The Irish Times reports that Yemen’s Houthis vowed more attacks on Saudi targets after hitting the oil giant’s headquarters, in retaliation for Riyadh-led coalition strikes on sites in Sanaa. The Globe and Mail says Saudi Aramco’s headquarters was hit by a ballistic missile and reports that the Houthis had threatened a “harsh and painful” response to Saudi-led strikes on Yemen’s capital. CBS News reports that Saudi Arabia launched new strikes on Iran-backed Houthis.
The EU and China reached an agreement to restrict Chinese hybrid vehicle imports to Europe. Semafor reports the deal would cut shipments by half, while The Guardian says the EU will limit imports to 350,000 vehicles a year.
The Guardian and Semafor report that two ships sank near the Strait of Hormuz amid a rise in Iranian attacks on shipping; The Guardian says the vessels were struck by missiles. CNBC’s headline reports one container ship sank in the strait as Iran stepped up attacks, differing on the number and precise location.
Tech and chip stocks fell as investors worried about heavy AI spending. Semafor reports that South Korea’s market, heavily exposed to Samsung and SK Hynix, sold off sharply and led a decline in Asian tech shares; The Guardian says chip stocks slid after Broadcom’s boss likened AI investing to a casino.
China and North Korea have opened the long-delayed New Yalu River Bridge. DW reports a 12-year delay, France 24 describes it as a four-lane bridge, and Semafor says it is now the largest land crossing between the two countries. The South China Morning Post frames the opening as part of China’s effort to strengthen trade ties, while Al Jazeera describes it as taking place amid deepening ties. This follows earlier reports that the bridge opening had been delayed for 12 years.
US stocks recovered after a multi-day tech sell-off, while investors flocked to safer assets amid concerns that weak consumer demand and high inflation could undermine the AI buildout, Semafor reports. This follows earlier reports that inflation worries, rising borrowing costs and fears about AI debt weighed on chip stocks and broader technology shares.
Federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security searched Rep. Ilhan Omar’s Washington-area home on Monday under a judicially authorized warrant connected to an ongoing immigration probe, the Justice Department said; it did not detail the warrant’s scope or subject. Democrats denounced the action, and one senior Democrat told Axios that colleagues feared more surprises ahead of the midterms. The Guardian’s Moira Donegan characterized the raid as political theater and said it was nominally connected to an investigation into Omar’s childhood immigration to the United States.
Stanford University's Robert E. Hall and Columbia University's Michael Woodford won the Nobel Prize in economics on Monday for research on how policymakers can stabilize economies, according to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The Globe and Mail reports that their decades of work developed models used by central banks and finance ministries around the world.
The South China Morning Post reports that the United States fined Bank of America US$1.21 billion and flagged suspected Chinese money laundering. Axios reports that Treasury announced more than $1.2 billion in penalties on Tuesday, saying the bank admitted to willfully violating federal anti-money-laundering laws; regulators said it failed to monitor trillions of dollars in transactions, leaving more than $5 billion in suspicious activity unreported or reported late. The South China Morning Post also examines what the historic fine could mean for US-China capital flows.
The cost of insuring against defaults by AI companies has spiked, with investors buying credit default swaps to protect against highly indebted hyperscalers including CoreWeave and Oracle, Semafor reports. CNBC reports that signs of distress deepened at CoreWeave on Thursday as investors soured on AI debt.
Elon Musk gave $158 million to a group that quickly spent the same amount to help Ken Paxton’s Texas Senate bid, The New York Times reports. Axios says Musk’s team launched a rescue effort after polling suggested Paxton’s chances were sinking, and that an initial fundraising deal mobilized $20 million for television advertising. The Guardian reports tens of millions of dollars are flowing into the closely watched race as Democrats seek to win a seat in the Republican stronghold, with Musk’s midterm spending mostly focused on Texas.
Saudi Arabia’s coalition said it intercepted a missile in the Medina region on Thursday, Oct. 15. The Houthis quickly denied targeting the region, Channel NewsAsia reports; they had previously vowed to spare the holy cities of Medina and Mecca.
Saudi Arabia is facing an escalation of Houthi attacks from neighboring Yemen, and a Saudi diplomat says Iran is encouraging the rebels, according to PBS NewsHour. PBS reports the attacks are exposing challenges for the kingdom in intercepting them and rattling global markets. Fox News reports that former envoy Tim Lenderking warned the Houthis are building homegrown weapons capabilities independent of Iran, making the conflict a global threat. This follows earlier reports that Saudi Arabia was facing attacks and its energy minister had vowed a response.
Japan denied spying after Russia arrested a journalist, according to Channel NewsAsia and The Japan Times. The supplied article summaries provide no further details.
A passenger who went overboard from a Royal Caribbean cruise ship was rescued after 20 hours at sea, CBS News reports. Fox News says the woman, 44, clung to a lifebuoy in the Ionian Sea near Zakynthos and reportedly jumped from the Odyssey of the Seas.
Former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, pleaded not guilty to new torture-related charges in a US court on Thursday. Maduro rejected the allegations as false, and Channel NewsAsia reports that Flores said she was completely innocent. The Guardian and the South China Morning Post report that a rewritten indictment accuses them of leading a state-sponsored campaign of repression that tortured scores of victims, including three Americans.
Le Monde reports that Zelensky has resumed strikes on Russian refineries, prompting Trump to call them “a disgrace.” It says the end of a truce called for by the US president marks an escalation in tensions between the two leaders after Washington and Moscow agreed on Russian diesel fuel deliveries. Hindustan Times earlier reported that Zelensky said Ukraine would not follow Trump’s demand to avoid striking Russian refineries, and that ties between Kyiv and Washington had soured after Trump finalized a diesel deal with Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rallied European allies after saying Ukraine would no longer pause strikes on Russian oil refineries, with Le Monde reporting that he cited Moscow’s failure to observe a US-announced ceasefire on attacks against energy infrastructure. France 24 reported that Zelensky sought European backing on Thursday after vowing to resume the strikes, amid tensions with Washington over sanctions, energy infrastructure attacks and satellite communications restrictions. An earlier France 24 interview said guest Peter Zalmayev questioned the basis of US President Donald Trump’s unilateral ceasefire announcement and warned that tactical restraint could help preserve US support.
A dozen U.S. senators, including six Republicans, are urging President Trump to drop a diesel deal with Russia. The Globe and Mail reports they called on him to rescind the arrangement, while The New York Times says senators urged him to reverse the deal with Putin.
A fast-moving fire near Malibu has forced evacuations in Southern California, and overnight winds threaten to spread it further, Deutsche Welle reports. Le Monde reports that the National Weather Service issued a Red Flag Warning for the area through Saturday evening, citing high winds and low humidity as conditions that could increase wildfire activity. Deutsche Welle says the region is recovering from last year's deadly blazes.