Daily Digest — 13 Jul 2026

Oil surged 4.5% to $⁠74.64 as the US and Iran exchanged direct airstrikes, with Iran striking US military bases in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Jordan within hours of fresh US attacks. The escalation rattled global markets: gold fell 1.1% to $⁠4,069, South Korea’s Kospi plunged 7%, and US stock futures slipped amid fears of a broader conflict in the Strait of Hormuz. Bitcoin held relatively steady near $⁠63,800, while the stablecoin market cap shrank by $⁠10 billion since May — though analysts see this as a temporary contraction.

In the UK, Home Secretary Mahmood is set to outline plans to deport the Rochdale grooming gang ringleader Shabir Ahmed after his release, while the Home Office announced a £250m, three-year plan to protect Jewish communities in England and Wales with an extra 500 officers. Meanwhile, Bangkok’s Chatuchak district saw a deadly bar fire kill at least 27 people, reviving concerns over fire safety in the Thai capital.

In the Occupied West Bank, Israeli settlers assaulted 79-year-old Ibrahim al-Jabour and his family in Masafer Yatta, drawing international condemnation. Qatar mourned former Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, who passed away at 74 — remembered for building the country’s lasting wealth and economic resilience. On the tech front, a critical Linux kernel vulnerability called GhostLock, present in all distributions since 2011, was disclosed, and Reed Jobs spoke about his biotech firm Yosemite’s mission to cure cancer.