Rubio Says No Pause in US Intel Sharing with Ukraine

 US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to the press at Registan Square in Samarkand, Uzbekistan Monday, Oct. 19, 2026. (Kylie Cooper/Pool Photo via AP)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to the press at Registan Square in Samarkand, Uzbekistan Monday, Oct. 19, 2026. (Kylie Cooper/Pool Photo via AP)
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Rubio Says No Pause in US Intel Sharing with Ukraine

 US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to the press at Registan Square in Samarkand, Uzbekistan Monday, Oct. 19, 2026. (Kylie Cooper/Pool Photo via AP)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to the press at Registan Square in Samarkand, Uzbekistan Monday, Oct. 19, 2026. (Kylie Cooper/Pool Photo via AP)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio denied on Monday that there had been any suspension of intelligence sharing with Ukraine and called on President Volodymyr Zelensky to "focus" on ending the war with Russia.

"There has been no pause," Rubio told reporters when asked about Ukraine's claims that the United States had briefly halted the sending of intelligence to help counter Russia's missile attacks.

The Ukraine leader told US media on Sunday that the move had been "deblocked by the American side" after a three-day suspension.

Rubio, who is in Uzbekistan for talks with Central Asian officials, said that President Donald Trump wanted Zelensky and Russia's President Vladimir Putin to concentrate on ending the Russian invasion, now into its fifth year.

"What he (Zelensky) should be focused on and what we want to be focused on is bringing an end to this war," Rubio said.

"That's what we want everybody to be focused on. That's what we want the Russians to be focused on. That's what we should be focused on. That's what the president has made a priority: is trying to bring a war and an end to this war," the top US diplomat said.

Trump, who says he has made a deal with Russia to secure fuel exports in exchange for the easing of sanctions, has made renewed attacks on Zelensky in recent days over the war.

The US leader wrote on his Truth Social platform on Sunday that he was making "great progress" in negotiating peace between Russia and Ukraine, but claimed: "Zelenskyy doesn't care, and frankly, with all of the money that Europe is famously giving him... he doesn't want to end this war, and probably never did."

"Zelenskyy is using Diesel Refineries in Russia as a target, knowing that these attacks are seriously hurting the world diesel markets, including those in the United States," Trump said.



Iran FM Says No Negotiations Since ‘Shock’ of US Midterms

25 September 2026, US, Bronx: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi delivers a statement during a press conference at Security Council encounter at UN Headquarters in New York. (dpa)
25 September 2026, US, Bronx: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi delivers a statement during a press conference at Security Council encounter at UN Headquarters in New York. (dpa)
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Iran FM Says No Negotiations Since ‘Shock’ of US Midterms

25 September 2026, US, Bronx: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi delivers a statement during a press conference at Security Council encounter at UN Headquarters in New York. (dpa)
25 September 2026, US, Bronx: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi delivers a statement during a press conference at Security Council encounter at UN Headquarters in New York. (dpa)

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday that mediators striving for a peace deal between the US and Iran had not travelled at all since the "shock" of the US midterm elections.

"We now have to see how long it will take for them to digest these results, in order to determine how we are going to move forward," the top Iranian diplomat told state TV following the elections in which the Republican Party of US President Donald Trump suffered heavy losses.

Various regional powers, including Qatar and Pakistan, have been trying for months without success to bring a definitive halt to the war launched by the United States and Israel in late February.

Outright fighting has largely subsided, but Iran continues in its efforts to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, vital to global energy supplies, while the US Navy maintains its own counterblockade of Iranian ports.

"For the past few days, there has been no more travel (by mediators), and the reason for this is the shock that the election results in the United States have caused to everyone."

He said it would "take some time before the atmosphere is favorable for the resumption of mediator travel" and called for patience.

Earlier, Aragchi posted on X: "American voters have made their choice. Time for the White House to make its own."

He called on Washington to accept previously articulated Iranian demands or "choose war, and see our alert and battle-hardened warriors rain down hell".

In September, Iran proposed a seven-day plan to reopen the strait, with demands including ending the war on all fronts, unfreezing Iranian assets, lifting oil sanctions and ending its counter-blockade of Iranian ports.

It later proposed doing so in just two days, an offer Araghchi repeated in his X post on Sunday.


Iran Suggests Blasts Are Not US Attacks as Both Sides Report Ships Hit

 Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, November 3, 2026. (Reuters)
Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, November 3, 2026. (Reuters)
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Iran Suggests Blasts Are Not US Attacks as Both Sides Report Ships Hit

 Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, November 3, 2026. (Reuters)
Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, November 3, 2026. (Reuters)

Iranian media suggested explosions in southern Iran on Saturday evening were related to Iranian military activities rather than US strikes while both sides reported that shipping had been hit in or near the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran's state television said officials had not confirmed any missile strikes on Iranian territory following blasts heard in several areas, including on Qeshm Island in the strait.

President Donald Trump had hinted at renewing major attacks on Iran after last week's US midterm elections but there has been no sign of a large-scale US military operation, which Iran has said it would respond to by striking US and Israeli targets.

Both sides have continued strikes on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, however, restricting exports of energy and other commodities vital to the world economy.

Iran's state television said the evening explosions might be related to Iranian military ‌activity in the ‌waterway, where Iran said two vessels had hit mines and a third had caught ‌fire.

The ⁠US said its ⁠air force had disabled a vessel in the Gulf of Oman beyond the strait.

Tasnim news agency said two missiles had struck Qeshm Island, with no official information on possible damage. Neither Iran nor the US has commented on that report.

Washington said on November 2 that it had struck the island in a limited defensive measure against Iranians using surface-to-air missiles against US assets.

Since the US and Israel began attacks on Iran in February, Tehran has sought the upper hand by hitting vessels in the Strait of Hormuz to block Gulf energy exports, while US forces began blockading movements to and from ⁠Iranian ports in April.

The US military said on Saturday evening that its air ‌force had fired at the stern of a commercial vessel in the Gulf ‌of Oman, disabling it as it tried to get through the blockade.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards Navy said two oil tankers had caught fire ‌after hitting mines while attempting to pass through an "unauthorized route" in the Strait of Hormuz. A third tanker had also ‌suffered an explosion and caught fire, the semi-official Fars news agency reported later.

Reuters was not able to confirm any of the reported strikes.

Monitors from the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said a bulk carrier and military forces were involved in an incident in the Gulf of Oman, approximately 18 nautical miles east of the United Arab Emirates' city of Khor Fakkan, with damage unknown. It was unclear ‌if it was related to the reported US attack.

Qatar, which has been mediating in talks to try to end the conflict that has shaken the world economy, on Saturday denied reports that the US and Iran had failed to reach a deal.

The Qatari prime minister had affirmed that both sides were continuing to work toward an agreement, it said.

Iran has submitted a nuclear proposal to Washington through Qatar, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Thursday, saying the US was reviewing it but discussions would depend on Washington first meeting Tehran's seven demands.

These include sanctions relief, access to frozen assets and war reparations, while Washington insists nuclear issues must feature in initial talks.

On Saturday, the US military said it was launching a task force to crack down on the movement of advanced weapons and other sanctioned material to Iran via its land borders and the Caspian Sea – part of economic measures to try to pressure Tehran.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards dismissed the plan as "wordplay", saying it would not work because Tehran had made preparations and communicated closely with its neighbors.


Trump Says Elections Were ‘Giant Step Back in History' for US

 US President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media at President Donald J. Trump International Airport in Palm Beach, Florida, US, November 6, 2026. (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media at President Donald J. Trump International Airport in Palm Beach, Florida, US, November 6, 2026. (Reuters)
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Trump Says Elections Were ‘Giant Step Back in History' for US

 US President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media at President Donald J. Trump International Airport in Palm Beach, Florida, US, November 6, 2026. (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media at President Donald J. Trump International Airport in Palm Beach, Florida, US, November 6, 2026. (Reuters)

President Donald Trump vowed Sunday to bounce back stronger from a massive midterm elections loss that he called a "giant step back in history" for the United States.

Democrats captured both chambers of Congress in last Tuesday's midterms that dealt historic losses for Trump's Republican Party in states they had dominated for decades.

"America took a giant step back in History with the results of the last Election," Trump said in a post on Truth Social, saying that the stock market that had grown during his tenure took a loss after the vote.

"But have no fear, we will be back, BIGGER AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE!"

While Republican lawmakers have been licking their wounds over the setback, Trump has sounded defiant and on Friday appointed hardline advisor Stephen Miller as his new chief of staff, signaling a bare-knuckle fightback.

Democrats have pledged to hold the Trump administration to account and fight "every step of the way" against Miller, architect of Trump's tough immigration policy.