Friday, 6 November 2026

In the Gulf, Iran says five tankers and a tugboat caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz after striking mines, and the Financial Times reports that Moscow agreed to supply 90 missile launchers to Iran. In Israel, Gadi Eisenkot has 67 recommendations from lawmakers against 46 for Netanyahu after an ultra-Orthodox party declined to back the prime minister. President Herzog will name his choice on Sunday. Ukrainian police raised the toll from Russia's strike on the Komyshuvakha aid site to 42, and Ukrainian drones hit Ryazan overnight. In Paraguay, President Santiago Peña announced his resignation after the central bank seized the digital bank Ueno, though Congress has not accepted it.

The Nasdaq fell sharply on Thursday as AI and chip shares extended their slide on fears of tougher scrutiny of data-center expansion. The Bank of England raised its key rate by 25 basis points to 4%, its first hike in three years, and warned that more may follow. Oil steadied below $100 as traders weighed Iran diplomacy.

Less noticed: a Helsinki court sentenced the Russian captain of the cargo ship Fitburg to three and a half years in prison over damage to two undersea telecommunications cables in the Gulf of Finland. Next, watch Monday, when Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu receives French unions and employers after the cost-of-living marches.