World Digest — 25 Oct 2026

The dominant story is the escalating US-Iran standoff, with the US rapidly evacuating non-emergency personnel from embassies across the Middle East after intelligence warned of advanced Iranian attack planning. CNBC reports that President Trump has not ruled out restarting hostilities after next month’s midterm elections, while Saudi Arabia accuses the Houthis of targeting Mecca with a drone — a claim the Iran-backed group rejects. Mu’s reflection on the Quranic verse Does he not know that Allah sees? takes on urgent weight as both sides manoeuvre toward a conflict neither may control.

The geopolitical shockwaves hit markets hard. Bitcoin slid below $⁠80,000 on Saturday, its weakest level in over a month, as risk-off sentiment swept crypto — ether, Solana and other majors all fell in sympathy. The strategic bitcoin treasury companies Strategy and Strive face a growing balancing act: the preferred stock used to finance nearly 136,000 bitcoin purchases now creates dividend obligations that constrain further accumulation. Meanwhile, tensions in the Strait of Hormuz helped drive energy costs higher, fuelling widespread protests across Europe — from France, where bond yields hit a 24-year high amid unrest and hundreds of thousands took to the streets, to Albania where violent clashes have continued for twelve days. French borrowing costs are now pricing in doubt about whether the government can fix its budget at all — a trap between democratic short-term relief and market long-term discipline.

The US Senate’s failure to advance the Clarity Act on digital assets is accelerating a capital shift. As Apex Group CEO Peter Hughes warned, the regulatory vacuum is driving digital asset business toward faster-moving jurisdictions in Asia, the Middle East and Bermuda — exactly as Franklin Templeton added $⁠150 million in tokenized fund shares to the XRP Ledger and Robinhood reported that bitcoin, gold and oil contracts are now its fastest-growing prediction markets. The geography of financial infrastructure is quietly redrawing.

In the West Bank, Israel’s crackdown after the killing of two soldiers near Hebron has escalated sharply — Al Jazeera reports extensive demolitions, families forced from homes, and a city under lockdown with Israeli elections just days away. In Gaza, severe hunger is worsening as bakeries close for lack of flour and aid agencies run out of funds. Elsewhere, Kosovo’s former president was sentenced to 25 years for war crimes, Brazil holds a knife-edge run-off between Lula and Bolsonaro, Serbia votes with student challengers rising, and Kim Jong Un crossed a new bridge linking North Korea and China. The UK Chancellor will announce a £100 million AI Biosecurity Lab this week — a worthwhile ambition that must navigate the dual-use dilemma between protection and control.

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