Cristiano Ronaldo shows up at the White House.

Trump:

My son is a big fan of Ronaldo.

Barron got to meet him and now he respects me a little bit more.

Trump:

Saudi Arabia has never been as safe as it is right now.

You always had a cloud over your head, that cloud is not there anymore.

BREAKING: Trump designates Saudi Arabia as a major non-NATO ally.

Trump:

Gaza looks a bit messy, it has for many decades, but it is getting very close to being perfected.

Back-channel talks between the Trump administration and Maduro revealed that Maduro privately offered to step down — but only after a 2–3 year transition period.

The White House rejected the offer as too slow.

Source: NYT

NEW: The Trump administration is secretly working with Moscow on a new 28-point plan to end the war in Ukraine.

Modeled on Trump’s Gaza negotiations, the proposal covers four areas: peace terms in Ukraine, security guarantees, broader European security, and future U.S. relations with both Russia and Ukraine.

Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev said he spent three days in Miami in late October with Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff drafting the plan, and is optimistic because “the Russian position is really being heard.”

The U.S. has begun briefing European allies and thinks there’s a real chance they—and Ukraine—could support the effort.

Source: Axios

US intelligence previously concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved Jamal Khashoggi’s 2018 murder.

Despite that finding, Trump still claimed during MBS’s White House visit that the Crown Prince “knew nothing about it” and dismissed Khashoggi as “extremely controversial.”

📸 Cristiano Ronaldo at the White House.

WFP: Funding Collapse to Leave 318M Hungry

The WFP warns acute food insecurity will hit 318 million in 2026, with funding cuts leaving millions without aid as crises intensify from Gaza and Sudan to Afghanistan and Haiti.

READ MORE

House Speaker Johnson said he is “deeply disappointed” the Senate approved the Epstein files bill without changes.

Talks between U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Ukrainian Presidential Chief-of-Staff Andriy Yermak, planned for today in Türkiye, have been called off.

The cancellation comes amid a brewing corruption scandal in Kyiv that has placed Yermak under intense scrutiny.

Source: The Economist

China Premier Visits Zambia After 28 Years

China’s premier visits Zambia for the first time in 28 years, highlighting a growing investment race as Beijing’s Tazara plans compete with Western-backed corridors and Lusaka seeks equity-driven growth.

READ MORE

The Telegraph:

Zelensky is losing domestic support amid a major corruption scandal and worsening battlefield setbacks.

Despite Ukraine facing a massive budget crisis and dwindling Western funds, he’s signing huge arms “deals” that the country cannot afford, which critics say amounts to political fantasy rather than strategy.

With energy infrastructure collapsing, corruption allegations close to his inner circle, rising desertions, and Russian forces advancing, Zelensky’s behaviour looks increasingly desperate—raising fears for Ukraine’s stability and future.

Russia launched a massive strike on Ukraine, targeting multiple cities with swarms of drones, Kalibr missiles, Kinzhals, and cruise missiles.

Residential buildings and energy infrastructure were hit.

BIG: South Korea is pursuing $15B in potential arms deals with the UAE, centered on joint development and possible sales of the KF-21 fighter jet.

The UAE’s interest follows stalled talks with the U.S. over the F-35 and limited alternatives like Russia’s Su-57E.

Source: Bloomberg

Map showing last night’s Russian attack on Ukraine, displaying the approximate route of UAVs and missiles.

Footage of a destroyed building in Ukraine's Ternopil.

Russia attacked the city with missiles and UAVs.

Fethullah Gülen, the head of the FETÖ terrorist organization responsible for the July 15, 2016 coup attempt in Türkiye, had his U.S. lawyer Reid Weingarten send a favorable Wall Street Journal article directly to Jeffrey Epstein on August 5, 2016—just days after the failed coup attempt.

By forwarding this positive coverage to Epstein while copying senior FETÖ figure Yüksel Alp Aslandoğan, Gülen's network explicitly sought assistance and influence through Epstein's powerful U.S. connections at a critical moment when Türkiye was urgently demanding the extradition of the terrorist Gülen.

Russian drone strikes hit residential areas in Kharkiv overnight, injuring 32 people, including two children, and sparking major fires.