theSIGNAL NEWS
2 November 2026
"In war, whichever side may call itself the victor, there are no winners, but all are losers."
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World

Iran Warns: Next War Will Run Longer

Tehran says Washington cannot dictate the length of a renewed conflict, as Trump hints at fresh strikes and Netanyahu pushes for speed.

Iran fired a warning at Washington on Sunday. Any new war, it said, would last longer than the last one. Army spokesperson Mohammad Akraminia delivered the message on state television. He argued that President Donald Trump would not be able to set the timing or the terms of how a renewed conflict ends.

The statement came within hours of a boast from Trump. Only "one or two sites" remain to be hit, he told reporters, and the US could finish the job "in 10 minutes". He named a suspected underground nuclear complex, known as Pickaxe Mountain, as one likely target. At a campaign rally in Iowa, he added that he may have to give Tehran "the hammer" at some unspecified moment.

The timing is political. US midterm elections take place on Tuesday, and Israel is also in the middle of an election period. According to Axios, Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a tense call on Saturday. Netanyahu reportedly urged an immediate strike once the American vote is over.

Photo: Craig Whitehead / Unsplash
Israelis follow election coverage as threats of renewed strikes on Iran grow across the region.
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10 minutes
Trump's claimed time to strike remaining Iranian targets
Discuss
  • Why might leaders time military threats around elections, and what risks does that create for civilians?
  • Trump says strikes would take ten minutes, while Iran predicts a long war. Which claim seems more credible, and why?
World

Guterres Backs a Woman to Succeed Him

António Guterres is leaving. The outgoing UN secretary-general says he would be happy if a woman replaced him. In 2026, the Security Council and General Assembly must choose his successor. No woman has ever held the post in eight decades. The Portuguese veteran also issued a warning.…
  • Can any new secretary-general defend global rules when powerful states ignore them?
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We still have to take care of, I would say, one or two sites, but we can do that in 10 minutes.
Donald Trump, President of the United States
World

Two Election Losses Sting Trump Abroad

Trump lost two allies in days. Serbia's Student List defeated Aleksandar Vucic's camp on October 25, and Brazil's Lula beat Flavio Bolsonaro. Flavio, under investigation for alleged corruption, fled to Florida and refuses to concede. Trump said the vote "looked rigged." Analyst Lawrence Haas expects relations with Brasília to stay cool at best. Neither result will touch America's November 3 midterms.…
  • Do foreign election defeats of allies weaken a US president's influence at home?
ASIA · World
FBI says North Korea behind $6 billion Binance crypto theft
AFRICA · World
Ebola deaths top 5,000 as fear of continent-wide spread mounts
ASIA · World
Ship reported on fire off Oman as Iran escalation fears mount
EUROPE · World
Ukrainian evacuees reunite with family after years trapped in Russia-occupied city
theSIGNAL IN THE LAB
IVOCABULARY
boastsuccessor
concederiggedoutgoing
veteranmidterm elections
IIGRAMMAR FOCUS
Third conditional — hypothetical past
We use the third conditional to talk about imaginary situations in the past and their imagined results: if + past perfect (had + past participle), would/could/might + have + past participle. The 'if' clause names the unreal past condition; the main clause names the unreal past result.
had · hadn't · would · wouldn't · have · been · could
  1. If the US and Israel not struck Iran on February 28, the war might never have begun.
  2. If the peace talks had not been interrupted by threats, negotiators have reached a deal by now.
  3. If Netanyahu had not urged an immediate strike, the call with Trump have been described as "tough".
  4. Iran's army spokesperson said that if Trump had understood the risks, he have bragged about finishing the job in ten minutes.
  5. If the Student List had lost on October 25, Aleksandar Vucic have stayed comfortably in power.
  6. If Flavio Bolsonaro won the vote in Brazil, Trump would have celebrated another ally's victory.
IIICOLLOCATIONS
Match the verb on the left with the noun phrase it best collocates with on the right.
  1. deliver
  2. issue
  3. resume
  4. concede
  5. test
IVCRITICAL THINKING
Trump called Serbia's and Brazil's results 'rigged' even though the votes took place far outside the United States, and Flavio Bolsonaro refuses to concede. What purpose might it serve for a leader to question foreign elections, and how could such claims affect trust in democratic processes worldwide? Consider also whether an outgoing UN chief's warning that 'a world without rules would be a disaster' is more or less persuasive when no woman has ever held the post in eight decades.
VCREATIVE · HEADLINES
Write a headline for the top story in each of the following styles. One line each, no explanation:
  • TABLOID NEWSPAPER
  • LUXURY MAGAZINE
  • ACTIVIST BLOG
VIWRITING
Imagine you are a Security Council diplomat advising on the choice of the next UN secretary-general. In 120-150 words, write a short memo explaining which qualities the successor should have and whether choosing the first woman in the role would matter. Use at least two of the collocations from the exercise above.
VIIDEGREES OF EXTREMITY
Complete each ladder from mild to strong.
  • a warning→→
  • a disagreement→→
  • unlikely→→
  • strained relations→→
  • a setback→→
  • to question a result→→
VIIISPEAKING
  1. Is it ever wise for a leader to boast about military power?
  2. Should a woman lead the UN? Does the secretary-general's gender really matter?
  3. Why do some losing candidates refuse to concede, and what damage follows?
  4. How much can an outsider's opinion shape the outcome of a foreign election?