Afternoon Edition · Fri, Nov 13 · 12:57 p.m.

The Essential 10 · about 3 minutes

1. Updated

   U.S. forces shot down two Iranian attack drones launched toward Bahrain

   U.S. Central Command said Friday that U.S. forces shot down two Iranian one-way attack drones launched toward Bahrain, with no injuries or damage. CENTCOM called false the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ claim that it had destroyed a U.S. early-warning radar installation there.

   Reporting: Deutsche Welle, House of Saud, Gulf News, Anadolu Agency, middleeastmonitor.com

2. New

   Donald Trump said he would consider using military force against Cuba

   Donald Trump said Thursday he would “certainly consider” using military force against Cuba and wants to resolve the issue before leaving office. He made the remarks in a phone interview with conservative host Hugh Hewitt on Salem News Channel, responding to a question about using force to free the island.

   Reporting: NBC News, The Hill, Latin Times, NewsCord, Spectrum News, The New Republic, UA News, laveulliure.ad

3. Continuing

   Microsoft said recovery was advancing for services hit by a worldwide outage

   Microsoft said Friday it was making progress restoring Outlook, Teams, Copilot and other Microsoft 365 services as a global outage entered its second day, but warned users could still be unable to connect to some services and experience intermittent problems. The disruption began Thursday and continued to affect users worldwide.

   Reporting: Associated Press, Time, ABC News, USA Today, The New York Times, coinpaper.com, hayspost.com (with Associated Press), fox5ny.com

   Updated since this edition · Read the latest

4. Updated

   Zelenskyy says Europeans will join the next round of Russia talks

   Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said European representatives will join the next round of peace talks with Russia, participating directly rather than through separate consultations. He also welcomed an agreement on a prisoner exchange and said Ukraine was counting on the largest since the war began.

   Reporting: Bloomberg, Kyiv Post, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, UATV English, eutoday.net

   Updated since this edition · Read the latest

5. New

   The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported wholesale prices rose 0.3% in October

   U.S. wholesale prices rose 0.3% in October, while annual producer-price inflation climbed to 6.5%, its highest since November 2022, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. The monthly increase was below economists’ 0.4% forecast; the annual figure was also below the 6.6% estimate.

   Reporting: CNN, U.S. News & World Report, KSL News, BigGo Finance, New York Post, clarin.com, ibtimes.com

6. New

   Scott Bessent criticized Commerce Department delays on Nvidia chip export controls to China

   Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Friday he was frustrated by the Commerce Department’s delay in imposing export controls on certain Nvidia chips going to China. In an interview with CNBC, Bessent said Treasury, State and Defense, along with the U.S. Trade Representative, had favored adding Megaspeed to an export control list for months, while Commerce was responsible for the matter.

   Reporting: Boston Herald (with Associated Press)

   Updated since this edition · Read the latest

7. New

   China conducted unannounced military drills across the western Pacific and around Taiwan

   China carried out unannounced military exercises across the western Pacific and around Taiwan in early November, deploying more than 100 military and coast guard vessels at one point, a senior Taiwanese security official told Reuters. Taipei officials called them “silent intimidation,” aimed at pressuring Taiwan and other governments.

   Reporting: Reuters, The Japan Times, Free Press Kashmir, Mezha, News.Az (with Reuters), zaobao.com.sg, lbc.co.uk, fakti.bg

8. New

   NAR reports U.S. existing-home sales fell to their lowest level since August 2010

   U.S. existing-home sales fell 5.5% in October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.75 million, the lowest since August 2010, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said. Sales were down 8.8% from a year earlier and below the 3.85 million forecast by economists surveyed by Reuters. High mortgage rates and home prices weighed on buyers.

   Reporting: sedaily.com, scotsmanguide.com, idnfinancials.com, realestatenews.com

9. New

   Navy quietly removed several senior officers without its usual public announcements

   The Navy has quietly removed several senior officers in recent months without its usual public announcements, prompting congressional criticism after Representatives Adam Smith and Joe Courtney said they were not told the three top leaders of USS South Dakota were relieved Oct. 14. The lawmakers said the lapse raised concerns about transparency.

   Reporting: HuffPost (with Associated Press), maritime-executive.com, navytimes.com, usni.org

10. Updated

    Minnesota Sen.-elect Peggy Flanagan backed Sen. Chris Van Hollen for Senate Democratic leader

    Minnesota Sen.-elect Peggy Flanagan has named Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland a suitable alternative to Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York for Senate Democratic leader, joining Michigan Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed in backing Van Hollen, MS NOW reported. The vote is scheduled behind closed doors in early December, ahead of Democrats taking control of both chambers Jan. 4.

    Reporting: NBC News, PBS News (with Associated Press), BBC News, Democracy Now!, MS NOW, marylandmatters.org