Politics News: 3 November 2026

The US Department of Justice said Tuesday it is deploying approximately 1,000 election monitors and observers to all 50 states. The department called it its largest monitoring effort in history, with monitors deployed in every state for the first time.

King Charles described the transatlantic slave trade as a 'shameful chapter of history' that filled him with 'profound sorrow' as he opened a summit of Commonwealth leaders in Antigua and Barbuda. While there was no direct apology, the King offered contrition and acknowledged that he had personally learned more about the legacy of the slave trade.

First Lady Melania Trump will host representatives from Russia and Ukraine at the White House, according to a Tuesday press release. The announcement follows her securing a localized ceasefire between the two sides in the front-line city of Oleshky earlier this month.

A US district judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit brought by the Trump administration against Harvard to obtain more admissions data in its effort to determine whether the university is still using affirmative action. Judge Myong Joun wrote the Justice Department did not take proper procedural steps before bringing the case.

George Madgwick, the Reform UK leader in Hampshire, has been charged with 35 offences against four victims over 13 years, including 12 counts of rape. The 37-year-old councillor, suspended from the party, denies wrongdoing and is due at Portsmouth Magistrates' Court on 25 November. The Crown Prosecution Service said offences took place between 2008 and 2021 in Portsmouth and Wales.

President Trump said Tuesday that he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reached a deal months ago to end US aid to Israel this year. He said on Fox and Friends that Israel is fine with the cut, which he described as $4 billion, and blamed a bad talking point.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that talks are under way to arrange a Trump, Xi and Putin meeting at the APEC summit in Shenzhen on November 18 and 19. He said participants see the meeting as appropriate and useful and hope it will be finalized in coming days. Kyiv has expressed concern that the leaders could discuss the war without Ukraine.

ICC president Judge Tomoko Akane of Japan accused the Trump administration of trying to suppress global justice by imposing sanctions on the tribunal. She briefed the United Nations by videoconference because of the sanctions and called the circumstances extraordinary, vowing such efforts would not succeed.

The full 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals voted late Monday to rehear the Trump administration's appeal of a lower court order. The order had blocked the administration from threatening election workers with criminal prosecution if they did not set aside ballots suspected to have been cast by noncitizens.

Qatar said there was still hope for a deal between the US and Iran after mediators exchanged proposals in real time following talks in Tehran. Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said a Qatari delegation met Iranian officials for more than three hours on Monday and that Washington and Tehran were reviewing proposals. Doha is working towards an interim agreement to build trust, even as overnight US strikes hit Qeshm Island.

Turkey's Justice Minister Akin Gürlek said investigators found a criminal network that reached the upper levels of the financial bureaucracy in a fund scandal probe. The probe began in mid September over market manipulation affecting nearly half a million investors and has 433 suspects, including 112 jailed. Borsa Istanbul's head was detained, and the deputy finance minister resigned after his son in law was jailed.

The European Commission will host talks in Brussels on Wednesday with representatives from the United States, Ukraine, France, Germany, the UK, NATO and the World Bank on Ukraine's postwar reconstruction and economic future. An EU official said discussions would cover security guarantees and economic support. The meeting follows talks in Miami and Oslo last month.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he has seen no sign that Russia is serious about negotiating a ceasefire in Ukraine during talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Berlin. Both leaders said the European Union must help shape any lasting peace, with Zelenskyy hoping the upcoming Abu Dhabi talks could pave the way for a direct meeting with Vladimir Putin.

The US Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Tuesday on whether Colorado can require preschools that accept public dollars to admit the children of same sex couples. The case involves the Archdiocese of Denver, a group of Catholic parishes and parents, and is described as a dispute at the intersection of religious and LGBTQ rights.

Multiple flights in Europe were disrupted by bomb threats on Tuesday, with planes searched in Poland, Spain, Italy and Bulgaria. A LOT flight from London Heathrow to Warsaw was diverted to Warsaw Modlin airport, where specialists found no explosives, and a SAS flight from Copenhagen landed at Chopin airport for checks. Ryanair flights from Manchester to Murcia and from Lisbon and Dublin to Rome were also checked, with alerts cleared.

Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned that a US strategic error would open a new battlefield in the war, hours after a US Air Force jet reportedly struck an IRGC missile system on Qeshm Island. CENTCOM issued no formal statement, and no Iranian official formally confirmed a direct attack. Mediators are pushing for a deal as President Trump mulls strikes as early as this week.

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham denied proposing a return to free movement in talks with the EU, saying the British public must decide the future relationship. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said Labour's manifesto ruled out free movement, while Burnham said an honest discussion was needed on how migration has changed since Brexit. He said a November EU summit would cement deals on food and drink, emissions trading and youth mobility.

Americans are voting Tuesday in midterm elections seen as a referendum on President Trump, with control of Congress on the line. New York Attorney General Letitia James said her office was monitoring a ballot scanner problem in Westchester County, where Rep. Mike Lawler said every ballot would be counted. Results were expected to begin in Kentucky and Indiana at 6 p.m. ET.

The UK and EU have completed a sanitary and phytosanitary deal to remove many Brexit checks on food and animal products, from sausages and cheese to leather goods and flowers. The 200-page text has been settled with no further negotiation, but implementation is not expected until the first quarter of 2028 after a six-month delay linked to the change in UK prime minister. It would help British food exporters and smaller UK retailers.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood declined to specify the cost of scrapping her plan to make foreign care workers already in the UK wait longer for permanent settlement. Under revised plans, care workers who arrived before May 2025 and earned at least £25,000 a year would continue to qualify after five years. She said the state would still save billions, with costs to be published when the changes go before Parliament.

Eurozone finance ministers have been asked to send nominations by Friday, November 6, to replace European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, who will leave by February 7, 2027. The Eurogroup said the EU Council has started the appointment procedure, and ministers will discuss candidates on November 9. Two other executive board seats will also need filling next year.

King Charles III and Queen Camilla were caught in heavy rain while attending Independence Day celebrations in Antigua and Barbuda on Sunday, November 1. The couple sat with Prime Minister Gaston Browne at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium during a ceremony recognising citizens, as the island hosted the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Berlin on Tuesday for talks with Chancellor Friedrich Merz on air defense and winter energy support. Kyiv wants interceptors for systems such as Patriot, after Germany said it has supplied all Patriot systems it can spare. The visit comes a week before talks in Abu Dhabi led by the United States, hours after a strike on a Kharkiv hospital injured at least 73 people.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a surprise visit to Berlin, where he and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Europe must help shape any lasting peace. Zelenskyy confirmed talks between Ukraine, Russia and the United States will be held in Abu Dhabi on November 10 and 11. Merz pledged winter aid and new air defense and energy support, hours after a strike on a Kharkiv hospital injured at least 73 people.

UK parliament will become the first legislature to receive White Ribbon accreditation, a commitment to culture change against violence against women. Under a three-year plan, MPs and parliamentary workers could be required to pass criminal record checks before receiving security passes and receive anti-harassment training. The scheme follows a cross-party campaign led by MP Emily Darlington.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers denied the government's budget is causing persistent inflation after the Reserve Bank's fifth rate hike this year. He said public sector demand was weaker than expected and promised fresh savings in next month's mid-year budget update. Reserve Bank Governor Michele Bullock said overall demand remained too high and avoided direct comment on the budget, citing independence.

The Victorian government approved the Meering West Wind Farm, which could include up to 155 turbines, a day before entering caretaker mode ahead of the November 28 state election. Neighbouring farmers said more than 100 objections were lodged and their concerns were ignored. The project's future may hinge on the election, as the Coalition pledged to scrap the VNI West transmission line it would connect to.

Counting is complete for all 29 Tasmanian local councils, with voter participation at 85.6 per cent, a new national record. The election reduced the number of councillors from 263 to 213, with the five largest councils moving from 12 seats to nine. Analyst Kevin Bonham said there was a flush of new faces and some unusual mayoral results, including a Clarence mayor elected from sixth on the council ballot.

Live coverage of US midterm races is underway, with polls predicting close races for control of Congress. President Trump has described the midterms as the most important in our lifetime.

Western officials said British and European troops serving as peacekeepers in Ukraine after a ceasefire would be allowed to fire back if attacked by Russians. The Anglo-French led stabilisation force is expected to be almost exclusively European, non-Nato and not reliant on US systems or technology such as Starlink. The UK and France outlined Exercise Koalicja, an 11-country rehearsal in Poland involving 2,800 personnel.

Australia's Reserve Bank raised its cash rate target by 0.25 percentage points to 4.85 percent, up from 4.60 percent, the highest level since late 2008. The decision, the fifth rate increase in 2026, was taken by a six to three vote and leaves open the possibility of further hikes. The bank said it is trying to dampen inflation, which it targets around 2.5 percent on average over the cycle.

Western Australia's women's interests minister Simone McGurk said the violent misogynistic abuse she and her staff receive has not abated since the alleged attack on federal independent MP Helen Haines, who had both legs amputated. McGurk, first elected in 2013, described messages telling her to kill herself and said a staff member was called a slur by a constituent. She called the rise in online hatred frightening.

Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said the United States will mediate working-level negotiations between Ukraine and Russia in Abu Dhabi next week, on November 10 and 11. He said the talks are advancing President Trump's mission to end the war.

Poland's government and president clashed Tuesday over the Constitutional Tribunal, with Prime Minister Donald Tusk seeking to reverse changes made by the former Law and Justice government. Eight coalition-backed judges plan to approve the budget and consider disciplinary action against the court's president and deputy, while Nawrocki's supporters accuse Tusk of backing a coup. The dispute is uniting right-wing parties ahead of the 2027 vote.

Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico said he would want to work with President Trump on a bipartisan Make America Great Again agenda. He said he would love, as the next US senator from Texas, to help fulfill some of the promises of Trump's political project.

A US official said strikes were carried out on Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz, with Iranian state television reporting explosions on Qeshm Island. The official, speaking anonymously, said the US targeted Iranians using surface to air missiles against US assets. The strikes came on the eve of US midterm elections, and Vice President JD Vance said he and President Trump felt pretty good about prospects for a negotiated settlement.

US forces struck radar detectors and missile launchers on Iran's Qeshm Island on Monday, a day before US midterms. A US official called the strikes defensive, targeting Iranian surface-to-air missiles aimed at US assets, while Iranian media reported five explosions. President Trump said Iran wants a settlement, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said indirect talks were continuing through mediators.

North Korea denied FBI allegations that its hackers stole more than $6 billion from cryptocurrency exchange Binance, calling the charge a grave political provocation. Kim Yo Jong, sister of leader Kim Jong Un, said the claim was absurd rhetoric, while the FBI blamed a state-tied group called TraderTraitor. The exchange said customers withdrew $4.64 billion after it lifted a suspension, and North Korea fired strategic cruise missiles.

A group of Senate Democrats accused Elon Musk's social media platform X of giving the prediction market Polymarket preferential treatment on its timeline. In a letter to X leadership Friday, the senators included screenshots showing three apparent attempts to report Polymarket ads.

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham will join the King at the formal opening of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Antigua and set out plans for a debt reset for countries facing rising interest costs. He will also begin talks on a formal UK apology for the slave trade, likely next year during the UK's G20 presidency, while the government says it will not pay financial reparations.

California Democrats are divided over a wealth tax on billionaire residents, which voters will decide in the midterm cycle. Wealthy Californians are organizing against the measure, while experts say its broader economic impact is nuanced.