The Rest of the World Report | November 9, 2026 — Morning Edition

From The Rest of the World Podcast · 17:43

Show by Rest of the World Podcast hosted by Rudy Martinez

Weekday morning and evening editions. Saturdays once. Good news on Sundays. All sources listed.TRUMP WALKS BACK DANA WHITE OFFERTrump said Sunday that he was only kidding when he offered the White House press secretary job to Dana White, the president of the UFC.The offer came Saturday on Truth Social, four days after Republicans lost both chambers of Congress. Trump wrote that White, “a violent Fighter and Warrior,” had been offered the job, and he asked White to bring six fighters as assistants. Two of them, Islam Makhachev and Khabib Nurmagomedov, are from Russia’s Dagestan region. White answered on Instagram with an image of himself at the White House briefing room podium, and said he would meet Trump on Monday.On Sunday night, on an airport tarmac in West Palm Beach, Florida, Trump told reporters, “I was only kidding. But Dana loves the idea.” He said the point was that reporters would not give White as much trouble. White was coming to see him Monday, Trump said, for another reason. Earlier in the day Trump had shared an animated cartoon, made by a supporter, that showed UFC fighters beating up journalists.The job has been vacant since Katie Zacharia, whom Trump appointed in October, lasted five days.🌍 Translator’s Note: Abroad the story is being written as a question about what Trump’s word is worth. The British, French, Spanish and Australian news desks report the offer as an offer, and the joke as Trump’s own description of it. Le Monde’s headline says he “affirms” it was a joke, and Australia’s ABC quotes Politico’s Daniel Lippman saying he does not believe the offer was ever real. The harder reading sits in opinion. Howard Bryant, writing in The Guardian, argues that a president and party repudiated this thoroughly cannot count on the old audience to laugh. Social media is making the Four Seasons Total Landscaping comparison, and The Independent attributes it to named users who noted that the offer came on the anniversary of that press conference. Whoever Trump names next will be announced under that reading.🇺🇸 What American readers need to know: Trump offered the press secretary job to UFC president Dana White on Saturday and said Sunday he was only kidding. White is due to meet Trump on Monday. The job has been vacant since Katie Zacharia lasted five days in October.Sources The Hill | BBC | The Guardian | The Guardian | Le Monde | El País | Al Jazeera | ABC Australia | The IndependentRUSSIA HITS UKRAINE BEFORE TALKSUkraine’s Air Force said Russia launched 317 drones, cruise missiles and decoys at the country overnight. Talks between Ukraine and Russia are due in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, their first since February.The Air Force said 271 of the weapons had been shot down or jammed by 8 a.m., with hits recorded at 31 locations. In Odesa on Monday morning, Serhii Lysak, head of the city military administration, said three people were killed when a drone hit an infrastructure facility. Oleh Kiper, head of the Odesa Oblast administration, said a warehouse holding food for kindergartens and schools caught fire. On Sunday evening, Russian drones destroyed the Kolibri centre for children with disabilities in Kremenchuk. Vitalii Diakivnych, head of the Poltava Oblast military administration, said the strikes also hit a multi-storey residential building and a hotel in the city. Seven people were injured, among them a 16-year-old taken to hospital with severe injuries. The centre’s founder, Anna Andriienko, said no military personnel were on the premises.DTEK, the energy company, said emergency power cuts were ordered in Dnipro, Kyiv and several other regions. More than 600,000 customers in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast had lost electricity on Sunday morning after Russian attacks on the energy system. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia launched 115 missiles, nearly 1,900 guided aerial bombs and more than 3,000 attack drones at Ukraine in the past week. On X on Monday, he said many cities and communities face a very difficult situation with power, water and heating because of Russian strikes, and that he had agreed with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to activate a special emergency mechanism for EU funding. The energy situation is most acute in the Kyiv, Dnipro, Sumy, Donetsk and Kherson regions.Ukraine also hit Russia overnight. Leningrad Governor Aleksandr Drozdenko said a Ukrainian drone attack set fire to the Kirishi oil refinery, Russia’s second largest, and that 113 Ukrainian drones were shot down over the region. Drozdenko said a woman was killed by falling drone debris.The United States is mediating, and the talks are expected to run Tuesday and Wednesday. Rustem Umerov, Ukraine’s foreign intelligence chief, will lead the Ukrainian delegation. The Kremlin says it will send senior diplomats and military officials. A senior EU diplomat said Germany, France, Britain, NATO and the EU will be represented. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday that Moscow sees no readiness on…

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