Morning Digest: Trump says U.S. military action against Iran not necessary ‘at this point’; U.K. writer M. John Harrison wins Booker for AI-tinged apocalyptic novel, and more

Trump says U.S. military action against Iran not necessary ‘at this point’U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday (November 9, 2026) told reporters he believes the war in Iran “militarily is effectively over.” The President made a surprise visit to the White House briefing room after meeting with Qatar’s Prime Minister earlier in the day. “Iran militarily is effectively over,” Mr. Trump said. “We’re just keeping it the status quo.”U.K. writer M. John Harrison wins Booker for AI-tinged apocalyptic novelU.K. author M. John Harrison won the Booker Prize on Monday (November 9, 2026) for his enigmatic novel “The End of Everything”, which echoes concerns about artificial intelligence in a darkly satirical depiction of post-apocalyptic Britain. Mr. Harrison, 81, became the oldest winner of the award, which comes with a £50,000 ($67,000) prize and a boost in sales and profile for the winner.At peak of air pollution on Deepavali, data goes missing at several government monitoring stations in DelhiAir quality data from several government monitoring stations in Delhi went missing for hours during the pollution spike following Deepavali on Sunday (November 8, 2026), with experts warning that the gaps have led to understated pollution levels and resulted in a lower official air quality index (AQI). According to Dr. D. Saha, former head of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)’s air quality laboratory, AQI values are calculated using a moving or running average of hourly concentrations of eight parameters, including PM2.5 and PM10, over the previous 24 hours.Ahead of Abu Dhabi peace talks, Modi speaks to Zelenskyy; Jaishankar speaks to LavrovIndia is ready to mediate between Russia and Ukraine to establish “food corridors”, announced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, welcoming the offer after a telephone call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, ahead of the Ukraine-Russia peace talks set to begin in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. Mr. Modi conveyed India’s “readiness” to help with all initiatives to end the nearly five-year-old conflict. The call was followed by another call between External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in the clearest indication thus far of the mediatory role that New Delhi is now playing between Moscow and Kyiv.Untangling Nvidia chief Jensen Huang’s Chinese spy connectionNvidia is the world leader in making chips for AI data centres, and its role in providing the critical hardware for the development of large language models cannot be understated. Powerful AI tools like Anthropic’s Claude, Google’s Gemini, Meta’s Muse, and OpenAI’s GPT exist today because of Nvidia’s graphic processing unit (GPU) chips. So, it is only fair to say that if AI is the solar system, Nvidia is the sun powering American tech companies, plus those in China building competing AI models, that orbit around it. And CEO Jensen Huang is the sun maker.T.N. Deputy Speaker faces row over alleged assault of Thuraiyur resident for complaining about civic issueTamil Nadu Assembly Deputy Speaker and Thuraiyur (SC) TVK MLA M. Ravishankar landed in a controversy on Monday (November 9, 2026) after a video surfaced in which a local resident alleged he was assaulted by the former for raising a civic issue. Police, however, said they had not received any complaint regarding the incident that allegedly took place on Sunday (November 8, 2026) night when the resident, Karthick Kumar, approached the MLA to complain about drinking water shortage and other civic issues in his locality in Tiruchi district.Trump says likely to meet Putin, Xi at China APEC summitUnited States President Donald Trump has said he will likely meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin in a rare trilateral leaders’ meeting on the sidelines of the APEC gathering in Shenzhen next week. Beijing said on Monday (November 9, 2026) it was “in communication with relevant parties” over the meeting, not ruling out the possibility as leaders gather for the APEC summit in southern China on November 18 and 19.Trump’s close ties to Nvidia’s Huang scrutinised after foreign intelligence concernsU.S. President Donald Trump’s close relationship with embattled ‌Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang came under renewed scrutiny on Monday (November 9, 2026), after the company ​said its board was investigating whether the tech executive has been the target ⁠of a foreign intelligence effort. Mr. Huang is one of Mr. Trump’s closest allies in Silicon Valley, and the relationship between the two dates to at least 2025. Over the past two years, he has repeatedly voiced support ‌for the administration’s agenda and become a regular presence in Washington as Nvidia sought to sell advanced chips to the Chinese market.Hegseth faces expected U.S. House impeachment vote this weekPete Hegseth, the U.S. Defence Secretary, calls himself the Secretary of War, part of his effort to rebrand ‌a military he said was too weak and “woke” when he took office last year. Now, with ​a House impeachment vote expected this week, he could soon share something in common with an ⁠actual secretary of war. U.S. Representative Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, introduced articles of impeachment on Monday (November 9, 2026), setting off a two-day ‌clock for an expected House vote on charges including waging war against Iran without congressional approval and other abuses of power.Comedian Russell Brand sentenced to more than a decade in prisonBritish comedian and Hollywood star Russell Brand was sentenced to ten and a half years in prison for rape and sexual assault by the Southwark Crown Court in London on Monday (November 9, 2026). Brand, 51, was found guilty on Thursday (November 5, 2026) by the court of rape and three counts of sexual assault and not guilty on three other counts. He was charged in relation to a total of seven crimes. His crimes were committed between 2004 and 2009. The court found him guilty of raping a woman in 2009 at his home, after meeting her at a comedy show in the Hammersmith neighbourhood of London. Brand has the possibility of being released in about seven years subject to conditions, the judge said.