Welcome to our live coverage of world events.
The US’ midterm elections – which determine the makeup of Congress – are on Tuesday, US time.
If the Democrats take control of one, or both, of the house of Congress, they could stymie Donald Trump’s final two years in office and launch investigations into him and his staff.
At a midterm election rally in Iowa on Sunday, US time, Mr Trump waxed lyrical about a Republican candidate’s weight loss, recognising himself that the comments were “inappropriate”.
Mr Trump said Ashley Hinson was in “perfect shape” after getting a “little bit heavier”.
Meanwhile a Democratic congresswoman handed the Republicans an eleventh-hour gift endorsing a Republican candidate.
Michigan’s Haley Stevens, who lost the Democratic Senate candidate primary to progressive Abdul El-Sayed, threw her support behind Republican Mike Rogers just two days before Tuesday’s midterms.
It came after controversial podcaster Tucker Carlson sent mouths wagging across the globe, claiming the Trump administration was preparing for the unthinkable.
Carlson now believes the commander-in-chief could be days from launching a nuclear strike.
“Under pressure from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Trump administration may be within days of launching a nuclear strike on Iran,” he said on a podcast.
The warning follows Democratic Senator Chris Murphy’s declaration that, after receiving a detailed military briefing, that the plan is “insane”.
'It's inappropriate': Trump's comments on candidate's weight
US President Donald Trump commented on a Republican senate candidate’s weight loss during a rally in Iowa, admitting himself that he was being inappropriate.
Speaking about Ashley Hinson during Sunday’s rally he said: “You know what I respect about her, I shouldn’t say this. It’s inappropriate”.
“Now, Ashley said, ‘Please, sir, don’t do this.’
“I knew Ashley for a long time, and she was a little bit heavier, okay? She knew the weight that was on her. Really, literally, the weight.
“Ashley knew the importance of what this was and how important it was and boy she put herself. She went on a regimen. She put herself in shape,” he added.
“She’s in perfect shape. She was good. I thought- she was great the other way. But she put herself in shape and she did that for you. She knows the importance and I think it’s great.”
Trump looking to pardon admin officials
US President Donald Trump has said he would be prepared to issue preemptive pardons to everyone who has worked in his administration if threats by the Democrats to prosecute them were realised.
When asked what he would do if suggestions by Senator Elissa Slotkin to pursue Trump administration officials were to come to fruition, Mr Trump told Australian journalist Miranda Divine: “We’ll just have to protect those people.”
Speaking on Divine’s New York Post podcast, Pod Force One, Mr Trump said he would consider sweeping preemptive pardons like “Biden did”, saying, “I would if I needed to, sure.”
“I would not even think about I’d do it. I did it for J6,” he reiterated, referring to the people pardoned after the January 6 Capitol riots.
Why there won't be nukes
Much has been said about the nuclear option in recent months.
It is extremely unlikely that we will ever see them used.
US President Donald Trump has publicly rejected using nuclear weapons against Iran, while diplomatic efforts to prevent another round of fighting remain alive despite the rhetoric being thrown around this week.
Those facts offer some breathing room amid warnings that the conflict could be approaching its most dangerous turn.
“No, I wouldn’t use nuclear. We don’t have to,” Mr Trump told Newsmax interviewer Rob Finnerty on October 15, according to the interview transcript.
Those comments are more than two weeks old and cannot guarantee his next decision. But they are an explicit public rejection of the course described in the statement attributed to Tucker Carlson.
It would be the ultimate hypocrisy for an administration apparently trying to disarm a nuclear power to do so with its own.
Diplomacy has also continued alongside the threats, despite claims of an eternal stalemate.
Iranian and Qatari officials held a third consecutive day of talks on Sunday aimed at securing an agreement to end the war, and US Vice President JD Vance has written to Iran’s national security chief about restarting negotiations.
Regional governments are pressing for that route to succeed. As is the entire world.
“We’re hoping that there is a diplomatic breakthrough,” Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, said at a conference in Bahrain on Sunday, according to AFP.
He nevertheless cautioned that the Emirates remained “braced for the worst”.
Security analyst Andreas Krieg told Al Jazeera Mr Vance’s outreach “suggests that the Americans do have second thoughts”, but warned war risks rise after the election.
There is also another important caveat to consider. The economic fallout alone would be devastating, and leaders have traditionally acted in their own nation’s future financial interest first.
History has shown the uncertainties that follow are too mighty for even the world’s most powerful and tyrannical leaders.
Trump 'under pressure' to use nuke: Carlson
Controversial former Fox News host Tucker Carlson is no stranger to extraordinary statements. The now-independent podcaster has spent years as a thorn in many sides, oftentimes against both extremes of American politics.
He’s been labelled everything from a CIA asset to a neo-Nazi, but today’s lengthy monologue has struck a serious bipartisan chord across the world.
After spending months rallying against the Trump administration’s nightmarish campaign against Iran, Carlson now believes the commander-in-chief could be days from launching a nuclear strike.
“Under pressure from Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Trump administration may be within days of launching a nuclear strike on Iran,” Carlson said in a post uploaded a few hours ago.
The warning follows Democratic Senator Chris Murphy’s declaration that, after receiving a detailed military briefing, that the plan is “insane”.
“It will lead to devastating escalation and the likely destruction of our commitment to the rule of law,” Murphy said, according to his office’s transcript.
There is independently reported pressure for more fighting. Website Axios reported on Sunday that Mr Netanyahu was pressing Mr Trump to strike Iran immediately after the US midterm elections.
Carlson, who regularly interviews military figures, former insiders and intelligence analysts, names Iran’s heavily fortified Pickaxe Mountain complex as the potential target.
He claims it is “the only military option is a nuclear strike”.
Published research does not completely establish that conclusion, though it is abundantly clear that both the US and Israeli administrations want to eradicate Iran’s nuclear program for good.
There have also been internal calls from Iranian hardliners to accelerate development as the nation sits under an existential cloud, surrounded by a weary US blockade.
Center for Strategic and International Studies researchers describe an exceptionally difficult underground target, but also discuss conventional options for disrupting it. Their satellite analysis alone cannot establish whether enrichment is taking place inside.
“Close observers say Trump is likely to decide by next weekend whether or not to use nuclear weapons,” Carlson said.
“After the first nuclear strike, World War Three is inevitable. That war would be short and final.”
Nuclear use could have catastrophic consequences far beyond Iran. Research published last week by the Nuclear Threat Initiative examines how even a limited exchange could destabilise interconnected food, water, energy and financial systems.
But the prospect of radioactive fallout, retaliation and a far wider war gives both Washington and its adversaries powerful reasons to avoid a nuclear strike.
History has shown that restraint has won out, even in the most dire of scenarios.
From the moment the world witnessed the capability of nuclear weapons in 1945, the world’s most tyrannical leaders have collectively shied away from pressing the button.
In their current state, nuclear bombs act as a deterrent, with each and every nation understanding the risks of becoming the one who begins the devastating chain reaction.
'Despicable betrayal': Democrat flies off script, US stunned
A Democratic congresswoman has handed Republicans an eleventh-hour gift by doing the unthinkable, leaving the nation perplexed as the midterms approach.
Michigan’s Haley Stevens, who lost the Democratic primary to progressive Abdul El-Sayed in August, threw her support behind Republican Mike Rogers just two days before Tuesday’s midterms.
“This is a very close election, we all know that, but Abdul made very clear that I was not welcome in his campaign,” she told reporters.
The Democratic response was absolutely scathing.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called it a “despicable betrayal”, while the chair of the Michigan Democrats’ Black caucus said Stevens “revealed herself to be a sellout”.
Donald Trump was predictably more welcoming to the stunning backflip.
“She showed great and almost unprecedented loyalty to the Great People of Michigan with what she did,” he posted on Truth Social.
Ms Stevens later told CNN she still wanted Democrats to win the Senate, despite backing the Republican in a key battleground.
“I woke up this morning clear-eyed, fresh and focused on what was in my heart and that’s that,” she said.
Mr El-Sayed, who would become the first Muslim US senator if elected, brushed off the endorsement.
“At the end of the day, I actually don’t think about Haley Stevens. I think about the 9,999,998 people who are not those two,” he said, referring to Ms Stevens and Mr Rogers.
“Because you know what, I am just less interested in the politics of it all than I am in the policy of it all.”