English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For November 07/2026
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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Bible Quotations For today
I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father
Saint John 15/15-21/:"I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another. ‘If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you. If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. Because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, "Servants are not greater than their master." If they persecuted me, they will persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also. But they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me."

Titles For The English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on November 06-07/2026
Ballot Jihad: How Political Islam Uses Elections in Europe and America as a Weapon to Infiltrate the West and Achieve Empowerment and Islamization/Elias Bejjani/November 04/2026
Whoever God has blessed let him extend his hand with humility and love to the needy./Elias Bejjan/November 02/2026
IMF: Support agreement for Lebanon still requires significant progress on reforms
Escalation on the border… Will “Hezbollah” support Iran?
Shelling and explosions… Israeli army arrests a citizen in Deir Mimas
Hezbollah elements between the army checkpoints in Oyoun al-Siman?… Mukhtar of Kfardebian breaks his silence!
Israel stops an ambulance in the south… Mass security arrests and a warning of declining American interest in Lebanon
Armed confrontation on the border… Foiling drug smuggling from Lebanon to Syria
Yedioth: Israel prepares plans to strike Hezbollah in southern Lebanon
Armed confrontation on the border… Foiling drug smuggling from Lebanon to Syria
Official bet on international shifts that postpone the monopoly of arms… is misplaced!
Lebanon's Military Judiciary Begins Legal Proceedings in Hezbollah Explosives Case
Lebanon's President: We Will Not Allow Anyone to Share Our Sovereignty
Hezbollah defends seized explosives, attacks Israel talks
Morocco confronts Russia while Lebanon avoids Hezbollah/Makram Rabah/Al Arabiya-English/November 06/2026
Friends of Lebanon statement angers Hezbollah… Lebanese officials were not in the loop

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on November 06-07/2026
Trump Administration Held Talks with Iran on Deporting Iranians During War
Trump Makes Oval Office a National Monument
Ships linked to Iran hover over internet cables in the Sea of Oman
Sanctioned tankers and a fishing boat slowed their course at communications routes
State Department seeks information on scientists and technologies… and offers resettlement for informants
Qatar’s emir, Trump discuss mediation efforts to end regional crisis
Trump Says to ‘Soon’ Take Decision on Whether to Resume Iran War
Rubio Denies Plans to Leave Post for White House Bid
Hegseth vows to keep fighting from Pentagon, defends Iran war
Iran’s IRGC says two tankers caught fire in Hormuz
Satellite Images Reveal New Construction Near Iran Missile Sites
Soaring freight rates give US refiners edge as crude discounts
European Air Traffic Targeted by New Threats in at Least 3 Incidents
Israel Opposition Figure Makes U-Turn on Ultra-Orthodox Draft to Oust Netanyahu
Jordan Says Security Officer Killed in Amman in Stabbing Attack
NATO Seeks ‘Just’ End to Ukraine War as Trump Touts Deal Involving Europe
Italy's Meloni Blasts Europe's 'Disarray' on Ukraine Talks
Iran FM holds phone call with Saudi counterpart: State media
Turkey ratifies Mecca Defense Alliance, clearing way for support to Saudi Arabia
Yemen armed forces say Houthis struck market in Taiz with ballistic missile
Yemen Warns against Houthis Using Red Sea to Extort Int’l Community
Egypt, Iran FMs Discuss Regional Developments
Iraq Rejects Use of its Territories to Attack Neighbors
Al-Zaidi Targets 'Intermediary Companies' in Defense Industry Contracts
Trump says he met Putin envoy, sees Ukraine deal soon
Russian strikes cause outages in seven Ukrainian regions, official says

Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on November 06-07/2026
Do Democrats humble themselves upon victory?/Mashari Al-Zaydi / Asharq Al-Awsat / 6 November 2026
Trump the victor and the defeated!/Mamdouh Al-Muhaini / Asharq Al-Awsat / 6 November 2026
The compulsion of progress and the available opportunities/Dr. Amal Musa / Asharq Al-Awsat / 6 November 2026
How China Weaponizes Jew-Hate/Robert Williams/Gatestone Institute/November 06/2026
America: The Pendulum Swings/Amir Taheri/Asharq Al-Awsat/November 06/2026
Compulsory Progress and the Opportunities at Hand/Dr. Amal Moussa/Asharq Al-Awsat/November 06/2026
Trump, the Victor and the Vanquished!/Mamdouh al-Muhainy/Asharq Al-Awsat/November 06/2026
Exiled Beneath the Earth/Mustafa Fahs/Asharq Al-Awsat/November 06/2026
Trump: Victorious and defeated/Mamdouh AlMuhaini/Al Arabiya-English/November 06/2026

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on November 06-07/2026 (Some of the News reports below are translated from Arabic by AI)
Ballot Jihad: How Political Islam Uses Elections in Europe and America as a Weapon to Infiltrate the West and Achieve Empowerment and Islamization
Elias Bejjani/November 04/2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/11/158819/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gZ7S6KAn0o
Introduction: America Votes, and Political Islam Seeks an Opportunity for Empowerment
The US elections held yesterday, Tuesday November 03, 2026, were not just a normal election or a traditional democratic transfer of power. The results, which led to the Democratic Party taking control of both houses of Congress after Republicans lost many seats, raise a very dangerous question about the future of the West, and about the ability of Western democracies to protect themselves from ideological movements that use the freedoms available to reach power and expand influence.
What deserves attention is not only the victory of Democrats and the defeat of Republicans, but the nature of the electoral alliances formed inside American society, and how different political forces used population, religious, and cultural blocs, including organized Muslim voting blocs, to reach decision-making centers. Americans and Westerners in general must understand that political Islam, both Sunni and Shia, especially Muslim Brotherhood currents, does not look at elections the way liberal democracies do. All these movements treat elections as a means to reach power, build institutions and influence, and achieve their ideological, political, and religious projects.
Ballot Jihad.
After armed jihad, coups, assassinations, and terrorism, the ballot box has become in the calculations of all jihadist Islamic movements a very important political and organizational weapon. The goal is not just to win a parliamentary or local seat, but to use the win to build power and influence that opponents will find hard to confront later.
US Election Results and Their Political Message
Yesterday's results showed a big shift in the American balance of power, as Democrats (left, gay groups, political Islam) regained the majority in the House and Senate, and won in states considered Republican strongholds. One notable event was the win of Dr. Abdul Salam Al-Sayed for a Senate seat in Michigan, known for his ideological affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood groups and his family, becoming the first Muslim elected to this chamber in US history. This event has political, demographic, and electoral importance, but by itself it does not mean political Islam has taken over American institutions, nor does it prove that all Muslim voters vote according to one organizational directive.
The problem we discuss is much deeper.
Organized voting blocs, whatever their identity, can become influential in close races, and turn into a bargaining force that imposes conditions on major parties. When ideological organizations like the Muslim Brotherhood invest in this fact, it becomes necessary to monitor their programs, connections, and political goals. American democracy allows a Muslim citizen and a non-Muslim citizen to vote, run for office, and reach the highest positions, and this is a constitutional right that must not be touched. But it does not give any Islamic or non-Islamic organization the right to use these freedoms to cancel the freedoms of others or to impose an ideological rule on them.
Ballot Jihad... The New Weapon of Political Islam
We must be clear about the plans, tricks, and taqiyya of political Islam, which does not always need a rifle, a suicide bombing, or an armed militia to achieve its goals. It can use elections, party alliances, associations, educational institutions, media, municipalities, and unions as multiple fronts for one political battle, and this is the essence of what we call ballot jihad. In democratic societies, political Islamic movements have wide space for freedom, organization, and expression, and can benefit from laws that protect religious and political pluralism. But the danger begins when these freedoms turn into tools to build a jihadist and religious authoritarian project that does not really believe in the right of others to exercise the same freedoms.
The electoral empowerment strategy of these jihadist and terrorist Islamic organizations is based on:
Mobilizing voters on the basis of religious, ideological, and organizational loyalty.
Using demographic weight in close electoral districts.
Pressuring major parties to get political concessions.
Building temporary electoral alliances with forces that differ ideologically.
Organizational control or wide influence over civil society institutions.
Placing their cadres in municipal councils, legislative institutions, and centers of influence.
Turning electoral gains into long-term political, legislative, and media influence.
Thus the ballot box becomes, in the calculations of these movements, a front of political jihad... It is a battle not necessarily fought with weapons and all kinds of terrorist operations, but with votes, organization, money, alliances, and exploiting legal and political loopholes. The question the West must ask is: Do these organizations accept democracy as a permanent principle, or do they accept it only when it is a path to power?
The Muslim Brotherhood and the Empowerment Project
It is impossible to understand a basic aspect of contemporary political Islam, both Sunni and Shia, without studying the concepts, doctrines, plans, and projects of the Muslim Brotherhood, founded by Hassan al-Banna in Egypt in 1928. The Brotherhood is not just a charity or traditional religious movement, but an ideological movement with a transnational political and organizational project, based on making Islam the reference for governance, society, and the state. Over decades, the group's methods and branches evolved, some entered elections and parliaments, formed political alliances, and some reached power. But electoral participation does not automatically mean abandoning the jihadist ideological project or accepting all foundations of a civil state and liberal democracy. The concept of empowerment (tamkeen) in the literature of all jihadist Islamic currents refers to moving from the stage of building the organization and social base to the stage of expanding influence and reaching centers of power. Here lies the importance of monitoring what these movements announce in their electoral programs, what they say in their internal literature, and what they do when they hold power. Therefore the West should not be satisfied with hearing democratic slogans, but should ask about the real position on freedom of belief, women's rights, rights of Christians and Jews, freedom of expression, independence of judiciary, and peaceful transfer of power.
Taqiyya, Gradualism, Abrogation... The Problem of Temporary Discourse
One of the issues to stop at when studying the political religious discourse of Muslim Brotherhood groups in all their organizations and branches is the issue of gradualism in action, the gap between public discourse and political practice, and how religious texts are used to serve ideological goals. These movements present themselves in Western societies as moderate, defending freedoms, pluralism, and minority rights, while in their other literature or positions they adopt different views about state, society, and source of legislation. We should not consider every moderate discourse as deception, or attribute taqiyya to every Muslim, but we have the right, indeed the duty, to ask about the extent to which public discourse matches the actual political program. Here the importance of studying the concepts of taqiyya, gradualism, and empowerment in their jurisprudential and organizational contexts appears, and not allowing them to be used to justify hiding political goals or evading accountability. As for dividing Quranic verses into peaceful verses in the phase of weakness and fighting verses in the phase of strength, it is a complex interpretive and jurisprudential subject, and it should not be reduced to one equation that applies to all Muslims. But what the West must understand is that religious and electoral slogans are not enough to judge any movement. The criterion is its real program and its behavior when it has power.
The Opportunistic Alliance Between the Left, Political Islam, and Gays
One of the paradoxes worthy of criticism and study in Western politics is the emergence of electoral and interest-based alliances between currents of the radical left and groups of political Islam and gay groups. This alliance is not based on unity of doctrine or values, but on intersection of immediate electoral and political interests. The left needs Muslim voters' votes in some districts, political Islam needs doors to institutions where the left has influence, and alliances that help it expand its political presence... and gays need forces that support their demands... Here a stark paradox appears. Political Islamic groups adopt very conservative positions, reject homosexuality, and oppose basic aspects of individual freedoms defended by leftist groups. Yet, we find electoral and political intersections between the three parties when their interests meet against a common opponent. The left raises slogans of diversity and pluralism, while Islamic movements allied with it adopt religious and political views that do not accept pluralism in the liberal sense... The same opportunistic equation applies to the alliance of gays with those who stay silent or support their life and rights demands.. What kind of alliance is this? And what intellectual harmony is there between projects, aspirations, concepts, values, and lifestyles that are contradictory? It is an alliance of interests and votes, not an alliance of principles. And the danger is that some Western parties may discover too late that the votes they invested in do not necessarily adopt the social and cultural project they defend.
Example of Hamas and Gaza... What Does Political Islam Do After Winning?
The experience of Palestinian Hamas provides a model that must not be ignored when discussing political Islam's relationship with elections. In January 2006, jihadist and terrorist Hamas won the majority of seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council, in elections in which Fatah and other political forces participated. But in June 2007, after bloody armed confrontations with Fatah, Hamas took control of Gaza by force, expelled the Palestinian Authority from it, and established a unilateral rule under which no new general elections were held. These facts are not just historical details, but raise a fundamental question about the difference between electoral victory and respect for democracy. Elections give the winner the right to govern within the constitution and law, and do not give him the right to abolish opposition or use weapons against opponents or monopolize power indefinitely. Here the difference appears between democracy as a fixed political value, and democracy as a tactical means to reach power.
Hitler and the Historical Lesson That Must Not Be Forgotten
European history itself provides a stark example of the danger of totalitarian movements reaching power through political and constitutional paths. Adolf Hitler reached the position of Chancellor on January 30, 1933 by presidential appointment, after the Nazi party became a large electoral force and benefited from alliances and political maneuvers.
After reaching power, he used state institutions and exceptional laws to dismantle democracy, ban opposition parties, and establish a dictatorial regime. Here the historical lesson is clear: Reaching power through elections or constitutional procedures alone does not prove that the movement is committed to democracy. Peoples have the right to know in advance whether whoever reaches power will preserve the rights of his opponents, or will use his authority to eliminate their political existence.
Role of Qatar, Turkey, and Iran... Money, Organization, and Weapons
Sunni and Shia political Islam based on the ideological concepts of terrorist Muslim Brotherhood groups cannot be studied apart from the regional and international influence network that supports it and invests in its expansion, and here three countries with different roles stand out:
Qatar: Has wide financial, media, and diplomatic tools, and has a history of relations with movements and figures linked to political Islam, in addition to influential international media influence.
Turkey: Under Recep Tayyip Erdogan, it became a political ally of a number of Islamic currents, and uses its political, media, and economic tools to enhance its regional influence.
Iran: Leads a Shiite political and military Islamic project under the authority of Wilayat al-Faqih, and uses its affiliated armed organizations in the region to expand its influence at the expense of state sovereignty.
Sunni and Shia political Islam are not one organization, but they intersect in many cases in putting ideological and organizational reference above the concept of an independent nation-state. The Sunni side includes multiple currents and organizations, including the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, al-Qaeda, and Boko Haram, with big differences in structure, goals, and means among them.
As for the Shia side, arms of the Iranian regime stand out, foremost Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and armed Iraqi factions linked to Tehran. These organizations are not all identical in their goals or methods, but their existence forces Western countries to deal with external financing, cross-border organizations, and political and military interventions seriously and transparently.
The Eastern Message to the West
We in the Middle East do not read these issues from books alone. We have lived long experiences with religious and political regimes, with armed organizations, and with countries where pluralism collapsed before the authority of doctrine and weapons. In Lebanon, we know well what it means for an armed organization to have the decision of war and peace outside state institutions, and for loyalty to an external reference to come before loyalty to the constitution and homeland, and we also know how religious slogans, resistance, and jihad can turn into tools to justify monopolizing power and decision. Therefore the warning we direct to the West is not a warning against Muslims, but against political Islam that wants to turn religion into political authority above constitution and law. A Muslim who lives in America or Canada or Europe, respects the constitution, believes in equality, and accepts the right of others to exercise their freedoms, is a citizen with full rights and duties. As for the organization that wants to exploit democracy to establish a system that does not recognize the rights of those who are not its followers, it is an opponent of democratic principles, regardless of the religion it uses as a cover for its project.
Conclusion: From Jihad by Sword to Jihad by Ballot
The recent American elections should be an occasion for a deeper reading of the future of Western democracy, and to notice that political conflict in modern societies does not always happen with weapons, but may happen through ballot boxes, party alliances, institutions, money, and media. Ballot jihad is the political expression of using elections as a means for empowerment, when the goal of democratic participation becomes reaching power, not respecting its rules, values, and principles, and political Islam, both Sunni and Shia, deserves serious critical study that does not flatter or compromise, and does not confuse it with Islam as a religion or Muslims as citizens. Hence the West must not deal naively with organizations that raise slogans of democracy in opposition, then reject pluralism when they reach power. Also the left must not ignore ideological and political contradictions with its electoral allies just to get extra votes... In the same context, gays should not ally with those who criminalize, prohibit, and betray their social lifestyle... And most importantly, Western institutions must not overlook any external financing or organizational connection or attempt to impose religious authority on civil society. The ballot box is not a weapon against democracy, but it can be turned into a political weapon against it when used by movements that do not accept peaceful transfer of power nor equality among citizens. Jihad by sword destroyed countries and societies, and ballot jihad may turn into another path to empowerment if accountability, transparency, and protection of institutions are absent. Beware that the ballot box turns into a Trojan horse through which enemies of pluralism and groups of terrorism and barbarism enter democratic institutions!
Democracy does not protect itself just by opening ballot boxes, but by protecting the constitution, law, freedoms, and the right of every citizen to live free, whatever his religion, origin, or belief. The West is not required to abandon its democracy, but is required to understand that everyone has the right to participate in elections, and no party has the right to use this participation to abolish democracy itself.
Finally, it is very important that the world, with all its countries and systems, understands the reality of the contradictions in the Muslim Brotherhood's discourse:
In the phase of weakness in the West and in any country in the world (Dar al-Harb / House of War), the Muslim Brotherhood raises the Meccan verses - the verses of patience and peacefulness:
"O you who have believed, persevere and endure and remain stationed" [Al-Imran: 200]
"And be patient, and your patience is not but through Allah" [An-Nahl: 127]
"Indeed, Allah is with the patient" [Al-Baqarah: 153]
"And if they incline to peace, then incline to it and rely upon Allah" [Al-Anfal: 61]
"There shall be no compulsion in religion, the right path has become clear from the wrong" [Al-Baqarah: 256]
"For you is your religion, and for me is my religion" [Al-Kafirun: 6]
With these verses they address the West: We are moderate, democratic, we believe in coexistence.
And at the time of empowerment and strength (Dar al-Islam/House of Islam) in any country, the Muslim Brotherhood applies the Medinan verses - the verses of the sword and empowerment which abrogate what came before them:
"And when the sacred months have passed, then kill the polytheists wherever you find them and capture them and besiege them and sit in wait for them at every place of ambush" [At-Tawbah: 5]
"Fight those who do not believe in Allah nor in the Last Day" [At-Tawbah: 29]
"And fight them until there is no fitnah and the religion, all of it, is for Allah" [Al-Anfal: 39]
"And He brought down those who supported them among the People of the Scripture from their fortresses
*The author, Elias Bejjani, is a Lebanese expatriate activist
Author’s Email: Phoenicia@hotmail.com
Author’s Website: https://eliasbejjaninews.com

Whoever God has blessed let him extend his hand with humility and love to the needy.
Elias Bejjan/November 02/2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/11/158763/
In this life where fortunes shift like the wind, some people succeed while others stumble. It is not necessarily because the successful one is smarter, nor because the one who stumbles is less capable, but because God distributes talents, opportunities, and circumstances as He wills. He gives freely, and He gives with a wisdom we do not always understand. Some people find doors opening before them; others find them closing again and again; and still others are born carrying in their body or soul a wound they cannot heal alone.
Here arises the moral, human, and faith-based duty: that the one whom fortune has favored should extend a hand to the one whom it has not. This is not a favor — it is a debt. The success we enjoy is not purely our own possession; it is a trust from God, a free gift, and a responsibility. As the Lord Jesus said to His disciples: “Freely you have received; freely give” (Matthew 10:8). These words alone are enough to condemn every form of arrogance and every closing of the heart.
Often the real test takes place within the same family. One member succeeds financially or socially, another falters, and a third falls prey to an illness that prevents him from relying on himself. Whether it is addiction or any other physical, psychological, or mental disease, the sick person is a human being in need, and the healthy are called to stand beside him, not to abandon him. Illness is not a shame that deserves neglect, nor a weakness that justifies forgetting. Whoever possesses health, money, and ability must become a support for the one from whom illness has stripped independence and the dignity of self-reliance. Abandoning the sick in their weakness is a betrayal of blood and of conscience; standing by them is a human and faith duty that does not fall away with the type or severity of the disease. Expectations of them must be realistic, and they must be treated with mercy, patience, and respect — not with judgment or superiority. As the Apostle Paul wrote: “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).
Likewise, when one member of the family becomes wealthy while the others remain in need, wealth is no justification for arrogance, distance, or forgetfulness. Rather, it is a call to humility and love. Scripture repeatedly urges us in this direction: “But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?” (1 John 3:17). And again: “So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10). A person did not create himself, nor did he grant himself his intelligence or his opportunities — so how can he look down on the one who was not given what he was given?
Pride and arrogance do not come from God, but from the devil. Wealth that strips a person of his humanity, humility, and compassion for others is empty wealth, no matter how large the account. True wealth is the kind that keeps the hand extended and the heart merciful. As the Lord Jesus warned: “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15). And He also said: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth… but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:19-20).
One of the most dangerous things that can happen is when sons or daughters succeed and then forget their parents. Parents are the root; they are the ones who gave and continue to give. Honoring and caring for them in old age and weakness is a duty that does not disappear with success or wealth. Whoever abandons his father and mother after becoming rich abandons part of his own humanity. Scripture reminds us: “Honor your father and mother (this is the first commandment with a promise)” (Ephesians 6:2).
In the end, remember, you who have succeeded: the day the Lord takes back the deposit of life, you will take nothing of the earth’s riches with you. You will leave everything behind just as you left it the day you arrived. As Job the righteous man said with profound honesty: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21). No money, no position, no status will accompany you — only the love you gave, the hand you extended, and the humility you preserved.
So extend your hand today, while you are still able, before the day comes when you can no longer do so. Helping is not a favor; it is a right of human brotherhood, a duty of faith, and proof that the grace you received has not corrupted your heart. As the Lord Jesus said on the day of judgment: “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:40).
*The author, Elias Bejjani, is a Lebanese expatriate activist

IMF: Support agreement for Lebanon still requires significant progress on reforms
Al-Markaziya / 6 November 2026
The International Monetary Fund announced, in statements to Asharq Bloomberg, that a team from the Fund will visit Beirut with the aim of advancing talks related to the strategy for restructuring Lebanon’s banking sector. The Fund indicated that reaching an agreement on a support program for Lebanon still requires significant progress in implementing reforms, reflecting the continued existence of fundamental requirements before moving to the agreement stage. Regarding the Constitutional Council’s decision on the banking law, the Fund considered the impact of the decision on the law to be limited, affirming that it kept the basic framework of the law intact.

Escalation on the border… Will “Hezbollah” support Iran?
Al-Markaziya / 6 November 2026
The Israeli website Walla reported that “Hezbollah may open an additional front in the event of a confrontation with Iran, as it is escalating friction with the Israeli army on the border with the aim of conveying a message on behalf of Iran.” The website noted that “the Israeli security establishment believes that ‘the Party’ has not yet recovered despite its efforts to rebuild capabilities.

Shelling and explosions… Israeli army arrests a citizen in Deir Mimas
Al-Markaziya / 6 November 2026
Information indicated that the outskirts of the town of Mayfadoun in the Nabatieh district were subjected to intermittent artillery shelling, coinciding with artillery shelling targeting the Mansouri and Qantara areas in southern Lebanon. An Israeli army patrol advanced from the town of Kfar Kila toward the outskirts of the town of Deir Mimas and opened fire in the vicinity of a number of residents while they were working in the olive harvest, forcing them to leave the area. The patrol positioned itself on the outskirts of the town, prevented entry and exit movement, and arrested one of its residents, taking him to an unknown destination.It was also reported that Israeli forces’ vehicles withdrew from the Nabeh Ibl al-Saqi area and returned toward the town of Khiam. An Israeli drone dropped a sound bomb toward a pickup truck parked near the stadium in the town of Qabrikha, without causing casualties. The Israeli army carried out an explosion in the town of Khiam in the direction of Nabeh Ibl, and a force advanced toward the water tank of the town of Zoutar al-Gharbiya, coinciding with a machine-gun sweeping operation toward the town. Israeli forces also carried out an explosion in the town of Tairi in the Bint Jbeil district, and a violent explosion on the outskirts of the town of Beit Yahoun toward the town of Kounine.The Israeli army shelled the town of Qantara and Wadi al-Salouqi with artillery and opened dense fire toward Wadi Shebaa, while also conducting machine-gun sweeping in the Sadana axis. Concurrently, a drone was recorded flying over the area where the Lebanese army is operating. The Israeli army also carried out a violent explosion in the town of Zoutar al-Sharqiya in the Nabatieh district, whose echoes were heard across the south. A demolition operation was also recorded in the town of Qantara, coinciding with machine-gun sweeping toward the town. Israeli army vehicles had withdrawn from the vicinity of Zoutar al-Gharbiya to the town of Zoutar al-Sharqiya after having advanced toward it at night. In a related context, artillery shelling targeted the towns of Baraachit, Wadi al-Salouqi, Wadi Zabqin, and al-Mansouri. The outskirts of the town of Mayfadoun were also subjected to artillery shelling after midnight, coinciding with a sweeping operation targeting the town of Qantara.

Hezbollah elements between the army checkpoints in Oyoun al-Siman?… Mukhtar of Kfardebian breaks his silence!
Janoubia / 6 November 2026
The mukhtar of the town of Kfardebian, Wassim Mehanna, denied the accuracy of information circulating on some electronic sites regarding the presence of Hezbollah elements in the highlands of Oyoun al-Siman – Kfardebian and their harassment of hunters and visitors in the area. Mehanna affirmed in a statement that these reports are “completely unfounded,” stressing that the security presence in the mountains of Kfardebian is limited to the Lebanese army, the legitimate security agencies, and the Kfardebian municipal police. He called for “caution and accuracy in publishing any news related to the town” to avoid circulating inaccurate information that could cause confusion.Circulating information had spoken of four young men who were practicing hunting two days ago in the highlands of Oyoun al-Siman, specifically in the area located between two Lebanese army checkpoints, encountering a group of armed men. According to the circulated information, the armed men identified themselves as belonging to Hezbollah and asked the young men to leave the place, on the pretext that they were approaching aHezbollah center in the area.

Israel stops an ambulance in the south… Mass security arrests and a warning of declining American interest in Lebanon
Janoubia / 6 November 2026
The Lebanese scene witnessed concurrent security and political developments today, from an Israeli force stopping a Lebanese Red Cross ambulance in Marjayoun, to the Internal Security Forces carrying out a series of arrests in Beirut and Mount Lebanon, amid information about a possible decline in American interest in Lebanon.Israel stops an ambulance in Marjayoun
In this context, a correspondent for Al-Jadeed channel reported that an Israeli force stopped a Lebanese Red Cross ambulance – Marjayoun center – while it was transporting a patient from Marjayoun Government Hospital to his town of Deir Mimas. The force interrogated the crew members and checked their identities before allowing the ambulance to continue on its way.Arrest of five suspects in robbery and theft crimes In another security context, the Directorate General of the Internal Security Forces announced that patrols from the Mount Lebanon Investigation Detachment arrested, within 24 hours, five suspects in armed robbery, theft, and pickpocketing crimes in various areas of Beirut and Mount Lebanon. The arrests covered the areas of Al-Rweis, Haret al-Naameh, Sabra – Al-Harsh, and Wadi Shahrour. The Directorate clarified that one of the detainees was wounded in his hand and leg during an exchange of fire with patrol members in Wadi Shahrour and was transferred to the hospital, where his health condition was described as stable.
Sources: American interest in Lebanon may decline
Politically, American sources told Al-Jadeed channel that American interest in Lebanon may decline if the Democrats take control of Congress, after Lebanon had formed a priority for the administration of President Donald Trump. The sources added that the American administration tried to help Lebanon for more than a year and a half, but the steps of the Lebanese political authority were not sufficient. On the internal file, political sources denied the accuracy of what is being circulated about efforts by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to restore dialogue between President of the Republic Joseph Aoun and Hezbollah. The sources considered Hezbollah’s conditions for reversing the decisions of March 2 to be “impossible,” affirming that the doors of Baabda are open to everyone and that the relationship between Aoun and Berri is “very good and has never been interrupted.”

Armed confrontation on the border… Foiling drug smuggling from Lebanon to Syria
Janoubia / 6 November 2026
The Media and Communication Department of the Syrian Ministry of Defense announced that units of the Border Guard in the Syrian Arab Army foiled an attempt to smuggle large quantities of narcotic materials from Lebanese territory into Syria, in the Serghaya area of the Damascus countryside, following an armed confrontation with the smugglers that ended with their fleeing toward Lebanese territory. The department explained that during the execution of the operation, the smugglers initiated fire toward the Syrian force, which necessitated a response to the sources of fire, before the shooters fled toward Lebanese territory. The operation resulted, according to the statement, in the seizure of 280 kilograms of hashish and 28,000 Captagon pills, while the seized items were referred to the competent authorities to complete the legal procedures in accordance with the rules.

Yedioth: Israel prepares plans to strike Hezbollah in southern Lebanon
Janoubia / 6 November 2026
The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported, citing sources, that the Israeli army is working on preparing military plans to carry out strikes against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, in anticipation of any developments that may require the resumption of military operations.
According to the newspaper, Israeli military officials are seeking to assess the likelihood of renewed fighting and to identify targets that could be struck in the event of a new confrontation. It noted that Israeli planning takes into account the repercussions of any potential military operation, particularly the possibility that the strikes could open a new round of confrontations in Lebanon—a scenario the army is studying as part of its military preparations. Political and security files in Lebanon are intertwined with the course of regional negotiations, amid diplomatic warnings about the repercussions of any phase of “non-resolution” on the Lebanese arena, and fears that Israel may exploit the state of ambiguity to expand its military movements in the south. In parallel, multilateral efforts to make the negotiations succeed continue.

Armed confrontation on the border… Foiling drug smuggling from Lebanon to Syria
Janoubia / 6 November 2026
The Media and Communication Department of the Syrian Ministry of Defense announced that units of the Border Guard in the Syrian Arab Army foiled an attempt to smuggle large quantities of narcotic materials from Lebanese territory into Syria, in the Serghaya area of the Damascus countryside, following an armed confrontation with the smugglers that ended with their fleeing toward Lebanese territory. The department explained that during the execution of the operation, the smugglers initiated fire toward the Syrian force, which necessitated a response to the sources of fire, before the shooters fled toward Lebanese territory. The operation resulted, according to the statement, in the seizure of 280 kilograms of hashish and 28,000 Captagon pills, while the seized items were referred to the competent authorities to complete the legal procedures in accordance with the rules.

Official bet on international shifts that postpone the monopoly of arms… is misplaced!
Lara Yazbek / Al-Markaziya / 6 November 2026Al-Markaziya
Lebanon continues to watch with its hands tied as regional and international changes unfold, foremost among them the results of the Israeli elections and the American midterms. It is waiting to see what repercussions the political shifts in Tel Aviv and Washington will have on the Lebanese file, which until recently featured prominently in the concerns of both Israelis and Americans.According to informed political sources speaking to Al-Markaziya, those in power hope that the new picture taking shape in the two countries—where Benjamin Netanyahu has lost control of the Israeli government and Donald Trump has lost control of Congress—will give them a lifeline from the enormous pressures they faced to accelerate the disarmament of Hezbollah. They are now betting that these results will push Tel Aviv and the Trump administration toward a more flexible approach to the Iranian file in general, and to the Lebanese situation and the party’s weapons in particular.However, the sources stress that those in power must first understand that the Hezbollah file is not a point of disagreement between Republicans and Democrats in the United States. Its disarmament remains a priority for both sides. Neither will turn a blind eye to it, even if each has its own style of dealing with the issue, and failure to disarm the party will carry consequences for Lebanon.The second point they need to grasp is that if the United States decides to withdraw from the Lebanon file and from the negotiations with Israel and the framework agreement (something that remains unlikely for now), it will leave Israel free to take whatever action it deems appropriate on the weapons issue—without needing to refer back to Washington.Based on these facts, the sources continue, Lebanon must accelerate the process of establishing a state monopoly on arms and actively push this path forward, rather than slow it down while hoping the burden will simply be lifted from its shoulders. The statement issued yesterday by the five countries falls squarely within the framework of urging and pressing Lebanon to show greater firmness and severity in confronting Hezbollah, its weapons, and its explosives—before the country finds itself once again, this time alone, as prey in the jaws of the Israeli war machine.This is unless, in the intervening period before a new Israeli government is formed and before the new Congress takes office, Trump and Netanyahu resume the war on Iran and its regional proxies to finish what they started, as they have repeatedly vowed to do.

Lebanon's Military Judiciary Begins Legal Proceedings in Hezbollah Explosives Case
Beirut: Youssef Diab/Asharq Al-Awsat/November 06/2026
Two Hezbollah members have been ordered detained after questioning by a Lebanese military judge over a truckload of explosives seized at a checkpoint in eastern Lebanon about a month ago. Ali al-Kurdi and Haitham Amhaz appeared before First Military Investigating Judge Ghada Abu Alwan, who issued arrest warrants for both men following a hearing attended by their lawyer, Maan al-Asaad. The warrants stem from charges brought by Judge Claude Ghanem, the government commissioner to the military court, against the two men and 11 other Hezbollah members who remain at large. The charges include offenses against internal state security, violating government decisions, possessing weapons and explosives, and forming "illegal associations" aimed at undermining the state's authority and prestige. The explosives-laden truck was intercepted at the Dahr al-Baidar checkpoint in eastern Lebanon.
Probe Enters New Phase
The questioning marks a turning point in the case, shifting it from preliminary investigations to formal judicial proceedings and bringing sharper scrutiny to three central questions: Where did the explosives come from, where were they headed and who was responsible for transporting them? Asaad has also been authorized to represent Hezbollah members and operatives who remain at large, including Ibrahim Hussein, known as "Sajed"; Bilal al-Sabbouri, known as "Dhul Fiqar"; Mohammed Ayoub; Mohammed Zaiter; Mohammed Hazimeh, the truck's owner; and Perina Krishiona, Amhaz's wife.
Five other suspects have been identified only by aliases, with their full identities still unknown. Asaad filed preliminary procedural objections on behalf of the fugitives. Despite the strict secrecy surrounding the questioning, a judicial source told Asharq Al-Awsat that Kurdi and Amhaz stood by their initial statements to army intelligence, insisting they knew neither the explosives' destination nor their intended use. The source said the men told Abu Alwan their role was limited to collecting the explosives from "Sajed" in Baalbek, in the Bekaa Valley, and delivering them to "Dhul Fiqar" in Musharrafieh, in Beirut's southern suburbs.
Key Questions Remain Unanswered
The detainees' denials leave critical questions unresolved, particularly the shipment's destination, the circumstances of its transportation and the purpose for which the explosives were intended. Legal sources following the case said the men's claims of ignorance were not enough to settle the question of responsibility. "The statements of Kurdi and Amhaz are now being assessed by the investigating judge against all the evidence and information in the case file," the sources told Asharq Al-Awsat. One potentially significant piece of evidence has yet to reach the judge. Abu Alwan is still awaiting records of the preliminary investigation conducted by the Internal Security Forces' Information Branch, which analyzed mobile phones belonging to Kurdi, Amhaz and his wife. The phones are expected to contain important information, the sources said, raising the possibility that Abu Alwan could summon the two detainees for further questioning about material recovered from the devices.
Legal Challenge Delays Questioning of Fugitives
Meanwhile, Asaad filed preliminary procedural objections on behalf of the defendants who remain at large, delaying their questioning until Nov. 17. Legal sources said the filing was intended to delay formally notifying the defendants and the issuance of arrest warrants in absentia if they refuse to appear for questioning, as expected. Details of the objections and their legal grounds were not immediately available. Abu Alwan referred the filing to Ghanem for review and an opinion before ruling on the objections.

Lebanon's President: We Will Not Allow Anyone to Share Our Sovereignty
Beirut: Asharq Al Awsat/November 06/2026
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun vowed that no one would be allowed to share the state's sovereign authority, warning that Lebanon must not again pay the price for past mistakes. His remarks came as five countries calling themselves the "Friends of Lebanon" renewed their support for Lebanese sovereignty and urged lawmakers and political parties to publicly affirm that the state alone has the right to decide on war and peace. Lebanese authorities have pledged to bring all weapons under state control and reserve decisions on war and peace exclusively for the state. Hezbollah, however, rejects those decisions and insists on keeping its arms. "Lebanon is an independent and sovereign state," Aoun said on Thursday. "We will not allow anyone to share our sovereignty, so that we do not once again pay the price for the mistakes of the past." He urged those who seek foreign support against their fellow citizens to instead stand with their own people against outside powers. Aoun called "positive neutrality" essential to shielding Lebanon from regional conflicts, saying the country had endured enough and could no longer bear the weight of rival blocs, foreign ambitions and attempts at domination. He urged Lebanon's younger generation to recognize their country's value through education rooted in citizenship and openness to other cultures and civilizations, rather than isolation and dependence. Protecting Lebanon from foreign ambitions and strengthening national unity were vital to safeguarding the country as rapid military and political developments plunged the region into uncertainty, he said.
International allies back Lebanon's decisions
Lebanon's pledges drew renewed international backing from the "Friends of Lebanon", who reaffirmed their support for the country's sovereignty and the state's exclusive control over weapons.
In a statement circulated by the US Embassy in Beirut, the embassies of Britain, the United States, Australia, Canada and Japan voiced strong support for the Lebanese government's efforts to ensure that only the state holds weapons and decides on war and peace. "As friends of Lebanon, we reaffirm our strong support for the government of Lebanon in ensuring that weapons are held exclusively by the state and that the state alone has the authority to decide on matters of war and peace," the embassies said. The five embassies also acknowledged steps taken by Lebanese authorities in the Dahr al-Baidar case, urging a swift, independent judicial process free from political interference to ensure full accountability. They called on all members of parliament and political parties to make a clear, public commitment endorsing statements by the president and prime minister that the Lebanese state alone has the right to decide on war and peace. The embassies reiterated their determination to see Lebanon fully restore effective sovereign authority across its entire territory.

Hezbollah defends seized explosives, attacks Israel talks
November 06/2026
Hezbollah, meanwhile, defended a shipment of explosives seized by security forces last month in the Dahr al-Baidar area of eastern Lebanon. The group's parliamentary bloc, Loyalty to the Resistance, called for an end to political accusations and media disputes, urging space for what it described as prudent national efforts to address the issue. In a statement, the bloc condemned political positions it said denied the Lebanese people's "sacred right" to defend their country and resist the enemy, accusing those behind them of disregarding the constitution and established national legal principles. The bloc also renewed its attack on the Lebanese government's approach to negotiations with Israel, demanding that authorities reverse course. It accused Israel of continuing to destroy, burn and demolish villages and property in southern Lebanon while threatening to expand its attacks and occupy more Lebanese territory. The bloc also pointed to mounting threats of an escalation in the war, including strikes and assassinations targeting Hezbollah and its leaders. Yet Lebanese authorities remained indifferent, it said, accusing them of pursuing a "disastrous" policy of direct negotiations over the provisions of what it called an "ill-fated framework". The bloc said the framework had brought Lebanon nothing but further calamities, devastation and destruction.

Morocco confronts Russia while Lebanon avoids Hezbollah
Makram Rabah/Al Arabiya-English/November 06/2026
Morocco answered Russia’s veto on October 30 with a declaration that Lebanese officials would do well to read. The Royal Office welcomed the non-renewal of MINURSO, the UN mission in the Moroccan Sahara, called for its personnel and equipment to leave, and demanded the issue’s removal from the Security Council’s agenda. Faced with a permanent member’s attempt to preserve an arrangement Rabat considered exhausted, Morocco refused to retreat. Russia had blocked a US resolution advancing autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty. Moscow’s alternative, which sought another year for the existing mission, then failed to secure enough votes. Morocco treated the resulting deadlock as an opportunity to close a 35-year chapter. Moscow had sought to preserve the old formula. Its veto helped bring the mission to an end.
The palace also reaffirmed its commitment to the ceasefire and to diplomatic engagement at the bilateral and regional levels. Its response rested on a national objective pursued consistently under King Mohammed VI. International cooperation would serve that objective. Morocco would not abandon it simply because confronting Moscow carried a diplomatic cost. The contrast with Lebanon is painful. Our officials have responded to UNIFIL’s approaching departure by searching for ways to keep international forces in the south. President Joseph Aoun has asked for the mission’s operational role to continue. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has expressed openness to a successor force authorized by the Security Council. The proposed arrangements change; the Lebanese appetite for postponement survives.
Under Resolution 2790, UNIFIL’s operations are scheduled to end on December 31, 2026, followed by withdrawal within a year. Lebanon has therefore been given a deadline to prepare for responsibility. Its leaders appear more interested in renegotiating the deadline.
There are valid reasons to fear a vacuum. Israeli attacks and occupation threaten Lebanese civilians. UNIFIL’s monitoring, liaison and humanitarian work have value, and its personnel have made sacrifices that deserve acknowledgment. Yet those functions cannot answer the question that Beirut keeps evading: who decides whether Lebanon goes to war?As long as Hezbollah maintains an independent military apparatus, that decision remains beyond the state’s exclusive control. Another battalion wearing blue helmets cannot resolve this contradiction on its own. The government has announced disarmament measures; it must now give the army the resources and sustained political backing to implement them across Lebanon. Hezbollah must not be allowed to decide where implementation stops. Asking foreign soldiers to remain is considerably easier than enforcing the state’s authority over Hezbollah.
UNIFIL was established in 1978. Nearly five decades later, Lebanese leaders still speak of its presence as indispensable. What exactly have successive governments been preparing for? Every extension buys time, but time has value only when the state uses it. Another year of evasion allows politicians to escape responsibility while the underlying conflict remains untouched.
The two cases have different histories and legal foundations. Western Sahara’s status remains internationally disputed; Lebanon’s sovereignty is recognized. MINURSO’s closure does not settle the Sahara dispute. But this distinction makes Beirut’s hesitation more embarrassing. Lebanon does not need to persuade the world that it is a state. It needs to behave like one within its own borders. Morocco has shown that a government can challenge a major power when it believes its national interests require it. Lebanon’s governing class struggles to challenge an armed organization operating inside its own country. The familiar warnings about civil war become a permanent exemption for Hezbollah. The threat of instability is then rewarded with the continued authority to manufacture it. International peacekeeping has become Lebanon’s permanent set of training wheels. Our leaders insist they want to ride independently, then panic when someone reaches for the wrench. UNIFIL’s departure should force them to explain how the army will assume full responsibility, how illegal weapons will be removed, and when that process will be completed. Promises to restore state authority must finally acquire consequences for those who defy it.
Lebanon should seek international support for that transition, including sustained assistance to its army and pressure for Israeli withdrawal. But support must be tied to measurable progress toward ending Hezbollah’s independent arsenal. A successor mission that leaves that question untouched would simply give the same paralysis a different uniform. Southern residents deserve a state capable of protecting them and making binding decisions in their name. Morocco’s response to Russia offers Lebanon a lesson in the political cost of sovereignty. Rabat was prepared to bear it. Beirut continues to ask others to absorb it. A government that pleads for foreign peacekeepers while accommodating an autonomous militia cannot keep presenting its hesitation as wisdom. Lebanon’s leaders should spend less effort extending the international presence and more effort ending Hezbollah’s exemption from the authority of the state.

Friends of Lebanon statement angers Hezbollah… Lebanese officials were not in the loop
Beirut: Paula Astih/Asharq Al-Awsat/ 6 November 2026
Hezbollah launched an attack on the statement issued by the embassies of the “Friends of Lebanon” countries—namely the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Canada, and Japan—which affirmed the necessity of the state’s exclusive control over weapons and that the state alone should hold the decision on matters of war and peace. The statement called for a public commitment from all members of parliament and all political parties on this issue. It also addressed the Dahr al-Baidar explosives case, calling for a “swift and independent judicial process, free from any political interference, that ensures full accountability.”
A diplomatic source told Asharq Al-Awsat that “the statement aims to reaffirm our positions supporting the government’s efforts to consolidate the state’s sovereignty and its exclusive control over weapons.” Official Lebanon was not in the loop regarding the statement, according to a Lebanese official source who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat, noting that “in any case, it is fully consistent with the recent positions of President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam regarding the necessity of not dragging Lebanon into the region’s conflicts, and it comes at a time of growing concern that Hezbollah might involve itself in a possible upcoming war on Iran.”
Hezbollah’s position
It was clear that the statement provoked Hezbollah’s anger. MP Ali Ammar, a member of the party’s parliamentary bloc, said the statement “expresses the height of vulgarity and insolence, given the blatant interference it contains in the most detailed internal Lebanese affairs, without any regard for Lebanon’s sovereignty, the independence of its judiciary, diplomatic norms, or the dignity of the Lebanese people—reaching the point of intervening in determining its national choices and imposing political orientations upon it.”
Ammar stressed in a statement that “the continued overlooking by the Lebanese authorities of these repeated interferences and treating them as something normal and familiar is completely rejected and condemned.” He considered that “it would have been more appropriate for these countries, which falsely claim to be friends of Lebanon and keen on supporting it, to meet and issue a statement rejecting the continued Israeli occupation of Lebanese territory, condemning the daily assaults on Lebanese sovereignty, the crimes of killing, destruction, and displacement, and the ongoing violation of international agreements and resolutions, and to call for dialogue and national understanding among the Lebanese, instead of contributing to inflaming divisions, stirring strife among them, and defending their enemies.”
A message to the Lebanese authorities
MP Dr. Michel Douaihy believes the international statement “is directed at the Lebanese authorities to take action on the weapons issue and to support the decisions they have taken with practical steps.” He noted in a statement to Asharq Al-Awsat that “Lebanon has not yet missed the train, and it can still catch up through actual steps by the authorities and by changing their current behavior.” Regarding the international interest in the Dahr al-Baidar explosives file, Douaihy pointed out that “what can be confirmed is that a matter of this magnitude can no longer be covered up, especially after a Hezbollah MP came out to claim ownership of the explosives and demand their return, which requires judicial decisions, arrests, and trials—not merely the arrest of those who were transporting these explosives.”
Contradiction between the American and French positions
It was notable that the statement by the five countries did not include France and Germany, which closely follow Lebanese affairs. Dr. Sami Nader, director of the Middle East Institute for Strategic Affairs, interpreted this by the fact that “the countries that signed the statement all revolve in the orbit of the United States, and they are demanding practical steps on the issue of Hezbollah’s weapons and rejecting the claim that this could lead to civil war, in contrast to the understanding previously led by France that the state is unable to go further on this issue through the army against Hezbollah, which would lead to an internal explosion.”Nader considers, in a statement to Asharq Al-Awsat, that “the American logic is completely opposed to this approach and sees that there is a minimum that must be done regarding the party’s weapons file, and that the justifications presented by the Lebanese state are no longer valid but rather constitute a cover for Hezbollah.” He added: “Even the French themselves have begun to retreat from their previous position under diplomatic pressure and are losing their presence and influence in Lebanon in favor of other countries.”

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on November 06-07/2026 (Some of the News reports below are translated from Arabic by AI)
Trump Administration Held Talks with Iran on Deporting Iranians During War
Asharq Al-Awsat/November 06/2026
US President Donald Trump’s administration held secret talks with Iran on deporting Iranians, court documents obtained by The Associated Press show. The court documents unsealed Thursday show the Republican administration as recently as mid-October said it had plans to deport the Iranians through an unnamed third country, although they did not specify when that would be carried out. The judge in the case ordered the government to give the court 24-hour notice of any finalized plans to deport Iranians to Iran or to any other country and five days’ written notice before any such deportation is carried out. A legal group representing Iranians held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement said at least a dozen Iranian detainees had been notified over the past week that they were being deported to Iran, with some told it could be as soon as this coming Sunday. The Iranian American Legal Defense Fund said Thursday the Iranian detainees were contacted by the Iranian Interest Section, an Iranian representative office in the Pakistani Embassy in Washington that handles consular affairs, in the past week and notified of an upcoming deportation flight to Iran through Pakistan. Some had also been notified by DHS officials of the upcoming deportation. One of those detainees attempted suicide once he learned he might be returned to Iran, according to Yasmine Chubin, the executive director of the organization. He was one of two people who were subsequently moved across state lines to a detention center where detainees are often sent immediately before a removal. None of the detainees who have been contacted have been provided any information in writing from immigration authorities, the legal group said. “Some of those same asylum applicants, and others who could face the same death, are being sent back — all against a backdrop of further and intensifying US bombing of Iran,” Chubin said. “This flight must be stopped.”Activists abroad have expressed concern about deportees returning to Iran, whose theocracy has been cracking down on intellectuals and where the government vociferously cracks down on any dissent. The lawsuit on the Iranian asylum seekers alleges the Trump administration’s immigration agencies have been sharing confidential information about Iranian asylum seekers with the Iranian government, violating national immigration regulations and endangering countless Iranians, court filings state. The lawsuit depicts a coordinated campaign between the US and Iranian governments to identify Iranians in ICE custody and pressure them to return to Iran — a marked departure from decades of diplomatic hostility between the two governments. DHS has denied that it is sharing asylum application records with the Iranian government. The judge overseeing the case said it was possible the government shared the confidential information, but appeared skeptical of claims that have arisen in the lawsuit that DHS has a coordinated policy of sharing those records. In addition, hundreds of emails exchanged between US immigration officials exposed how the two countries worked together to arrange for more than 100 Iranians to be flown back to Iran on three immigration flights in September and December 2025 and January 2026.

Trump Makes Oval Office a National Monument
Asharq Al-Awsat/November 06/2026
US President Donald Trump signed an order Thursday designating the Oval Office as a national monument, redoubling his focus on beautifying the White House despite a brutal midterms defeat for his Republican Party. Critics accused Trump of ignoring voter concerns over the Iran war and affordability ahead of Tuesday's midterm elections and obsessing instead on multiple construction and renovation projects in the capital. The day after Democrats won the House of Representatives and Senate, Trump virtually ignored the result and showed off construction work on his new White House ballroom instead. This time Trump’s focus was on the Oval Office, which he has bedecked with gold ornaments since returning to power last year, and the neighboring Cabinet Room. He said the proclamation would “make it impossible for anybody ever to destroy this incredible space” and prevent future presidents from carrying out any building work on the two rooms. “It won't be able to be taken down, destroyed, touched, or anything else. It's called actually a national monument,” Trump told reporters. The move however fueled speculation that Trump could be preparing further work on the West Wing, after several hints that he could move reporters out of the famed briefing room located near the Oval. Trump's signing of the order in the Oval Office was not broadcast on major US networks as he has banned CNN from the rotating “pool” of television outlets that cover White House events. Trump did give one nod to the midterms, with a red baseball cap with the word “veto” on the Resolute Desk in front of him. The 80-year-old Republican has threatened to use his presidential powers to block Democratic legislation, although saying he was also ready to work with the rival party.

Ships linked to Iran hover over internet cables in the Sea of Oman
Sanctioned tankers and a fishing boat slowed their course at communications routes
London / Asharq Al-Awsat / 6 November 2026
At least four ships linked to Iran have been observed following unusual routes and slowing down over undersea communications cables in the Sea of Oman, according to the Financial Times. These movements followed Iranian threats to strike internet cables and data centers if American and Israeli strikes resume. The newspaper quoted the maritime navigation analytics company Windward as saying that three of the ships are tankers subject to U.S. sanctions, while the fourth is a small Iranian fishing boat that hovered over two cables in the last week of October.
Suspicious pattern
The company said the vessels were sailing normally, then slowed, turned, stopped, or ceased transmitting their location data precisely upon reaching the cable corridors. It added that this behavior does not resemble that of tankers waiting to load oil in the region, nor is it explained by cargo transfer operations. It considered the pattern “consistent with mapping cable routes, or placing packages or mines on them while disabling tracking systems.”One of the tankers circled for hours around one of the cables before stopping transmission of its location, while another remained for days in Iranian waters near four cables, according to the company’s data. Two of the tankers were empty. Siddharth Kaushal, an expert in naval warfare at the Royal United Services Institute, said the maneuvers could be a coincidence. However, he stated that “Iran may be trying to demonstrate its ability to damage maritime infrastructure if war breaks out.”Retired British Navy Admiral John Penreth said the suspicious behavior could have “various reasons,” but noted that almost any ship can be modified to lay mines.
IRGC threats
Iran’s Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaee, had threatened in October to destroy “data centers and artificial intelligence facilities.” IRGC spokesman Hossein Mohebi said on 19 October that “seven main undersea internet cables” pass through the Strait of Hormuz, and that “new targets and new weapons will be revealed.” IRGC Deputy Commander for Political Affairs Yadollah Javani vowed to damage assets including internet cables in response to any attack on Iranian infrastructure. These threats came after Trump and senior American officials hinted at launching new attacks on Iran before the midterm elections, according to the newspaper. Six cables pass through the Strait of Hormuz, with three others under construction, according to data from TeleGeography. Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar rely entirely on these cables for their internet communications. Masha Kotkin, a researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said any damage would lead to “slowing the internet and financial transactions” and disrupt e-commerce and cloud computing. She noted that the threats have halted work on several cable projects, and that digital connectivity is a fundamental part of the Gulf states’ efforts to diversify their economies away from oil and gas. These movements coincide with the United States strengthening its military presence in the region. An American official told Axios that the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt will spend several days in Singapore and will not reach the Central Command’s area of operations before mid-November. Washington offers $20 million for information on Iran’s nuclear program

State Department seeks information on scientists and technologies… and offers resettlement for informants
London / Asharq Al-Awsat / 6 November 2026
The U.S. State Department has offered a reward of up to $20 million for information on Iran’s nuclear program, at a time when President Donald Trump is approaching a decision on resuming the war on Iran, and calls are rising in Tehran to revise the nuclear doctrine. The “Rewards for Justice” program, affiliated with the Department’s Diplomatic Security Service, said in an announcement on the X platform that the U.S. government “remains committed to countering any attempt by Iran to develop a nuclear weapons program.”It added that it is seeking information on scientists and workers in the nuclear program, the technologies and capabilities associated with it, and the organizations and individuals linked to its activities. It called on those who have information to send it via the Signal application or a tip line on the Tor network. It said they may be eligible for a reward and resettlement. The announcement did not name specific individuals or facilities.The announcement came a day after Trump said he would decide “soon” whether to resume strikes “to ensure the elimination of Iran’s nuclear program.” He added: “I prefer not to destroy the rest of the country if possible, but I may have to.” The stockpile of highly enriched uranium remains the main point of contention in the negotiations. Trump demands that Tehran abandon it, while it refuses to transfer it abroad. A Qatari draft for confidence-building includes inviting IAEA inspectors to the bombed nuclear sites, in exchange for lifting the American naval blockade and releasing part of the frozen funds. Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaee said on Thursday that the Strait of Hormuz will not be opened and no negotiations will take place before Washington implements Iran’s “seven conditions.”
In Tehran, calls are increasing to revise the nuclear doctrine and withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Rezaee said at the beginning of the month that Tehran has not taken a “new decision,” but the discussion is “on the table” if war breaks out again. Interim Friday prayer leader of Tehran Mohammad Javad Haj Ali Akbari called for a “reconsideration” of the nuclear doctrine. Head of the Article 90 Committee in Parliament Nasrallah Bajmanfar demanded that withdrawal from the treaty be placed “seriously on the agenda.” MP Mohammad Taqi Naqdali described society’s slogan today, on Thursday, as “the nuclear warhead is our fixed right.”A discussion is underway among senior officials and clerics regarding withdrawal from the treaty, according to The New York Times. Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has not taken an explicit position on the matter. His father, the previous Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, had said about two decades ago that producing, stockpiling, and using nuclear weapons is “haram.”IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi told the Security Council in late October that the agency “has not detected since June 2025 any activity to repair or rebuild any of the facilities damaged in the military attacks in 2025 and 2026.” Grossi called on Iran to allow inspectors access to all sites, including the damaged ones. The agency has been unable to verify the status of the Iranian stockpile since the American strikes last year. It estimates it at approximately 440.9 kilograms of uranium enriched up to 60 percent. An analysis of satellite images published by the BBC on Friday detected new construction and digging works outside tunnel entrances near the city of Qom, in the vicinity of the Fordow uranium enrichment facility.

Qatar’s emir, Trump discuss mediation efforts to end regional crisis
Reuters/November 06/2026
Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani discussed diplomatic efforts to ease regional tensions in a phone call with US President Donald Trump on Friday, a Qatari statement said. Iran has submitted a nuclear proposal to Washington through Qatar, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Thursday, saying the United States 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.

Trump Says to ‘Soon’ Take Decision on Whether to Resume Iran War
Asharq Al-Awsat/November 06/2026
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he would decide “soon” on whether to resume the war on Iran following a meeting with his top national security advisers. "Now we will make a decision," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "Do we want to go further" with strikes to ensure Iran's nuclear program is over and that "it will never happen again?" he added. "I would rather not destroy the rest of the country if possible, but maybe I will have to. You'll know soon enough."Trump held meetings at the White House on Wednesday and Thursday to discuss the resumption of military operations, according to senior officials who spoke to US media. While the US Central Command continues its military preparations, Qatari mediators are advancing a draft agreement aimed at fostering confidence between Washington and Tehran. The president, at least for now, is considering three options: launch new strikes, continue to strangle Iran's regime economically, or cut a deal that includes significant concessions to the Iranians, reported Axios. Trump on Thursday said Iran could not do ‌anything regarding ‌its nuclear program ‌without ⁠US approval. "They're not ⁠doing anything without our approval," ⁠Trump told reporters ‌in ‌the Oval ‌Office ‌in response to a question regarding a ‌set of proposals made ⁠to ⁠Iran by mediators about the future of its nuclear program.

Rubio Denies Plans to Leave Post for White House Bid
Asharq Al-Awsat/November 06/2026
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio dismissed reports Thursday that he was planning to leave the Trump administration as he weighs his next moves after Republicans' losses in midterm elections, according to The New York Times. It has "always been my plan" to work for President Donald Trump until the end of his term, Rubio told The Times in an interview. Rubio, who also serves as Trump's national security adviser, is widely considered a potential successor to Trump in the 2028 presidential race. Just days before Tuesday's midterm elections, he made an unusual appearance alongside the US leader on the campaign trail, briefly stepping up on the podium to address a cheering crowd at a rally. Rubio declined to answer questions about his political future on Thursday, however, saying: "I literally will not talk about 2028 anymore."On reports that he was considering an exit from the Trump administration, he told The New York Times: "I don't know where these things come from, to be honest with you."Earlier Thursday, Bloomberg News reported that Rubio was weighing whether to leave the administration.The report added that Rubio spoke to White House officials about stepping down, and was asked to stay. But the State Department has hit back sharply against reports that Rubio might leave. Dylan Johnson, Assistant Secretary of State for global public affairs, called the Bloomberg article "totally made up." He also called a report by news outlet The Independent, which said Rubio was planning to launch a bid for the 2028 Republican presidential nomination, "completely baseless fake news."Rubio has previously said that he would support Vice President JD Vance if he ran for president. Vance is also widely considered a possible 2028 candidate.

Hegseth vows to keep fighting from Pentagon, defends Iran war
Reuters/November 06/2026
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a video message on Thursday vowing to fight efforts in Congress to impeach him and defending the Iran war as “courageous and historic” after voters punished Republicans over it in this week’s midterm elections. Hegseth’s remarks, posted on social media, came as taunts from his foes in Congress intensified and President Donald Trump swatted away questions about whether he might fire Hegseth. Trump has commended his Pentagon chief. The top Democrat in the House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries, asked in a post: “Why is Pete Hegseth still around?”Hegseth, a former Fox News host, has been a polarizing figure who has made enemies even within his own Republican Party. Critics in Congress are targeting his conduct of the Iran war, which Vice President JD Vance has said cost Republicans control of Congress, his firing of top military officers and strained relations with lawmakers as the administration seeks a $1.5 trillion defense spending package. Democrats, who won control of Congress in Tuesday’s elections, have promised to investigate Hegseth and his handling of the Pentagon, and congressional aides say that would include the firing of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, among other issues. Republican Representative Thomas Massie promised to reintroduce articles of impeachment against Hegseth next week, warning that impeachment would be “much gentler” than what’s in store for him once Republicans cede control of Congress next year to Democrats.
“They’ll have hearings & trials,” Massie wrote on X. Hegseth defended his stewardship of the Pentagon in a more than four-minute video that boasted about firing senior Pentagon leaders, ending diversity initiatives and banning transgender individuals from the military. “You see, they attack me - they attack us - because we are effective. It’s not going to work. We will not back down,” Hegseth said to the camera. Calling the impeachment effort a “sham,” Hegseth said that Trump himself was impeached twice. “It’s all about the politics of personal destruction. It didn’t work against President Trump, and it won’t work with me. You can rest assured of that,” he said. Trump on Thursday praised Hegseth when asked whether he expected any staffing changes, saying his defense secretary had “done a fantastic job” and suggesting that the opposition to him was tied to his firing of generals. “We had so many generals. Everybody was a four-star general. I never saw anything like it. And many of those people were woke. I don’t like a woke general. And so, he probably has opposition,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. Trump also praised Hegseth’s role in US military operations in Venezuela and Iran. “Venezuela has been unbelievable ... and in Iran, we are there for seven months and we control everything that we’ve wanted to control,” he said.
Chopping block
Sources have said Trump could still replace Hegseth as Republicans assess their election losses. On Wednesday, Vice President JD Vance publicly questioned whether the Iran war was worth it and said it cost Republicans control of Congress, in extraordinary remarks that raised questions about whether Trump might still go ahead with a threatened resumption of major combat operations against Iran. One Trump adviser said Hegseth “could be on the chopping block” because of the Iran war. The Defense Department has said Hegseth is “100 percent committed” to leading the Pentagon until the end of Trump’s term. Hegseth appealed to “patriotic” lawmakers to pass a funding request that aims to help the Pentagon pay for the Iran war and other spending priorities. “Regardless of how people feel about the war, which I believe is a courageous and historic effort that will ensure Iran never gets nuclear weapons, we need to continue, as President Trump did in his first term, to rebuild our military,” Hegseth said. Republican US Senator Thom Tillis told CBS news on Tuesday night that Hegseth has “a reckoning” coming and his strained relationship with lawmakers was undermining the Trump administration’s push for a $1.5 trillion defense spending package in Congress. Hegseth could also face scrutiny from Democrats over his Ukraine policy and US military strikes on suspected drug trafficking boats in Latin American waters, which some Democrats say could amount to war crimes. Representative Adam Smith, the Democrat who is expected to lead the House Armed Services Committee next year, promised vigorous oversight on everything from the Iran war to what he called the erosion of the “apolitical foundation of the armed forces.”

Iran’s IRGC says two tankers caught fire in Hormuz
AFP/November 06/2026
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said in a statement carried by state media Friday that two oil tankers caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz, a day after Tehran claimed five other tankers had similar fates. Since the outbreak of the Middle East war on February 28, Tehran has sought to limit traffic through the strategic waterway, which normally carries about one-fifth of global oil consumption. The United States has in response imposed a blockade on Iranian ports and escorted tankers through the strait. US Central Command said last month that it had helped Gulf countries export 1.5 billion barrels of oil via Hormuz since the summer and has recently said that all mines have been cleared from the waterway. “Two violating oil tankers – one east of the Strait of Hormuz and the other within the Strait itself – that attempted to transit via an unauthorized route struck mines,” the IRGC, the ideological arm of Iran’s military, said in a statement carried by state TV. “The two tankers had deactivated all of their navigation and identification systems and were attempting to exit the Strait of Hormuz... with the support of the aggressor and terrorist American military, but following the collision with mines, they caught fire and were brought to a stop,” the statement added. On Thursday, Iranian media reported that five oil tankers and a tugboat caught fire in the strait in similar incidents. There has, however, been no confirmation of any of these incidents from maritime officials.

Satellite Images Reveal New Construction Near Iran Missile Sites
Asharq Al-Awsat/November 06/2026
Iran appears to be undertaking significant new construction near at least two of its major missile sites and repairing bases damaged by months of US and Israeli air strikes, analysis of satellite images suggests, reported the BBC on Friday. Evidence of digging and new buildings are visible in satellite imagery taken in November at the Garmdareh military base in Karaj near the capital Tehran and the Shahroud base in the north, analysts at British intelligence company MAIAR, who reviewed the photos, told BBC Verify. At least 12 other military sites, including missile complexes and air bases, appear to show signs of repairs. New roofs have been built on destroyed buildings at the Kermanshah missile base in western Iran, near the border with Iraq, while damaged buildings and debris have been cleared at the Parchin military complex east of the capital. "The excavations near Shahroud could potentially be related to the production of missiles," said Jim Lamson, a former CIA analyst who focused on Iran. "Because the nearby air base at Shahroud has been targeted multiple times in recent years, Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) is probably trying to find ways to move its production facilities underground," he explained. At Karaj and Shahroud, satellite images appear to show significant excavation. At Karaj, multiple vehicles were visible in satellite images, while improvements appear to have been carried out to the nearby airbase. The images from Karaj appear to show "a new portal for an underground facility", said Sam Lair, research analyst at the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI), which has looked extensively into recent developments at Iranian sites, reported the BBC. A MAIAR analyst also identified new construction and excavations outside tunnel entrances near the city of Qom, close to the Fordo underground uranium enrichment complex, which has been bombed by both the US and Israel multiple times. Washington has repeatedly asserted that the strikes have severely degraded Iran's military capabilities. Tehran maintains that it holds substantial missile reserves, with state television broadcasting footage purporting to show dozens of missiles at the entrance of an underground facility. Activity related to military assets would show that Tehran is bracing itself for further attacks by the US and Israel, said Mark Cancian, a military analyst with International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). "The purpose is to better defend itself against future attacks," he said, according to the BBC. "It also indicates a priority on rebuilding military capability rather than rehabilitating the economy."

Soaring freight rates give US refiners edge as crude discounts
Reuters/November 06/2026
The Iran conflict has sent tanker rates soaring, forcing sellers to deepen discounts on heavy crude grades and giving US Gulf Coast refiners a cost advantage over Asian rivals, executives said after reporting bumper third-quarter profits.Security threats around the Strait of Hormuz, a key maritime chokepoint through which about one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies passed before the war started, have disrupted tanker traffic, while higher war-risk insurance premiums and longer voyages have driven up shipping costs. The disruption particularly benefited US Gulf Coast refiners, which could buy discounted heavy crude produced closer to home, including from Canada and Venezuela, while Asian rivals faced sharply higher freight and insurance costs to import similar grades through longer and riskier shipping routes. US refining margins more than doubled in the third quarter. Rising freight costs have widened discounts on Canadian heavy crude, including Western Canadian Select (WCS), which typically trades below US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI), creating a windfall for Gulf Coast refiners, as more than 70 percent of their facilities are configured to process heavier crude. “The main story right now in the market is freight rates,” Randy Hawkins, vice president of Crude And Feedstocks Supply And Trading at Valero Energy, said on a post-earnings conference call. Freight costs for shipping crude from the US Gulf Coast to Asia have jumped to $30-$35 a barrel from about $5 a year earlier, Hawkins said. “Higher freight rates actually give us an advantage into the typical export markets into Latin America,” said Gary Simmons, chief operating officer of Valero, adding that it mainly competes with European barrels in that market. Ample heavy crude supplies from Canada and Venezuela, combined with elevated freight rates, have widened the WTI-WCS differential, lowering feedstock costs, US refining executives said. For Phillips 66, every $1 widening in the WCS-WTI differential is worth about $140 million in gains, Brian Mandell, executive vice president of marketing and commercial, said.
Higher shipping costs have also been more than offset by stronger fuel margins, said Delia He, an oil and tanker market analyst at Arrow Shipping. “For every extra dollar of freight, the diesel margin has grown by at least eight,” He said.
Positioned for a strong 2027
US refiners have also been shielded from the impacts of higher spot tanker rates following the war due to their advance shipping arrangements. Phillips 66 said it had secured more than 40 time-charter vessels before the Iran conflict, covering about 40 percent of its asset-based shipping needs.
Valero, PBF, Marathon and Canada’s Suncor also secured chartered fleets before the war began, insulating them from the surge in prices.Wider differentials are expected to continue to lend strength next year as well, some industry executives said. Top US refiner Marathon Petroleum expects record Canadian heavy crude processing in the fourth quarter, while CEO Maryann Mannen has said that margins are expected to remain elevated through at least mid-2027. “In the near term we will take advantage of it,” HF Sinclair said of the wider discounts, adding, “we do see the differentials stay wider than they have throughout the near term, at least through 2027.”

European Air Traffic Targeted by New Threats in at Least 3 Incidents
Asharq Al-Awsat/November 06/2026
Police in Denmark and the Czech Republic investigated threats to air traffic on Friday, while a Romanian plane received a bomb threat following a string of hoaxes that have targeted flights and disrupted travel across Europe this week. A flight from Prague to Bucharest operated by Romanian carrier Tarom received a bomb threat. The plane landed at its intended destination, and airport administration officials said the bomb threat proved to be false. In the Danish capital, Copenhagen, police said Friday they were present at the airport for a second consecutive day “in connection with threats directed at air traffic.”They said their immediate assessment was that there had been no danger to passengers or to others at the airport. It added that air traffic was proceeding safely and without disruption.Czech police also said they were again dealing with threats against planes on Friday. They said necessary security measures have been taken in cooperation with Prague’s Vaclav Havel Airport that have “a minimal impact on the normal operations at the airport.”Meanwhile in Ireland, the Dublin headquarters of national broadcaster RTE was evacuated Friday after a bomb threat, and live broadcasts were replaced with pre-recorded programs. Ireland’s police force, An Garda Síochána, said it was “aware of a threat made against media organizations here and in Europe.” It said that it has been liaising with Irish media organizations and the threat will be investigated. More than two dozen flights were affected by threats earlier in the week, with some diverted as authorities scrambled to rule out any danger. Europe has experienced a slew of other disruptions recently, such as attacks on supermarket refrigeration systems, drone incursions and mysterious triggers to alert apps. Fake bomb threats are relatively common, but it is unusual to see so many in such a short period. They come at a time of increased geopolitical tensions and warnings from authorities that Russia may be ramping up so-called hybrid threats in Europe.

Israel Opposition Figure Makes U-Turn on Ultra-Orthodox Draft to Oust Netanyahu
Asharq Al-Awsat/November 06/2026
A hardline figure in the Israeli opposition said Friday he would moderate longtime demands that ultra-Orthodox Jews serve in the military, seeking a coalition that can oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Neither Netanyahu nor opposition chief Gadi Eisenkot reached a majority in the October 27 election, with Israeli society highly polarized over Netanyahu and worn down by three years of war. Eisenkot could form a coalition if he works with Israeli-Arabs, whose seat count soared on anger over Netanyahu's far-right government, but that prospect faces strong disagreement from opposition partner Avigdor Liberman, a onetime aide to Netanyahu who now sharply criticizes the prime minister but shares his hawkish views on the Palestinians. Liberman said Friday he would not back down on rejecting an alliance with Israeli-Arabs but said the opposition should negotiate with ultra-Orthodox Jews, despite his years of heated denunciations of the community for avoiding military service.Saying the most important goals were removing Netanyahu and avoiding new elections, Liberman said it was time to compromise and "understand that trying to have everything risks getting nothing".
"This also includes the issue of the conscription law," he said in a social media statement. "This pains me, and I know it pains many others as well. But given the full range of challenges we face today, the national interest of the State of Israel and the Jewish people must take precedence over all other considerations." Liberman, whose Yisrael Beiteinu party won seven seats, has long demanded an end to an exemption that allows religious students to avoid the military service required of nearly all other Israelis. Liberman even put up campaign posters vowing to crack down on the "draft-dodgers". During an appearance earlier this year, he described ultra-Orthodox Jews as "anti-Jewish" for their demands. Netanyahu, while himself personally secular, has long relied on the two main ultra-Orthodox parties, although they left his government -- without seeking to remove him -- after he stopped short of enshrining the draft exemption into law. One of the parties, United Torah Judaism, declined Thursday to back Netanyahu in forming the next government during consultations with President Isaac Herzog, although it also did not back Eisenkot. The two ultra-Orthodox parties together have 13 votes, which would give Eisenkot a narrow majority in parliament. Herzog will announce Sunday who will have the first chance at forming a government -- presumably Eisenkot as he received more recommendations from parties. Ultra-Orthodox Jews' exemption from military service has fueled widespread resentment among other Israelis, with reservists serving multiple tours in the wars Israel has been fighting since the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas.

Jordan Says Security Officer Killed in Amman in Stabbing Attack
Asharq Al-Awsat/November 06/2026
Jordanian authorities said a security officer was stabbed to death in the country's capital Amman on Thursday, calling it a "terrorist attack"."The Public Security Directorate mourned the martyrdom of Corporal Jawad Ali Khalaf Al-Salaytah, who was killed in a cowardly terrorist attack," the directorate said in a statement. Another officer was injured in the incident, it added. Authorities said the attack took place in front of the Sri Lankan embassy, where the victim was stabbed with a "sharp object". The officer was rushed to hospital but later died from his injuries, the directorate said. A nearby police patrol responded immediately and arrested the attacker, it added. The second officer wounded in the incident sustained injuries to their face as he tried to intervene and is in a stable condition.
Security agencies were investigating, the directorate said.

NATO Seeks ‘Just’ End to Ukraine War as Trump Touts Deal Involving Europe
Asharq Al-Awsat/November 06/2026
Ukraine's allies are working for a "just and sustainable" end to the war ahead of US-mediated talks next week in Abu Dhabi, NATO said Friday, after US President Donald Trump touted a deal with Russia involving "all of Europe".Talks in Brussels on Thursday involving NATO, US, Ukrainian and European officials "built on productive discussions in Miami and Oslo and sought to advance a just and sustainable end to the war in Ukraine", an alliance spokeswoman said. Trump on Thursday predicted a "very big" deal with Russia involving not only the Ukraine war but "all of Europe," in remarks that will fuel fears on the continent of a pivot towards the Kremlin. Jared Kushner, the president's envoy and son-in-law, said the United States was working on "a broader European security architecture that can help establish the conditions for lasting peace". Kushner, who participated in the Brussels talks via videolink, said that Washington's "objective is to develop practical arrangements that address the security concerns of all sides". "We are exploring five principal goals: permanent security consultations, reliable crisis communications, greater military transparency, reciprocal measures to reduce escalation risks, and an enduring framework for long-term European security and stability," he posted online. He insisted that "any arrangements must fully respect the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independent decision-making of every nation" and said NATO would "remain central to European collective defense". The US push will rattle Washington's European allies, who have long rejected Moscow's desire to rewrite the European security architecture. Before launching the war in Ukraine in 2022, the Kremlin delivered an ultimatum to NATO which included a demand that the alliance's troops be withdrawn from eastern Europe.
That was rejected by the Western military alliance. Europe has meanwhile been seeking to play a bigger role in the US-led push to end the fighting.Kushner said that Washington will "consult closely with our European partners on the sidelines" of the Abu Dhabi talks and "if progress is made, aim to move toward a broader multilateral format with their direct participation".

Italy's Meloni Blasts Europe's 'Disarray' on Ukraine Talks
Asharq Al-Awsat/November 06/2026
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has slammed Europe's "disorderly" approach to Ukraine negotiations and demanded the EU decide who speaks on its behalf, in a letter seen by AFP Thursday. In the message to European Council chief Antonio Costa, who chairs summits of EU leaders, Meloni complained about the recent proliferation of meetings in different formats for talks on Russia's war on Ukraine. "All this is making us look utterly lacking in credibility in handling one of the most complicated dossiers our nations are facing," the Italian leader wrote. "I am convinced that we all realize how, by giving the image of a Europe that is proceeding in disarray, we are doing nothing but serving the interests of those who want this war to continue." As examples she cited recent talks in Miami and Oslo as well as meetings this week in Brussels between representatives of Ukraine, the United States, several European countries, NATO and the EU. She also mentioned a call between the leaders of Norway and Finland and Russian President Vladimir Putin. "I want it on record that I will not go along with this dynamic, nor do I intend to stand by and watch it unfold," Meloni wrote. "Proceeding in disarray, with initiatives that chase and overlap one another, will not help us, neither with our partners nor with those we must convince to stop a senseless aggression." The Italian leader said that she wanted EU leaders to decide "once and for all who sits at the negotiating table on behalf of the European Union, and with what mandate."
Leaders to discuss -
Meloni said she was not requesting a role for herself or Italy. She asked that the issue be discussed at a summit of EU leaders in Dublin this month, and for a formal decision to be taken at a second meeting in December. "Otherwise, I fear we risk condemning Europe to irrelevance in the negotiating process," she said. In response, Costa wrote back to Meloni that he agreed "that Europe needs to act with coherence, unity and determination." "The European Union's participation must be organized in a manner that enables it to convey a clear and unified message, to defend its interests and to support Ukraine," he said in a letter shared by his office.The European Council president said that in accordance with the bloc's treaties the EU's "interests need to be represented by its institutions". He said he would include the issue at the next meeting of EU leaders. Meloni initially called for the EU to name a single envoy to deal with talks on the Ukraine war at the start of this year, but the push fizzled out. Europe has long been seeking to play a bigger role in US-led efforts to stop the fighting in Ukraine. After they largely stalled, Washington has revived its push in recent weeks and will meet with Russian and Ukrainian officials in Abu Dhabi next week.

Iran FM holds phone call with Saudi counterpart: State media
Al Arabiya English/November 06/2026
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Thursday held a phone call with his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan to discuss regional issues, Iranian state media reported. “They held discussions and exchanged views regarding the latest regional developments and the progress of diplomatic efforts to establish stability in the region,” IRNA said, without giving further details on the talks. Araghchi also spoke with the foreign ministers of Qatar and Oman, both of which have been involved in mediation efforts in the war with the United States, according to IRNA. He also held conversations with his Turkish, Jordanian and Kuwaiti counterparts.With AFP

Turkey ratifies Mecca Defense Alliance, clearing way for support to Saudi Arabia
Reuters/November 06/2026
Turkey’s parliament on Thursday ratified the Mecca Defense Alliance, a defense pact between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, clearing the way for Ankara to send military support to Riyadh amid attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militants against the Kingdom. Under the agreement, signed by the three regional powers in August and sent to parliament’s approval last month, an attack on one party constitutes an attack on all. A ruling party lawmaker told Reuters last month that Turkey would also submit to parliament a mandate allowing for military personnel to be deployed to Saudi Arabia under the pact.

Yemen armed forces say Houthis struck market in Taiz with ballistic missile
Al Arabiya English/November 06/2026
The Iran-backed Houthi militia struck a market in the district of al-Wazi’iyah in the governorate of Taiz with a ballistic missile, Yemen’s armed forces said on Friday. The attack on al-Hadara market resulted in dozens of civilian casualties, they added. An army spokesperson said the attack is a “war crime… which clearly shows the Houthi militia’s terrorist approach that directs its weapons against civilians whenever it suffers a defeat.” The army also urged the international community to fulfill its responsibilities and take decisive and immediate steps to designate the Houthi militia as a terrorist organization, dismantle its funding sources, and cut off its supply of weapons.

Yemen Warns against Houthis Using Red Sea to Extort Int’l Community
Asharq Al-Awsat/November 06/2026
The Yemeni government warned of an expanding threat posed by the terrorist Houthi militia to regional security and international navigation, citing growing Iranian involvement in managing Houthi military operations and growing ties with terrorist organizations in the Horn of Africa. The warning coincided with continued Houthi attacks on civilians and the tightening of the siege on the city of Taiz. Yemeni Foreign Minister Afrah Al-Zouba presented these concerns during a series of meetings in Berlin with German officials and experts at think tanks and research centers specialized in Yemeni affairs. The discussions addressed the developments of the Houthi escalation since last June, as well as its military, humanitarian, and security repercussions on Yemen and the wider region. Al-Zouba stated that the Houthis intensified their attacks following the landing of an aircraft belonging to Iran's Mahan Air, which is linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), at Hodeidah airport. She explained that the plane carried Iranian experts, funds, and advanced weaponry to support Houthi military operations, in direct violation of Yemeni sovereignty and international laws and resolutions. The escalation reached the west coast and Bab al-Mandeb regions prior to a government deployment under Operation Dawn of Yemen. Authorities cautioned against renewed efforts by the militia to expand along the west coast, threaten shipping lanes in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb Strait, and leverage maritime corridors to pressure the international community. Meeting with German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, Al-Zouba warned that the Houthi threat extends beyond Yemen's borders, pointing to the militia’s targeting of Saudi territory and international shipping lanes, and the resulting risks to regional security and global energy and food supplies.
Yemeni Foreign Minister Afrah Al-Zouba meets with her German counterpart Johann Wadephul. (Yemeni government media). She presented the Yemeni government's announcements regarding the participation of experts from the IRGC and Hezbollah in managing Houthi operations, in addition to the group's links with terrorist organizations in the Horn of Africa, chief among them the Somali Al-Shabaab movement. These ties raise the level of threat to maritime security and regional stability, she warned. The two sides discussed ways to develop the capabilities of the Yemeni Coast Guard to protect territorial waters and secure international trade routes, while strengthening bilateral consultation and information exchange regarding security developments in Yemen and the region. Al-Zouba delivered a written letter from Chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council Dr. Rashad Al-Alimi to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. The message addressed bilateral relations, regional issues, and the latest updates on the situation in Yemen. On the humanitarian level, Al-Zouba highlighted the Houthi siege on the city of Taiz, the targeting of civilian and health facilities, and the resulting closure of medical centers, medicine shortages, and lack of safe corridors, warning of catastrophic impacts on civilians. She detailed the Houthi recruitment of child soldiers, indiscriminate landmine deployment, and the ongoing detention of UN and humanitarian personnel, noting the death of several detainees including UN staff member Mohammed Ibrahim Al-Shami.

Egypt, Iran FMs Discuss Regional Developments
Asharq Al-Awsat/November 06/2026
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty held telephone talks on Thursday with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi on the latest regional developments and efforts to ease tensions, reported dpa. An Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman said the ministers exchanged views on the latest developments and concerns over the possibility of renewed military conflict and its impact on regional and international security and stability. Abdelatty underlined the importance of prioritizing diplomatic solutions and urged all parties to demonstrate the necessary openness to reach a political settlement to the crisis. He stressed that exercising flexibility and arriving at compromises would serve the interests of all sides and prevent the region from sliding into a new wave of escalation, which could otherwise yield severe political, economic, and humanitarian repercussions for the region and the entire world.

Iraq Rejects Use of its Territories to Attack Neighbors
Asharq Al-Awsat/November 06/2026
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi and US President Donald Trump discussed regional developments during a phone call on Thursday, with Baghdad stressing that its territory must not be used to launch attacks against neighboring states. According to a statement from the Prime Minister's office, al-Zaidi reiterated Iraq’s firm stance calling for the strict respect of state sovereignty. He further stressed that Iraqi territory must not serve as a launchpad for aggression against neighboring countries. The PM underscored the vital importance of ongoing consultations between Baghdad and Washington on issues of mutual interest. He said that adopting peaceful solutions and engaging in constructive dialogue are necessary measures to maintain regional security. Both leaders affirmed the importance of working together to confront current challenges. The statement noted that these efforts aim to support regional stability by prioritizing diplomacy and dialogue.
Military deployment
Also on Thursday, Iraq's Defense Ministry announced that it had reinforced its military deployment along a defensive line in the country's west, as the prime minister stressed the need to expand domestic arms production. Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Yahya Rasool Abdullah said in a statement that troops from the Jazira and West Nineveh Operations Commands had begun strengthening their deployment along the Rawa-Hatra defensive line to maintain security and stability in the Jazira region north of the Euphrates River and toward the provinces of Nineveh and Salahuddin.
The deployment aims to secure desert areas, pursue remaining militant elements and prevent them from using the desert as a haven, he said. It also seeks to provide a shorter route for civilian travel and commercial transport, helping support investment and agricultural activities. Rasool said army units would continue securing desert areas within their respective operational sectors to maintain security and stability across the country. Meanwhile, PM and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Ali al-Zaidi visited the Defense Industries Commission on Thursday to inspect military equipment that the authority said it had successfully manufactured or developed. The equipment included various types of ammunition, light, medium and heavy weapons, drone systems, and surveillance and monitoring devices. According to a statement from his media office, al-Zaidi underlined his support for developing Iraq's domestic defense industry and directed officials to involve the private sector and expand partnerships with specialized companies. He stressed that Iraq had the capacity to manufacture the weapons and equipment it needs using domestic expertise and labor. Al-Zaidi described the development of an advanced defense industry as a cornerstone of national sovereignty that would strengthen Iraq's ability to protect its security and interests. He also underscored the importance of investing in research and development and keeping pace with rapid technological advances in military manufacturing. Al-Zaidi praised the authority's progress and its capabilities and expertise, which he said positioned it to become an advanced industrial base. He directed officials to provide the resources and support needed to expand its production and technological capabilities, with the aim of meeting the armed forces' requirements for weapons and military equipment while reducing reliance on foreign supplies. The Defense Industries Commission, which reports to the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, was recently established to rebuild Iraq's defense industrial base and meet the needs of the armed forces and security agencies.
Iraq's military manufacturing industry, however, dates back to the 1970s and expanded significantly during the 1980s war with Iran. Much of its arsenal and industrial infrastructure was subsequently devastated during the 1991 Gulf War and by international sanctions imposed throughout the 1990s.

Al-Zaidi Targets 'Intermediary Companies' in Defense Industry Contracts
Asharq Al-Awsat/November 06/2026
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi has ordered the Defense Industries Commission to bypass intermediary firms and contract directly with manufacturing companies, aiming to curb funding channels linked to armed factions. The directive seeks to tighten oversight on government procurement by eliminating middlemen networks, which informed sources state serve as vital economic pipelines for various armed groups. The policy shift arrives amid mounting tension between the government and certain factions, driven by Al-Zaidi’s broader push to restructure the relationship between state institutions and armed formations, including their commercial ventures. Sources familiar with the matter noted that the restriction has sparked significant concern among stakeholders who rely on intermediary networks tied to lucrative state contracts. During a visit to the Defense Industries Commission on Thursday, Al-Zaidi stressed the "necessity of dealing directly with parent manufacturing companies, and absolutely not dealing with intermediary companies."According to a statement from his media office, the directive is designed to ensure contract transparency while eliminating intermediary loops and vulnerabilities to corruption. Al-Zaidi affirmed that Iraq possesses the capability to manufacture its weapons and equipment needs through national expertise, stating that building an advanced defense industry represents a fundamental pillar of national sovereignty. He stressed the importance of research and development, as well as keeping pace with technological advancements in military industries. The Defense Industries Commission, which replaced the Military Industrialization Commission established by the former regime during the Iran-Iraq War, is one of the state institutions responsible for producing and developing military equipment.
Shadow companies
The government directive has renewed focus on the network of intermediary companies active in state contracting. Sources said that these firms are linked to the economic interests of factions and exploit political and administrative influence to expand their operations inside state institutions.
Some of these companies operate within a network linked to Al-Muhandis Company - one of the formations of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) - or its front companies. Sources said that these entities are used to secure government contracts and provide financial resources to armed groups.
An informed source told Asharq Al-Awsat that these companies serve as "part of a financing mechanism for armed factions operating through two tracks: first, generating revenue from contracting and state procurement, and second, laundering funds to legitimize income derived from illicit activities, including oil and drug smuggling."The source added that the operations of these firms are not confined to a specific authority or ministry. Instead, they extend across various state institutions, leveraging political and administrative clout to secure government contracts that provide their commercial transactions with official cover. In the political context, disputes have begun to escalate between certain armed factions and parties within the Coordination Framework. Amid these tensions, factions are accusing political and government forces of cooperating with Al-Zaidi to reduce their economic and security influence in response to external pressures. A recent wave of reports has emerged highlighting the commercial activities of figures and leaders within armed factions, including Kataib Hezbollah, though the accuracy of these accounts could not be independently verified. Public debate is intensifying over the shifting role of these factions from their self-proclaimed status as "resistance forces" to entities managing economic interests and commercial influence networks. This evolution raises questions regarding the exact nature of these commercial ventures, their relationship to the groups' weapons, and the strategic cost Iraq might ultimately incur should these factions decide to drag the country into a broader regional conflict. Hussein Allawi, an expert in political affairs, said Al-Zaidi's visit to the Defense Industries Commission carried a message regarding the need to protect public funds and developing Iraqi defense capabilities through direct engagement with international companies. Allawi told Asharq Al-Awsat that the PM is seeking to "strengthen the defense industry file," describing it as one of the sensitive areas that demand transparency and governance to ensure the quality of weapons and equipment used in Iraq. He added that adopting direct contracts with international corporations, in accordance with applicable commercial laws and regulations, would curb the additional costs borne by the state due to multiple intermediary loops. Security affairs researcher Mukhlad Hazem said Al-Zaidi's decision is a major step in confronting corporate networks that exploit the influence of political or armed factions to secure government contracts. Hazem told Asharq Al-Awsat that these networks are not a new phenomenon, but rather have extended their activities over several years. He revealed that certain groups monopolize massive state contracts to finance their economic entities, without necessarily delivering a corresponding return in terms of product quality or adherence to execution terms.

Trump says he met Putin envoy, sees Ukraine deal soon
Reuters/November 06/2026
US President Donald Trump said he met privately on Thursday with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s envoy after the Russian official appeared with representatives from Ukraine at a White House event organized by US first lady Melania Trump. Trump would not disclose what he discussed with Putin envoy Kirill Dmitriev but predicted a deal could emerge soon aimed at resolving the Russian war in Ukraine. A US delegation is scheduled to mediate talks in Abu Dhabi November 10 to 11 between representatives from Russia and Ukraine.
Trump, speaking to reporters at the White House, said the war was close to being settled and that ending it might involve all of Europe. “It’s going to be a big agreement, and it’s going to involve more than Ukraine ... I could even say it might involve all of Europe. It’s going to be a big, beautiful agreement, and everyone’s going to be thrilled,” Trump said. Trump has frequently predicted an agreement to end Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War Two was close. However, negotiations have picked up in recent weeks. Trump said he did not meet with the Ukrainian delegation on Thursday. Trump envoy Jared Kushner said US officials meeting in Brussels on Thursday held “productive and substantive discussions” with Ukraine, NATO and European partners on security guarantees for Ukraine and a broader European security architecture. Kushner said in a social media post that negotiators were exploring five principal goals: permanent security consultations, reliable crisis communications, greater military transparency, reciprocal measures to reduce escalation risks, and an enduring framework for long-term European security and stability. “Any arrangements must fully respect the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independent decision-making of every nation,” Kushner said. “Each country will retain authority over its own security and alliances, and no country would have a veto over another’s sovereign choices. “NATO will remain central to European collective defense, and this initiative would build upon existing institutions and commitments.”
First lady brings two sides together
Dmitriev was among the officials at the rare face-to-face event with Ukrainian representatives at the White House to mark a six-day ceasefire that Melania Trump helped broker in the Russian-controlled city of Oleshky. The deal expired on Sunday. “We have chosen humanity over war,” the first lady said at the event. “We must use the courage we brought to Oleshky to find common ground through a shared concern for the suffering of innocent people.”Melania Trump said she was “involved in every stage of the planning” of the temporary ceasefire, including reviewing aerial images and assessing roadways and hospital access. President Trump, who did not attend the event, has lauded his wife’s role in the Oleshky ceasefire, telling reporters in October that “she does better than our professionals.”Ukrainian lawmaker David Arakhamia and Dmytro Lubinets, the country’s human rights ombudsman, also attended the event. They urged Slovenian-born Melania Trump to keep up her peace efforts. Both sides presented the first lady with thank-you gifts. Russia’s Dmitriev gave her a drawing of pink hearts from an Oleshky girl and said the child “chose to live with her family in Russia,” nodding to the fight over displaced Ukrainian children in Russia. “I love Melania,” the drawing read. The Ukrainians presented the first lady with a state award “for your brave heart, for saving our people, and for returning back Ukrainian children.”She handed the visiting delegations letters addressed to Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Democrats take majority in Congress
The visit marked the first in-person contact between Russian and US officials since Tuesday’s midterm elections, when Democrats ousted Republicans from control of Congress in a blow to Trump. The Democratic majority in Congress starting in January is widely expected to push for more aid for Ukraine and to question the Republican president’s decisions to strike a diesel deal with Russia and ease some sanctions on Moscow. Trump has increased his criticism of Zelenskyy in recent weeks. The Kremlin has said it hopes Trump will continue his peacemaking efforts despite the Republican Party’s defeat.It has also said preparations were under way for a meeting of Putin, Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in China’s southern city of Shenzhen this month. Dmitriev previously met with Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, in the White House in 2025. Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, did not invite any Russian officials to the White House. Dmitriev has been involved in facilitating the release of American detainees in Russia, the reunification of Ukrainian children with their families, and the humanitarian operation in Oleshky.

Russian strikes cause outages in seven Ukrainian regions, official says
Reuters/November 06/2026
Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure caused new power outages overnight and on Friday morning in seven Ukrainian regions, Deputy Energy Minister Artem Nekrasov said. The affected regions are Vinnytsia, Dnipropetrovsk, Zhytomyr, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, Kharkiv and Chernihiv. “The situation remains most difficult in the capital region,” Nekrasov said, adding that utility workers were still having to impose network restrictions because of heavy damage.

The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on November 06-07/2026 /(Some of the News reports below are translated from Arabic by AI)
Do Democrats humble themselves upon victory?
Mashari Al-Zaydi / Asharq Al-Awsat / 6 November 2026
There is no doubt that the results of the recent U.S. midterm elections, which produced a major victory for the Democrats, have written a new and exciting chapter in contemporary American political history. But it is essential for us—we Arabs—to understand this chapter, who wrote and shaped it, what its ideas are, and what the next chapter will be!
Does this victory mean the “end” of Trumpism—and I do not mean the person of President Donald Trump?
It would be rash to jump to such a conclusion.
The New York Times, itself an adversary of Trump and Trumpism, quoted Craig Shirley, who served as an assistant in the White House during the administration of former President Ronald Reagan, as saying: “There are many who love Trump, but they do not love this damned war, nor what it has done to inflation and the prices of gasoline and diesel.” Trump himself acknowledged that the war had damaged his party’s electoral chances, yet at the same time he said he had waged this war under compulsion and did not retreat from his position.
What if the Democrats go to extremes in translating this victory of theirs on the political, legislative, and media levels, just as they did in the days of Biden and before him Obama?!
In other words, as the Egyptian colloquial expression puts it, what if they “overdo it”?
The American newspaper The Wall Street Journal asked in its editorial about these elections: “Will the Democrats misread their victory?” It cited as an example the former Democratic minority leader in the House of Representatives, and the expected speaker, Hakeem Jeffries, who called for a “radical reform of the Supreme Court”—something that will not receive Trump’s signature. The newspaper then says: “If Jeffries continues to talk this way, it will be a good reason for voters not to give his party their full trust in 2029.” There is the problem of the liberal extremists and the left in the Democratic Party, the newspaper says: “The socialist left will feel empowered. The newly elected congresswoman from New York, Dariliza Avila Chevalier, has argued that deporting even violent criminals is immoral. And the newly elected senator, Abdurrahman Al-Sayed, wants to censure Democratic Senator from Pennsylvania John Fetterman for believing that Israel has the right to defend itself.”If the Democrats take the advice of this American newspaper, humble themselves upon victory, avoid vengeful behavior and demonizing the other, they will reap greater continuity in dominating official American decision-making. Otherwise, the same force that brought them in on this high wave is the one that toppled them only two years ago in a red Trumpian tsunami in the very same Congress! Once again we ask in our region: How will this American shift be reflected upon us?! Here is the crux of the matter and the heart of the issue—this is what concerns us… and I am the master of the camels, while Congress has its own people and its own affairs.

Trump the victor and the defeated!
Mamdouh Al-Muhaini / Asharq Al-Awsat / 6 November 2026
Every American president has his victories and his defeats. And because America is the superpower, many peoples—not only Americans—enter into the calculations of profit and loss. The paradox is that the repercussions of what an American president does often become clear only years after he leaves the White House. President Nixon resigned in the wake of a scandal, yet his legacy continues. He carried out the famous reconciliation with China and opened the door to its rapprochement with the United States, before it transformed into the giant we know today. Nixon is still attacked and humiliated in the American media and Hollywood because of the Watergate scandal and his secret tapes, often for partisan scores. But whatever is said, he changed history forever.
President Carter succeeded in sponsoring the Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel, but he failed in dealing with the Khomeini revolution and the seizure of the American embassy staff in Tehran. The Soviet Union collapsed after the end of Reagan’s era, yet he is credited with that. President Bush the father curbed Saddam Hussein’s expansion after his occupation of Kuwait and protected the Gulf region from total chaos. President Clinton was exposed to a humiliating sex scandal, yet he contributed, through American intervention within NATO, to ending the Bosnian war. As for Bush the son, he weakened an evil organization like Al-Qaeda and toppled the Baath regime, but he handed it over to the Iranians. Supporters of the “Arab Spring” see President Obama’s sympathy for those uprisings as a credit in his account, while his critics see that spring as having turned into a harsh winter.
In reality, we do not know with certainty the political legacy of President Trump, and it is too early to judge him. A campaign of knives is being waged against him today because of the painful electoral defeat his party suffered, and largely because of the war on Iran. The results of the war may go in more than one direction: they may lead to a more hardline Iranian regime led by the Revolutionary Guard, or the days may prove that Trump was the only president who confronted the bullying Iranian regime and pushed it to the brink of the abyss. The assassination of Qassem Soleimani was the beginning of the weakening of Iranian influence and the “Axis of Resistance” in the region. We do not know what the future holds, but the legacy of American presidents is complex, mixing good and evil, and becomes clear years after they leave office, and sometimes after they depart this life. In the midst of the setback Trump is living through these days, he sees that the positive results of the war will be known later, and that history will judge him by them. We hope he is right!

The compulsion of progress and the available opportunities
Dr. Amal Musa / Asharq Al-Awsat / 6 November 2026
In the middle of the last century, after the Second World War and as Arab countries successively gained their independence, the ruling political elites of that time were distinguished by their enthusiasm for construction and for drawing a roadmap for development. The most important thing that can be observed regarding that historical period is that the development processes were not all subject to the same approaches, nor did they proceed at the same pace. Therefore, developmental experiences in the Arab countries are not one and the same. It seems to us that the countries that succeeded in the beginnings of their developmental projects are those that chose to bet on human capital, and this required a package of basic individual social legislation so that the “cultural and social space” could be prepared by implanting symbolic systems capable of reshaping human capital in a way that enables it to create progress—even if that takes generations. Perhaps the temporality of development itself at that time was patterned on the social, political, and cultural temporality.
Today, however, setting the pace is no longer a private matter for any particular society or state. There is a superior temporality that dominates everyone and is imposed upon them. Therefore, our idea is that progress has become a compulsory matter, like the compulsion of education and the compulsion of not aggressing against the rights of others. It is compulsory—that is, progress—because it has become linked to existence in the world, and it is no longer possible to be content with consumption and spectatorship without being participants in making this progress that never ceases to advance.
The revolution of communication technology today has dictated its conditions in order to guarantee existence, and it is a revolution that is not patient, as was the case with the Industrial Revolution, and after it the intellectual revolution of the 18th century, all the way to the French Revolution. The concept of progress is no longer merely a luxury; rather, more than ever before, it has become a question of existence and continuity for peoples.
And if modern critical theories, especially the theses of the Frankfurt School and postmodernism, have dismantled the ideology of Western progress and warned against technical development turning into a tool of domination, the alienation of the human being, and the destruction of the environment, this warning has become outdated today, because the prohibited has already occurred, and what is needed are approaches of action and participation, not approaches of superficial adaptation through the gateway of passive consumption as is currently the case.
We are here at the heart of a difficult problem: the dilemma of the current Arab understanding of progress, which is still reduced to its material dimension. This fragmentation between the overwhelming rush to consume the products of the digital revolution, while at the same time clinging to a traditional intellectual upbringing that champions institutions at the expense of the individual, produces a formalistic progress that does not address the civilizational gap that the pioneers of contemporary Arab thought predicted and criticized. Abdullah Laroui affirmed the necessity of adopting what he calls “modernist historicism” as a “comprehensive system,” while Muhammad Abed al-Jabri focused on dismantling the structure of the heritage in order to revive the rationality based on inference, and the Tunisian Hisham Djait called for absorbing the essence of the deep intellectual liberation of the European cultural system. As we notice, the Arab intellectual elites were aware of the state of fragmentation in the Arabs’ relationship with progress and with how to understand it—that is, the consumerist character predominates in this relationship, which undermines this understanding.
The “absent” or “semi-absent” dimensions we have not been able to overcome, even if there are modest beginnings. Therefore, we need a bold plan that cuts with the obstacles to progress, represented by the pedagogy of rote learning, the absence of critical reason, the reliance on a rentier economy, and the modest freedom and rights pathways that affect creativity and the employment of the Arab mind’s capacity for distinction—which is one of the reasons driving Arab brains, including the young, to emigrate abroad.
Despite all these gaps, the sweeping global shift in recent years toward the “knowledge economy” and “artificial intelligence” opens before Arab societies an important opportunity for civilizational catch-up and for making a qualitative leap in the field of progress… for the knowledge economy has made data the new source of wealth creation, and algorithmic innovation a tool of dominance. That is, progress is a compulsory defensive mechanism for actual participation in this economy that is based primarily on cognitive superiority.
In truth, what strengthens the idea of the existence of a historical opportunity today to strengthen the connection with the essence of progress and its conditions is that our societies possess a unique demographic strength, embodied in an enormous youth bloc that is the largest compared to countries advanced in age but suffering from population aging… and this strength is not limited to the demographic quantity of youth; rather, the advanced world itself has begun to import the best of our youth, and it is well aware of the intelligence of the emigrating Arab scientific competencies in the fields of engineering, medicine, the exact sciences, and mathematics—the minds that prove their worth daily in the most prestigious research centers, hospitals, and global technology companies.
The bottom line: it is no longer possible to continue adopting a truncated understanding of progress, especially since the “knowledge economy” that our youth are passionate about has become one of the most important resources of progress and competition, and it is an opportunity for us to share knowledge with the world and move away from the role of the spectator-consumer.

How China Weaponizes Jew-Hate
Robert Williams/Gatestone Institute/November 06/2026
Using both its profitable blockbuster social media app TikTok and the nonprofit networks of Shanghai-based American citizen Neville Roy Singham and his wife Jodie Evans (founder of Code Pink), China has been able to foment Jew-hatred and unrest on the streets not only of the United States but also the United Kingdom.
Notably, the Chinese-funded People's Forum is out to end not only Israel but also America. At the 2024 People's Conference for Palestine, the organization's Forum executive director Manolo De Los Santos, who advocates for Cuba, also called for the complete destruction of the United States: "We have to bring down this empire with one million cuts, and those one million cuts have to come from every sector of struggle in this room."
According to the US House Ways and Means Committee: "Evidence suggests that The People's Forum and Code Pink have been funded and influenced by Mr. [Neville Roy] Singham and the communist Chinese government, both of which are foreign principals."
Historian Dara Horn suggests that tyrants and totalitarian regimes, to maintain or gain further power, promote the "Big Lie" of Hitler's Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels that the Jews are "evil." Evil in what way? Just fill in the blank with whatever you like, like a Rorschach test.
It probably helps to select a target that would rather just be left alone under its fig tree, a target disinclined to retaliate – as China already succeeded in doing by oppressing the peaceful Tibetans and enslaving and torturing the Uyghurs.
Now China has lit upon the Jews, who do not even live there, but who, as author and documentary filmmaker Pierre Rehov pointed out, are politically useful.
"These lies are all part of the foundational Big Lie: that antisemitism itself is righteous. If the Jews are collectively evil and have no right to exist, resistance against them is not only moral, it is good!... The only thing that varies is what you value the most. Say you're a religious Christian, then you are lied to that Jews are destroying Christianity, or that they killed Christ. Say you're a human rights activist, then Israel's the world's worst violator of human rights, and it doesn't matter that you're being told this by the Islamic Republic of Iran." — Dara Horn, interview, Times of Israel, September 3, 2026.
Using both its profitable blockbuster social media app TikTok and the nonprofit networks of Shanghai-based American citizen Neville Roy Singham and his wife Jodie Evans (founder of Code Pink), China has been able to foment Jew-hatred and unrest on the streets not only of the United States but also the United Kingdom.
China's role in funding Jew-hate -- and whipping up unrest in the United States through local non-profits abusing their tax-exempt status -- is finally coming to light thanks to a two-year investigation by the US House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means. The probe began in 2024 and has been investigating how countless foreign actors have been able to wield foreign influence through the use of local tax-exempt non-profits.
One of the main powers is China. Using both its profitable blockbuster social media app TikTok (here, here , here and here) and the nonprofit networks of Shanghai-based American citizen Neville Roy Singham and his wife Jodie Evans (founder of Code Pink), China has been able to foment Jew-hatred and unrest on the streets not only of the United States but also the United Kingdom.
Steven Richards wrote of Singham in September 2026:
"He is the primary sponsor of a network of organizations: The People's Forum, BreakThrough News and Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. House and Senate investigators have documented extensive financial and leadership ties between the groups and Singham as well as Singham's close relationship with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Public 990 filings – IRS forms for tax-exempt groups – cited by the committee show The People's Forum alone received over $20 million from Singham and Evans from 2017 to 2022."
Singham, according to the New York Times, "works closely with the Chinese government media machine and is financing its propaganda worldwide." He does so through a web of organizations and in a mix of "progressive advocacy with Chinese government talking points."
The People's Forum was a primary organizer of the large Times Square pro-Hamas rally on October 8, 2023, as well as countless rallies and other "actions" in the weeks, months and years that followed. Those events include the November 4, 2023 National March on Washington, numerous "Shut it Down for Palestine" action days, and pro-Hamas activities on US campuses. More recently, the People's Forum has been involved in anti-ICE activity.
The People's Forum is a leading member ("convenor") of the Shut it Down for Palestine Coalition, which is, in the words of Influence Watch, "an advocacy and activism coalition focused on disrupting or halting the activity of political offices, businesses, and workplaces that fund, invest in, collaborate with, or otherwise support the State of Israel."
The People's Forum is also co-organizing the now bi-annual conference, "People's Conference for Palestine," which has featured numerous Arab terrorists, including Wissam Rafidi, a member of the terrorist group Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Notably, the Chinese-funded People's Forum is out to end not only Israel but also America. At the 2024 People's Conference for Palestine, the organization's Forum executive director Manolo De Los Santos, who advocates for Cuba, also called for the complete destruction of the United States: "We have to bring down this empire with one million cuts, and those one million cuts have to come from every sector of struggle in this room."
According to the US House Ways and Means Committee:
"Evidence suggests that The People's Forum and Code Pink have been funded and influenced by Mr. [Neville Roy] Singham and the communist Chinese government, both of which are foreign principals."
Code Pink has been a central participant in and organizer of a multitude of pro-Hamas and anti-Israel actions, including the National March on Washington for Palestine in November 2023. The March featured the organization's co-founder, Medea Benjamin and its "Palestine organizer" Nour Jaghama as speakers.
Code Pink has been , in addition, a central player in multiple "Shut it Down for Palestine" and "Rise up for Gaza" action days, "commemorations" of the October 7 Hamas atrocities as "one year of genocide/resistance." Code Pink has also taken to disrupting congressional hearings, targeting politicians to pressure them to go against Israel and supporting pro-Hamas activism on campus, such as running a "Gaza Summer School," stirring up unrest and disrupting college campuses (see here and here for examples).
Code Pink has also expanded its operations to the UK, where the organization, according to a recent report in The Telegraph, "encourages activists to join mass pro-Palestinian marches and has organised demonstrations at the Ministry of Defence as well as the London office of an arms company."
Luke de Pulford of Britain's Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China said in response to the findings:
"We have to be honest – the UK is under siege from China and practically defenceless on the battlefield. The CCP is engaged in a whole-of-state effort to manipulate narratives abroad, to sow division and chaos... Communist Party academics call this kind of activity unrestricted warfare: seeking advantage through non-military means, and they're very good at it. We have yet to even recognise this acute threat, let alone defend ourselves appropriately."
The UK Home Office has launched an investigation into the matter.
If it were not so chilling, it might even have been mocked: China, a ruthless Communist regime lording it over 1.4 billion people, taking part in a war on the Jewish people and their tiny state, Israel, the size of New Jersey -- by weaponizing antisemitism to foment division and civil unrest in the West.
As observers of this sad situation, we ought to at least ask why one of the world's most powerful and populous countries is behaving in this manner.
In her recent book, The Final Solution to the Jewish Question -- a follow-up to her non-fiction bestseller Why People Love Dead Jews -- historian Dara Horn suggests that tyrants and totalitarian regimes, to maintain or gain further power, promote the "Big Lie" of Hitler's Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels that the Jews are "evil." Evil in what way? Just fill in the blank with whatever you like, like a Rorschach test.
It probably helps to select a target that would rather just be left alone under its fig tree, a target disinclined to retaliate – as China already succeeded in doing by oppressing the peaceful Tibetans and enslaving and torturing the Uyghurs.
Now China has lit upon the Jews, who do not even live there, but who, as author and documentary filmmaker Pierre Rehov pointed out, are politically useful.
"The through line of antisemitism for thousands of years has been the denial of truth and the promotion of lies," Horn recently remarked in an interview.
"These lies range in scope from conspiracy theories to Holocaust denial to the blood libel to the currently popular claims that Zionism is racism, that Jews are settler colonialists, and that Jewish civilization isn't native to the land of Israel. These lies are all part of the foundational Big Lie: that antisemitism itself is righteous. If the Jews are collectively evil and have no right to exist, resistance against them is not only moral, it is good!
"Today, the Big Lie is... in every era, every social circle. The only thing that varies is what you value the most. Say you're a religious Christian, then you are lied to that Jews are destroying Christianity, or that they killed Christ. Say you're a human rights activist, then Israel's the world's worst violator of human rights, and it doesn't matter that you're being told this by the Islamic Republic of Iran."
So far, for China at least, these capers seem to be working rather well.
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/22901/how-china-weaponizes-jew-hate
**Robert Williams is based in the United States.
© 2026 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

America: The Pendulum Swings
Amir Taheri/Asharq Al-Awsat/November 06/2026
“A blue tsunami”, “A political earthquake” and “End of Trump and Trumpism”! These are some of the clichés bandied around the globe as commentary on midterm elections in the United States.
One notable American conservative commentator even claims that the elections spelled “the end of America”. Laura Loomer advises fellow-Americans to stockpile food and presumably to clean their guns to protect their families. Taking his bosses wishes for realty, Vladimir Putin house-philosopher Alexander Dugin forecasts a civil war in America. Iranian Parliament Speaker Muhammad-Baqer Qalibaf tweets about “a big no to the war against Islamic Republic. The French cheer the results hoping that it would help defeat wannabe Trumpists in France’s own presidential election next April.
More surprisingly, Britain’s new dashing Prime Minister Andy Burnham claims that the election has created “new opportunities” for others, presumably meaning himself and European leaders to do all the good they could do but Trump wouldn’t let them do.
To start with, the election passed smoothly and ended up with both camps accepting the results without the usual quarrels that mar many elections across the globe, including on occasions in the US itself. Next, voter turnout though still low by standards of industrialized democracies, was higher than the average of 12 previous midterm polls.
Turnout by young voters registered an encouraging increase, which mainly favored Democrat candidates but could be seen as American democracy’s appeal to new generations. Youth vote for Democrats rose by 19 percent and for Republicans by 7.8 percent.
Turnout was also up among double-barrel American “communities”, notably Afro, Hispanic Muslim, LGBTQ+ and Amerindians. All of them extended their representation in the Congress.
African-Americans and won governorships slots in two states for the first time. Muslims got their first senator in Michigan, while the newly created Social-Democrats of America (SDA) emerged as a tune-setting wing of the Democrat Party.
All that indicates the buoyancy of American democracy and its rare ability to forge political unity without uniformity. Losing a midterm election by an incumbent president isn’t the exception, but the rule. In the past 80 years only two incumbents, Bill Clinton and George W Bush, managed not only to win in midterm, but also to increase their share in both houses of the Congress.
This time’s results aren’t the worst either.
The worst midterm result came in 1958 under President Dwight D Eisenhower when there was no war, no inflation and no hourly tweets from the White House. The second bad result came after the Watergate scandal and President Richard Nixon’s resignation in 1974.
Much is made of the loss of governor’s post and a senate seat in Texas, which Elon Musk, who bet $480 million on a Republican victory, chose as “the surest state” in the union. But let’s remember that Texas was a Democrat backyard for half a century before it switched to the Republicans. The beauty of American democracy is that it allows the pendulum to swing and prevent a one-party system anywhere. More importantly, Democrats won by recapturing states that they had lost to Trump in 2018 or 2022. The increase in their overall share of the votes came in traditional Democrat states, such as California, New York and the New England ones.
While Trump’s core MAGA base proved resilient in many states, the results show that classical Republican candidates did better than outright Trumpists. In some cases, such as South California, Republicans lost because Trump chose overtly unconvincing candidates.
The lesson is: in American democracy no one gets a blank cheque even from MAGA fanatics, not even Trump. Speculation is rife about Trump becoming “a lame-duck”. True, a president who loses control of the Congress is no longer to implement his policies without facing the juggernaut of opposition. Yet, the president remains commander-in-chief, in charge of foreign and trade policy and possessor of the right to issue Executive Orders that bypass the Congress.
More importantly, he has the right of veto over legislation he opposes. The Democrats would need a two-third majority to override such vetoes, something they don’t have.
Can Democrats stop the war on Iran?
The answer is no.
Budget allocation for defense has already been approved until the end of this year, and next year’s budget is due for approval in December before the Democrat-dominated Congress is sworn in.
A midterm loss or even a change of president doesn’t necessarily mean the end of a war. The war in Indochina continued for 18 years under three presidents from both parties long after Joh F. Kennedy, the president who ignited it, had departed.
In a sense, the US now enters the presidential race for 2028 with Trump still playing a decisive role in deciding who will run for Republicans while Democrats lack any serious contender so far.
Last Tuesday, Democrats put on a good show. They won over 40 new seats in the House of Representatives and seven in the Senate, plus five gubernatorial ones.
But they emerge as a deeply divided party with a traditional right-of-center wing with remnants of the Clinton clique, a liberal left around the Obama-Biden circle and a small but super-active radical socialist-Islamist one partly inspired by Bernie Sanders that will try to push the party towards radicalism, including on foreign policy. Drunk on midterm victory, Democrats may tilt towards radicalism, a choice that could ensure their defeat in the 2028 presidential election. Something like that happened in 1972 when Democrats fielded George McGovern as presidential candidate with a radical “progressive” program.
Even then, some of Trump’s reforms cannot be reeled-back undone if only because they responded to real needs of the American society.
News of the end of Trump and the demise of Trumpism may prove premature.

Compulsory Progress and the Opportunities at Hand
Dr. Amal Moussa/Asharq Al-Awsat/November 06/2026
In the middle of the last century, after the Second World War and as the Arab states won their independence one after another, the ruling political elites of the time were marked by an enthusiasm for building and for drawing up road maps for development. The most important thing to note about that historical period is that development processes did not all follow the same approaches or move at the same pace. The development experiences of the Arab countries are therefore not one and the same. It seems to us that the states that succeeded in the early stages of their development projects were those that chose to wager on human capital. That required a package of basic individual social legislation to prepare the "cultural and social space," by implanting symbolic systems capable of reshaping human capital in a way that would enable it to produce progress, even if over generations.
Perhaps the timescale of development itself was then patterned on social, political, and cultural time. Today, however, setting the pace is no longer the private affair of a given society or state. There is an overarching temporality that dominates everyone and is imposed on them. Our idea, therefore, is that progress has become compulsory, as compulsory as education and as the prohibition on infringing the rights of others. Progress is compulsory because it is now bound up with existence in the world. It is no longer possible to settle for consumption and spectatorship without taking part in producing this progress, which never stops progressing.
The communications technology revolution has today dictated its conditions for guaranteeing existence, and it is not a patient revolution, as the industrial revolution was, and after it the intellectual revolution of the eighteenth century, through to the French Revolution. The concept of progress is no longer a mere luxury; it has become, more than ever, a question of peoples' existence and continuity. If modern critical theories, especially the theses of the Frankfurt School and of postmodernism, dismantled the ideology of Western progress and warned against technical development becoming an instrument of domination, of human alienation, and of environmental destruction, that warning has come too late today, because what was feared has already happened. What is needed are approaches of action and participation, not approaches of superficial adaptation through the gateway of passive consumption, as is the case at present. We are here at the heart of a thorny problem: the present Arab understanding of progress, which is still reduced to its material dimension.
This fragmentation, between a sweeping rush to consume the products of the digital revolution and a simultaneous attachment to a traditional intellectual upbringing that favors institutions at the expense of the individual, produces a formalistic progress that does not address the civilizational gap foreseen and criticized by the pioneers of contemporary Arab thought. Abdallah Laroui insisted on the necessity of adopting what he calls "modernist historicism" as a "comprehensive system." Mohammed Abed al-Jabri focused on dismantling the structure of the heritage in order to revive a rationality founded on demonstration. And the Tunisian Hichem Djaït called for absorbing the essence of the deep intellectual emancipation of the European cultural pattern. As we can see, the Arab intellectual elites were aware of the fragmentation in the Arabs' relationship with progress and in how they understood it: that the prevailing character of this relationship is consumerist, which calls that understanding into question.
We have not managed to overcome the "absent," or "half-absent," dimensions, even if there have been timid beginnings. We therefore need a bold plan that breaks with the obstacles to progress: the pedagogy of rote learning, the suppression of critical reason, reliance on a rentier economy, and the modest trajectories of freedoms and rights that affect creativity and the use of the Arab mind's capacity to excel. These are among the reasons driving Arab minds, including young ones, to emigrate.
Despite all these gaps, the sweeping global shift of recent years toward the "knowledge economy" and "artificial intelligence" opens before Arab societies an important opportunity for civilizational catching-up and for a qualitative leap in progress. The knowledge economy has made data the new source of wealth creation, and algorithmic innovation the instrument of dominance. Progress, in other words, is a compulsory defensive mechanism for genuine participation in this economy, which rests above all on superiority in knowledge.
In truth, what strengthens the idea that there is a historic opportunity today to deepen our connection with the nature and conditions of progress is that our societies possess a unique demographic strength: an enormous mass of young people, larger than in the long-advanced states that suffer from population aging. This strength is not confined to demographic numbers. The advanced world itself now imports the best of our young people, well aware of the intelligence of the emigrant Arab scientific talent in engineering, medicine, the exact sciences, and mathematics, minds that prove their worth every day in the finest research centers, hospitals, and technology companies in the world. The bottom line: it is no longer possible to go on holding a truncated understanding of progress, especially now that the "knowledge economy," which so fascinates our young people, has become one of the most important resources of progress and competition. It is an opportunity for us to share knowledge with the world and to leave behind the role of the consuming spectator.

Trump, the Victor and the Vanquished!
Mamdouh al-Muhainy/Asharq Al-Awsat/November 06/2026
Every American president has his victories and his defeats. Because America is the superpower, many peoples, not Americans alone, are caught up in the reckoning of gains and losses. The irony is that the consequences of what an American president does often become clear only years after he leaves the White House. President Nixon resigned in the wake of a scandal, but his legacy endures. He made the famous reconciliation with China and opened the door to its rapprochement with the United States, before it became the giant we know today. Nixon is still attacked and humiliated in the American media and in Hollywood over the Watergate scandal and his secret tapes, often out of partisan vendettas. But whatever is said, he changed history forever.
President Carter succeeded in brokering the Camp David accords between Egypt and Israel, but he failed in dealing with the Khomeinist revolution and the seizure of the American embassy staff in Tehran. The Soviet Union collapsed after Reagan's term ended, but he is given the credit for it.
President Bush senior curbed Saddam Hussein's predation after his occupation of Kuwait and protected the Gulf from sweeping chaos. President Clinton went through a shameful sex scandal, but through American intervention within NATO he helped end the war in Bosnia.
As for Bush junior, he weakened an evil organization like al-Qaeda and toppled the Baath regime, but handed Iraq to the Iranians.
Supporters of the "Arab Spring" see President Obama's sympathy for those uprisings as a credit to his record, while his critics see that spring as having turned into a bitter winter.
In truth, we do not know exactly what President Trump's political legacy will be, and it is too early to judge it. The knives are out for him today over the painful electoral defeat his party has suffered, and often over the war on Iran. The war's results could go in more than one direction. It could lead to a more hardline Iranian regime run by the Revolutionary Guard. Or the days may prove that Trump was the only president who confronted the bullying Iranian regime and pushed it to the edge of the abyss. The killing of Qasem Soleimani was the beginning of the weakening of Iranian influence and of the "resistance" axis in the region. We do not know what the future holds. But the legacies of American presidents are complex, mixing good and bad, and they become clear years after they leave office, sometimes after they have left this life. Amid the defeat, Trump believes the war's positive results will be known later, and that history will judge him by them. Let us hope he is right.

Exiled Beneath the Earth
Mustafa Fahs/Asharq Al-Awsat/November 06/2026
The call was to ask after the health of one of his relatives. He is an old friend, one of the notables of his area, a social figure of good reputation and great standing. He has also been displaced since the first "war of support," having lost everything he owned like the other inhabitants of the border villages, and he fears a third "war of support" that might extinguish southerners' hopes of returning, not only alive but even dead.
As he described his situation, his social position obliges him to concern himself with the affairs and sorrows of displacement and the hardships that pursue the displaced people of south Lebanon, the latest of which is securing graves for those among them who die. What my friend proposed, or asked for, was an initiative to obtain a plot from the Lebanese state's public lands and turn it into a cemetery for the people of southern towns that have suffered total urban annihilation and lie within what is known as the yellow line, where return looks unlikely in the near or medium term. The matter is no longer one of an alternative cemetery only, but of the need to find a place worthy of the dead of displacement, now that their return to their own soil has become impossible.
In the southern exodus, the living displaced struggle to adapt to their temporary places. The displaced dead have become bodies buried as deposits in temporary cemeteries, awaiting their return to their first earth. Death seems harsher and more estranged, for if a displaced man dies, in what soil will they lay him?
It is as if southerners are replicating the Palestinian exodus in all its chapters, since the continuing Israeli wars of extermination against both: from temporary displacement to permanent refuge, from armed struggle to the "wars of support," from tents to prefabricated houses, from martyrs' burial grounds to strangers' cemeteries, from the search for shelter to the conditions of burial. What the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon face most is the question of burial grounds and obtaining a plot of land, and that is what the displaced southerners are now suffering in every detail.
In the Palestinian-Lebanese succession, or simultaneity, through Israel's prolonged wars of ethnic cleansing, the late, great Mahmoud Darwish saw the grave as a mirror of identity and history. In his poem "I Saw the Last Farewell," he asks a question of great harshness: "But I do not see the grave yet. Is there no grave for me after this weariness?" It is the Palestinian-Lebanese weariness, and it is the question of the people of the south that Darwish asked decades ago: have we become deposits in temporary graves after this weariness? What those who gamble with the living and the dead of the south have not grasped is that the most dangerous thing about displacement is not that a person is uprooted from his home, but that he is cut off from the place that binds his life to the lives of his ancestors and gives his death the meaning of belonging.
The cemetery here is no longer merely a space to hold the body, or a headstone placed over a grave. It is the moment when belonging to a patch of earth is completed, from cradle to grave. In it lies the connection between the family's collective memory and its successive generations, between the lives of the living and the stories of those who came before them. A person does not inherit his land from the living alone, but from the dead who lie in it, and he in turn leaves it in trust to those who will come after him. And so, for us, the living on the edge of war, or the displaced on the edge of death, the grave becomes the last link in the chain of lineage, memory, and belonging to place.

Trump: Victorious and defeated
Mamdouh AlMuhaini/Al Arabiya-English/November 06/2026
Every American president has his victories and defeats. And because the United States is a superpower, many people around the world, not just Americans, are affected by the gains and losses that result from a president’s decisions. The paradox is that the consequences of an American president’s actions often do not become clear until years after he has left the White House. President Richard Nixon resigned in the wake of a scandal, but his legacy lives on. He engineered the historic rapprochement with China, opening the door to closer relations with the United States before China emerged as the global giant we know today. Nixon continues to face attacks and ridicule in the American media and Hollywood over the Watergate scandal and his secret recordings, often driven by partisan grudges. Yet whatever may be said about him, he changed the course of history forever.
President Jimmy Carter successfully brokered the Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel, but failed to deal with the Khomeini-led revolution and the taking of American embassy personnel hostage in Tehran. The Soviet Union collapsed after Ronald Reagan left office, yet he is credited with bringing about its downfall. President George HW Bush curbed Saddam Hussein’s aggression following his invasion of Kuwait, protecting the Gulf region from widespread chaos. President Bill Clinton was embroiled in an embarrassing sex scandal, but helped bring an end to the Bosnian War through US intervention as part of NATO. George W. Bush, meanwhile, weakened a ruthless organization like al-Qaeda and toppled the Baathist regime, only to hand it over to the Iranians. Supporters of the Arab Spring view President Barack Obama’s sympathy for those uprisings as a positive mark on his record, while his critics argue that the Arab Spring turned into a bitter winter.
In reality, we do not yet know what President Donald Trump’s political legacy will be, and it is too early to judge. He is now facing a barrage of attacks following his party’s painful electoral defeat, largely because of the war against Iran. The war’s outcome could go in several directions. It could produce an even more hardline Iranian regime led by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Alternatively, history may show that Trump was the only president who confronted Iran’s bullying regime and pushed it to the brink of collapse. The assassination of Qassem Soleimani marked the beginning of the weakening of Iranian influence and the so-called “Axis of Resistance” in the region. We do not know what the future holds, but the legacies of American presidents are complex, combining both good and bad, and often become clear only years after they leave office, sometimes even after their deaths. Amid the setbacks Trump is experiencing these days, he believes that the positive outcomes of the war will become apparent later and that history will ultimately judge him by them. Let us hope he is right.

Selected Face Book & X tweets on November 06/2026
Florida Department of Law Enforcement
A federal court has affirmed Florida’s designation of CAIR, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Antifa as domestic terrorist organizations. This is the right call for the safety of Floridians. FDLE remains vigilant against threats and committed to keeping Floridians safe.

Anita Anand
Today in Ottawa, Foreign Minister @YoussefRaggi and I launched the Canada–Lebanon Partnership for Security and Resilience. It builds on a longstanding friendship strengthened by generations of Canadians of Lebanese origin. We discussed the evolving situation in southern Lebanon and the need to protect civilians and ensure humanitarian access. Canada remains committed to supporting Lebanon’s sovereignty, strengthening the country’s government and continuing efforts to restore lasting security and stability.

Ashley Marie
Abdul El-Sayed is now saying he won’t work with Democrats & is starting his own party.
He ran as a Democrat, used the primary process, & accepted Democratic support to get elected. Now that he has the office, he’s walking away from the party that put him there.
He needed the Democratic machine to win he no longer needs it to hold power
You can’t make this up

Hussain Abdul-Hussain
Let me simplify: Abdul belongs to a cross-national network of different nationalities and ethnicities. What brings them together is their belief that Islam is a superior religion, and a superior form of government. This is called Islamism. His marriage to an Indian wife is not diversity, but the Islamist connection. The Islamist allegiance to states they are citizens of is usually ceremonial. His non Muslim voters are globalists who don’t understand the menace of cross-national identity.

Nada Hamadeh
This week, I had the privilege of joining Lebanon’s Minister of Justice, H.E. Adel Nassar, for high-level meetings with the U.S. Departments of State, Treasury, and Justice to strengthen judicial cooperation and deepen the U.S.–Lebanon partnership. Strong partnerships build greater trust, enhance security, and reinforce our shared commitment to justice and the rule of law.

Aliakbar Velayati
Now that everyone is talking about the new order of #West_Asia, it should be noted that:
#Iran is a bridge between #PersianGulf, Central Asia, #Caucasus, and the Sea of Oman. Any energy or transit corridor that tries to bypass us will either become too expensive or unstable.

Hussain Abdul-Hussain
In general, Muslims and Arabs know what’s wrong about all other populations, except for what’s wrong with them, because they can never be wrong.

Jonny Bell
https://x.com/Jonnywsbell/status/2118464861101605062/video/1
El-Sayed at the mosque ordering men to vote and ensure their wives and children over 18 do too.
This is the UK Muslim playbook of the last 40 years.
Muslim bloc voting gets them into government and local councils, this is how they gain power.

Sonia Escoda
Totalmente increíble lo que ha pasado en América🇺🇸!.. no se en qué están pensando algunos americanos!.. esperan que algo bueno saldrá al poner estos personajes maquiavélicos en el poder, con agendas clarísimas de destrucción de la nación desde adentro??..

Frank McCormick
I was thinking about the election of Abdul El-Sayed, the Michigan Democrat who just became the first Muslim elected to the United States Senate. What struck me was how his Islamic faith was not only a nonissue for Democrats but was widely celebrated as a positive. This, despite a party that prides itself on being the champion of women's rights and female liberation.
El-Sayed is a practicing Muslim who has spoken openly about the importance of his faith. And that brings me to something particularly interesting about the treatment of his religion.
For those unfamiliar with Islam, the hadiths are recorded accounts of the words, actions, and teachings attributed to Muhammad, the founder and prophet of Islam. Alongside the Quran, they serve as an important source of Islamic religious doctrine, law, and moral instruction. Among the most authoritative collections in Sunni Islam is Sahih al-Bukhari, whose narrations have profoundly influenced Islamic religious teaching for centuries.
One such narration, Sahih al-Bukhari 304, describes Muhammad addressing a group of women during Eid, one of Islam's principal religious holidays. He tells them that women constitute the majority of the inhabitants of Hell and characterizes them as deficient in intelligence and religion. When the women ask him to explain, he points to the testimony of two women being equivalent to that of one man and to women's inability to pray or fast during menstruation.
This is not some obscure writing from a fringe Islamic extremist. It is a narration found in one of Sunni Islam's most revered religious collections, part of a body of literature that has shaped Islamic religious practice and jurisprudence for centuries.
Yet the same Democrats who routinely scrutinize the religious beliefs of Christian politicians for the slightest suggestion of misogyny seem remarkably uninterested in examining the religious traditions of their newly elected Muslim senator. The questions that would ordinarily be raised about a conservative Christian's understanding of women, religious authority, or the separation of church and state seem to disappear when the religious identity in question satisfies the party's diversity preferences.
Compare this to Mitt Romney's presidential campaign in 2012 and the scrutiny his Mormon faith received. Romney's religion became a legitimate subject of public examination, while Democrats were eager to identify any hint of misogyny, real or imagined, that might be reflected in his beliefs or behavior.
He even found himself defending his treatment of women during a nationally televised presidential debate. When asked about pay equity, Romney explained how his administration in Massachusetts had worked with women's organizations to identify qualified female candidates for senior government positions. Referring to the collections of resumes they provided, he used the phrase "binders full of women."
Democrats promptly turned the remark into a national spectacle, mocking him for an awkward expression made while describing an effort to recruit more women into positions of power.
The contrast between the treatment of Romney and El-Sayed is remarkable, and the hypocrisy is astounding. But I think it reveals something more fundamental about the modern Democratic worldview: its hostility toward Christianity, whiteness, and maleness.
The only reason white Christian men within the Democratic Party escape condemnation for these supposed "original sins" is that they voluntarily subordinate themselves to the party's conception of "diversity." It does for them what Lourdes does for the disabled. It cleanses them, washes away the stain of their identity, and grants them absolution.
Democrats have constructed a bizarre, almost idolatrous hierarchy of identities in which a person's position within the hierarchy determines the degree of moral scrutiny he receives. Race, religion, and sex have become the principal considerations in deciding whose beliefs deserve suspicion and whose deserve deference.
Within this worldview, a man like El-Sayed can practice a religion whose authoritative traditions contain teachings that progressives would otherwise condemn as misogynistic and intolerant, yet his Islamic identity itself becomes an object of celebration. The same religious traditionalism that would be treated as evidence of backwardness in a white Christian Republican can become an expression of cultural diversity when associated with a nonwhite Muslim Democrat.
Apparently, the acceptability of religious conservatism has less to do with the actual religious teachings than with the identity of the person professing them.
I think this helps explain why so many Americans have come to loathe and fear the Democratic Party, or at least what it has become today. If it were genuinely a party of tolerance and progress, we could disagree bitterly with its policies without feeling so fundamentally threatened by its ideology. But it isn't, and it hasn't been for a long time.
This is no longer the party of FDR or JFK. It is a party increasingly defined by an ideology that treats the immutable characteristics and religious faith of white, male, Christian Americans as moral liabilities while elevating other ethnicities and religions, even when those groups hold views for which white Christians would be politically crucified.
What makes this particularly destructive is that it has introduced an entirely different conception of equality into American political life. Rather than applying a common moral standard to everyone, the progressive worldview increasingly demands that people be judged according to their position within an elaborate hierarchy of historical grievances, inherited guilt, and perceived oppression.
Under such a system, the same behavior can be condemned or excused depending on who engages in it. Religious convictions that are intolerable in one person become expressions of cultural authenticity in another. Pride in one's ancestry is celebrated among some groups and regarded with suspicion among others. Even the language of prejudice and discrimination is applied selectively, as though the moral character of an action depends on the racial or religious identity of the person committing it.
The consequences of this worldview have been disastrous for our country, and I think they help explain much of the growing hostility between Americans of different backgrounds.
For generations, the aspiration of American liberalism, and indeed the broader civil rights movement, was to move our country toward a society in which our common citizenship transcended our racial, ethnic, and religious differences. The modern progressive movement has increasingly inverted that ideal, placing those very differences at the center of political and social life.
The result has been to intensify racial consciousness, breed resentment among white Americans, and contribute to the resurgence of the very white identity politics that progressives claim to despise.
I find this development troubling.
I have long believed that the success of the American experiment depends on our ability to build a common national identity among people of vastly different backgrounds. That requires a willingness to persuade, compromise, and form coalitions with people who do not necessarily look, worship, or think like us.
But when an entire political movement insists that race, ethnicity, religion, and sex are the defining characteristics of political life, it inevitably encourages everyone else to begin thinking in those same terms.
White Americans who are repeatedly told that their ancestry carries an inherited moral burden, that their religious beliefs are uniquely suspect, and that their sex is an instrument of oppression will eventually begin to understand politics through the very racial and identity-based framework being imposed upon them.
And some will conclude that if every other group is entitled to organize politically around its collective identity and interests, they ought to do the same.
This is where I think the modern Democratic Party has been extraordinarily shortsighted. It has spent years promoting a political worldview that emphasizes racial differences, assigns moral significance to ancestry, and encourages people to understand themselves primarily as members of competing identity groups. Yet it responds with astonishment and moral outrage when white Americans begin embracing the same logic.
I don't welcome the rise of white identity politics. I regard it as a deeply troubling development for a country whose success depends on transcending precisely these divisions. But I also recognize that it is, at least in part, a reaction to a political culture that has spent years making whiteness a source of collective guilt while celebrating nearly every other form of racial and ethnic consciousness.
The great irony of the modern progressive movement is that, in its obsession with correcting historical prejudice, it has helped revive the very tribal instincts that previous generations of Americans worked so hard to overcome.
And I fear that the longer this continues, the more Americans will abandon the ideal of a common national identity in favor of competing racial, religious, and ethnic loyalties.
That is an extraordinarily dangerous direction for a diverse, pluralistic republic. Once Americans begin to understand political life primarily as a struggle between racial and religious groups, persuasion and coalition-building become increasingly irrelevant. Politics ceases to be about winning people over through ideas and becomes a contest over which demographic groups can accumulate enough power to prevail over the others.
This is ultimately what troubles me most about the Democratic Party's embrace of identity politics. Its consequences extend well beyond the electoral fortunes of either party. It threatens the civic foundation upon which a multiethnic republic like ours depends.
Americans of different races, religions, and backgrounds will always disagree about politics, morality, and the proper role of government. The American experiment was never predicated on eliminating those differences. Its genius was in the belief that we could nevertheless belong to one nation, governed by common principles and equal standards of citizenship.
The more we abandon that ideal in favor of competing racial and religious hierarchies, the harder it becomes to sustain the bonds of mutual respect and national solidarity that make our republic possible.
And I fear we are already beginning to see what happens when those bonds break down.

Luis Román
Currently, the United States has 11 Muslim mayors, 98 Muslim council members, 32 Muslims in state houses of representatives, 14 Muslims in state senates, and 7 Muslims in the United States House of Representatives. This is not a prediction for the future; it is the reality in 2026. They are achieving exactly what they always said they would do: take over our country without firing a single shot! We have watched in horror what Islam has brought about in all the countries of the Middle East, Africa, and Europe; and yet, here we are, going along with the flow like sheep. So, to all the liberal Democrats who voted for this: shut your mouths! Don't complain when they start implementing Islamic law (sharia) in your cities with forced marriages of underage girls, the obligation to cover your hair and body, the possibility of your husbands having four wives, the ban on driving or attending school, the inability to report sexual assaults, harassment, or abuse by your boyfriends or husbands, the demand to throw away or burn your Bibles to start reading the Quran, and the prohibition on posting selfies that show cleavage or videos of dancing.
Don't complain, pray silently to your new god, Allah.

Monica Verma
https://x.com/DanTheZionist/status/2116146339566489821/video/1
Woman scholar who fled from Egypt after death threats from Islamists is exposing Abdul El-Sayed. He is a through and through Islamist and a Muslim Brotherhood member.
Shame on Left Liberals in India who are hailing him as a hero…