World News · Tuesday, 6 October 2026

01 Briefing what happened

Yemen's government retakes towns on the Bab el-Mandeb strait as Pakistan and Turkey agree to send forces to Saudi Arabia

Backed by 100 Saudi-led jets, Yemen's government pushed the Houthis back along the Red Sea coast and says Mocha has fallen, which the Houthis deny. The Houthis fired at Riyadh's airport, and Saudi Arabia's two pact partners agreed to deploy forces in the kingdom.

100

Saudi-led fighter jets flying in support of the ground push

the coalition says they hit more than 300 Houthi targets [10][6]

150km

of Red Sea coast the Houthis took in September

Yemen's government now says it has taken most of it back [3][8]

184,000

Yemenis pushed from their homes since the war restarted

Yemen is the poorest country in the Arab world [8]

1.4 million

active troops across Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey

the three pact members together, by one military index [15]

The lead story — what happened

Yemen's government forces began a ground offensive on Monday on the Red Sea coast, with Saudi-led jets bombing ahead of them. [1][2]
The target is the Bab el-Mandeb strait, the narrow sea passage between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, which ships use between Asia and Europe. [3]
Officials say government forces retook Dhubab, the town just north of the strait, and the nearby towns of Bab and Hadeid. [2][4]
The forces took Dhubab's airstrip and cut the road from Dhubab to Mocha, a port the Houthis seized last month. [5][6][7]
Late on Monday Yemen's defence ministry said Mocha had fallen. [8] A Houthi official then filmed himself in Mocha's streets, saying the city was still theirs. [9]
The Saudi-led coalition says 100 jets flew in support and destroyed more than 300 targets, including a store of 20 ballistic missiles. [10][6][11] Reuters could not check the gains. [8]
The Houthis gained ground too. Near Taiz, Yemen's third-largest city, they took parts of a mountain road and left government forces cut off, five military sources said. [8]
The Houthis fired at King Khalid airport in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, and said all Saudi airspace except over Mecca and Medina is now a target. [12][13]
The same day Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey agreed to send 'the agreed military forces and capabilities' to Saudi Arabia quickly, under a defence pact signed on 7 August. [14][15]
The pact says an attack on one member is an attack on all three. [15] The statement named no enemy and gave no numbers. [14]
A US official and a regional official say the US helped plan the offensive and shared intelligence and targets. [16] Rubio, the US secretary of state, would say only that the two countries have a defence agreement. [1]
The fighting has pushed 184,000 people from their homes since the war restarted, the UN migration agency says. [8]

Who is involved

Rashad al-Alimi

head of the council that leads Yemen's internationally recognised government; he ordered the offensive on Sunday
The Houthis

an armed movement backed by Iran that has held Yemen's capital, Sanaa, since 2014; it took the coast last month
The Giants Brigades

southern Yemeni forces allied with Yemen's government; they led the ground push on Dhubab
The Saudi-led coalition

the Arab military alliance backing Yemen's government since 2015; its jets flew the air campaign
Pakistan and Turkey

Saudi Arabia's two partners in the Mecca defence pact; they agreed to send forces to the kingdom

How it unfolded

2014 The Houthis take Sanaa and push out Yemen's government [5]
July 2026 A four-year calm breaks down and the Houthis attack Saudi airports and oil sites [5]
7 Aug Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey sign their defence pact [15]
September The Houthis seize about 150km of coast around the strait [3]
Sun 4 Oct Al-Alimi orders an offensive to retake all Houthi land [5]
Mon 5 Oct Government forces push up the coast, and the pact members agree to deploy [2][14]

Where this points

Watch whether government forces can hold Mocha and Dhubab once the jets move on, since an analyst says their army is spread thin on old equipment, and whether any Pakistani or Turkish forces actually arrive. [7][14]

What is pushing on the whole day

The bar and the word are our reading of how hard each one is pushing today. The arrow is where it is heading. The evidence is in the stories below.

Wars crossing borders High↑

Houthi missiles were aimed at the main airport of Riyadh, the Saudi capital. [12] A grain ship sank in Romania's waters after what Ukraine calls a Russian drone strike. [17] Ethiopia says Eritrea, Sudan and Egypt arm the rebels fighting its army. [18]

Parliaments that cannot pass laws Building↑

Spain's prime minister called an election after parliament voted down his housing rules. [19] Romania's president named his fourth choice for prime minister in five months. [20] Kosovo's parliament stopped before a final vote on a law about a war crimes court. [21]

Crowds marching on governments High↑

In France, school pupils have blocked 400 to 500 high schools. [22] In Spain, more than 70,000 people marched over rents in Madrid. [23] In Kosovo, hundreds of protesters clashed with police outside parliament. [24]

Governments taking away citizenship Building↑

The US Justice Department filed 40 cases to strip naturalised Americans of citizenship. [25] Kuwait took citizenship from 415 more people in six decrees. [26]

The rest of the day

38 more stories on this beat.

Each with its own sources. None of these is a link to the story above.

02
Separatists win power in Quebec

The Parti Quebecois, which wants Quebec to leave Canada, won Monday's election in the French-speaking province. [27][28] It fell short of the 64 seats needed to rule alone, so it will need other parties' votes to pass laws. [27] Its leader, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, has promised a third vote on independence, after 1980 and 1995, but only once Donald Trump has left office. [29][27] Only about 30% of Quebecers back leaving, polls show. [27]

Why it matters — Canada's prime minister, Mark Carney, now faces two unity tests at once, because Alberta votes on 19 October on whether to hold its own separation referendum. [27] Quebec's last independence vote, in 1995, failed by a very narrow margin.
03
Spain will vote on 29 November

Spain's prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, called an early general election for 29 November. [19][23] Parliament had voted down two emergency housing decrees on Friday, which aimed to cut evictions and speculation. [19][30] Rents have nearly doubled in a decade, and more than 70,000 people marched over housing in Madrid on Saturday. [23] His Socialist party also faces corruption cases, and his wife is due to stand trial. [31]

Why it matters — Polls suggest the conservative People's Party, with the far-right Vox, is the most likely winner. [23] If that happens, a far-right party would enter Spain's government for the first time since the dictator Francisco Franco died in 1975. [23]
04
Grain ship sinks in Romania's waters

The Royad Mammadov, a 139-metre Turkish-owned ship carrying corn, caught fire and sank in Romania's part of the Black Sea on Monday. [32][17] Two crew died and 11 were rescued. [17] Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, said two Russian drones hit it. [33] Romania, a NATO member, gave no cause and did not answer whether a drone was involved. [32]

Why it matters — The Black Sea carries Ukraine's grain to the world, and a sinking inside a NATO country's waters makes the war harder to keep contained. [17][33] France's president said the same day that Russia has chosen to hit more civilian targets in Ukraine. [34]
05
US envoy meets Sudan's army chief

Massad Boulos, President Trump's adviser on Arab and African affairs, met Sudan's army chief, General Abdel-Fattah Burhan, at a lunch in Egypt on Saturday. [35] The meeting came less than two weeks after the US held back Burhan's visa for the UN, over a ceasefire plan his side has resisted. [36] Sudan's army has fought the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group, since April 2023. [36] At least 59,000 people have been killed and some 13 million displaced. [35]
- For28 · 60%
- Against10 · 21%
- Abstained9 · 19%
How the 47 members of the UN Human Rights Council voted on keeping its Sudan inquiry going.
Why it matters — On Monday the UN Human Rights Council voted 28 to 10, with nine abstaining, to keep investigating abuses in Sudan and called for a ceasefire. [37] The same day an air attack hit a World Food Programme truck in North Kordofan, killing one person. [37]
06
A French schoolboy loses his hand

A 15-year-old protester in Lens, in northern France, had his hand blown off on Monday, and an investigation has been opened. [38] A police union source said he appeared to have picked up a tear gas grenade, which exploded. [39] Pupils have blocked 400 to 500 high schools over crowded classrooms, broken buildings and missing teachers. [22][40] At least 190 students have been hurt and more than 5,000 people arrested. [40]

Why it matters — Unions called a national day of protest for Tuesday. [40] The movement now sits at the centre of the race to replace President Macron, months before the election. [39]
07
Kosovo clashes over a war crimes court

Police used tear gas and water cannon on protesters outside Kosovo's parliament on Monday night, and 12 people were hurt. [21][24] The crowd wanted a law to weaken the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, an internationally staffed court in The Hague. [21] That court recently jailed former president Hashim Thaci and three other ex-rebel commanders for 13 to 25 years for crimes in the 1998-99 war. [24] The law passed a first vote, but parliament stopped before the second. [21]

Why it matters — The law would cap sentences at 15 years, let them be served in Kosovo, and let Kosovo's own Supreme Court hear appeals. [21] The court was set up in 2015 as part of Kosovo's legal system, but it sits abroad with foreign judges. [21]
08
Abiy starts a new term and wants a sea port

Ethiopia's prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, was sworn in for five more years on Monday, after his party won 438 of 547 seats in June. [41] In his speech he said Ethiopia, which has no coast, must get a port on the Red Sea. [42] It lost its coast in 1993, when Eritrea became independent. [42] Overnight, air strikes killed at least 17 people near Mekelle, the capital of the Tigray region, an aid bulletin said. [18]

Why it matters — Eritrea says Ethiopia wants the sea through Eritrean land, and Ethiopia accuses Eritrea, Sudan and Egypt of arming Tigray's rebels, which all three deny. [42][18]
09
ICC names two Taliban ministers

The International Criminal Court made public arrest warrants for two Taliban ministers on Monday: Habibullah Agha, who runs education, and Neda Mohammad Nadim, who runs universities. [43][44] The warrants were issued in September 2025 and kept secret until now. [43] The court accuses them of persecuting women and girls, who have been barred from school after primary age and from university. [43] Earlier warrants named the Taliban's supreme leader and its chief judge. [44]

Why it matters — Afghanistan's rulers have now been charged at the top and in the two ministries that run the bans. [44] The warrants can only be carried out if a country where they travel arrests them.
10
South Korean diesel reaches Russia

More than 176,000 tonnes of fuel, mostly diesel, left South Korean ports for Russia's far east in July and August, a Guardian study of ship-tracking data found. [45] Seven tankers made 14 trips, and three of them are under UK and EU sanctions. [45] One loaded at sea from another ship, which hides where the fuel came from. [45] The trade does not appear to break South Korean law. [45]

Why it matters — South Korea sends Ukraine helmets, body armour and loans, while this fuel reaches Russia as Ukrainian drones knock out Russian refineries. [45] It is not known who owned or sold the fuel. [45]
11
Iran's president calls talks pointless

Iran's president, Masoud Pezeshkian, said talks with the US were meaningless, because the US had attacked Iran three times after rounds of talks. [46] The same day the US Treasury warned foreign banks that still deal with sanctioned Iranian banks. [47] It said they could be punished at any time with no warning, including through branches in other countries. [47] The war began on 28 February, when the US and Israel attacked Iran. [47]

Why it matters — Iran's president has ruled out talks, and the US is going after the foreign banks that still handle Iran's money. [46][47]
12
Military plane crash kills 32 in Nigeria

A Nigerian air force plane carrying 25 passengers and seven crew crashed in Ondo state, in southern Nigeria, on Monday morning. [48] President Bola Tinubu said all 32 people on board died. [48] The ATR-42 was on a routine flight from Edo state to Lagos, Nigeria's business capital, and vanished from radar about halfway. [48] A search began at once. [48]

Why it matters — Tinubu sent condolences to the families of all 32 people on board. [48] The air force has not yet said what brought the plane down.
13
Afghanistan talks in Moscow end without a deal

The eighth round of the Moscow Format, where Russia hosts Afghanistan's neighbours, ended on Monday without a joint statement. [49] It was possibly the first time the group failed to agree one. [49] Russia's envoy, Zamir Kabulov, said the Afghan and Pakistani delegations could not agree. [49] The split was over how to word terrorism, which Pakistan says comes from Afghan soil. [49]

Why it matters — China, India, Iran and Central Asian states were in the room, so the quarrel between Pakistan and Afghanistan now blocks a wider regional line on Afghanistan. [49]
14
Romania tries a fourth prime minister

Romania's president, Nicusor Dan, named a senior diplomat, Luca Niculescu, to try to form a government on Monday. [20] He is the fourth candidate since the ruling coalition collapsed in May. [20] Parliament rejected two earlier picks, and a third never reached a vote. [20] Niculescu has 10 days to win a vote in parliament. [20]

Why it matters — Five months without a full government threatens Romania's economy, and Dan faces calls to dissolve parliament for an early election. [20]
15
US talks with only some NATO allies

Elbridge Colby, a senior US defence official, met defence officials from Sweden, Finland, Poland, Germany and the Netherlands, a group known as the Bergen Group. [50] France, Britain and the Baltic states were not invited. [50] The US wants Europe to take the lead in defending itself while it pulls back bombers, submarines and troops. [50] NATO says small meetings of allies are normal. [50]

Why it matters — One analyst warned the format suggests the US might defend some allies before others, which matters most to the countries left out. [50]
16
Germany and France want tougher trade weapons

Germany's chancellor, Friedrich Merz, and France's president, Emmanuel Macron, wrote jointly to the European Commission on Monday. [51] They said the EU's tools against unfair trade are no longer enough and asked for tougher ones. [51] The letter named no country, but the EU's large trade deficit with China is the clearest target. [51] It came days before the EU's trade chief, Maros Sefcovic, visits Beijing. [51]

Why it matters — The EU's two biggest economies are pushing the bloc to be able to hit back harder, just as it sits down with China. [51]
17
Australia's opposition promises a record migration cut

Angus Taylor, who leads Australia's opposition Coalition, promised to cut net migration to 100,000 a year for two years. [52] He called it the biggest cut in Australia's history. [52] The plan would reduce temporary visa holders by about 650,000 over four years, more than a third. [52] Places for refugees would be halved to 10,000. [52]

Why it matters — The One Nation party and the Labor government have both moved to win voters angry about migration, and this is the opposition's answer. [52]
18
Trump drops taxpayer money for his ads

Donald Trump said he will stop paying for TV ads he appears in with public money, after criticism from both parties. [53] More than a dozen ads have run in recent weeks, praising his tax cuts and attacking the 'deep state'. [53] US law bars government money from paying for political ads, which raised questions about their legality. [53] His political fundraising group, MAGA Inc, will now pay. [53]

Why it matters — The ads run just before November's midterm elections, when Democrats hope to win one or both houses of Congress. [53]
19
Fort Hood gunman to face a firing squad

The US Defense Department said Nidal Hasan, a former army major, will be executed by firing squad. [54] Hasan, an army psychiatrist, shot dead 13 unarmed soldiers at Fort Hood in Texas in 2009. [54] The defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, recommended the method and Trump approved it. [54] It will be the first military execution by firing squad since the Second World War. [54]

Why it matters — The army secretary will now set the time and place. [54] Hasan's attack remains the deadliest non-combat attack ever on a US military base. [54]
20
US files a record 40 cases to strip citizenship

The US Justice Department filed 40 cases to take citizenship away from naturalised Americans, people who were born abroad and became citizens. [25] They are accused of hiding crimes, such as money laundering and visa fraud, when they applied. [25] Attorney General Todd Blanche called it the largest such effort in modern history. [25] The people come from countries including Mexico, Pakistan, China and Sierra Leone. [25]

Why it matters — Most of the convictions came after the people had already become citizens. [25] Two of the 40 are also accused of spying for China. [25]
21
New York declares a measles disaster

New York state declared a disaster emergency over measles, after 108 cases this year. [55] The order lets more health workers give the measles vaccine until 4 November. [55] Next door, Pennsylvania passed 1,004 cases with five deaths, its largest outbreak in more than 30 years. [56] The US has nearly 3,900 cases this year, its worst since 1991. [56]

Pennsylvania1,004 cases
New York state108 cases
Measles cases so far this year. New York declared a disaster at about a tenth of Pennsylvania's count.

Why it matters — Measles was once almost gone from the US, and health experts link its return to vaccination rates falling below 95%. [55]
22
Britain threatens to expel Israeli diplomats

Britain has threatened to expel one Israeli diplomat for every British diplomat forced out when Israel closes Britain's consulate in East Jerusalem this week. [57] That could mean up to 27 Israeli diplomats. [57] Israel is closing it in protest at Britain's ban on trade in goods from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. [57] Britain's foreign ministry would not comment, but did not deny it. [57]

Why it matters — Expelling so many would arguably be the lowest point in relations between the two countries since Israel was founded in 1948. [57]
23
Israeli lecturer charged with plotting to kill Arabs

Israel's state prosecutor charged a Bar Ilan University mathematician, about 60, with planning to murder hundreds of Arab citizens of Israel. [58] Prosecutors say he spent three years on the plan and wanted to drive Arabs out to Jordan, Lebanon and Gaza. [58] He allegedly tried to recruit a far-right former lawmaker, Moshe Feiglin, and then to blackmail him. [58] His name is under a court gag order. [58]

Why it matters — Feiglin's faction is running with the finance minister's party in Israel's 27 October election, so the case lands in the middle of the campaign. [58]
24
Three years since 7 October

Israel set state ceremonies in Jerusalem for Monday to mark three years since the Hamas attack of 7 October 2023. [59] UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for the ceasefire in Gaza to become permanent and for aid at scale. [60] He named the more than 1,200 people killed in Israel and the 251 taken hostage. [60] He spoke of Palestinians' massive loss of life in Gaza without giving a number. [60]

Why it matters — Guterres also asked for international law to be respected and for a political path to peace across the region. [60] His words mean the ceasefire in Gaza is still not permanent, three years after the war began. [60]
25
Flydubai attacker planned it since July

Investigators believe the co-pilot who attacked his captain on a flydubai flight to Tel Aviv last week first planned it for July. [61] Hamam al-Hammami, a 29-year-old from Oman, may have joined an airline that flies to Israel for this purpose, experts said. [61] Police in at least six countries are looking into his past. [61] While flydubai's Israel flights stay suspended, 37 other flights carried 7,479 stranded passengers from Dubai to Tel Aviv between Friday and Monday. [62]

Why it matters — Flydubai had flown up to 10 flights a day between the UAE and Israel, and the UAE's attorney general says the inquiry into motives and links goes on. [62][63]
26
Life sentence for London embassy attacker

Abdullah Sabah Albadri, a 34-year-old Kuwaiti, was jailed for life in London for trying to attack Israel's embassy. [64] Armed police stopped him climbing the gates with two knives. [64] On camera he told officers he wanted to 'make a crime' inside. [64] He must serve at least 20 years, and nobody was seriously hurt. [64]

Why it matters — Britain's counter-terrorism police praised the officers for stopping an armed man with no one badly injured. [64]
27
WHO says Siberia plague risk looks low

The World Health Organization said the risk to the public from a suspected plague case in Siberia appears low, based on unofficial information. [65] A worker at a plague research institute in Irkutsk died last week of pneumonia with no known cause. [66] Russian officials say they found no sign of the germs she worked with, but a hospital is under quarantine. [66] Donald Trump said the US was ready to help Russia. [65]

Why it matters — Pneumonic plague can pass from person to person, which is why the US secretary of state called the case a reason for focus. [66][65]
28
MPs want an inquiry after a whistleblower's death

British MPs called for an inquiry into how Britain's financial regulator treats whistleblowers. [67] It follows the death of Simon Andriesz, a British trader who reported links between Jeffrey Epstein and US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick. [67] Andriesz worked at BGC Partners, the firm Lutnick ran, and raised his concerns with the regulator and the FBI. [67] His family says he took his own life on 23 September. [67]

Why it matters — The MPs say his death raises deeply troubling questions about what happens to people who report wrongdoing. [67]
29
Kuwait strips 415 more people of citizenship

Kuwait took citizenship away from 415 people in six decrees published in its official gazette. [26] One of them is Mahmoud Haidar, a billionaire property investor. [26] The gazette did not publish the other names, and the decrees also cover family members. [26] Kuwait removed citizenship from almost 50,000 people in 2025. [26]

All of 202550,000 people
This week's decrees415 people
People who lost Kuwaiti citizenship. The 2025 figure is almost 50,000, so this week's 415 is one more step in a long campaign.

Why it matters — The review has stripped thousands of people of citizenship in two years. [26] Kuwait's cabinet approved changes to the citizenship law earlier this year. [26]
30
Sri Lankan faces execution over a Facebook post

A Saudi appeals court sentenced Anojan Sivarasa, a 24-year-old Sri Lankan migrant worker, to death for blasphemy over a Facebook comment. [68] His family has heard nothing about him since 28 September. [68] Sri Lankan political parties and government bodies are asking for mercy. [68] Saudi Arabia has given no date for the execution. [68]

Why it matters — The case has led to petitions across Sri Lanka. [68] Sri Lanka's government has told the family to stop speaking in public while it negotiates. [68]
31
Sri Lanka gets its next IMF payment

The International Monetary Fund reached a deal with Sri Lanka that lets it draw about $345 million more from a $2.9 billion rescue. [69] Sri Lanka could not pay $46 billion of foreign debts in 2022, its worst economic crisis. [69] The IMF said the economy has proved remarkably resilient. [69] It criticised Sri Lanka's government for bringing back a $126 million diesel subsidy. [69]

Why it matters — The IMF warned that higher energy prices, the El Nino weather pattern and the war in the Middle East could still hurt the recovery. [69]
32
Pakistani sailors freed from pirates fly home

Three Pakistani sailors from the MT Honour 25, an oil tanker hijacked by Somali pirates in April, are due to fly home on Wednesday. [70] Police in Puntland, a region of Somalia, took the ship back last week. [70] Three Pakistani crew died during the operation, and four injured men reached Karachi on Sunday. [70] The ship had 19 crew, 10 of them Pakistani. [70]

Why it matters — Their return ends six months held at sea. [70] Three of their Pakistani shipmates did not survive the operation that freed them. [70]
33
Pakistan records its sixth polio case

Pakistan reported its sixth polio case of the year, in a seven-year-old boy in Khyber district. [71] Five of the six cases are in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan. [71] Officials have opened an investigation into the case. [71] Officials are planning another vaccination drive for older children. [71]

Why it matters — Polio can paralyse a child for life. Pakistan is finding new cases within days of each other: the fifth was reported on 29 September. [71]
34
Imran Khan's party says no deal without him

Leaders of the PTI, the party of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan, said there can be no deal with Pakistan's government unless Khan takes part. [72] Talks broke down at the weekend. [72] A convoy led by the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province stopped for the night in Kohat. [73] It aims to reach the edge of Punjab province by 8 October, despite a government ban on gatherings in Islamabad. [73]

Why it matters — Pakistan's government has vowed to stop any gathering in Islamabad, the capital, which is where the march is heading. [73]
35
Bangladesh blames Hasina for slow India ties

Bangladesh's junior foreign minister, Humaiyun Kobir, said the main obstacle to a visit to India by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman is Sheikh Hasina. [74] Hasina, the prime minister ousted in 2024, lives in India with her team. [74] Kobir said they are trying to unsettle Bangladesh from Delhi and called on India to restrain them. [74] He said India had shown some positive signs. [74]

Why it matters — Kobir accused Hasina of killing about 2,000 people during the 2024 uprising that removed her. [74] India hosting her is now the main question between the two neighbours. [74]
36
Deported Nicaraguan is jailed again

Jeffrey Jarquin, a 35-year-old Nicaraguan, was jailed again on arrival in Managua after the US deported him last week. [75] He had been tortured in El Modelo prison after the 2018 protests against Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, who rule Nicaragua together. [75] He fled to the US, and a court in Louisiana rejected his asylum claim in July. [75] His family says he is back in the same prison. [75]

Why it matters — More than 800,000 people have fled Nicaragua's crackdown, and his case shows what can happen to those sent back. [75]
37
Wounded US soldiers say their care failed

US soldiers badly wounded by an Iranian drone at Port Shuaiba, in Kuwait, on 1 March told AP the military's medical system failed them. [76] The strike, on the second day of the war, killed six soldiers. [76] Soldiers and families describe injuries missed, a poor plan to reach hospitals and red tape after. [76] The US Defense Department says the care was appropriate. [76]

Why it matters — Dozens of soldiers were hurt in that one strike. [76] The dispute is over whether the military was ready to treat its wounded on the second day of the war. [76]
38
Report tracks Russian lies in Baltic elections

Refute, a London company that tracks false information, says Russia-linked campaigns targeted elections in Latvia and Estonia. [77] One falsely tied Estonia's president, Alar Karis, to Jeffrey Epstein. [77] Another invented a story of a Ukrainian soldier killing three NATO troops. [77] One video was made in eight versions, some with AI footage, for Arabic and Spanish speakers. [77]

Why it matters — Estonia chose a president in September and Latvia voted in October, and the report says the aim was to make voters distrust their own institutions. [77]
39
500 former European ministers urge E1 sanctions

More than 500 former European ministers and senior officials asked the EU to act against Israel's E1 settlement plan near Jerusalem. [78] They want sanctions on banks and other firms that help build E1 and other settlements. [78] They named Germany and Italy as blocking any EU action. [78] Signers include former French prime ministers Dominique de Villepin and Alain Juppe. [78]

Why it matters — E1 would cut the West Bank in two near Jerusalem, which is why opponents say it ends the idea of a Palestinian state beside Israel.

02 Lesson why it matters

Why governments help one side of a war in ways they can deny

Open help makes a country part of a war, so governments send what is hard to trace: intelligence, fuel through other ships, money through banks abroad.

The twist

A country can give a lot of help to one side of a war and still say it is not involved. That works only as long as nobody can show the help in public.

The picture

3 of 7

tankers under UK and EU sanctions

Seven tankers carried South Korean fuel to Russia in July and August. Three were already under UK and EU sanctions.

How it works

A government wants one side in a war to win
Open help would make it a party to the war, and a target for the other side
So it sends help that is hard to trace, like intelligence, fuel or money
The other side knows, but cannot show proof in public
The help keeps flowing until someone publishes the records

The same force, elsewhere today

Where this chain is also running, in today's other stories.

South Korean diesel reaches Russia

The fuel moved on sanctioned tankers, one loaded ship to ship at sea, so port records do not show who owned or sold it.
Abiy starts a new term

Ethiopia says Eritrea, Sudan and Egypt arm Tigray's rebels, and all three deny it, so the charge stays an accusation nobody outside can check.
Iran's president calls talks pointless

The US is trying to end quiet help by threatening banks that serve Iran through branches abroad, with no warning given.

Where you've seen this

Election ads

money sent through a separate group, so the candidate's name is not on the bill

Company rivals

a firm pays for a study that attacks a competitor, under another name

School fights

the friend who passes notes and holds coats but never throws a punch

The catch

Once ship records, bank transfers or a captured fighter make the help public, the helper must stop or admit it, and admitting it can pull it into the war.

And the whole of it

Plenty of ordinary people sit inside this chain: a tanker crew, a bank clerk in a third country, a taxpayer whose government says it is not involved. Each of them sees one shipment or one transfer, and almost none of them can see what it adds up to.

03 Truth what's really going on

What is really going on

Saudi Arabia, with US intelligence and a new promise of Pakistani and Turkish forces, is trying to win back the Red Sea coast the Houthis took in September. [16][14][3] It is doing so because the Houthis now fire at Saudi airports and at the pipeline that carries its oil to the Red Sea while Hormuz is shut. [12][13]

Who gains

Saudi Arabia — Retaking the coast would loosen the Houthis' hold on the Red Sea route, where its East-West pipeline now sends its oil while Hormuz is shut. [8][13][79]
The Parti Quebecois — It won power with independence backed by about 30% of voters, because support was split across several parties. [27]
Pedro Sanchez — By calling the vote himself, he picked the date and is campaigning on housing, while his party faces corruption cases. [31][23]
Spain's People's Party and Vox — Polls make a conservative government backed by the far right the likeliest result of the early vote. [23]
Russia — It received South Korean diesel on sanctioned tankers while Ukrainian drones hit its own refineries. [45]

Who pays

Yemeni civilians — 184,000 have fled their homes, and strikes near Sanaa killed a woman and a girl, the Houthi-run health ministry says. [8][6]
The crew of the Royad Mammadov — Two sailors died when the grain ship burned and sank in Romanian waters. [17]
Sudanese civilians — An air attack hit a food truck and killed one person on the day the UN called for a ceasefire. [37]
French high school students — At least 190 have been hurt and more than 5,000 people arrested since the blockades began. [40]
Naturalised Americans and Kuwaitis — The US filed 40 cases to remove citizenship and Kuwait removed it from 415 people, the US mostly over crimes committed after the oath, Kuwait without publishing most of the names. [25][26]

What nobody knows yet

Open questions from across today’s stories — ours included.

01

Who holds Mocha.

Yemen's defence ministry says the city has fallen, and a Houthi official filmed himself in its streets saying it has not. Reuters could not verify either side. [8][9]
02

How many Yemenis the fighting has driven from home.

Al Jazeera puts it at more than 100,000 since July, while the UN migration agency, cited by Reuters, says 184,000 since the war resumed. The two counts start at different points. [3][8]
03

What Pakistan and Turkey will actually send, and when.

The joint statement promises 'agreed forces and capabilities' but gives no numbers and names no enemy, and both countries want to stay mediators in the US-Iran war. [14][15]
04

How deep the US role in the Yemen offensive goes.

Two officials describe intelligence, targeting and planning help, but the US secretary of state would not give details. [16][1]
05

Whether a drone sank the Royad Mammadov.

Ukraine's president says two Russian drones hit it, and Romania has not said what caused the fire. [33][32]
06

Who owned and sold the South Korean fuel that reached Russia.

South Korean port records do not show it, and the tankers' owners did not answer questions. [45]
07

Whether Quebec will ever hold its promised referendum.

The Parti Quebecois has no majority, has said it will wait until Trump leaves office, and only about 30% of Quebecers back independence. [27]
08

What blew off the Lens schoolboy's hand.

The local prefect would not say if a police grenade was involved, while a police union source told AFP the boy picked one up. An investigation is open. [38][39]
09

Whether the Siberian lab worker had plague.

Russia says it found no sign of the germs she worked with, and the WHO's low-risk view rests on unofficial information. [66][65]

04 Hope carry this

Sri Lanka, which could not pay its foreign debts in 2022, reached a deal to draw another $345 million from the IMF. The IMF said its economy has proved remarkably resilient.

Also true today

Three Pakistani sailors held on a tanker hijacked by Somali pirates in April are due to fly home on Wednesday.
The UAE's aviation authority said 37 flights carried 7,479 stranded passengers from Dubai to Tel Aviv between Friday and Monday, and all of them reached their destinations.