had a breakthrough year,” Muguruza said. “With this year, we have many first-time players in the Finals, and that’s very exciting. It’s very hard to qualify.”

Kostyuk has been outspoken about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and does not shake hands with Russian or Belarusian opponents. Muguruza said the tournament would support players in making their own decisions.

“They’re free to do whatever they feel,” she said. “We are open and supporting them.”

Opportunity for Sabalenka

Rybakina’s withdrawal could create an opening for world number two Aryna Sabalenka to make inroads in the rankings.

Sabalenka, who won the Indian Wells title earlier this year, has the chance to reduce the gap at the top of the rankings, according to Muguruza, who highlighted Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva as a player comfortable in the California desert.

“Of course, Aryna might be thinking that this can be a good opportunity,” she said.

The WTA moved the finals to Indian Wells from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with Muguruza saying player safety had been the decisive consideration amid conflict in the Middle East region.

“It clearly felt no longer safe to be in a region where there is conflict,” she said. “Taking care of the players and looking ahead to what could be safe, comfortable and secure, relocating felt the best decision.”

Muguruza said players had responded positively to the switch to Indian Wells, where she competed regularly during her career.

“When we knew that Indian Wells could be the next venue, it was just a joy,” she said, adding that ticket sales have been strong. “The whole thing is just perfect.”

Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO says he will meet with the US president on Monday to discuss the offer.

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) chief executive Dana White has said he will meet with Donald Trump after the US president offered him the job of White House press secretary.

Speaking at a new conference after a boxing event in London on Saturday, White said he would meet with Trump at the White House on Monday to discuss the president’s offer.

“Dana will be a Press Secretary like none other,” Trump wrote on Truth Social earlier on Saturday. “Dana, please take the job!”

Trump also requested that White “bring with him assistants, even though some are not from our Country”.

Trump listed and posted pictures of six current and former UFC title holders to join White: Islam Makhachev and Khabib Nurmagomedov from Russia’s Dagestan region; Americans Justin Gaethje, Daniel Cormier and “Kayla Harris”, likely a reference to Kayla Harrison; and Amanda Nunes, a Brazilian who became a US citizen last year.

“We need these people to defend us against the Lunatic Left,” Trump wrote.

The White House press secretary role has been vacant since Katie Zacharia’s tenure ended ‌last ⁠month after just five days.

Zacharia succeeded Karoline Leavitt, who stepped down from the role at the end of August.

White and Trump first worked together in the early 2000s, but they grew closer since ⁠the UFC chief publicly backed Trump’s presidential campaign in 2016.

In recent years, Trump has attended several UFC events, and in June, the White House hosted a night of UFC fights as ⁠part of celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of US independence.

The White House press office already has a former UFC spokesperson among its ranks: Director of Communications ⁠Steven Cheung, who worked for White’s organisation from 2013 to 2016.

Cheung shared the president’s message on X and said, “Hell yeah! Do it, @DanaWhite! It’ll just be like old times!”