Monday, 5 October 2026

In Ukraine, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz made a surprise trip to Kyiv on Sunday and announced new aid, and a Russian drone hit the Nordbrücke over the Dnipro during his stay. In the Gulf, tanker attacks resumed in the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran says stays shut until its conditions are met, while the Pentagon confirmed that all US bombers have left RAF Fairford amid fears of an Iran-backed plot. Yemen's Saudi-backed government announced an offensive to retake all Houthi-held territory, hours after the Houthis cut Taiz's supply route. In the Horn of Africa, federal troops and allied Tigrayan fighters took Mekelle over the weekend, and Egypt, Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan rejected unilateral Nile measures.

US Treasury yields have topped 5%, according to Bloomberg, and the Wall Street Journal reports that a deepening selloff weighed on stocks. G7 countries agreed to release 100m barrels of oil and diesel to ease prices, while OPEC+ kept its November quotas unchanged. In technology, President Trump named Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton to head a new "Super Intelligence Force" for federal AI policy, and Bloomberg reports that DeepSeek and Huawei are challenging Nvidia.

Less noticed is the Ebola outbreak in Congo, which authorities describe as the deadliest in the country's history. France's foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot visited Bunia in Ituri on Saturday to pledge support. Tomorrow, watch Quebec's provincial election, where Le Monde says the sovereigntist Parti Québécois leads the polls.