Tuesday 6 October: Yemen offensive and Brazil runoff

World news (past 24 hours)

Saudi-backed offensive in Yemen, Houthis hit back

Yemen's Saudi-backed government launched a large offensive to retake Houthi-held land, including the capital Sanaa. Fox News reports a Saudi-led air campaign with about 100 jets and 324 targets hit, and claims that government forces took the port of Mocha. The Houthis answered with missiles and drones aimed at Riyadh's airport and Aramco sites; Saudi Arabia has not confirmed damage. This opens a new front in the wider Iran conflict, right next to key shipping lanes. (Democracy Now, Fox News)

Iran keeps Hormuz shut; US bombers leave UK base

Iran said the Strait of Hormuz stays closed until the US meets the terms of their interim deal from June, including lifting sanctions. A third tanker in 48 hours was hit by a projectile near the strait. The US also pulled all 12 B-1 bombers out of RAF Fairford in England after warnings of an Iran-backed plot. (Democracy Now, Fox News, Al Jazeera)

Nobel Prize in medicine for switching brain cells on and off

Karl Deisseroth (US), Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel (both Germany) won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. They found and used a light-sensitive protein, channelrhodopsin, to turn single nerve cells on or off with light. This method, optogenetics, is now a basic tool in brain research. (STAT, NBC News)

Brazil heads to a runoff: Flávio Bolsonaro vs Lula

Senator Flávio Bolsonaro won the first round with 47.03 percent, ahead of President Lula with 45.16 percent. Neither passed 50 percent, so they meet again on 25 October. Bolsonaro, son of the former president, now looks like the slight favourite, though polls before the vote showed the two roughly even. (Americas Quarterly, Al Jazeera, Washington Post)

Spain calls a snap election for 29 November

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez dissolved parliament after lawmakers voted down his two housing decrees, which included a stop on evictions until 2030. Sánchez said he wants "a much larger progressive majority". The vote comes about nine months early, amid large protests over housing costs. (Atalayar, Brussels Signal, Democracy Now)

Oil slips but stays near 100 dollars

Oil fell after Saudi Aramco cut its price for Asian buyers to a six-year low discount, and as Gulf exports recovered. Rigzone puts Brent's settle at 100.32 dollars, down 1.9 percent; Gulf News reported Brent slightly up at 102.31 dollars earlier in the day. Fuel costs stay high for households and airlines while Hormuz remains a risk. (Rigzone, Gulf News)

Nasdaq closes at a record

The Nasdaq rose 1.05 percent to a record 27,477, led by Nvidia, which also hit a new high. The S&P 500 gained 0.66 percent and the Dow 0.18 percent. US services activity still grew in September, but a price index jumped to 74, a sign of new cost pressure. (Yahoo Finance, CNBC)

Dutch news (past 24 hours)

Sudan's RSF militia has links to the Netherlands

A Sudanese-Dutch lawyer, Osama Said, is justice minister in the parallel government set up by the RSF militia in Sudan. NOS also reports that a sanctioned RSF commander spoke at a peace event in The Hague under a false name in 2024. The UN says RSF violence has "hallmarks of genocide"; Said says he works for peace. (NOS, NOS, NL Times)

Risky bridges barely checked

At least 16 Dutch bridges may fail without warning because of weak steel cables, Follow the Money reports. Half had no inspection in the past six months, and four none for years. Rijkswaterstaat says it is "on top of it" and points to closures and monitoring. (NOS)

Train from Groningen to Leer is back

Trains run again between Groningen and Leer in Germany, for the first time since a ship hit the Friesenbrücke in 2015. The rebuilt bridge is the largest of its kind in Europe. DutchNews calls it a direct link of about 90 minutes, but Treinreiziger says most weekday trains need a change in Winschoten for now. (DutchNews, Treinreiziger)

Minister orders inquiry into UWV fines

An internal UWV study of 1,682 files, revealed by AD and EenVandaag, found people with non-Dutch surnames got far more and higher fines. In one region they made up 44 percent of cases but got 74 percent of fines. Minister Vijlbrief said surname "must play no role at all" and wants a full inquiry; the UWV chair apologised for racist remarks by staff. NOS and DutchNews differ slightly on which region paid 98 percent of all fines. (NOS, DutchNews, NL Times)

Cabinet wants phones out of schools from January

The cabinet wants all primary and secondary schools to ban phones on school grounds from January 2027, not just in class. Minister Aerdts also wants limits on children's scrolling time and on kids in family vlogs. The state cannot force schools, so it will make agreements with them. (DutchNews, NOS)

Parliament wants tougher rules on camera glasses

The Tweede Kamer backed a motion by Barbara Kathmann (GroenLinks-PvdA) to look at a stricter ban on smart glasses with hidden cameras. Secret filming is already mostly banned, but the motion says this is widely ignored. The cabinet must report back by early 2027, with room for medical use. (iBestuur)

Student debt falls for the first time

Total student debt fell by 800 million euro to 28 billion euro, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) says. The main reason is the return of the basic grant in 2023. Still, 145,000 people owe more than 50,000 euro. (DutchNews, NL Times)

Grid waiting list grows, but more slowly

Nearly 15,500 firms and organisations are waiting for a power connection, about 300 more than at the start of the year. Grid operators see signs of hope, as more firms accept flexible contracts. Utrecht province still has a full stop on new heavy connections. (NOS)

Polymarket goes to court over Dutch ban

The US betting site Polymarket will fight its Dutch ban in court. The gambling regulator Ksa fined it 420,000 euro in February. Polymarket says its bets are financial products for the AFM; critics say they are banned binary options. (NL Times, DutchNews)

AI news (past 24 hours)

Anthropic and OpenAI testify under oath in New York

Anthropic, OpenAI, Google and Meta testified under oath before all 51 members of the New York City Council on AI risks. Anthropic sent Logan Graham, head of its Frontier Red Team; OpenAI sent policy lead Morgan Dwyer. Former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon warned that humanity is "more likely than not" to lose control of AI on the current path. The council issued a subpoena to SpaceXAI, which did not respond. (CNBC, NYC Council)

DeepSeek narrows the gap with US labs

Bloomberg Intelligence says top Chinese AI models now trail US models by only 3 percent on benchmarks, a record low. That is down from 9 percent in May, driven by DeepSeek's V4.1 Flash. It raises doubts about how long the US lead will last. (Bloomberg, Inshorts)

Schneider Electric buys PTC for 22.6 billion dollars

Schneider Electric will buy US design software maker PTC for 205 dollars a share in cash, a 42 percent premium. It is Schneider's biggest deal ever, aimed at AI and digital factory tools. PTC shares jumped about 33 percent, while Schneider fell about 7 percent. (Axios, Business Standard, Investing.com, Seeking Alpha)

Foxconn revenue up 47 percent on AI servers

Foxconn's third-quarter revenue rose 47 percent to 3.03 trillion Taiwan dollars, about 95 billion US dollars. September alone passed one trillion Taiwan dollars for the first time. It shows AI server demand is still rising fast. (Quartz, The Standard)

Also

Sport: Ovechkin to retire after this season

Alex Ovechkin, the NHL's all-time top goal scorer, said this season will be his last. The 41-year-old has played for the Washington Capitals since 2005 and won the Stanley Cup in 2018. Hockeybuzz and Yahoo put his regular-season goals at 929; NOS says 926. (Hockeybuzz, CBC, NOS)

Nature: meteors this week

The Draconid meteor shower peaks on the night of Thursday 8 to Friday 9 October. It is a modest shower, about five meteors an hour, but this year the sky is almost moonless. (Space.com, Time and Date)

On this day: the first talkie

On 6 October 1927, The Jazz Singer with Al Jolson premiered in New York. It was the first feature film with synced speech. Within about a year, silent films had nearly vanished. (EBSCO, Euronews)

Weather in Groningen

Fog first, then a mild day with a high of about 20 degrees and a low of 13. Weeronline expects some rain in the afternoon, about 2 millimetres; Weerplaza expects mostly sun and clouds with only half a millimetre. Light westerly wind. (Weeronline, Weerplaza)

On the agenda today

• Nobel Prize in Physics is announced in Stockholm, at 11:45 CEST at the earliest. (Nobel Prize)
• US trade figures for August come out; a wider deficit is expected. Fed officials Williams, Bowman, Schmid and Logan speak. (Rallies)
• Marvell updates its long-term targets at an investor day; Constellation Brands reports results. (Rallies)