Trump blames Iran war for Republican midterm losses but says he would do it again
Donald Trump has acknowledged that the war with Iran contributed to his Republican Party’s defeat in the US midterm elections, but said he would make the same decision again if necessary.
In his first on-camera comments after Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress, Trump said voters supported his actions against Iran but were unwilling to bear the economic consequences, particularly higher petrol prices. He said he understood their concerns but did not regret launching the joint US-Israeli attack in February.
Vice-President JD Vance had earlier described the war as “the reason we lost”, in comments that appeared to distance him from Trump’s position. Iran’s chief negotiator, Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf, said the election result showed that Americans had voted against the conflict, adding that Tehran endorsed their message.
Trump also said the conflict would end when he decided it should, while Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei warned that any renewed fighting could have much wider consequences. The election defeat marks a major setback for Trump, with the Democrats regaining control of the Senate and House of Representatives.
Ukraine releases bodycam footage of deadly Russian double strike on aid centre
Ukraine has released bodycam footage it says shows Russian forces carrying out a second bomb strike on an underground shelter minutes after an initial attack killed civilians in the southern village of Komyshuvakha.
The footage, released by Ukraine’s national police on Wednesday, shows residents walking through the rubble after the first strike before officers direct them towards an underground shelter. A warning about more incoming glide bombs is heard over a radio before an explosion hits the shelter, ending the recording.
Ukrainian authorities said at least 40 people were killed in the attacks, which involved nine glide bombs, some weighing 3,000kg. The shelter was near a school building being used to distribute humanitarian aid. President Volodymyr Zelensky said more than 30 people could still be trapped under the rubble as rescue operations entered a third day.
Zelensky accused Russia of deliberately targeting people collecting aid and then striking rescuers and police who arrived at the scene. Russia has not provided a response to the latest footage. The attack has intensified Ukrainian accusations that Moscow is targeting civilians and emergency workers.
Isaac Herzog, Israel’s president, has begun consultations with political parties on forming a new government after last week’s election produced no clear parliamentary majority.
Herzog received the official election results on Wednesday and urged party leaders to make compromises to avoid another election. Neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc nor the opposition alliance led by Gadi Eisenkot secured the 61 seats needed for a majority in the 120-member Knesset.
Netanyahu’s Likud party and its far-right and ultra-Orthodox allies won 53 seats, while Eisenkot’s Yashar party and three other opposition parties secured 48. Two Arab-led alliances won a combined 19 seats after a rise in turnout among Arab voters.
The Central Elections Committee said there was no evidence of irregularities that would justify delaying certification of the results, rejecting unsubstantiated claims by Netanyahu’s camp that Arab-led parties had manipulated the vote. Israel’s Shin Bet security service is separately investigating allegations of foreign interference, although officials said this was unlikely to alter the outcome.
Iran says US voters rejected war after Republican election defeat
Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s chief negotiator, has said the US midterm election results showed that American voters opposed the war with Iran, after President Donald Trump’s Republican Party suffered major losses.
Ghalibaf, who is also Iran’s parliament speaker, said Tehran endorsed the message sent by American voters. He warned that the US government would face consequences if it ignored public opposition to the conflict in order to serve external interests.
Trump acknowledged that the war and rising petrol prices contributed to the Republican defeat but said he did not regret launching the joint US-Israeli offensive in February. He said voters supported his policy towards Iran but were less willing to absorb the higher fuel costs associated with the conflict.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said those expecting a change in Washington’s hostility towards Iran were mistaken and warned that renewed fighting could have wider consequences. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also said four oil tankers caught fire after striking naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz, although details of the incident remained unclear.
French blood supplies affected by cyberattack on medical storage systems
Cyberattacks targeting refrigeration systems across Europe have affected blood storage facilities in France, raising concerns about the potential impact of the hacking campaign on essential medical supplies.
The French Blood Establishment said hackers had disrupted cold rooms used to store donated blood, causing temperatures to rise. Staff intervened to protect the supplies, and the agency said no blood products had been lost and no health impact had been identified.
The attacks had previously been reported at supermarkets, where compromised freezer systems disrupted food storage. Online claims by Russian-linked hacktivist groups that they had breached Danish engineering company Danfoss have fuelled speculation about their involvement, although researchers have questioned whether the claims are connected to the incidents.
Cybersecurity experts are examining evidence collected through digital traps designed to monitor attackers’ methods. Russian groups have not been ruled out, but researchers say Iranian hackers, state-backed actors or individuals could also be responsible. No group has been conclusively identified.
Mugabe’s son arrested over alleged assault during luxury car probe
Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe, the youngest son of Zimbabwe’s late former president Robert Mugabe, has been arrested alongside four other men over an alleged assault in Harare.
Police said the 29-year-old was among five people detained on Tuesday in connection with an incident at Brompton Guest Lodge on November 3. The group is expected to appear in court on November 5.
The arrests come amid an investigation into the alleged smuggling of two luxury vehicles into Zimbabwe. Local media reported that the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission had seized the vehicles, although police have not detailed the alleged connection between the smuggling inquiry and the assault case.
Robert Mugabe ruled Zimbabwe for 37 years before being removed from power in 2017 and died in 2019. Bellarmine is his youngest son with his second wife, Grace Mugabe.
British man with Ebola in DR Congo to be evacuated to UK
A British man who tested positive for Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo will be evacuated to the United Kingdom for treatment, in the first confirmed case of a British national contracting the virus during the latest outbreak.
The UK government said established procedures for handling imported Ebola cases had been activated, although the timing of the evacuation had not been announced. A government spokesperson said the risk to the wider British public remained low.
Reuters reported that the man was a healthcare worker, citing an internal document. The BBC said it had not independently seen the document. Imported Ebola cases in the UK are rare, with four confirmed cases recorded previously, including infections among healthcare workers responding to the West African outbreak between 2014 and 2015.
The outbreak in Congo began in May and has recorded more than 10,000 confirmed cases, with a fatality rate of 48.6 percent reported at the end of October. It is the deadliest Ebola outbreak in the country’s history and the second deadliest recorded globally, behind the 2014 to 2016 West African epidemic.
Ethiopia expels six Sudanese diplomats amid growing regional tensions
Ethiopia has ordered six Sudanese diplomats to leave the country within 48 hours, in a move that further strains relations between the neighbours amid mutual accusations of backing armed groups.
A senior Ethiopian official said on Wednesday that the diplomats, who were based at the Sudanese consulate in the border town of Assosa, had been ordered to leave. The official did not provide a reason for the decision.
Sudan has accused Ethiopia of supporting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in its civil war, while Ethiopia alleges that Sudan is backing rebels in the northern Tigray region. Both governments deny the accusations.
The diplomatic dispute has raised fears that the conflicts in Sudan and Ethiopia could become increasingly intertwined, widening instability across the Horn of Africa. Sudan’s war has displaced more than 14 million people, according to United Nations figures, and created one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises.
Trump grants visa to Ghanaian mother to attend son’s funeral in US
The mother of a 15-year-old Ghanaian boy shot dead in New York has travelled to the United States after President Donald Trump intervened to grant her a visa to attend her son’s funeral.
Doris Adu Gyamfi departed Ghana on Wednesday after Trump approved her travel request following a phone call with New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who had asked the president to help her attend the funeral with relatives.
Her son, Javits Frimpong, was shot by unidentified attackers in the Bronx on October 29 while on his way to school. He had moved from Ghana to the United States last year and was living with his father, according to reports cited by the Associated Press.
“I want justice for my son. That’s all,” Adu Gyamfi told Ghanaian foreign affairs officials before leaving. Ghana’s Foreign Ministry has called for a thorough investigation, while New York police continue to investigate the killing.
World Bank urges Kenya to tackle corruption as it raises growth forecast
The World Bank has urged Kenya to address corruption and governance weaknesses to support stronger economic growth and improve household incomes, while raising its forecast for the country’s economic performance in 2026.
In its latest Kenya Economic Update released on Wednesday, the lender said the economy had performed better than expected in the first half of the year. However, it warned that corruption remained a major obstacle to faster and more widely shared growth.
The World Bank said Kenya had made progress since becoming a lower-middle-income country in 2014, but continued to lag comparable economies on key governance measures. It identified corruption as the main constraint limiting the country’s economic prospects.
The warning places pressure on the government to strengthen public institutions and improve accountability as it seeks to sustain growth and raise living standards. The lender said tackling governance challenges would be essential to ensuring that economic gains benefit a broader share of the population.
Faith Omoboye is a foreign affairs correspondent with background in History and International relations. Her work focuses on African politics, diplomacy, and global governance.
