Maya: Good morning, and welcome to Global Politics, your morning briefing on the stories shaping the world. It is Monday, October fifth, twenty twenty-six. I am Maya.
Devon: And I am Devon. We begin this morning in the Persian Gulf, where the United States is set to begin a naval blockade of Iranian ports at ten o'clock A M Eastern time.
Maya: That is right. U S Central Command says the blockade will be enforced impartially, against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas. Ship and Bunker, the maritime trade publication, reports that American forces will not block ships simply passing through the Strait of Hormuz if they are bound to and from non-Iranian ports.
Devon: CENTCOM says more than ten thousand sailors, Marines, and airmen, supported by more than a dozen warships and dozens of aircraft, are enforcing the operation. The command claims seaborne trade in and out of Iran has been completely halted.
Maya: But there are already questions about how airtight it is. B B C Verify has reportedly tracked at least four vessels from Iranian ports that appeared to cross the American blockade line. And a sanctioned Iranian supertanker was reportedly spotted moving through the strait over the weekend.
Devon: On the Iranian side, the Revolutionary Guard navy has re-closed the Strait of Hormuz, after briefly reopening it on Friday. Tehran warns that any military vessels approaching the strait will be dealt with severely.
Maya: There is still a thread of diplomacy. President Trump told reporters that very good conversations are happening with Iran, while Iran's supreme national security council says new American proposals are currently under review.
Devon: Meanwhile the economic fallout keeps spreading. U S crude is up about eight percent, past one hundred and four dollars a barrel, and Brent crude is up seven percent, over one hundred and two dollars. The British maritime monitoring office says a tanker and a container ship came under attack off the coast of Oman, and two Indian-flagged ships were involved in a shooting incident in the strait.
Maya: The region's other fronts are smoldering too. France says one of its peacekeepers was killed by small arms fire in Lebanon, while Israel says it struck fighters who violated the ceasefire. And the United Nations food agency warns that world food prices are near a four year high, partly because of the Hormuz disruptions.
Devon: From the Gulf, we turn to South America, where Brazil is heading to a presidential runoff. With nearly all votes counted, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro took about forty seven and a half percent of valid votes, ahead of President Lula's roughly forty four and two thirds percent.
Maya: That result stunned the forecasters. BusinessWorld reports that private surveys had predicted Lula would lead the first round by about three percentage points. One analyst put it bluntly: the pollsters missed badly.
Devon: Lula himself called it an unexpected result, telling supporters in Sao Paulo that a new campaign begins now. The runoff is set for October twenty fifth.
Maya: The stakes reach well beyond Brazil. Sky News reports that a Bolsonaro victory would extend a wave of right wing wins across Latin America, while Lula's reelection would keep Brazil at a distance from Washington and draw it closer to China.
Devon: And third place candidate Augusto Cury says he will endorse neither contender, so both campaigns now have three weeks to win over his voters. Reuters reporting notes that many of Flavio's first round votes look like protest votes, cast against Lula rather than for the senator.
Maya: Now to Yemen, where the country's internationally recognized government has launched a major offensive against the Houthi rebels. President Rashad al-Alimi announced what he calls Operation Yemen Dawn, saying government forces will fight until Yemen is freed from Houthi control.
Devon: The Saudi led coalition is backing the push with about one hundred fighter jets. The coalition spokesman says it has secured air protection over the strategic Bab el-Mandeb strait and destroyed hundreds of Houthi targets.
Maya: The government claims it has captured much of the Dhubab district, including the Dhubab airport, and severed the road from Dhubab to Mokha. The Houthis deny that any gains were made.
Devon: The timing matters, because the Houthis just seized the town of Turbah, cutting a key road linking the besieged city of Taiz with Aden, the government's interim capital. The Gazette's national desk reports this revives Yemen's civil war after a four year ceasefire.
Maya: The human cost is already mounting. The news agency France-Presse reports more than seventy people were killed in a single day of fighting around Taiz. And the United Nations World Food Program says three out of four households in some areas of Yemen are now facing hunger.
Devon: From Yemen to the Horn of Africa, where Ethiopian federal forces and their allies have retaken Mekelle, the capital of the Tigray region. Reuters sources say government aligned fighters entered the city center on Saturday, after the Tigray People's Liberation Front announced it was withdrawing.
Maya: The TPLF says it has temporarily moved its regional government out of Mekelle. Residents told the Associated Press they feared looting, with government buildings and police stations left unsecured.
Devon: This is the worst escalation since the twenty twenty to twenty twenty two civil war, which killed more than six hundred thousand people. The United States is urging both sides to exercise maximum restraint, and the diplomatic fallout is spreading, with Ethiopia and Egypt expelling each other's diplomats.
Maya: Finally, a diplomatic story with big economic stakes. Taiwan's foreign minister, Lin Chia-lung, is in Phoenix, Arizona, to open Taiwan's fourteenth representative office in the United States.
Devon: According to Reuters reporting, the minister will also tour the facilities of the chipmaker T S M C, which is investing two hundred and sixty five billion dollars in Arizona. Taiwan's foreign ministry calls the new office a milestone in the economic partnership between Taiwan and the United States.
Maya: The minister arrived in Arizona after a week long visit to Belize and Guatemala. The United States remains Taiwan's most important international partner, despite the absence of formal diplomatic ties.
Devon: And that is your morning briefing. I am Devon.
Maya: And I am Maya. We will be back later today with the evening edition, with everything that develops through the day. Have a good morning.