U.S. blacklists eight crypto firms moving Iranian money.
Today's events
Iran crypto sanctions.
Treasury blacklisted eight digital-asset firms that exchange Iranian rials for crypto to move money for the regime and the Revolutionary Guard, coordinating the action with Canada's financial-intelligence unit.1Nov 6 · StateCongo minerals pact.
U.S. and Congolese officials met in Paris, confirmed the signed Lobito Corridor concession agreement, took up the Grand Inga hydropower project, and weighed critical-minerals processing for American firms.2Nov 6 · StateRare-earth pressure.
The U.S. trade representative and Treasury secretary told Vice Premier He Lifeng by video that Beijing must deliver on past commitments covering agricultural purchases, rare earths and other critical minerals.3Nov 6 · USTRForeign importers.
Customs and Border Protection issued an interim final rule imposing new entry requirements on foreign importers of record and corresponding duties on licensed customs brokers, effective January 5.4Nov 6 · Fed. Reg.Stockpile buying.
The Defense Logistics Agency committed $2 billion in fiscal 2026 to strategic and critical materials — high-purity aluminum through vanadium pentoxide — sourced mostly from domestic suppliers.5Nov 6 · DODCaucasus corridor.
Washington, Yerevan and Baku launched the first two trilateral planning groups — transport and electricity transmission — for the transit route agreed at the August 2025 peace summit.6Nov 6 · StateOctober payrolls.
The White House put October job growth at 165,000, including 19,000 in manufacturing, with September revised up to 60,000, the September trade deficit down 12 percent and third-quarter growth at 3.4 percent.7Nov 6 · WHNew chief of staff.
Trump named Stephen Miller the 33rd White House chief of staff, succeeding Susie Wiles; Miller has been a senior adviser since the administration's first days.8Nov 7 · WHExploited login flaw.
CISA added an actively exploited SonicWall remote-access weakness — CVE-2026-19868, single-factor authentication on SonicOS virtual private networks — to its catalog, triggering federal patch deadlines.9Nov 6 · CISA
This week
Russia and Ukraine at the White House.
The White House convened Russian and Ukrainian officials on November 5, after the First Lady brokered a ceasefire in Oleshky and the surrounding Kherson region that let nearly 800 civilians evacuate; Kyiv gave her its Order of Princess Olga. The ceasefire first ran in the November 4 brief as an announcement. It covers one town and the land around it, in a war in its fifth year.1Nov 5 · WHThe Iran war's oil bill, counted.
The Energy Information Administration reported on November 3 that global refinery runs fell 4.8 million barrels a day, or 6 percent, in the second quarter after the Strait of Hormuz closed, pushing September diesel to the highest nominal prices on record. China lost 2.1 million barrels a day of that; U.S. runs rose. New York Fed researchers put the American contribution at half the global supply gap, though stockpiles stopped falling in July.23Nov 3–5 · EIA / NY FedRobot imports declared a security threat.
A November 2 presidential proclamation found that imports of robotics, industrial machinery and their parts threaten national security under the 1962 trade law, after Commerce determined the United States relies on imports for most of the sector. The proclamation rests the finding on the defense industrial base's need to surge production in wartime. Customs and Border Protection separately tightened entry requirements on foreign importers of record, effective January 5.45Nov 2–6 · Fed. Reg.South Africa and Rwanda lose duty-free access.
Trump notified Congress and both governments on November 2 that he will remove them from the African Growth and Opportunity Act on January 1, 2027, after the annual eligibility review. The act is the main U.S. trade-preference program for sub-Saharan Africa. Rwanda's removal lands in the same week Washington confirmed the minerals and transport concession with neighboring Congo.9Nov 2 · USTRThree space actions in one week.
A November 3 proclamation declared the solar system open to exploration, development and a permanent presence by American citizens, restating a return to the Moon by 2028. NASA then set Artemis III for 2027: four astronauts, 14 days in Earth orbit, docking with SpaceX and Blue Origin lander test articles. A Pentagon-funded Caltech payload became the first to assemble a structure in orbit automatically, joining composite trusses and deploying a reflective mesh.101112Nov 3–4 · WH / NASA / DARPAA thousand federal election monitors.
The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division deployed about 1,000 monitors and observers for the November 3 midterm elections, covering all fifty states for the first time and the largest such effort in its history. The day before, it charged 63 people with illegal voting, fraudulent registration and false citizenship claims, part of 195 foreign nationals charged across 25 states in nine weeks. Both ran in the November 3 and 4 briefs.1314Nov 2–3 · DOJ
Allied Governments
British military satellite.
The Ministry of Defence confirmed Titania, a 100-kilogram observation satellite built in Hampshire, is in orbit, and stood up Project Inaros, a three-site sensor network watching for threats to UK satellites.aNov 7 · UK MoDFuel for defence.
NATO's secretary general brought the International Energy Agency's executive director into the North Atlantic Council and called for closer work between allied defence and energy stakeholders, including the private sector.bNov 5 · NATOHong Kong sentence.
Ten foreign ministries, Britain's among them, demanded an end to National Security Law prosecutions after Joshua Wong was sentenced to 10 years and Hong Kong Alliance leaders were convicted.cNov 6 · UK FCDO
Voices
“Anyone, anywhere in the world, who helps Tehran evade sanctions risks being held accountable.”
Spokesman Thomas Pigott, State Dept. · Nov 61
“Both governments look forward to turning the Strategic Partnership Agreement's commitments into lasting investment that creates jobs, strengthens supply chains, and brings shared prosperity to the American and Congolese peoples.”
U.S.–Congo Joint Steering Committee statement · Nov 62
“These efforts are helping domestic companies plan production, retain skilled workers and expand capacity where economically viable.”
Eric Mata, Director, DLA Strategic Materials · Nov 65
“I look forward to continuing to work with Stephen Miller, one of the President's most trusted and longtime advisors, to advance the President's agenda.”
Sec. of State Marco Rubio · Nov 78
“This type of vulnerability is a frequent attack vector for malicious cyber actors and poses significant risks to the federal enterprise.”
CISA alert, Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog · Nov 69
“The sides reaffirmed their respective commitments to expeditious operationalization of all modalities of TRIPP.”
U.S.–Armenia–Azerbaijan joint statement · Nov 66
Sources
- U.S. Dept. of State, “U.S. Sanctions Cripple Financial Networks Sustaining the Iranian Regime,” November 6, 2026. state.gov/releases/…/iranian-regime-financial-networks
- U.S. Dept. of State, “Joint Statement on the Second Meeting of the Joint Steering Committee of the U.S.-DRC Strategic Partnership Agreement,” November 6, 2026. state.gov/releases/…/us-drc-strategic-partnership
- USTR, “Readout of Ambassador Greer's Call with China's Vice Premier He Lifeng,” November 6, 2026. ustr.gov/press-releases/…/greer-he-lifeng-call
- Federal Register, “Heightened Requirements for Foreign Importers of Record” (U.S. Customs and Border Protection, interim final rule), November 6, 2026. federalregister.gov/…/foreign-importers-of-record
- U.S. Dept. of War, “Defense Logistics Agency Adds $2 Billion in Critical Material Support to National Defense Stockpile,” November 6, 2026. war.gov/News/…/dla-critical-material-stockpile
- U.S. Dept. of State, “Joint Statement on the Launch of Trilateral Technical Planning Groups to Advance the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity,” November 6, 2026. state.gov/releases/…/trilateral-technical-planning-groups
- White House, “President Trump Was Right: Tariffs and Tax Cuts Are Reshoring Manufacturing, Creating Jobs,” November 6, 2026. whitehouse.gov/releases/…/october-jobs-reshoring
- White House, “President Trump Names Stephen Miller as 33rd White House Chief of Staff,” November 2026. whitehouse.gov/releases/…/stephen-miller-chief-of-staff
- CISA, “CISA Adds One Known Exploited Vulnerability to Catalog” (CVE-2026-19868, SonicWall SonicOS SSLVPN), November 6, 2026. cisa.gov/news-events/…/kev-cve-2026-19868
- UK Ministry of Defence, “UK military satellite Titania launches into orbit following £3bn space investment into defence of space,” November 7, 2026. gov.uk/government/news/…/titania-launches-into-orbit
- NATO, “Secretary General welcomes IEA Director to NATO HQ for discussions on energy security,” November 5, 2026. nato.int/news/…/iea-director-energy-security
- UK Foreign Office (FCDO), “Statement on the sentencing of Joshua Wong,” November 6, 2026. gov.uk/government/news/…/sentencing-of-joshua-wong