Chief-Exec.com

Donald Trump claims US election victory after winning critical battlegrounds
Donald Trump has won Pennsylvania, the 2024 presidential election’s crucial battleground state, putting him on the brink of a commanding victory over Kamala Harris to reclaim the White House. The AP called the race in Pennsylvania at 2.24am, giving Trump his third battleground state after earlier victories in Georgia and North Carolina. Addressing supporters at his Mar-a-Lago club soon after, Trump predicted a “golden age” for the US. “America has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate,” the Republican told the crowd in Florida. JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, told the crowd that the country had “just witnessed the greatest political comeback in the history of the United States of America”. Financial Times, November 6

Republicans take Senate majority for first time in four years
Republicans seized control of the US Senate late on Tuesday after flipping Democratic held seats, holding onto GOP incumbents and wresting away the majority for the first time in four years. The unexpected battleground of Nebraska pushed Republicans over the top. Incumbent GOP Senator Deb Fischer brushed back a surprisingly strong challenge from independent newcomer Dan Osborn. Democrats watched their efforts to salvage their slim majority slip out of reach as tallies rolled in across a map that favoured Republicans. Early in the night, Republicans flipped one seat in West Virginia, with the election of Jim Justice, who easily replaced retiring Senator Joe Manchin. France 24, November 6

Binyamin Netanyahu fires Yoav Gallant as ‘trust breaks down’
Protesters took to the streets in Israel after Binyamin Netanyahu sacked Yoav Gallant as his defence minister, saying that trust had broken down after months of public disagreements. Although the Israeli prime minister said that he and Gallant had a “productive” ­relationship in the early months of the war against Hamas in Gaza, differences in strategy had developed between them. “At a time of war, full trust between the prime minister and the defence minister is critical,” Netanyahu said. “Unfortunately, this trust has eroded and attempts to bridge the gaps have failed. “I made many attempts to bridge these gaps, but they kept getting wider. They also came to the knowledge of the public in an unacceptable way and - worse than that - they came to the knowledge of the enemy. Our enemies enjoyed it and derived a lot of benefit.” The Times, November 6

Netanyahu offers Hamas $1m for each hostage and amnesty for Oct 7 kidnappers
Benjamin Netanyahu has offered a new deal to Hamas that would see Israel pay $1m for each of the remaining October 7 hostages and allow their captors to leave. The Israeli prime minister’s plan would involve his country’s military guaranteeing safe passage out of Gaza for the Palestinians holding Israeli hostages. An Israeli official said the hostage-takers and their families would be allowed to leave Gaza and avoid capture or punishment under the agreement, with the Israeli government paying millions for the hostages. The initiative was put in motion following Sunday’s security cabinet meeting, at which the hostage situation was discussed. Hamas has not yet responded to the initiative, first revealed by the Israeli broadcaster Channel 12. Daily Telegraph, November 5

Ukraine says it fought N Korean troops for first time
North Korean soldiers have clashed with Ukrainian troops for the first time, Ukraine's top officials have revealed. In an interview with South Korean broadcaster KBS, Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said a "small group" of North Korean soldiers were attacked. Ukraine leader Volodymyr Zelensky, who had earlier condemned the west's lack of response to the North Korean troops, said these "first battles with North Korea open a new chapter of instability in the world". Seoul, however, said it "does not believe [troops on both sides] engaged in direct combat", but that there was an "incident" involving a small number of North Korean soldiers "near the frontline". Ukraine says an estimated 11,000 North Korean soldiers were in the Kursk border region, where Ukrainian troops have a foothold. In recent weeks, South Korean and US intelligence as well as Nato have said that they have seen evidence of North Korean troops being involved in Russia's war. But Moscow and Pyongyang have so far not responded directly to any of the allegations. BBC news, November 6

UK: Treasury may have broken law by failing to reveal £9.5bn spend in Tory budget, MPs told
Treasury officials may have broken the law when they failed to alert the Office for Budget Responsibility about £9.5bn of spending that should have appeared in the March Tory budget, MPs have been told. Laws governing how the Treasury gives information to the OBR could have been breached when civil servants kept spending commitments under wraps, the government’s independent economic forecaster said. The head of the OBR, Richard Hughes, told the Commons Treasury committee that he had not complained at the time of the March budget “because what you don’t know, you don’t know”. But he said the disclosure would have “materially changed” its forecast predicting the impact on the economy of Jeremy Hunt’s pre-election budget. The Treasury committee chair, Meg Hillier, said it would need to investigate the legal situation to establish whether any laws had been broken. The Guardian, November 5

A leaked documents case roiled Israel
The Israeli authorities are investigating a civilian who has been working over the past year in the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and is suspected of illegally obtaining and leaking classified documents to the news media. The documents helped support the prime minister’s reasoning for adding tough new conditions for a cease-fire deal with Hamas over the summer, amid intense public pressure for a deal to release Israeli hostages and end the fighting in Gaza. On Sunday, an Israeli court partially lifted a gag order to identify Eliezer Feldstein, who was hired last year to work as a spokesman in Netanyahu’s office, as a suspect in the case. Three other suspects in the case are members of the military and the security establishment, according to the court, and have not been publicly named. New York Times, November 5

Mystery fires were Russian 'test runs' to target cargo flights to US
A series of parcel fires targeting courier companies in Poland, Germany and the UK were dry runs aimed at sabotaging flights to the US and Canada, Polish prosecutors say. Katarzyna Calow-Jaszewska revealed late last month that four people had been arrested and authorities across Europe were investigating the incidents. On three days in July, a fire broke out in a container due to be loaded on to a DHL cargo plane in the German city of Leipzig. A fire broke out at a transport company near Warsaw, and there was a similar fire at Minworth near Birmingham, UK, involving a package described as an incendiary device. UK officials have given few details about the Minworth fire. However, Ken McCallum, head of the UK's domestic intelligence agency MI5, said last month that Russian secret agents had carried out "arson, sabotage and more dangerous actions conducted with increasing recklessness" after the UK had helped Ukraine in Russia's war. BBC news, November 5

UK's Starmer to double border security funding to curb Channel migrant crossings
Prime Minister Keir Starmer says he will double funding for Britain’s border security agency and treat people-smuggling gangs like terror networks in an attempt to stop migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats. In a speech on Monday to a meeting of the international police organisation Interpol, Starmer will say the gangs behind irregular migration are a serious threat to global security. Arguing that “the world needs to wake up to the severity of this challenge,” Starmer will say that “we’re taking our approach to counterterrorism, which we know works, and applying it to the gangs,” according to extracts released by his office. He’ll call for more cooperation between law-enforcement agencies, closer coordination with other countries and unspecified “enhanced” powers for law-enforcement. France 24, November 4

UK tuition fees will rise to boost funds for struggling universities
Tuition fees will rise in line with inflation for the first time in eight years to secure the finances of universities and protect them from the threat of closure. Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, announced that universities would be allowed to raise tuition fees in line with retail price inflation from £9,250 to £9,535 in September. At present the plans cover a one-year increase but it is expected to rise in future years as well. The Institute for Fiscal Studies said that fees could reach £10,680 by 2029-30. The move will be accompanied by an increase in maintenance loans to cover living costs. The loans, which are means-tested, will increase from £10,277 to £10,544 for students in England who go to university outside London. The Times, November 5