Morning Briefing: Tuesday 3 November 2026
- Foreign care workers already in the UK who earn at least £25,000 a year will now wait five years for permanent settlement, rather than the 15 originally proposed.
- The draft UK–EU food deal would scrap £200 export health certificates and £25 phytosanitary certificates, and allow exports of fresh sausages, burgers and seed potatoes to resume.
- Binance customers should see withdrawals restored for more crypto assets in phases, the exchange said, after last week’s record $6.3bn hack.
US carries out ‘defensive’ strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island
American forces struck Iranian targets on Qeshm Island, at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz, late on Monday; US officials called the action limited and defensive, a response to the Revolutionary Guard firing on a US aircraft. Iranian stat…
Americans vote in midterms seen as referendum on Trump
Control of both chambers of Congress, each held by the Republicans, is at stake in today’s midterm elections. Mr Trump’s approval rating stands at 34% in CNN’s poll average, and voters say the cost of living is their foremost concern. On t…
Russian bombs kill 29 at Ukrainian aid centre
At least 29 people were killed and 48 remain missing after at least nine 3,000kg aerial bombs struck a school used as an aid centre in Komyshuvakha, Zaporizhzhia, regional officials said on Tuesday. President Zelensky called the attack “ut…
Anglo-French force to rehearse Ukraine deployment in Poland
Britain and France will lead Exercise Koalicja in Poland this month, rehearsing how a European force could deploy rapidly to Ukraine after a peace deal. Some 2,800 personnel will take part, including 1,500 French troops and 300 from Britai…
North Korea denies record $6.3bn Binance hack
Kim Yo Jong, sister of Kim Jong Un, rejected FBI claims that Pyongyang orchestrated the $6.3bn theft from Binance, the largest crypto hack on record, calling them a “grave political provocation”. The FBI and blockchain analysts Elliptic an…
Mahmood declines to cost settlement climbdown on care workers
The home secretary has refused to say how much scrapping longer settlement waits for foreign care workers already in the UK will cost; the Home Office had suggested the original plan could save £10bn. Shabana Mahmood insisted the state wou…
UK and EU agree draft deal scrapping Brexit food checks
Britain and the EU have agreed a 200-page draft sanitary and phytosanitary agreement removing post-Brexit checks on food and agricultural trade, ahead of a UK–EU summit this month. EU member states will consider the text in Brussels on Wed…
Burnham offers Commonwealth ‘debt reset’ as slavery apology talks begin
Andy Burnham will join the King at the opening of the Commonwealth summit in Antigua and begin talks on a formal UK apology for the slave trade within the next year. Downing Street said he would set out a “debt reset” for members burdened…
Labour ends Green coalitions in 11 councils over Zionism motion
Labour has withdrawn from power-sharing arrangements with the Greens in 11 councils, including Sheffield, Warwick and Lewes, after the Green Party adopted a policy defining Zionism as racism. Party chair Bridget Phillipson said the policy…
Carla Lockhart quits DUP over Drumcree parade dispute
The Upper Bann MP has left the Democratic Unionist Party with immediate effect, citing a “point of principle”, and will sit in the Commons as an independent unionist. She had urged the DUP to withdraw the deputy first minister to force Mic…