News Briefs

Iran’s plot to kill Trump before election, exposed. The Justice Department has unsealed criminal charges in a thwarted Iranian plot to kill President-elect Donald Trump before this week’s presidential election. A criminal complaint filed in federal court in New York alleges that an unnamed official in Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard instructed someone in September to put together a plan to surveil and ultimately kill Mr. Trump. The plot reflects what federal officials have described as ongoing efforts by Iran to target U.S. government officials, including Mr. Trump, on U.S. soil. The charges were unsealed Nov. 8, just days after Mr. Trump’s defeat of Democrat Kamala Harris.

Judge strikes down Biden immigration plan. A federal judge has struck down a Biden administration policy that aimed to ease a path to citizenship for some unauthorized immigrants who are married to United States citizens. The program allowed unauthorized spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens to apply for a green card without first having to leave the country. The temporary relief from deportation brought a short-lived sense of security to some 500,000 immigrants estimated to benefit from the program. Texas-based U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker ruled Nov. 7 that the Biden administration had overstepped its authority by implementing the initiative.

Biden’s immigration announcement explained in 3 questions

Postelection protests and unrest in Mozambique. Thousands are protesting in Mozambique’s capital and police are responding by firing tear gas and rubber bullets as weeks of postelection unrest continue in the southern African country. It was sparked by an October vote that will keep the ruling party in power for more than a half-century amid allegations of rigging. Opposition parties and many citizens have rejected the Oct. 9 presidential election results as fraudulent. Growing protests in the capital, Maputo, and other cities have been met by deadly force from police.

Mozambique’s turn toward integrity

Wildfires sweep across southern California. Southern California firefighters working to contain a wildfire that has destroyed 132 structures in two days could be assisted by a forecast of fierce wind gusts easing. The Mountain Fire started Nov. 6 in Ventura County and grew to 32 square miles. Around 7% of the fire was contained Nov. 8. At least 88 structures have been damaged. Some 10,000 people remained under evacuation orders Nov. 8. The fire continues to threaten about 3,500 structures in suburban neighborhoods, ranches, and agricultural areas around Camarillo in Ventura County.

Giant California fire fits a pattern: Rising risks, human causes

China floods local economies with trillions of yuan. China has announced a 6 trillion yuan ($839 billion) plan to help local governments refinance their mountains of debt in the latest push to rev up growth in the world’s second-largest economy. Officials said the plan will be implemented over the next three years. The latest stimulus measure from Beijing followed a meeting of leaders of the national legislature. Finance Minister Lan Fo’an estimated that the amount of “hidden debt” – debt that has not been disclosed publicly – of local economies will drop from 14.3 trillion yuan ($2 trillion) to 2.3 trillion yuan ($320.9 billion) by the end of 2028.

Real estate once drove China’s economic growth. Now it’s holding it back.

Israeli soccer fans attacked in Amsterdam. Dutch authorities say young people on scooters attacked Israeli fans in hit-and-run assaults overnight after a soccer game in Amsterdam. The attacks were apparently fueled by calls to target Jewish people that spread on social media. Tensions had been mounting in the Dutch capital over Israel’s campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon, even before the Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv on Nov. 7. Amsterdam authorities banned a planned pro-Palestinian demonstration near the stadium, and video showed a crowd of Israeli fans chanting anti-Arab slogans en route to the game.

Amid fresh wave of antisemitism, some French Jews resort to fake names

Fed cuts key interest rate. The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate by a quarter-point in response to the steady decline in the once-high inflation that had angered Americans and helped drive Donald Trump’s presidential election victory this week. The rate cut follows a larger half-point reduction in September, and it reflects the Fed’s renewed focus on supporting the job market as well as fighting inflation, which now barely exceeds the central bank’s 2% target. The Nov. 7 move reduces the Fed’s benchmark rate to about 4.6%, down from a four-decade high of 5.3% before September’s meeting.

The state of the economy influences elections. Will voters look backward to inflation under President Joe Biden or forward to hopes of finding tamer prices and avoiding a recession?

Israel enacts new deportation law. Israel’s parliament has passed a law that would allow it to deport family members of Palestinian attackers to the war-ravaged Gaza Strip or other locations for a period of seven to 20 years. The law passed on Nov. 7 was championed by members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and his far-right allies. The law was passed with a 61-41 vote. It would apply to Palestinian citizens of Israel and residents of annexed east Jerusalem who knew about their family members’ plans to attack beforehand or who “express support or identification with the act of terrorism.”

Cat 3 hurricane plows Cuba. Hurricane Rafael pushed into the Gulf of Mexico the night of Nov. 6 after churning across western Cuba as a Category 3 with winds so powerful it knocked out the entire country’s power grid. Forecasters warn that Rafael could bring “life-threatening” storm surges, winds, and flash floods to western swaths of the island, after knocking out power and dumping rain on the Cayman Islands and Jamaica. The storm is especially hard for Cuba, which is struggling with devastating blackouts and recovering from another hurricane two weeks ago.

After hurricanes, FEMA confronts a different kind of flood: Misinformation

German governing party loses parliamentary majority. Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz is expected to lead the country with a minority government after the collapse of his coalition. Mr. Scholz fired Finance Minister Christian Lindner of the Free Democrats on Nov. 6. Two other ministers of the Free Democrats have also resigned, effectively leading to the governing coalition’s collapse. Mr. Lindner will receive his certificate of dismissal from President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Nov. 7. The chancellor hopes that Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democrats will support his minority government in parliament as he tries to pass important legislation and plug the billion-euro hole in the 2025 budget.

Australia’s social media age limit. The Australian government announced Nov. 7 legislation that it would set an age limit of 16 years for children to start using social media and would hold platforms responsible for ensuring compliance. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the legislation will be introduced in Parliament this year and would take effect 12 months after it becomes law. The platforms including X, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook, will need to use that year to work out how to exclude Australian children younger than 16. Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, says the company respects any age limitations the government wants to introduce.

Smartphones are robbing kids of their childhood. These communities are fighting back.

Guilty plea deals for 9/11 conspirators. A military judge has validated the guilty plea agreements struck by alleged Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two co-defendants. The agreements would spare Mr. Mohammed and the others the risk of the death penalty in exchange. Unless government prosecutors or others attempt to challenge the plea deals again, Air Force Col. Matthew McCall’s ruling means that the three 9/11 defendants could enter guilty pleas in the U.S. military courtroom in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. This is a dramatic step toward wrapping up the government prosecution of one of the deadliest attacks on the United States.

Australian high court rejects tracking migrants. Australia’s highest court has ruled that migrants can’t be forced by law to wear electronic tracking bracelets or to comply with curfews. The government’s lawyers have unsuccessfully argued that curfews and tracking technology protect the community. Five of the seven High Court judges ruled Nov. 6 that tough restrictions placed on more than 100 migrants, usually because of their criminal records, were unconstitutional because the conditions amounted to punishment. The ruling means the government can no longer electronically track the more than 200 non-citizens with criminal records who were released and, for a variety of reasons, couldn’t be deported.

European leaders meet to discuss Trump presidency. Dozens of European leaders will be assessing the new global outlook during a one-day summit Nov. 6 in Hungary’s capital. The election of Donald Trump as the next United States president could have far-reaching consequences for the continent. All eyes will be on Washington to see whether the return of Mr. Trump will cause political strife throughout Europe much like his first presidency did. It was already beyond doubt that the trans-Atlantic relationship would change after the Nov. 5 vote, but the question is whether that change might be seismic.

Roof collapse triggers protests in Serbia. Nine people have been detained after unrest erupted during a protest over a deadly roof collapse in Novi Sad, Serbia, which killed 14 people and injured three. Thousands marched to demand the resignations of top officials following the collapse of a concrete roof at the city’s main railway station. Many blame the collapse on rampant corruption, a lack of transparency, and sloppy work during renovation on the station building, which was part of a wider railway deal with Chinese state companies. Populist government officials have promised full accountability. Serbia’s construction minister submitted his resignation on Nov. 6.

French court cracks down on migrant smuggling. A French court has found 18 defendants guilty in a migrant-smuggling trial linked to the perilous English Channel route from France to the U.K. One of the ringleaders from Iraq was sentenced Nov. 5 to 15 years in prison and fined $218,000. The defendants in the trial in Lille were swept up in a major European police operation in July 2022. The trial has shed light on the migrant-smuggling business in what has been a deadly year for the thousands of men, women, and children who attempt the France-to-Britain sea crossing on small and often dangerously overloaded boats.

UK and France are butting heads over migration. Is Brexit to blame?

Netanyahu fires his defense minister. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed his popular defense minister, Yoav Gallant, in a surprise announcement. Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Gallant have repeatedly been at odds throughout the war in Gaza but had avoided dismissal until now. A previous attempt to fire Mr. Gallant in March 2023 sparked widespread street protests against Mr. Netanyahu. The prime minister announced his decision late Nov. 5. In the early days of the war, Israel’s leadership presented a unified front as it responded to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack. But as the war has dragged on and spread to Lebanon, key policy differences have emerged.

Netanyahu pushes back over Gaza and hostages: ‘No one will preach to me’

Ukrainian troops fire at North Korean units. Ukraine’s defense minister says Ukrainian troops have engaged for the first time with North Korean units that were recently deployed to help Russia. Another Kyiv official said Ukraine’s army fired artillery at North Korean soldiers in Russia’s Kursk border region. The comments Nov. 5 were the first official reports that Ukrainian and North Korean forces have engaged in combat, following a deployment that has given the war a new complexion as it approaches 1,000 days.

Why North Korea is sending troops to Russia – and how it risks an ‘escalation spiral’