Tuesday, 6 October 2026

In Yemen, Saudi-backed government forces claim control of the Bab el-Mandeb area, which the Houthis deny while striking Saudi targets. Attacks on tankers around the Strait of Hormuz continued over the weekend, and Iran says no US warships remain in the Gulf region. The Pentagon confirmed that all US bombers have left RAF Fairford, citing Iran-linked threats, while London says the base is safe. In Ukraine, a Russian drone hit a bridge in Kyiv during German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's visit on Sunday, and Rosatom says Ukrainian drones struck facilities at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. Ukraine blames Russian drones for the sinking of a Turkish-owned grain ship off Romania, which Romania has not confirmed.

The euro fell on Monday to its weakest level against the dollar since May 2025 as concern over French public finances spread into currency markets. Saudi Aramco's chief said rebuilding depleted oil inventories could take up to two years. On the technology side, Micron's profit and revenue surged and Foxconn's third-quarter revenue beat forecasts on AI demand, while Huawei says Qualcomm will pay to use its patents for the first time, a deal that still needs US regulatory approval.

Less noticed is the Irkutsk case in Siberia: a 28-year-old worker at the city's anti-plague institute has died, local media report suspected pneumonic plague, and Russian authorities say the cause was pneumonia of unknown origin. Watch tomorrow for whether the cause of death is clarified and how Imran Khan's supporters fare in their march on locked-down Islamabad.