Virginia Times published 21 stories on Monday, November 9, 2026 — a day led by Washington, where two people were arrested near the White House, Rep. Massie forced a House vote on impeaching Defense Secretary Hegseth and President Trump questioned the honesty of the midterms, alongside two Manassas courtroom chapters as the defense rested in the Bhatt murder trial, Iran diplomacy running through Doha, Tehran and Homestead, a 1,104-point Dow rally, and Ukraine's strikes and record claims in its war with Russia.
In This Recap
- Two Arrested Near White House After Car Crash, Barricade Jump
- Pezeshkian: Khamenei Ordered End to ‘No War, No Peace’
- Trump Questions Midterm Honesty, Blames Voting Machines
- Massie Forces House Vote to Impeach Hegseth
- Trump Says Gulf States Back Iran Blockade After Qatar Talks
- Dow Jumps 1,104 Points as Stocks Rally and Oil Slides
- Defense Rests in Bhatt Murder Trial as Prosecutors Plan Rebuttal
- Bhatt Says He Was ‘One of the Factors’ in Mamta’s Suicide
- Drozdenko Says Ukrainian Drones Set Kirishi Refinery Ablaze
- Mitsui Chemicals Agrees to Buy JSR for $11.6 Billion
- Russell Brand Sentenced to 10 Years and Six Months for Rape and Sexual Assault
- Trump, on ‘60 Minutes,’ Blames War, Gas Prices for GOP Losses
- Taiyuan High-Rise Fire Kills 14, State Media Say
- COP31 Opens in Antalya as UN Climate Chief Urges Faster Action
- Trump to Meet Qatar’s Prime Minister on Iran War
- Fermín López Scores Twice as Barcelona Beat Atlético 2-1
- Ukraine Says Strike Hit Iskander Propellant Plant Near St. Petersburg
- Ukraine Says 2,980 Russian Troops Killed in 24 Hours
- Rubio Says Iran Talks Are Not Close to a Breakthrough
- Stroud Throws Five TDs, Love Stars in Week 9
- Nepali Festival Tihar: the festival of lights & colors
1 Two Arrested Near White House After Car Crash, Barricade Jump
Two people were arrested near the White House on Monday after two separate incidents in Lafayette Park — a car that crashed onto the sidewalk at 16th and H streets NW, whose driver was combative before being taken into custody, and a second person who jumped a barricade near the park's northwest corner. The Secret Service said an explosive-ordnance team swept the vehicle as a precaution, roads around the park were closed, and the White House was briefly put on lockdown while President Trump was inside.
2 Pezeshkian: Khamenei Ordered End to ‘No War, No Peace’
President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Monday that Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has ordered Iranian officials to end the state of “neither war nor peace” with the United States. Speaking in Tehran, Pezeshkian said Iran can engage in dialogue with dignity and bring the matter to a dignified conclusion, but stressed that Tehran will not surrender in the face of force, intimidation or bullying.
3 Trump Questions Midterm Honesty, Blames Voting Machines
President Donald Trump questioned whether the midterm election was honest in a Truth Social post on Monday, blaming voting machines and large batches of early votes for the Republican losses and offering no evidence for either claim. The post, which named no state, race or machine and announced no formal challenge, came six days after he told the Times he was willing to accept the results that the Associated Press has called for the Democrats in both the House and the Senate.
4 Massie Forces House Vote to Impeach Hegseth
Rep. Thomas Massie said Monday he is forcing a House vote on eight articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, accusing him of waging war in Iran without congressional authorization and violating the War Powers Resolution. Three of the charges rest on the War Powers Resolution of 1973, while the others reach to civilian casualties, strikes on suspected drug traffickers at sea, free speech, Venezuela and Yemen.
5 Trump Says Gulf States Back Iran Blockade After Qatar Talks
President Donald Trump said Qatar, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states want the naval blockade of Iran and Operation Iron Gate continued, after his conversation on Monday with Qatar's prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. In his Truth Social account of the call, which he called excellent, Trump said Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait and others would prefer the status quo — a continuation of the blockade by land and sea.
6 Dow Jumps 1,104 Points as Stocks Rally and Oil Slides
U.S. stocks rallied on Monday and recovered most of last week's losses, with the Dow up 1,104.02 points, or 2.2%, to 52,389.75, the S&P 500 up 2.3% to 7,549.94 and the Nasdaq up 2.7% to 25,253.14 — the S&P's best day since April. Brent crude fell 5.8% to $92.57 a barrel, helping a rebound from a sell-off driven by worries that Democratic midterm victories could slow construction of AI data centres.
7 Defense Rests in Bhatt Murder Trial as Prosecutors Plan Rebuttal
The defense rested Monday afternoon in Naresh Bhatt's murder trial after just two witnesses — Bhatt himself and clinical psychologist Dr. Barry Rosenfeld — closing a defense built largely on Bhatt's claim that his wife, Mamta Kafle Bhatt, died by suicide. Prosecutors said they will call rebuttal witnesses before closing arguments send the case to the jury in Prince William County Circuit Court.
8 Bhatt Says He Was ‘One of the Factors’ in Mamta’s Suicide
Back on the stand for re-direct on Day 18 of his murder trial, Naresh Bhatt told jurors he was shaking uncontrollably when he found his wife and conceded he was “one of the factors” in what he claims was her suicide, alongside mental health or postpartum issues. Bhatt admitted he had not treated Mamta Kafle Bhatt emotionally well and said he regretted it a lot, while again denying he ever physically harmed her.
9 Drozdenko Says Ukrainian Drones Set Kirishi Refinery Ablaze
Leningrad Gov. Alexander Drozdenko said Ukrainian drones set fire overnight to the Kirishi refinery, Russia's second-largest, and that air defences intercepted 113 drones, with several striking industrial facilities in Kirishi and shrapnel damaging homes in Kirishi and Vsevolozhsk. No injuries were reported in Kirishi, and the report noted fuel shortages returning to at least half a dozen Russian regions after strikes on at least eight refineries in two weeks.
10 Mitsui Chemicals Agrees to Buy JSR for $11.6 Billion
Mitsui Chemicals will buy chip materials maker JSR from Japan Investment Corp. for 1.84 trillion yen ($11.61 billion), the largest deal in Japan's chemicals sector, two years after a state-backed fund took JSR private. The Development Bank of Japan will invest 200 billion yen alongside Mitsui, taking non-voting preferred shares, and Mitsui will fund the purchase mainly with a bridge loan.
11 Russell Brand Sentenced to 10 Years and Six Months for Rape and Sexual Assault
Russell Brand was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court to 10 years and six months in prison for raping one woman and sexually assaulting three others in offences against four women between 2004 and 2009. Mr Justice Bennathan called Brand a sexual predator as his fame grew, imposed nine years for the rape with the assault terms running on top of it, and paid tribute to the bravery of the women who gave evidence.
12 Trump, on ‘60 Minutes,’ Blames War, Gas Prices for GOP Losses
In his first sit-down interview since Republicans lost the House and the Senate, President Donald Trump told CBS's “60 Minutes” that voters rejected Republicans over the Iran war, higher gas prices and dislike of Israel. Trump agreed with JD Vance's verdict on the losses, defended striking Iran again, blamed bad messaging on the economy, said his deportation policy might have been too tough, and argued his supporters did not transfer to candidates they did not like.
13 Taiyuan High-Rise Fire Kills 14, State Media Say
At least 14 people died on Sunday when fire swept through a 40-storey mixed-use high-rise in Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi province in northern China, the official Xinhua news agency reported. Twenty-five people were still in hospital on Monday, nine of them seriously injured; the fire appears to have started around the fourth floor of a lower annex and spread to hotel floors above, and the cause is under investigation.
14 COP31 Opens in Antalya as UN Climate Chief Urges Faster Action
COP31 opened in Antalya on Monday with UN climate chief Simon Stiell urging delegates to spend less time setting targets and more time delivering on them — to “supercharge solutions,” as he put it — in talks hosted by Türkiye and run in partnership with Australia through Nov. 20. The World Meteorological Organization released its State of the Climate Update the same day, finding 2026 on course to be among the four hottest years on record.
15 Trump to Meet Qatar’s Prime Minister on Iran War
President Donald Trump was set to meet Qatar's prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, in Washington on Monday as efforts to end the Iran war ramped up after the midterm elections, with Vice President JD Vance also meeting the Qatari mediator, who visited Tehran last week. Iran is defending its two-day plan as the most reasonable offer on the table, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio says no breakthrough is imminent.
16 Fermín López Scores Twice as Barcelona Beat Atlético 2-1
Fermín López scored both goals as Barcelona came from behind to beat Atlético Madrid 2-1 at the Metropolitano on Sunday, cancelling out Giuliano Simeone's early opener. The win moved Barcelona three points clear at the top of La Liga on 33 points from 12 games, ahead of Real Madrid on 30, with Atlético third on 28.
17 Ukraine Says Strike Hit Iskander Propellant Plant Near St. Petersburg
Ukraine's Defence Forces hit the Morozov Plant near St. Petersburg overnight, the General Staff said, damaging three workshops that make solid-propellant charges for Iskander-M ballistic missiles and explosives for other systems, including Topol-M propellant work. The plant, part of the Rostec state corporation, was described as a key link in the chain supplying Russia's ballistic missiles, and the extent of the damage is still being clarified.
18 Ukraine Says 2,980 Russian Troops Killed in 24 Hours
Ukraine's General Staff said 2,980 Russian troops were eliminated in 24 hours, a new daily record, pushing its total for Russian personnel losses to about 1,609,380 as of Nov. 9, 2026. The update also listed four more tanks, 15 armoured combat vehicles, 68 artillery systems, six multiple launch rocket systems and two air defence systems, with the data still being verified.
19 Rubio Says Iran Talks Are Not Close to a Breakthrough
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday at Homestead Air Reserve Base in Florida that talks to end the war with Iran have made little progress and are not close to a breakthrough, calling Iran's demands unacceptable, outrageous and unrealistic. His remarks, before a flight to Paris for the G7 foreign ministers' meeting, sat alongside President Trump's comment to CNN that renewed strikes are highly unlikely if talks progress.
20 Stroud Throws Five TDs, Love Stars in Week 9
C.J. Stroud threw five touchdown passes for 384 yards as Houston beat the Los Angeles Chargers 44-22, and Jordan Love passed for 372 yards and three scores in Green Bay's 45-27 win over New England, in a Week 9 Sunday slate of 13 finals. New Orleans beat Cleveland 23-22 in overtime, with late wins as well for Dallas, Denver and Chicago.
21 Nepali Festival Tihar: the festival of lights & colors
Tihar, Nepal's five-day festival of lights, runs this year from Saturday, November 7 to Wednesday, November 11, with Laxmi Puja on Sunday, November 8 and Bhai Tika on Wednesday, November 11. The festival blends diyos, rangoli and Lakshmi worship with rituals honouring crows, dogs and cows, culminating in Bhai Tika — distinct from Diwali while sharing its spirit of light, gratitude and family.
Editor’s Note: This recap was prepared with the assistance of AI tools. Virginia Times gathered the source material from multiple sources and thoroughly reviewed the information before publication.
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