Tuesday 20 October 2026 · No. 6
Top Story Saudi Arabia and Yemen
Saudi Arabia has put off its big investor conference until 2027.
🧵 New to this story? Read the story so far →The Houthis, an armed group from Yemen, have kept attacking Saudi Arabia. On October 10 a strike hit King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia says at least 12 people were killed and more than 300 were wounded. A fresh strike the next day killed one person and wounded 11, according to Saudi civil aviation authorities.
Oil markets reacted. After the Houthis claimed attacks on Saudi airports and facilities of the oil giant Aramco, Brent crude rose above $109 a barrel. UK maritime monitors said two tankers were attacked off the Saudi coast on Friday. Brent is the benchmark price traders use to compare oil worldwide.
Business is adjusting. On Monday Saudi Arabia postponed the Future Investment Initiative conference, due on October 26 to 29, until 2027. In Riyadh, the Kingdom Centre ordered its office staff to work remotely.
The Houthis are a group from Yemen. They keep attacking Saudi Arabia. On October 10, a strike hit the airport in Riyadh. At least 12 people were killed.
Saudi Arabia sells a lot of oil. After new attacks, the price of Brent crude went above $109 a barrel. Brent is a price traders use for oil.
On Monday, Saudi Arabia put off a big investor conference until 2027.
World Ukraine and Russia
An oil terminal in St Petersburg burned; Russia struck Kyiv overnight.
🧵 New to this story? Read the story so far →On Sunday Ukraine launched more than 1,000 drones at Russia, one of its largest air attacks of the war. Strikes set an oil export terminal and a depot ablaze in St Petersburg. Russia's Defence Ministry said it destroyed 1,015 Ukrainian drones over 15 Russian regions, Crimea and the Black Sea.
Russia struck Kyiv overnight. An air strike killed a woman, hit a subway station and damaged a 25-storey apartment building, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Three others were injured. Earlier, on Friday, Russian attacks on nine regions had cut power to hundreds of thousands of households.
US President Donald Trump criticised Kyiv's strikes on Russian oil sites. He said US-Ukraine intelligence sharing, which had been blocked for some period of time, had resumed. Trump announced an “energy ceasefire” on October 11 without details; Kyiv says attacks on energy sites continued.
A drone is a flying machine with no pilot. On Sunday, Ukraine sent more than 1,000 drones at Russia. They set an oil port on fire in St Petersburg.
Russia said it destroyed 1,015 drones. Overnight, Russia hit Kyiv. A woman was killed and three people were hurt.
President Donald Trump said he did not like Ukraine's attacks on Russian oil sites.
India Health
Some prices could fall by up to 70% from November 9.
India's drug price regulator, the NPPA, has capped trade margins at 30% of the maximum retail price for 137 non-scheduled anti-cancer drugs. A trade margin is the amount distributors and shops add to the price they pay. The order is in a Gazette notification dated October 17.
New prices take effect on November 9. Reductions are expected to reach up to 70%, but actual savings depend on each medicine's existing price and distribution margins. The list includes targeted therapies and immunotherapies such as pembrolizumab and nivolumab.
The government estimates the move could save cancer patients around Rs 2,500 crore a year. A 2019 pilot capped margins on 42 anti-cancer drugs at 30%, and afterwards the prices of 526 brands were reduced by up to 90%.
Shops add a bit of money on top of the price they pay for medicine. This extra money is called a trade margin.
India's drug price regulator capped it at 30% for 137 cancer medicines. Prices could fall by up to 70%.
The new prices start on November 9. The government says patients could save around Rs 2,500 crore a year.
United States Prices
Midterm elections are on November 3.
HOW FAST PRICES ROSE Percent rise over a year
Consumer prices in the United States rose 0.6% in September and 3.7% over the year, up from 3.4% in August, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Producer prices, which track what businesses pay, were 6.3% higher than a year earlier.
Fuel is a major reason. Gasoline costs $4.29 a gallon and global oil is about $107 a barrel, U.S. News reports. CNN says attacks on tankers and oil sites have pushed up oil and diesel prices, and Moody's Analytics estimates the Iran war adds $2,000 in costs for the average household.
That puts pressure on candidates before the midterms, when Americans choose members of Congress. U.S. News reports President Trump's approval among US adults is at a record low of 33%. The White House has blamed the previous administration and, Newsweek reports, argues fuel prices will fall quickly when the conflict ends.
Prices in the United States rose 3.7% over the year to September. In August, the yearly rise was 3.4%.
Petrol costs $4.29 a gallon. Oil is about $107 a barrel. Attacks on oil ships and oil sites have pushed prices up.
On November 3, Americans vote for members of Congress. Many voters are worried about prices, and President Trump's approval is at a record low of 33%, U.S. News says.
Science & Tech Astronomy
Three weather states appear to rotate in and out of view.
Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope studied SIMP 0136, a brown dwarf about 20 light-years away. A brown dwarf is an object between a planet and a star in size. The study, led by Trinity College Dublin, was published in Astronomy & Astrophysics.
They found its weather is more orderly than it looks. Most of the variation tracks just two things: temperature and the vertical arrangement of clouds. Together they make three recurring states that rotate in and out of view as the object spins: hot under thin clouds, cooler under thin clouds, and cooler still under thicker, higher clouds.
The patterns persisted across more than a dozen rotations. One report notes the three states come from a single rotation, so they may mark the most extreme patches Webb happened to catch rather than the full range.
The James Webb Space Telescope looked at SIMP 0136. It is a brown dwarf about 20 light-years away. A brown dwarf is bigger than a planet but smaller than a star.
Scientists found its weather is more orderly than it looks. It has three weather states: hot under thin clouds, cooler under thin clouds, and cooler under thick clouds.
The object spins, so the three states move in and out of view. The patterns lasted across more than a dozen spins.
Economy India
The central bank raised its key rate for the first time since 2023.
India's consumer prices rose 5.54% in September from a year earlier, the highest since late 2024, Bloomberg reports. In August the rise was a revised 4.83%.
On October 7 the Reserve Bank of India raised its repo rate by 25 basis points to 5.50%, its first rise since 2023. The repo rate is the rate at which the central bank lends to banks. The RBI also raised its growth estimate by 40 basis points to 7.1%.
Raising the rate makes borrowing dearer, which can slow spending and ease price rises. Prices are also rising abroad: in the United States, consumer prices rose 3.7% in the year to September.
Prices in India rose 5.54% in the year to September. That is the highest since late 2024.
On October 7, the Reserve Bank of India raised its repo rate to 5.50%. The repo rate is the rate at which the central bank lends to banks.
A higher rate makes loans cost more. That can slow spending and ease price rises.
Did you know?
Explainer
A central bank is the bank that looks after a country's money system. One of its main tools is the repo rate, the rate at which it lends to commercial banks.
When the repo rate goes up, borrowing generally gets more expensive for banks and, in turn, for families and firms. That tends to slow spending. Today the RBI's rate is 5.50%, after a rise of 25 basis points on October 7. A basis point is one hundredth of a percentage point.
Discuss
How can an attack on one country's airports change prices in another country?
Should medicine prices be capped by governments? Give each side's best argument.
Why might raising interest rates slow price rises, and who might it hurt?
In brief
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