🇮🇱⚔️🇮🇷 Israel Hayom reported that Israeli PM, Benjamin Netanyahu, planned a new round of decapitation strikes on Iranian leaders believing that this time, unlike the previous two times, would cause a chain reaction that would lead to the collapse of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Citing sources familiar with Netanyahu's plan, the Israeli newspaper claimed the operation was going to be "limited" in nature and that it was supported by the Mossad director, Roman Gofman, recently appointed by Netanyahu, only to be vetoed by the IDF Chief of Staff, Eyal Zamir, who, while not opposed in principle to the operation, was skeptical as the operation did not involve American forces and feared that Iranian retaliation would derail indefinitely the Knesset elections.

The Israeli cabinet, intelligence services and the IDF are all in agreement, according to Hayom, that they need to keep attacking Iran to keep it weak and unable to develop and expand its missile and nuclear program.

Netanyahu and Gofman were confident that a new round decapitation strikes against the IRGC would lead to a collapse of the Iranian military and cause revolts among the soldiery as the U.S. imposed naval blockade and new sanctions packages heightened inflationary pressure.

More interestingly, the newspaper mentions "limited Israeli airstrikes on Iranian targets in Iraq". Mysterious warehouse explosions and fires have occurred inside Iraq and Syria with allegations that Iran has been supplying the PMF with air defenses to hopefully shoot down Israeli jets when they make incursions into Iraqi airspace, while the explosions in Syria are related to Israel trying to keep the Syrian Armed Forces weak and unable to fight back Israeli incursions into Syria.

🔗 https://www.israelhayom.com/2026/10/26/new-details-emerge-about-attack-netanyahu-planned-against-iran/

🇦🇪🤝🇾🇪 The UAE Is Secretly Helping Ansarallah Fight Saudi Arabia in Yemen

The United Arab Emirates, a key American and Israeli ally in the Gulf, has been quietly assisting Ansarallah in its conflict against Saudi-backed forces inside Yemen, four sources with knowledge of the situation told Drop Site News.

Specifically, various UAE-aligned Yemeni forces have been providing targeting assistance to Ansarallah in their battle against Saudi-backed government forces in Yemen while Abu Dhabi has looked the other way, the sources said.

According to two sources with knowledge of the covert arrangement, the UAE’s assistance has also included direct sharing of intelligence by the UAE itself to Ansarallah for the purpose of targeting Saudi-backed forces.

A Yemeni source familiar with the Ansarallah backchannel confirmed that “the UAE has passed a significant amount of intelligence to the Sana’a-based government; the line of communication between the two sides remains open.” The Yemeni source told Drop Site that Ansarallah “established their own channels of communication internally with military commanders” who remain loyal to the UAE. The sources required anonymity as they are not authorized to speak publicly about the arrangement.

That the UAE is directly aiding one of its chief regional opponents is extraordinary. The UAE and Ansarallah are fierce ideological enemies with geopolitical goals that are in direct opposition to one another. The UAE is a close ally of Israel and the United States while Ansarallah is a close ally of Iran. However, when it comes to Yemen, their interests have come to overlap to some extent, producing a classic enemy-of-my enemy situation. The UAE was sidelined in Yemen earlier this year by Saudi Arabia, and stands to regain a strategic foothold in Yemen in the current conflict.

The assistance to Ansarallah from the UAE, some of the sources said, does not include help with intelligence and targeting inside Saudi Arabia, but is limited to help with targeting and intelligence inside Yemen. Ansarallah’s attacks on Saudi Arabia included strikes on Saudi’s main airport, one of which killed 12 people and wounded more than 300 others—and led to the cancellation of the Future Investment Initiative conference, otherwise known as the “Davos in the Desert.”

Recently, according to one source, a senior American official warned the Emirates that the U.S. had learned of the covert assistance being provided and urged that it be ended. Sources indicated the intelligence assistance was ongoing.

Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a senior Ansarallah official, denied that the UAE was assisting Ansarallah but insisted the Emirates were committed to neutrality. “The UAE has not provided any form of support to Yemen—neither against Saudi Arabia nor against its proxies within Yemen,” he told Drop Site. “According to our information, the UAE remains committed to neutrality and has refused to become re-involved in the aggression against Yemen alongside Saudi Arabia, despite persistent efforts by [Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed] bin Salman to persuade it to join.”

Beginning in 2015, the Emirates were allied with Saudi Arabia as part of a coalition backing the Yemeni government, after Ansarallah swept south from its stronghold in the northern highlands and took over Sana’a in 2014. The Yemeni government is commonly referred to as the internationally recognized government, or IRG, and it remains largely based in Riyadh. But, early in the conflict, the UAE’s aims and ambitions were at odds with the Saudis, causing division in the anti-Ansarallah side. In December of last year, that friction resulted in clashes between UAE-backed forces and Saudi-backed military units in the south and the UAE was effectively expelled from Yemen by force.

Earlier this month, The Guardian reported that the UAE was re-entering the Yemeni conflict on the side of Saudi Arabia by agreeing to resume some payments to some of the forces it had backed.

That backing would most likely come through supporting the Giants “Al Amaliqah” Brigades, a predominantly Salafi militia ideologically opposed to the Houthis with an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 largely southern fighters. The Southern Giants are currently battling for control of the Kahboub mountain range overlooking the Bab al-Mandab.

🔗 https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/uae-yemen-ansarallah-houthis-saudi-arabia-covert

🇾🇪⚔️🇾🇪 Latest news from the Taiz front

🟡 The Yemeni armed forces are advancing steadily around the city of Taiz and the western front of Lahj province.

🔹 On the Taiz axis, the Yemeni army cleared the hills of Al-Diman, Al-Iqam, and Al-Maydan from the control of Saudi coalition forces. With the clearing of these heights, other parts of southern Taiz city as well as Taiz University came under the oversight and fire of the Yemeni armed forces.

🔗 IWN

📝 🇮🇱 🗳 At the time of writing, both Eisenkot’s and Netanyahu’s, have yet to gain a clear majority, as Eisenkot’s makes what can best be described as a victory speech to his base and allies. Eisenkot’s warned Netanyahu of using security matter for his political gain, warned the security establishment against blindly following Netanyahu, and touted his perceived win as a return to reason and representation for “all of Israel.”

📎 OSINTdefender

🗳 🇮🇱 📊 2026 Election Results (0.52% in)

🔵Netanyahu Bloc: 51%
🔴Opposition Bloc: 42.5%
🟢Arab Parties: 2.4%
🟣Others: 4%

📎 Israel Elects

🔋☀️💧 Renewables' share of world electricity rises to 34% as nuclear slips to 9%

The two sources have followed very different paths since 2000, when they supplied a similar share of global power: renewables a little under 20% and nuclear about 17%, the data show. Rapid growth in solar and wind has lifted renewables since then, while nuclear's share has roughly halved. Fossil fuels still produced 57% of the world's electricity in 2025, down from more than two-thirds in the early 2010s.

Nuclear output has not shrunk. Reactors worldwide generated a record 2,702 TWh in 2025, up 35 TWh on the previous year's record, the World Nuclear Association said in September. But the amount of power from nuclear plants is about the same as two decades ago, while the world now produces far more electricity overall, so its share of the mix has fallen.

Most of last year's nuclear growth came from new reactors in China, which added 37 TWh, with France adding 12 TWh and Japan 9 TWh, while reactor closures in Belgium cut output by 7 TWh, according to Ember's Global Electricity Review 2026. Over the same year renewables generated 10,730 TWh, or 33.8% of the total, edging past coal's 33.0% to become the world's largest source of electricity for the first time.

Solar did most of the work. Solar generation rose by 636 TWh, or 30%, to 2,778 TWh in 2025, Ember said, and solar's share of global power generation reached 8.7%, nearly matching nuclear's 8.8%, according to the Energy Institute.

Nuclear construction is picking up. Eleven reactors started construction in 2025, taking capacity under construction worldwide to 82 GWe, against 423 GWe now operating, the World Nuclear Association said. Reactors ran at an average capacity factor of 83.7% last year.

🔗 https://www.intellinews.com/renewables-share-of-world-electricity-rises-to-34-as-nuclear-slips-to-9-478547/

🇨🇳🤖 In China, the AI bubble has already burst

While global tech stocks teeter, in China they have already crashed as lofty valuations collapse under worries about AI demand and curbs on Chinese exports.

The meltdown, tanking the mainland STAR50 index of AI and semiconductor leaders ​by 40% in less than four months and vaporising some $480 billion in market value, is an ill omen for wobbly world markets and a dampener on China's efforts ‌at encouraging its savers into stocks to fund the AI boom.

It has also slammed the brakes on a rally running two years, since economic stimulus promises sent shares soaring, and has stalled Beijing's push to break with a long boom-bust pattern and drive a "slow bull" market that delivers reliable performance. China's broad blue-chip index has dropped about 20% from highs made in June.

"The stock market later evolved into a speculative crazy bull," said Beijing-based fund manager Dong Baozhen. "And now we see ​the bubble bursting."

The reversal reflects a rally that ran to higher heights than markets in the West or elsewhere in Asia, and compares with a mere prick to US AI stocks, which ​have led a 6% drawdown in the Nasdaq from a record high scaled three weeks ago.

There has been no obvious selling trigger in China, although ⁠traders said high prices, tax bills and the threat of the US or other nations banning Chinese equipment in data centres all contributed.

With AI stocks running to 42% of China's market capitalisation and 57% of ​turnover across mainland-listed A-shares and Hong Kong's H-shares, according to Goldman Sachs, few in a market dominated by small investors have escaped pain.

Shares in robot-maker Unitree, 8,000 times oversubscribed by retail buyers at ​listing, have halved since they started trading in August, and chipmaker CXMT has lost more than a quarter of its value in the past month.

Chipmakers MetaX Integrated Circuits and Moore Threads Technology, which leapt 700% and 400% respectively on their market debuts last year, have also halved in value since July.

Chen Wensheng, a small business owner and investor from China's southern Hainan, said he bought into the rally emboldened by what he felt was official support for the likes of ​Unitree, which counted state-backed funds as investors. But Chen and his friends are now nursing losses.

Frustration that an investment theme backed by Beijing has ended so badly has driven many investors into defensive assets ​and is likely to slow equity fundraising by tech firms.

Shares in optical parts makers Zhongji Innolight and Eoptolink Technology are down roughly 60% from highs in June and July, in part as Washington moves towards banning the one-time ‌darlings from supplying ⁠US data centres.

🔗 https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-ai-bubble-has-already-burst-2026-10-26/

🗳 🇮🇱 📊 2026 Israeli Election Results (5.7% counted)

🔵 Likud: 27.7%
🔴 Yashar: 16.3%
🔴 Together: 9.0%
🔴 Yisrael Beteinu: 8.1%
🔵 Otzma: 7.2%
🔵 Shas: 5.8%
🔵 RZP-Zehut: 5.3%
🔵 UTJ: 5.1%
🔴 Democrats: 4.9%
🟢 Joint List: 3.38%
🟣 Reservists-Economic: 3.28%
🔵 Winter: 1.8%
🟢 Ra'am: 1.0%
🟡 Haredi Public Party: 0.2%

📎 Israel Elects

🗳 🇮🇱 📊 2026 Israeli Election Results (16.8% counted)

🔵 Likud: 24.1%
🔴 Yashar: 16.1%
🔴 Together: 8.8%
🔴 Yisrael Beteinu: 6.9%
🔵 UTJ: 6.7%
🔵 Otzma: 6.4%
🟢 Joint List: 5.9%
🔵 Shas: 5.6%
🔴 Democrats: 5.6%
🔵 RZP-Zehut: 5.4%
🟣 Reservists-Economic: 3.0%
🟢 Ra'am: 2.8%
🔵 Winter: 1.8%
🟡 Haredi Public Party: 0.2%

📎 Israel Elects

🗳 🇮🇱 📊 2026 Election Results - Bloc Totals (21.3% in)

🔵Netanyahu Bloc: 49.6%
🔴Opposition Bloc: 36.7%
🟢Arab Parties: 9.7%
🟣Others: 3.9%

📎 Israel Elects

🗳 🇮🇱 📊 2026 Election Results: Total Vote Share by Bloc (28.2% in)

🔵Netanyahu: 48.2%
🔴Opposition: 36%
🟢Arab Parties: 12%
🟣Others: 3.9%

📎 Israel Elects

🇶🇦🇮🇷 Qatar says Iran needs to show good intentions for mediation efforts to succeed

Iran needs to show good intentions for mediation efforts to succeed, mediator Qatar ​said on Tuesday, after a delegation from ‌the Gulf Arab country visited Tehran earlier this week in an effort to de-escalate regional tensions in coordination with ​the United States.

A spokesperson for the Qatari ​Foreign Ministry told a press briefing that Iran ⁠should stop threats against Arab Gulf states ​and open the Strait of Hormuz to show good ​intentions.

Qatar, along with Pakistan, has been mediating between Washington and Tehran in an effort to end the US-Israeli war on Iran ​that has disrupted global shipping and oil ​supplies, and spilled over across other parts of the Middle East.

📝 Representatives of Gulf Arab monarchies, Pakistan and Turkey going to Tehran to discuss regional security is a major political victory by Iran who is now considered by its neighbours strong and important enough to get consulted on regional security matters.

War is a continuation of politics by other means. Even if Iran suffered more material damage than it inflicted on its enemies, it is the sole country that achieved its political objectives in the 40 Day War those being: kicking out the U.S. from its bases in the vicinity of the Persian Gulf, forcing the U.S Navy out of the Persian Gulf, gaining control of the Hormuz Strait and being recognised by the other Middle Eastern countries as a significant if not the most powerful actor in the region.

Having delegates from Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey and the KSA travel to Tehran to discuss such matters was unthinkable 10 months ago. The Qatari complaint about Iran's "lack of goodwill" is out of place in the present day as Qatar, a country that opened its airspace to U.S. aircraft from which to target Iran, is in no place to make such demands, a fact which they will have to learn the hard way.

🔗 https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/qatar-says-iran-needs-show-good-intentions-mediation-efforts-succeed-2026-10-27/

🇺🇸⚔️🇮🇷 US blockade squeezes Iran's economy but may not force a deal

A US naval blockade has cut Iran's oil exports to a trickle and pushed inflation near 90%, but may not force Tehran to concede, Capital Economics argued on October 27.

Tracking estimates put Iran's seaborne crude exports at around 50,000 barrels a day (b/d) in both August and September, against 1.5mn-2.0mn b/d before the war, wrote Jason Tuvey, deputy chief emerging markets economist at the London-based consultancy. No crude has been loaded at Kharg Island, Iran's main export terminal, since late August, and Iraq and Pakistan have closed some border crossings with Iran, curbing its overland oil sales.

Oil exports were earning Iran $2bn-3bn a month before the war, Tuvey estimates, so a fall of more than 95% in seaborne volumes strips Tehran of most of its hard-currency income after more than 100 days of blockade. The central bank has already cut the dollars it supplies for imports to $27bn in the first seven months of the Iranian year, against more than $40bn in the same period two years earlier.

Iran's stock of oil already outside the blockade is shrinking as well. Iranian crude at sea is now estimated at 50mn barrels, down from 140mn-150mn barrels before the war, and tighter US sanctions have made those cargoes harder to sell.

The IMF estimated Iran's usable foreign exchange reserves at just $22.6bn in 2024, and they were probably lower by the time the fighting began, according to the note. That would replace lost oil revenue for less than a year. The other way to adjust is for imports, and with them domestic demand, to fall, and Chinese trade data show exports to Iran were 30% lower y/y in September.

The rial has lost 50% of its value against the dollar on the parallel market since the start of the year, hitting a record low in October, and official figures put inflation at close to 90% y/y in September, the highest rate since at least 1958, Tuvey wrote. Anecdotal evidence of goods shortages is mounting, and the IMF expects the economy to shrink by 7.6% this year.

"Economic pressure won't necessarily force the Iranian regime to make concessions," he wrote, pointing to regimes that clung to power through economic collapse with a mix of patronage and repression, such as Cuba after the 1959 revolution and Venezuela from 2012.

The squeeze is arriving just as Iran's hand in the conflict may be weakening. Tehran has stepped up attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's critical chokepoints, in recent weeks, but has so far struggled to make a significant dent in energy flows from the Gulf, according to Capital Economics.

🔗 https://www.intellinews.com/comment-us-blockade-squeezes-iran-s-economy-but-may-not-force-a-deal-479266/

🗳 🇮🇱 📊 Knesset Seat Distribution Based on Current Results (37.4% counted)

🔵Netanyahu Bloc: 57
🔴Opposition Bloc: 47
🟢Arab Parties: 16

📎 Israel Elects

🇷🇸🇷🇺 Serbia's student movement has won a historic election victory over Aleksandar Vučić's ruling party, but early indications suggest the new government is unlikely to sever ties with Russia or fundamentally change the country's foreign policy.

The Student List won 52.71% of the vote and 140 seats in parliament in the October 25 snap election, according to preliminary results from the Republic Election Commission. The SNS led by Vučić won 39.17% and 104 seats, ending 14 years of dominance by his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS).

The result marks a major political turning point for Serbia, an EU candidate since 2012. But the movement's victory was driven primarily by anger over corruption and demands for institutional reform, rather than a desire to change the country's international alliances.

The students brought together a politically diverse coalition, including right-wing nationalists and more liberal-minded figures, united by opposition to Vučić’s government. Their differences could complicate efforts to form a stable government and agree on a common foreign policy.

During the campaign, the movement's leading candidate, Ilija Srdanović, sought to keep the focus on domestic problems, arguing that Serbia's institutions needed to be reformed before difficult questions about the country's international position could be resolved.

In an interview with the BBC in September, he said Serbia's foreign policy should be guided by the interests of its citizens, while stressing the importance of the country's strategic interests, energy dependence and cooperation with Russia.

He told Insajder TV that EU membership was not the movement's immediate priority, arguing that questions about accession should be considered once media freedom and public debate had been restored. He said citizens should ultimately decide on membership in a referendum.

The statements suggest the student-led government is likely to prioritise domestic reforms rather than make sweeping foreign-policy changes. Reforms to the judiciary and media could bring Serbia closer to EU standards, but that does not necessarily mean its leaders will accelerate accession or abandon their existing international relationships.

The Student List's pragmatic position could disappoint EU leaders, who have repeatedly called on Serbia to align its foreign policy more closely with the bloc's.

The movement has already signalled that it does not intend to abandon Serbia's longstanding ties with Moscow.

In a statement published during the campaign, it said Serbia would maintain its "principled stance against imposing restrictive measures on the Russian Federation".

Serbia has refused to join Western sanctions against Russia since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, while also condemning violations of Ukraine's territorial integrity at the United Nations.

One reason is its dependence on Russian energy. Russia supplies about 80% of Serbia's natural gas imports, while the two countries maintain longstanding political and economic ties.

Belgrade also opposes sanctions on principle, citing its historical relationship with Moscow and its own experience of Western sanctions in the 1990s, which severely damaged the economy and made life difficult for ordinary people.

🔗 https://www.intellinews.com/will-serbia-s-election-change-its-foreign-policy-479268/

🇹🇷🇦🇿 Erdogan bows to Azerbaijani pressure, sacks aide who started diplomatic spat

Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev is 2-for-2 in faceoffs against fellow regional leaders after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan jettisoned an aide, opening the way for Baku and Ankara to move on from a bout of acrimony.

The Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet reported on October 25 that Erdogan advisor Oktay Saral had been forced to resign. Saral’s criticism of the introduction of new regulations in Azerbaijan that effectively banned religious attire, including hijabs, in state schools sparked a diplomatic row between Baku and Ankara. His departure presumably clears the way for a rapid reconciliation process to begin.

“Our president appointed me to this position, and I resigned at his instruction,” Cumhuriyet quoted Saral as saying. “I bear no ill will towards anyone.”

Saral confirmed in a social media post that his initial comments about the hijab controversy were responsible for his forced departure.

In demanding Saral’s resignation, Erdogan appeared to bow to pressure from Baku to take action to rein in Turkish critics of Azerbaijani policies. Commentaries appearing in Azerbaijan’s tightly state-controlled press had indicated a conciliatory gesture by Erdogan was needed to get bilateral relations back on track.

Earlier in 2026, Aliyev outlasted Russian leader Vladimir Putin in a battle of wills stemming from the accidental shootdown of an Azerbaijani civilian airliner in late 2024. Aliyev exerted pressure on Putin for months until the Kremlin leader finally acknowledged responsibility for the tragedy last fall. Aliyev also forced Putin’s client, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, to offer a ritualised apology earlier in October for the incident.

🔗 https://www.intellinews.com/erdogan-bows-to-azerbaijani-pressure-sacks-aide-who-started-diplomatic-spat-478985/