Hegseth visits Israel as Washington weighs Iran strikes and Hormuz attacks go onOslo talks end without breakthrough before Witkoff's trip to PutinUK to fly Typhoons over Saudi Arabia as toll from Houthi strike on Yemeni camp rises to 73France extends curfews and plans troops after weekend riotsEbola reaches Nigeria as Kenya reports ninth caseOil and gas prices climb as Hormuz and Saudi attacks squeeze supplyTrump says Russia behaved well and Ukraine gave nothing as rift with Kyiv widensRussian strikes kill at least seven in Ukraine as Ukrainian drones hit Russian oil sitesAI-debt fears grow as CoreWeave bonds slump and Elice falls in Seoul debutFrench borrowing costs climb as unrest deepens budget doubtsUN alarmed as drone strike kills dozens at Abyei marketIslamic State-linked militants kill at least 48 civilians in eastern MaliItaly deploys troops to Milan and toughens protest penalties after riotsUS bans DeepSeek in civilian agencies as China threatens countermeasuresJapan warns of yttrium shortage as China tightens rare earth supplyIsrael's race stays tight as Trump backs Netanyahu and Vance holds backLula challenges Flávio Bolsonaro to open bank records as Meta faces bias claimsJapan's MMX probe launches toward Mars moon PhobosKenyan cult leader Paul Mackenzie convicted of murdering 190 childrenRussian diesel returns to usual buyers as US plan on 'dark fleet' tankers meets doubtsIsraeli strikes kill several in Gaza as funding gaps threaten food aid for 500,000Albanian students topple Rama's 'dialogue chairs' as clashes with police beginNATO sends more assets to Black Sea after attacks on shipping off Bulgaria and RomaniaReliance's Jio launches India's biggest-ever IPOAlberta voters reject separation from Canada, projections showGoogle Cloud outage in London disrupts Revolut and UK banksEastern Libya parliament approves 2019 maritime deal with TurkeyIndonesian stocks rebound as authorities respond to MSCI downgrade threatIndonesia's burned land doubles in September as haze spreads and protests growAustralian MP Helen Haines in critical condition after alleged deliberate car attackRussia condemns US arrest warrant for Raúl CastroIsraeli and Lebanese delegations meet at CENTCOM in TampaAnthropic and Musk pledge shares for public benefitEU unveils security-focused Arctic strategyChina shadows USS Charleston near disputed South China Sea shoalUS pending home sales hit record low as mortgage rates reach highest since 2009ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent order over $35bn of Nvidia chipsUK rearrests two men over alleged Iranian plot at RAF FairfordAfD confirms hack as over 400,000 emails leak onlineIllegal gold mine collapse kills 14 in ColombiaTurkey moves to ratify Mecca defence pact with Saudi Arabia and PakistanAmazon pledges over €16bn in Germany as Merz courts investorsCarrefour cuts outlook and insurers turn on state after French riotsEU Parliament vice president announces hunger strike over civilians in OleshkyMalaysia de-registers main opposition coalition ahead of state electionSevere floods hit Valencia and MallorcaUN warns 19.2 million Afghans face acute food insecurity this winterSouth Korea withdraws more embassy staff from Ukraine after POW disputeRubio visits India on trade and Russian oil, confirms Quad summit in ManilaChina creates state-owned National Data Group in Xiong'an to drive AIGangs ambush international force in Haiti and kidnap four Salvadoran troopsUS court keeps Saudi engineer jailed in OpenAI espionage caseHegseth visits Israel as Washington weighs Iran strikes and Hormuz attacks go onOslo talks end without breakthrough before Witkoff's trip to PutinUK to fly Typhoons over Saudi Arabia as toll from Houthi strike on Yemeni camp rises to 73France extends curfews and plans troops after weekend riotsEbola reaches Nigeria as Kenya reports ninth caseOil and gas prices climb as Hormuz and Saudi attacks squeeze supplyTrump says Russia behaved well and Ukraine gave nothing as rift with Kyiv widensRussian strikes kill at least seven in Ukraine as Ukrainian drones hit Russian oil sitesAI-debt fears grow as CoreWeave bonds slump and Elice falls in Seoul debutFrench borrowing costs climb as unrest deepens budget doubtsUN alarmed as drone strike kills dozens at Abyei marketIslamic State-linked militants kill at least 48 civilians in eastern MaliItaly deploys troops to Milan and toughens protest penalties after riotsUS bans DeepSeek in civilian agencies as China threatens countermeasuresJapan warns of yttrium shortage as China tightens rare earth supplyIsrael's race stays tight as Trump backs Netanyahu and Vance holds backLula challenges Flávio Bolsonaro to open bank records as Meta faces bias claimsJapan's MMX probe launches toward Mars moon PhobosKenyan cult leader Paul Mackenzie convicted of murdering 190 childrenRussian diesel returns to usual buyers as US plan on 'dark fleet' tankers meets doubtsIsraeli strikes kill several in Gaza as funding gaps threaten food aid for 500,000Albanian students topple Rama's 'dialogue chairs' as clashes with police beginNATO sends more assets to Black Sea after attacks on shipping off Bulgaria and RomaniaReliance's Jio launches India's biggest-ever IPOAlberta voters reject separation from Canada, projections showGoogle Cloud outage in London disrupts Revolut and UK banksEastern Libya parliament approves 2019 maritime deal with TurkeyIndonesian stocks rebound as authorities respond to MSCI downgrade threatIndonesia's burned land doubles in September as haze spreads and protests growAustralian MP Helen Haines in critical condition after alleged deliberate car attackRussia condemns US arrest warrant for Raúl CastroIsraeli and Lebanese delegations meet at CENTCOM in TampaAnthropic and Musk pledge shares for public benefitEU unveils security-focused Arctic strategyChina shadows USS Charleston near disputed South China Sea shoalUS pending home sales hit record low as mortgage rates reach highest since 2009ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent order over $35bn of Nvidia chipsUK rearrests two men over alleged Iranian plot at RAF FairfordAfD confirms hack as over 400,000 emails leak onlineIllegal gold mine collapse kills 14 in ColombiaTurkey moves to ratify Mecca defence pact with Saudi Arabia and PakistanAmazon pledges over €16bn in Germany as Merz courts investorsCarrefour cuts outlook and insurers turn on state after French riotsEU Parliament vice president announces hunger strike over civilians in OleshkyMalaysia de-registers main opposition coalition ahead of state electionSevere floods hit Valencia and MallorcaUN warns 19.2 million Afghans face acute food insecurity this winterSouth Korea withdraws more embassy staff from Ukraine after POW disputeRubio visits India on trade and Russian oil, confirms Quad summit in ManilaChina creates state-owned National Data Group in Xiong'an to drive AIGangs ambush international force in Haiti and kidnap four Salvadoran troopsUS court keeps Saudi engineer jailed in OpenAI espionage case
Bota

The Situation · Edition 40

Wednesday, 21 October 2026

← 20 OctToday →

Energy prices carried the day. Brent touched $112 on Tuesday before easing, and European gas reached its highest since late 2022, as attacks around Hormuz and on Saudi Arabia squeezed supply. Britain announced that RAF Typhoons will fly defensive missions over Saudi Arabia, after the death toll from Monday's Houthi strike on a Yemeni government camp rose to 73.

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The Gulf crisis ran into wider diplomacy. The New York Times reported an unannounced visit to Israel by US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth while Washington weighs strikes on Iran, and Netanyahu says he discussed toppling Iran's regime with Trump. On Ukraine, talks in Oslo ended without a breakthrough, and US envoy Steve Witkoff is due to take the ideas to Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg on Wednesday. Trump said Russia behaved well and Ukraine gave nothing, while Zelensky accused Washington of withholding air-defence missiles. In France, night curfews calmed cities after weekend riots, and the government will deploy soldiers and extra police before new protests on Saturday.

Markets showed strain around artificial intelligence. CoreWeave's unsecured bonds sold off and Korean data-centre firm Elice lost 32% on its first trading day, yet Reuters reports that ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent have ordered Nvidia chips worth more than $35 billion. The US ordered civilian agencies to remove DeepSeek tools, and Beijing warned of countermeasures, according to Global Times.

Less noticed was a drone strike on a market in the disputed Abyei area on Monday that killed 53 people, according to local authorities. South Sudan blames the Sudanese army and summoned Sudan's ambassador. Tomorrow, watch what Witkoff brings back from Putin.

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Global · 3

Middle East · 7

Europe · 16

Africa · 4

Asia · 13

South America · 2

North America · 6

Oceania · 1