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Egypt Pledges ‘All Necessary’ Support to Saudi Arabia as Parliament Weighs Sending Troops Against Houthi Attacks: October 18, 2026

CAIRO — Egypt said Sunday it is ready to provide “all necessary and possible support to Saudi Arabia to defend its safety and stability,” as Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis press on with attacks on the kingdom, Al Jazeera reported.

The pledge came from Egypt’s National Defence Council, chaired by President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, which said Egypt “stands fully with” Saudi Arabia in defending its resources, territorial integrity and Islamic holy sites, and promised to step up diplomacy to calm the region. The presidency’s statement did not mention troops, but Mostafa Bakry, a lawmaker close to the state, said on X that the council had approved sending forces on “a defensive mission,” The National reported.

Parliament convened an emergency closed session at 1 p.m. Cairo time on Sunday to consider authorizing el-Sisi to send forces if Riyadh asks. Under Article 152 of Egypt’s constitution, the president cannot send the army on a combat mission abroad without consulting the defence council and winning the approval of two-thirds of lawmakers. The pro-Sisi majority was widely expected to approve the request, and approval alone would not mean troops are deployed, The National said. An official result had not been reported by the outlets cited here at the time of writing.

“We do not want to fight or attack anyone. We will only defend Saudi Arabia,” el-Sisi said in a speech at the Military Academy on Saturday, according to The National.

The Houthis have attacked Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport at least 20 times since fighting flared again with Yemen’s Saudi-backed government, and have also targeted state oil giant Saudi Aramco, Al Jazeera reported. Gulf analyst Thomas Bonnie James told Al Jazeera that an Egyptian resident was killed in an attack on the airport, that millions of Egyptians live and work in the kingdom, and that Houthi pressure on the Bab al-Mandeb strait threatens Suez Canal revenue.

Yahya al-Raei, speaker of the Houthi-run parliament in Sanaa, warned Cairo that being drawn into the conflict “would pose a grave danger to its national security,” The National reported. Turkey and Pakistan have made their own pledges to help defend the kingdom under a Mecca defence pact signed in August.

Update, 11:55 a.m. PT, October 18: After a closed session that ran nearly three hours, the House of Representatives postponed the vote on el-Sisi’s request, extending deliberations into Monday and Tuesday so every lawmaker can speak, with a vote now expected Tuesday, Mada Masr and Ahram Online reported. Lawmakers were mostly in support but no details of what military support might look like were discussed, MPs told AFP. Mada Masr said MPs demanded more detail on the armed forces’ role, and Al-Masry Al-Youm reported that the Wafd party’s Mohamed Abdel Aleem Daoud and the Egyptian Social Democratic Party said they would abstain until they see the full details.

Sources: Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera explainer, The National, Mada Masr, Ahram Online, AFP via BSS

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EU Demands ‘Full Accountability’ After Masked Israeli Settlers Attack European Diplomats and a French Mayor in Taybeh: October 18, 2026

JERUSALEM — The European Union has condemned an attack by masked Israeli settlers on a delegation of European diplomats in the occupied West Bank, saying it expects “full accountability as well as effective measures” to stop violence against Palestinians and journalists, BBC News reported.

The diplomats — from Belgium, France, Poland and the Catholic Church — had gone on Saturday to Taybeh, a largely Christian village near Ramallah, to assess near-daily settler attacks on Palestinians harvesting olives. Belgium said its consul general was among those targeted and that a consulate car had a window smashed.

Bernard Baudoux, the 78-year-old mayor of Aulnoye-Aymeries in northern France, said settlers kicked him and beat him with iron bars, throwing him to the ground. “It’s the gratuitous nature of the violence that stuns me,” he told AFP. “They arrived completely enraged.” Baudoux said he suffered minor injuries, DW reported.

Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot condemned the attack “in the strongest terms” and said Belgium will keep pressing for EU sanctions on those responsible. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot urged Israel to “urgently halt this criminal violence,” and Poland called for “a firm response.”

The Israeli military condemned “the severe act of violence” and said no soldiers were present. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar condemned the “Israeli rioters” but said the visit had not been coordinated with the army. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office urged caution, saying the reports came “amid concerns about a coordinated campaign to smear Israel,” and Israeli police opened an investigation.

The attack came a day after settlers injured Palestinians and Washington Post photographer Heidi Levine in another West Bank village. U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee called that assault “a despicable act of terror carried out by masked cowards,” and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said it was “not a good look,” the BBC reported.

Sources: BBC News, DW

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Kolkata Police Arrest Seven After a Durga Puja Crush Kills at Least 19, Including a 7-Year-Old Girl: October 18, 2026

KOLKATA, India — Police in Kolkata have formally arrested seven people over a crush at a crowded Durga Puja pavilion that killed at least 19 people on Saturday evening, DW reported, citing Indian media, as authorities imposed restrictions around the site.

The crush happened at about 7:40 p.m. at the exit gate of the Chorbagan (Sarada Park) pandal in north Kolkata “due to heavy crowds of pandal visitors amid rain,” Kolkata Police said. Witnesses said sudden rainfall sent people surging to find shelter, BBC News reported.

“As of now, 19 people have died, and 25 are undergoing treatment,” West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said, according to The Hindu BusinessLine. A seven-year-old girl was among the dead. Adhikari said an announcement on the organizers’ loudspeaker set off the rush, while relatives of two victims said security guards blowing whistles triggered it.

Police detained 12 people overnight, including the pandal’s organizers, private security guards and on-duty staff. “Nobody will be spared,” Adhikari said, vowing action against anyone who failed to manage the crowd. His government will pay Rs 25 lakh and offer a government job to the family of each person killed, and the pandal has been closed, BusinessLine reported.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi called it a “tragic” incident. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, in Kolkata for festival events, postponed his programs and was set to visit victims’ families on Sunday, DW said.

Durga Puja is West Bengal’s largest annual Hindu festival. Deadly crowd crushes at religious gatherings are not uncommon in India; two years ago, 121 people were killed at a Hindu religious gathering in Uttar Pradesh, the BBC noted.

Sources: BBC News, DW, The Hindu BusinessLine

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Mexico Arrests Former Chihuahua Attorney General on Treason Allegations Over CIA Role in a Deadly Drug-Lab Raid: October 18, 2026

MEXICO CITY — Mexican authorities have arrested César Jáuregui, the former attorney general of the northern border state of Chihuahua, on suspicion of treason for allegedly allowing CIA officers to take part in an April raid on a clandestine drug laboratory without the authorization required by Mexican law, Attorney General Ernestina Godoy said Saturday, Reuters and El País reported.

“The investigation determined that Cesar N may have engaged in conduct that could possibly constitute the crime of treason in matters of national security because he allegedly allowed foreign individuals to intervene without authorization on Mexican territory and take part in actions that correspond exclusively to national security forces,” Godoy said in a video message, as Reuters reported. She said the arrest warrant was signed by a federal judge after months of investigation.

The case stems from an April operation in El Pinal, in the Sierra Tarahumara, in which state agents dismantled a drug lab. On the way back, a road crash killed two officials of the Chihuahua prosecutor’s office and two Americans whom Jáuregui, then still attorney general, described as U.S. Embassy instructors. CNN and other outlets later reported that the two Americans were CIA officers.

Godoy said investigators found evidence that the CIA officers had visited the offices of Chihuahua’s state criminal investigation agency several times “without any justification,” and that the raid — a federal responsibility — was carried out without the state prosecutor’s office having opened a case file, El País reported. She also accused Jáuregui of informing foreigners while alerting federal forces only after the operation.

Chihuahua’s acting attorney general, Gilberto Loya Chávez, said Jáuregui also faces state charges of unlawful exercise of public service and conspiracy, according to CNN. What is being investigated is how the operation was conducted, not the dismantling of the lab, he said: “A good result does not justify breaking the law.”

The deaths rekindled sensitivities over U.S. involvement in Mexican security operations. President Claudia Sheinbaum has said her government welcomes intelligence sharing but does not permit U.S. agents or forces to take part directly in operations on Mexican soil, Reuters reported.

Sources: Reuters (via Investing.com), CNN en Español, El País

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Deadly Incident and Fire at Canada’s CFB Wainwright Overwhelm Alberta Hospitals as Officials Withhold the Toll: October 18, 2026

WAINWRIGHT, Alberta — People have been killed and injured in a “serious incident” that set off a major fire at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright, one of Canada’s busiest military training bases, Defence Minister David McGuinty said Saturday night.

“I’m saddened to share that there have been both fatalities and injuries as a result of an incident on the base,” McGuinty told reporters, describing the situation as “active and delicate.” He gave no casualty figures or cause, said the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were involved in the investigation and added, “I cannot recall an incident like this in recent memory,” as The Guardian reported.

The Canadian Armed Forces said details of casualties would not be released until the full impact had been assessed, BBC News reported. Canadian network Global News, citing unnamed military sources, reported that at least seven people were killed and dozens injured when a gas line or gas well was hit during a live-fire training exercise; officials have not confirmed that account.

The fire broke out around 4 p.m. local time Saturday and “spread rapidly due to high winds,” crossing the base’s fence, the Municipal District of Wainwright said, as gusts of up to 100 km/h swept the province. By 11 p.m. the municipality said the fire was being held, and no evacuation order was issued, ABC News (Australia) reported.

Edmonton’s Royal Alexandra Hospital, 180 km away, declared a code orange. “It is more patients than any of us want to count right now. It’s a disaster. It’s a one in every 15 to 25-year disaster,” emergency physician Dr. Warren Thirsk told CBC News. Wainwright Mayor Bruce Pugh said he believed it would become the area’s largest-ever mass-casualty event.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said a serious incident had created a major fire at the base and that “our thoughts are with all the brave women and men affected.”

Gen. Jennie Carignan, chief of the defence staff, called it a “profoundly difficult moment” for the military, and Saskatchewan and British Columbia offered help. About 690 military personnel and 300 civilian workers are on the base on a typical day, according to CBC.

Sources: BBC News, The Guardian, ABC News (Australia)

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France Counts More Than 1,800 Arrests and a Gutted Limoges Town Hall After Protests Turn to Riots as Macron Prepares to Address the Nation: October 18, 2026

PARIS — More than 1,800 people were arrested across France after Saturday’s cost-of-living protests gave way to riots, looting and arson, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said Sunday, DW reported. Paris police reported 855 arrests in the capital, a figure they described as a record.

The interior ministry put nationwide turnout at 550,000, including 110,000 in Paris, while the CGT union estimated 800,000. Most marches were peaceful, but masked groups set cars and buildings on fire and looted shops in Paris, Marseille, Lille and other cities, BBC News reported. More than 500 police officers, gendarmes and firefighters were injured, the interior ministry said, and the Retail and Trade Federation said about 1,500 shops were damaged.

In Limoges, fire gutted the 143-year-old town hall and part of the building collapsed. “A wild horde” had “deliberately” set the blaze, said Maurice Barate, the prefect of Haute-Vienne. “There are no words to condemn what happened, so appalling is it,” Mayor Guillaume Guérin told broadcaster LCI. “The country is in chaos,” he said, as DW reported. In Lyon, the city’s historic tourist office burned, and in Marseille protesters used a metal fence as a battering ram to break into city hall.

In Saint-Étienne, a young man lost a hand to a small explosive, the city’s mayor said; the newspaper Le Figaro reported that the 17-year-old was hit by a grenade fired by police, according to DW. Nuñez blamed “several thousand far-left individuals” who were later joined by “delinquents who looted and ransacked numerous businesses.”

President Emmanuel Macron vowed that those responsible would be prosecuted and punished. “No room for violence in our Republic,” he wrote on X. The Élysée said he will address the nation at 8 p.m. Paris time on Sunday (11 a.m. Pacific).

The protests began with students demanding better schools and grew to take in fuel prices, wages and the grievances of farmers and firefighters, ahead of next spring’s presidential election. Far-right leader Marine Le Pen accused Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s party of having “legitimized the violence”; Mélenchon, who backed the marches, urged demonstrators to stay away from looting, calling it “contrary to our methods.”

Sources: BBC News, DW

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Ukraine Sets St. Petersburg Oil Terminal Ablaze in One of Its Largest Drone Barrages as Russia Says It Downed 1,015 Drones: October 18, 2026

ST. PETERSBURG — Ukrainian drones set fire to the St. Petersburg Oil Terminal and the city’s Ruchi oil depot overnight into Sunday, killing at least one person and injuring five, regional Gov. Alexander Beglov said, BBC News, Al Jazeera and CBC News reported.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces destroyed 1,015 Ukrainian drones over 15 Russian regions, as well as annexed Crimea and the Black Sea — one of Kyiv’s largest aerial bombardments of the war, according to CBC News. Russia’s state news agency TASS called it the largest attack on the St. Petersburg region in four years.

A logistics centre belonging to online retailer Ozon — known as Russia’s Amazon — and a data centre run by the social network VK were also hit, and both companies confirmed the strikes. Beglov said 12 apartment buildings and two homes were damaged and Pulkovo Airport was temporarily closed, the BBC reported. Leningrad region Gov. Alexander Drozdenko said 145 drones were shot down over his region and about 20,000 people were left without electricity.

Kyiv had not commented on the strikes. They follow Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s statement this week that Ukraine was “done” with the “energy ceasefire” President Donald Trump announced on Oct. 11, and would resume hitting Russian refineries in retaliation for Moscow’s attacks, as Al Jazeera reported. Trump has criticized Ukraine’s strikes on Russian oil infrastructure.

In a post on X on Sunday, Zelenskyy said that since the ceasefire announcement, “Russia has deliberately attacked Ukraine’s energy and oil and gas sectors 76 times.” He said Russian strikes overnight killed two people and injured 12, including two children, and that over the past week Russia launched almost 2,700 attack drones, 1,700 aerial bombs and 66 missiles.

“America should see that Russia is not taking any reciprocal steps in response to sanctions relief or agreements,” Zelenskyy wrote, two days after Trump signed an order waiving the Graham Act sanctions on Moscow. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has described the waiver as a 60-day pause to analyze what the sanctions and tariffs would mean for the global and U.S. economies.

Sources: BBC News, Al Jazeera, CBC News

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World Brief, Evening: October 17, 2026

France had its most violent protest day in years, with 1,200 arrests and the old town hall in Limoges gutted by fire; a deadly incident set off a major fire at Canada’s CFB Wainwright; and Republicans joined Democrats in blasting Donald Trump’s Russia sanctions waiver. Ten stories as of Saturday evening, October 17.

1. Paris and Limoges / France. At least 1,200 people were arrested and 150 police officers hurt as Saturday’s marches over school conditions and the cost of living turned violent in cities across France, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said, BBC News reported. The interior ministry put turnout at 550,000; the CGT union said 800,000. In Limoges, a fire set by masked protesters left the 143-year-old town hall “largely lost,” and the local prefect called it a “catastrophe for heritage,” per The Guardian. Protesters briefly forced their way into Marseille’s town hall, Lyon’s tourist office burned, and dozens of shops were looted in Paris; in Saint-Étienne, the mayor said a young man had his hand blown off by a grenade. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said no state of emergency is planned. President Emmanuel Macron said those who looted and attacked town halls “will be prosecuted and punished.”

2. Tirana / Albania, plus Brussels, Lisbon and Milan. Riot police and protesters fought in central Tirana for a fifth straight day, with masked students throwing rocks and petrol bombs at the education ministry and Prime Minister Edi Rama’s office, BBC News reported. National police chief Skender Hita confirmed rubber bullets were used “in a limited manner” for the first time and said 167 people have been arrested and 132 officers hurt over five days, per Al Jazeera. Rama, in power since 2013, refuses to resign and blamed the opposition and unnamed “foreign actors.” The cost-of-living anger spread elsewhere too: police fired tear gas and water cannon in Brussels, tens of thousands marched in Lisbon over housing and pay, and protesters clashed with officers in Milan and Bologna, Al Jazeera reported.

3. Washington / United States, and Kyiv / Ukraine. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Trump’s suspension of the new Russia sanctions law is a 60-day pause to study what the sanctions and tariffs would mean for the global and U.S. economies, BBC News reported. Republicans joined the backlash: Sen. Thom Tillis called it “beyond irresponsible” and asked, “What part of enforcing a law passed 86-11 by the Senate does the President and his advisers not understand?”; Sen. John Cornyn said the late Lindsey Graham, who championed the bill, “would be appalled”; and Sen. Ted Cruz said, “I wish the president hadn’t done it,” per Al Jazeera and the BBC. Congress is out until after the November 3 midterms. Zelenskyy told reporters he expects Washington to lift more sanctions, and said Ukrainian and U.S. negotiators could meet next week. Ukrainian officials say at least nine people have been killed in Russian strikes since Friday.

4. Wainwright / Alberta, Canada. People were killed and injured in an “incident” at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright, east of Edmonton, that set off a major fire, Defence Minister David McGuinty said late Saturday; he wouldn’t give numbers, calling it “a very active and delicate situation,” CP24 and AP reported. Strong winds pushed the fire across the base fence and into the surrounding district, CBC News reported. Premier Danielle Smith called it “a significant and tragic fire” affecting many military personnel. No cause has been given. It comes two days before Albertans vote on whether to start down the road to leaving Canada. Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the incident on X:

5. Taybeh / occupied West Bank. Belgium demanded justice after masked Israeli settlers attacked its consul general and other envoys from France, Poland and the Catholic Church in the Christian village of Taybeh near Ramallah, and the Israeli military condemned “the severe act of violence” and is investigating, BBC News reported. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar condemned the “Israeli rioters” but said the visit wasn’t coordinated with the army; Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office urged “caution” and spoke of a “coordinated campaign to smear Israel.” The injured French mayor, Bernard Baudoux, told AFP settlers kicked him and beat him with iron bars. Separately, U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee called Friday’s beating of Washington Post photographer Heidi Levine, 64, in Abu Falah “a despicable act of terror carried out by masked cowards”; her daughter said she has a broken rib and several broken vertebrae, per Al Jazeera.

6. Strait of Hormuz, and Riyadh / Saudi Arabia. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said two oil tankers, each carrying about two million barrels of crude, caught fire after hitting naval mines in the strait, claiming the ships had switched off their tracking and used a route Iran hasn’t authorised, Al Jazeera reported, citing Iran’s IRNA news agency. The ships weren’t named. Across the Gulf, the Saudi-led coalition said it destroyed four Houthi drones over Riyadh, the Eastern Province and the south; Riyadh’s King Khalid airport has been attacked at least 20 times since July, per Al Jazeera. Egypt’s parliament meets in emergency session Sunday after President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said Cairo would act to protect Saudi Arabia if asked: “We are speaking only about defence.”

7. Kolkata / India. At least 19 people died and 25 were hurt in a crush at the Chorbagan Durga Puja pavilion in north Kolkata on Saturday evening, West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said, according to The Hindu BusinessLine; a seven-year-old girl was among the dead, the BBC reported. Police said crowds waiting in the rain surged after an announcement, and Adhikari said the organisers’ loudspeaker announcement set off the rush; organisers, private security guards and on-duty staff were detained for questioning. He promised 2.5 million rupees and a government job for each victim’s family. Prime Minister Narendra Modi called it “saddening,” per Al Jazeera.

8. Nairobi / Kenya. Kenya confirmed four more cases of Bundibugyo-strain Ebola, bringing its total to seven, including the first patient, who died October 5, Al Jazeera reported. Three of the new patients are health workers who treated that man; the fourth is a relative who had been in quarantine since October 6. All four were already in quarantine when they tested positive, 128 of 130 contacts have been traced, and the Health Ministry says there’s no sign of community spread, the Africa CDC said. These are the first known infections passed on inside Kenya, and there is no approved vaccine or treatment for this strain. Next door in Congo, the outbreak has passed 9,000 cases and 4,300 deaths since May.

9. Hagåtña / Guam, and Manzanillo / Mexico. Guam dodged a direct hit from Category 4 Typhoon Champi, which turned west at the last minute and passed about 16 km south of Merizo at 4:26 a.m. Sunday local time (11:26 a.m. Saturday Pacific) with winds of 225 km/h, RNZ Pacific reported. “Certainly, we had a near miss,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Landon Aydlett; airport gusts approached 128 km/h and southern Guam took the worst of it. Across the Pacific, Hurricane Trudy strengthened to Category 2, 100 mph (155 km/h), about 100 miles southwest of Manzanillo at 6 p.m. CST, and hurricane conditions are expected from Manzanillo to Cabo Corrientes tonight, the National Hurricane Center said, with 4 to 8 inches of rain and life-threatening floods and mudslides possible in Michoacán, Colima and Jalisco. And in the Cook Islands, Tropical Cyclone Wati strengthened to Category 2, RNZ reported.

10. Caracas / Venezuela. Acting President Delcy Rodríguez said Venezuela expects nearly $76 billion in oil investment over five years under recently signed deals, including a U.S. accord covering 17 oil fields and plans to drill 250 rigs, part of a package of 61 agreements, Reuters reported. “Major investments are coming,” she said on national television. She said output in western Zulia state rose from 70,000 to 370,000 barrels a day and should reach 400,000 by year-end, without saying over what period. Venezuela has been reopening its oil sector to foreign money since Nicolás Maduro’s ouster in January, with the Trump administration’s backing.

Coming Up

Confirmed dates on The Watch: the IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings in Bangkok close October 18. October 19, Alberta’s referendum on whether to move toward a binding independence vote. October 25, Brazil’s presidential runoff (Flávio Bolsonaro vs Lula). October 27, Israel’s election for the 26th Knesset, and the Fed’s two-day meeting opens in Washington (October 27–28). Full board at the link.

World Brief: October 17, 2026

Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Donald Trump’s freeze on the new Russia sanctions law a “reward” for Vladimir Putin and said he expects more relief to follow; France saw a major day of nationwide protests, with more than 250 arrests and a tourism office burned in Lyon; and masked settlers attacked a European diplomatic delegation in the occupied West Bank. Ten stories as of Saturday morning, October 17.

1. Kyiv / Ukraine, and Washington / United States. Zelenskyy said Trump’s decision to put the Lindsey Graham sanctions act on hold rewards Putin and will embolden him, adding, “Unfortunately, the lifting of sanctions will continue, and I believe that the ‘diesel deal’ is the first step,” The Guardian reported. Trump’s Friday-night executive order called the suspension a matter of US “national interest,” two days before the measures — including tariffs of up to 100% on top buyers of Russian oil and gas — were due to take effect; Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev hailed “an important and truly historic moment,” BBC News reported. Overnight Russia hit more than 15 power generation and transmission sites; Ukraine’s air force counted four cruise missiles and 332 drones, and Zelenskyy said Starlink speed restrictions are leaving Ukraine’s interceptor drones ineffective, ABC News (Australia) reported.

2. Paris, Lyon and Marseille / France. Students, teachers, unions and a revived “yellow vest” movement marched across France on Saturday over the cost of living and school conditions; police fired tear gas around Place de la République in Paris, Lyon’s tourism office was set on fire, and local media said protesters breached Marseille’s town hall and looted shops, Al Jazeera reported. The Interior Ministry counted 140 protest actions and 32,800 participants by midday, with more than 250 arrests; the BBC later put arrests above 272 and said the main Paris march itself looked largely peaceful. President Emmanuel Macron had appealed for calm, saying the right to protest “comes with the need to respect.” It follows three weeks of student-led protests.

3. Taybeh / occupied West Bank. Masked Israeli settlers attacked a delegation of European diplomats and public figures, along with Palestinian olive harvesters, in the Christian village of Taybeh near Ramallah on Saturday, Haaretz reported. Israel’s Army Radio said seven masked settlers on ATVs surrounded vehicles from the French, Belgian and Polish missions, demanded ID and smashed a Belgian consulate car window; footage showed a member of the delegation lying on the ground, The Times of Israel reported. Witnesses told France 24 that a French mayor was beaten. It comes a day after settlers hurt 12 Palestinians and a US photojournalist near Abu Falah.

4. Strait of Hormuz. At least 12 ships were attacked in the week to October 16, the UK’s maritime agency UKMTO said, while warning that most targeted vessels are no longer reporting, making October the worst month for ship attacks since the US-Israel war on Iran began on February 28, Al Jazeera reported. On Saturday a tanker master reported an RPG strike from a small boat about 78 nautical miles northeast of Jubail, Saudi Arabia. CENTCOM commander Brad Cooper insisted “the Strait of Hormuz is controlled by the United States and our regional partners, not Iran,” citing 400 ships in a week, while Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said two tankers had hit mines, Reuters reported. Flows are running around 68% of pre-war levels, per Kpler.

5. Cairo / Egypt, and Aden / Yemen. President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi asked Egypt’s parliament to hold an emergency session to authorize defense help for Saudi Arabia if Riyadh requests it — “I am not speaking in order for us to fight anyone or attack anyone. I am speaking only for defence” — after weeks of Houthi strikes on Saudi airports and oil sites, Al Jazeera reported. Separately, the United Arab Emirates has agreed to re-enter the Yemen war by resuming payments to southern government forces, with Saudi Arabia providing air cover, sources in Yemen told The Guardian. On Friday two Houthi missiles hit Aden’s airport as a passenger plane prepared to take off; no casualties were reported.

6. Tunis / Tunisia. Thousands marched down Habib Bourguiba Avenue in the biggest protest against President Kais Saied in years, led by the UGTT labor federation alongside opposition parties and civil groups, Al Jazeera reported; AFP counted more than 3,000. Protesters demanded the release of detained critics and an end to limits on union rights, revived a 2011 slogan calling for the government’s fall, and carried signs reading “No democracy without freedoms.” UGTT leader Salah Eddine Salmi said “silence will no longer be acceptable.” Tunisians are also grappling with water and power cuts and medicine shortages.

7. Bangkok / Thailand. Nearly half the delegates at the IMF’s steering-committee meeting walked out when Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov began speaking, among them Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey and counterparts from France, Germany and several Nordic and Baltic countries, The Guardian reported. “We cannot normalise relations with Russia,” a European diplomat said. Committee chair Mohammed al-Jadaan, Saudi Arabia’s finance minister, said all members still agreed the chair’s statement. A US Treasury official said Washington supported Russia’s presence. The IMF–World Bank Annual Meetings wrap up Sunday.

8. Manzanillo / Mexico. Hurricane Trudy held at 90 mph (150 km/h) at 9:00 a.m. CST Saturday about 170 miles (270 km) south of Manzanillo, moving northwest at 10 mph, and is expected to pass near the coast of west-central Mexico later Saturday into Sunday, the National Hurricane Center said in Advisory 17. A Hurricane Warning covers Manzanillo to Cabo Corrientes, and a new Tropical Storm Warning runs north of Punta Mita to San Blas. Forecasters expect 4 to 8 inches of rain, locally 15, across Michoacán, Colima and Jalisco, with risk of flooding and landslides, Al Jazeera reported.

9. Hagåtña / Guam, and Aitutaki / Cook Islands. Typhoon Champi strengthened to Category 2 with 100 mph winds and could hit as a Category 3 early Sunday; Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero put Guam under its highest readiness condition, ordered residents indoors, set up six shelters and told southern coastal areas to evacuate, and the Coast Guard closed the commercial port, RNZ Pacific reported. United cancelled Sunday and Monday flights in the Marianas. To the southeast, Category 1 Tropical Cyclone Wati is forecast to pass about 100 km north of Aitutaki by Sunday morning with gusts to 100 km/h, the Cook Islands Meteorological Service said, according to RNZ.

10. Brasília / Brazil. With the October 25 runoff eight days away, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva reversed his longstanding position and said he now backs lowering the age of criminal responsibility for “heinous” crimes from 18 to 16 — a shift polls say 80% of Brazilians support — as he tries to overtake Flávio Bolsonaro, who remains slightly ahead, The Guardian reported. Bolsonaro, for his part, pledged a fiscal adjustment while rejecting cuts to social spending, Reuters reported. Meta, ordered by an electoral judge on Thursday to treat both campaigns equally, denies favoring either side, Al Jazeera reported.

Coming Up

Confirmed dates on The Watch: IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings in Bangkok close October 18. October 19, Alberta’s referendum on whether to move toward a binding independence vote. October 25, Brazil’s presidential runoff (Flávio Bolsonaro vs Lula). October 27, Israel’s election for the 26th Knesset, and the Fed’s two-day meeting opens in Washington (October 27–28). Full board at the link — we don’t reprint the whole list here.

Australia Confirms Deadly H5 Bird Flu on Sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island, Raising Fears for Elephant Seal Pups: October 17, 2026

HOBART, Australia — Australia has confirmed highly pathogenic H5 bird flu on sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island, finding the virus in samples from a southern elephant seal and a kelp gull, Reuters reported on Saturday.

Chief Veterinary Officer Beth Cookson said testing at CSIRO’s Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness confirmed the virus “in samples collected from an elephant seal and a kelp gull on Macquarie Island, marking the first H5 event on this island,” according to the federal agriculture department.

The World Heritage-listed island, about 1,500 kilometers southeast of Hobart and administered as part of Tasmania, is home to up to 4 million seabirds and 100,000 seals, ABC News reported. Tasmania’s environment minister, Guy Barnett, called it the “first recorded detection in a marine mammal in Tasmania.”

Southern elephant seals are particularly susceptible, with pup mortality above 90% in some outbreaks. On Heard Island, another Australian sub-Antarctic territory, more than 13,000 pups are believed to have died after the virus arrived in late 2025. Expert assessments predict a significant elephant seal die-off on Macquarie during the coming breeding season, Reuters said.

In August, the Australian Antarctic Division moved to withdraw personnel from the island over the “psycho-social risk” of witnessing a mass mortality event. Officials say there is no evidence of mammal-to-mammal transmission in Australia and that the risk to human health remains low.

Sources: Reuters, ABC News, Australian Department of Agriculture

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