US carries out limited defensive strikes on Iran's Qeshm Island

This is the morning edition of the One News Page Global Briefing, for Wednesday, the fourth of November, twenty twenty-six. Here is what matters now.

The United States conducted limited defensive strikes on Iranian targets on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, according to U S officials. Explosions were reported on Qeshm Island and in nearby Bandar Lengeh. One official said the action responded to an Iranian attack on a U S aircraft, and other officials described the operation as limited with no immediate plans to escalate. The strikes came hours after Vice President J D Vance and President Donald Trump signalled optimism that diplomatic efforts to end the eight-month conflict with Tehran were moving in the right direction. They also landed on the eve of U S midterm elections, with the unpopular Iran war and its effect on American gasoline prices and the broader economy a vulnerability for Republicans trying to keep control of Congress.

Meanwhile, in the United States, President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the United States would end four billion dollars in annual military aid to Israel at the end of this year. In a phone interview with Fox News as voting began, Trump said Israel no longer needed the assistance and that he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had made a deal months ago, after Netanyahu approached him about the idea. The surprise Election Day announcement appeared aimed at voters sceptical of U S support for Israel and the war in Gaza. Trump also complained that some politicians were using the funding to criticise Republicans.

Also in the U S, Voters across the United States went to the polls on Tuesday in midterm elections that will decide control of the Senate and House of Representatives for the final two years of Trump's presidency. Republicans currently hold both chambers, while Democrats are seeking to rein in his power. Polls opened in states including North Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia, and the contests are widely viewed as a referendum on Trump's second-term agenda.

Elsewhere, Former British paratrooper Karl Bushby, fifty-seven, returned to his mother's home in Hull, northern England, on Monday after a twenty-eight-year unassisted journey of roughly fifty thousand kilometres around the world. He set out from Punta Arenas, Chile, on one November one thousand nine hundred and ninety-eight and travelled on foot across four continents and thirty countries, crossing the frozen Bering Strait and swimming the English Channel. Crowds gathered in Hull city centre to welcome him before he walked home.

In sport, The twenty twenty-seven Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia has been postponed from January to late December, the Asian Football Confederation announced, citing exceptional circumstances and travel disruptions caused by regional conflict. The decision follows Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia that forced the cancellation or relocation of the Dakar Rally and the W T A Finals, and it underscores how the conflict is affecting major sporting events across Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and the wider Gulf region.

In the United States, Jacob Morley, convicted four years ago of killing a co-worker and serving a life sentence, was recaptured outside Kansas City, Missouri, on Tuesday before midday by the state highway patrol after more than a week on the run. He had escaped from the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tennessee by slipping through a fence.

In Asia, North Korea has rejected U S allegations that it was behind the theft of more than six billion dollars from the cryptocurrency exchange Binance, calling the accusation absurd rhetoric and a provocation. Kim Yo Jong dismissed the F B I's claims as an attempt to portray Pyongyang as a cybercriminal state. U S government agencies and cyber analysts have blamed North Korea for the record heist, and a twenty twenty-four United Nations report said proceeds from North Korean cyberattacks had reportedly helped fund the country's weapons programmes.

In Britain, George Madgwick, a Reform U K councillor and leader of the party on Hampshire county council, has been charged with thirty-five offences, the Crown Prosecution Service said. The charges include twelve counts of rape, two counts of sexual assault, two counts of assault by penetration, and offences related to making and possessing indecent images. The party has suspended him.

In Australia, Reddit and a digital rights group have launched a High Court challenge to Australia's landmark law banning social media use by under-16s, arguing it amounts to censorship, creates privacy problems and infringes the implied freedom of political communication for teenagers. Reddit's lawyers told the court the legislation was rushed and ill-thought-out, though it has since been narrowed.

In football, The Champions League league-phase fixtures feature Manchester United against Roma and Barcelona against Aston Villa, both kicking off at eight p.m. G M T as the competition's league phase continues.

Also in football, F I F A has told members of its Council they may view documents related to president Gianni Infantino's failed plan to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors. Access will be granted in person in Zurich, marking the first partial release of the confidential material to the governing body's ruling council.

In U S legal news, Cleveland Meredith, who was pardoned by Donald Trump for his role in the six January twenty twenty-one Capitol attack and had pleaded guilty to threatening to kill then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was arrested on Monday and accused of threatening federal judges. Prosecutors said he allegedly posted a call to execute judges involved in trials stemming from the Capitol riot.

That was the morning edition of the One News Page Global Briefing. Read the complete briefing and explore its supporting coverage at one news page dot com.