Morning Digest: U.S. Republicans derail bid to impeach Hegseth; Pranab Mukherjee hinted at desire to become PM, writes Sonia Gandhi in memoir, and more

U.S. Republicans derail bid to impeach HegsethRepublicans in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday (November 10, 2026) blocked an effort to impeach Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth over the Iran war, handing President Donald Trump a victory days after his party’s crushing midterm election defeat. The House voted 211 to 204 to send the impeachment resolution to the Judiciary Committee, effectively derailing a planned vote on Wednesday (November 11, 2026) on whether to bring formal charges against the embattled Pentagon chief.Pranab Mukherjee hinted at desire to become PM, ‘shocked’ me, writes Sonia GandhiFormer President Pranab Mukherjee had “shocked” Sonia Gandhi by hinting at his “long-held desire” to become Prime Minister during a conversation with her in 2010, suggesting that perhaps it was time for a “change at the top”, the former Congress president has written in her memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love.Supreme Court goes beyond Deepavali AQI, flags vehicular emissions polluting Delhi airForty-eight hours before Deepavali, amidst the rising crescendo of crackers heralding the festivities, a Supreme Court Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said the people, and not the judiciary, must strike a blow against air pollution in the national capital. Instead, the court went beyond Deepavali to highlight a consistent danger that sustains and would worsen the toxic air: vehicular emissions. On November 6, the court detected a sharp increase in issues attributable to vehicular emissions.Van Dyke threatens to ‘reveal shocking details’ of his arrest, incarceration in India, blames RussiaThe matter of Mathew Aaron Van Dyke, the U.S. citizen arrested along with six Ukrainians for travelling from Myanmar without valid documents, is still in the courts, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Tuesday (November 10, 2026). MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal refused to comment on Mr. Van Dyke’s claim that he had been arrested at Russia’s behest, or his threat to “reveal shocking details” about his incarceration in Delhi’s Tihar jail for six months.Pannun’s civil lawsuit: U.S. court allows Pannun to serve NSA Doval and former intelligence chief GoyalA U.S. court on Monday (November 9, 2026) allowed Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun to serve his civil plea on National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and former R&AW chief Samant Goel through Indian judicial channels, after the State Department submitted that it had served the notice for the two officials at the Indian Embassy in Washington.After Bangladesh rules out passport for Hasina, India says ‘travel document’ neededA day after the Acting Foreign Minister of Bangladesh, Humayun Kabir, stressed that Dhaka would not issue a passport to deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and insisted on getting her extradited from India under an “acceptable prisoner exchange”, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Tuesday (November 10, 2026) that a “travel document” was needed for international travel.Centre condemns coordinated anti-India campaign allegedly by Chinese vloggers presenting Dhaka locations as DelhiSpokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, Randhir Jaiswal, condemned an alleged coordinated anti-India campaign carried out by a group of Chinese vloggers and livestreamers filming in impoverished neighbourhoods of Dhaka and falsely presenting the locations as parts of New Delhi. Mr. Jaiswal said efforts to present a distorted picture of any country are unfortunate.Over 74 lakh voters missing from Tamil Nadu electoral rolls, says citizens’ collectiveThe Independent Young Citizens Collective (IYCC) has alleged that 74.07 lakh voters have been removed from Tamil Nadu’s electoral rolls and demanded an inquiry into the alleged deletions. Announcing a rally on Anna Salai on November 26, as part of a nationwide day of action against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, the collective said the reported deletion of such a large number of names has raised serious questions about the exercise and its implications for democracy.U.S. Army member arrested in U.K. for alleged Russian linksBritish authorities arrested a member of the U.S. Army on Tuesday (November 10, 2026) on allegations of spying for Russia. The 41 year old man, who has not been named, was arrested in Gloucestershire. “The allegations are serious and our investigation is very much ongoing,” said Vicki Evans, a senior officer with U.K. Counterterrorism Policing. The U.K. authorities said the investigation was not linked to other ongoing counterterrorism investigations.New Israeli parliament to take aim at Netanyahu as Eisenkot seeks governmentIsrael’s new parliament convened on Tuesday (November 10, 2026) with plans to take aim immediately at caretaker Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as his rival Gadi Eisenkot vowed to quickly cobble together a new government. Mr. Eisenkot, leading a broad left-to-right bloc, will control the agenda from the outset in the new parliament with the help of Israeli-Arab parties, although neither he nor the right-wing Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving Prime Minister, hold a majority on their own.Delhi HC disposes of contempt plea against AITA office-bearersThe Delhi High Court, on Friday, disposed of the contempt petition filed by players Somdev Devvarman and Purav Raja against the All India Tennis Association’s (AITA) interim office-bearers after the AITA gave an undertaking that all information sought by administrator Justice (retd.) Gita Mittal has been provided, and that it would continue to do so until the end of the administrator’s tenure (November 27).