The Strait of Hormuz faces a blockade. These countries will be the most affected
Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz has sent shockwaves through global energy markets, with Asia expected to face the greatest pain.
A prolonged closure of the strait is likely to lead to even higher oil prices, with some analysts predicting oil prices could exceed $100 per barrel. global benchmark brent Prices last rose 2.6% to around $80 a barrel, and have risen almost 10% since the conflict broke out.
About 20% of the world’s liquefied natural gas exports from the Gulf are also at risk.
“In Asia, Thailand, India, South Korea and the Philippines are most vulnerable to oil price increases due to their high import dependence, while Malaysia will be a relative beneficiary as it is an energy exporter,” Nomura wrote in a note on Monday.
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— Li Yingshan
President Trump touts that U.S. military supplies are “virtually unlimited.” UAE and Qatar deny arms shortage
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the United States has a “virtually unlimited” supply of military supplies as the war with Iran escalates.
He added that “intermediate and above-intermediate” stockpiles are as high or better as they have ever been. It was not immediately clear what grade of weapons Trump was referring to.
“With just these supplies (better than any other nation’s finest weapons!), wars can continue ‘forever’ and be highly successful,” President Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
He added that “many more high-end weapons are stored in frontier countries.”
Earlier, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar denied reports that they were running low on Patriot interceptor missiles.
Both countries had asked for assistance to counter air threats such as missiles and drones, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
“These claims are unsubstantiated and misrepresent the UAE’s high level of preparedness, technological sophistication and operational readiness,” the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
The Qatar International Media Authority also said it has a “rich stockpile” of Patriot interceptor missiles.
— Victor Lo
Amazon announces that three data centers in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain were damaged in a drone attack
People walk past the Amazon Web Services (AWS) logo at an exhibitor booth at India Mobile Congress 2025 at Yashobhoomi convention and exhibition center in New Delhi, India, on October 8, 2025.
Anushree Fadnavis | Reuters
AmazonCloud Computing division confirmed that three of its data centers in the Middle East were damaged in drone attacks and the facilities were shut down.
Two facilities in the United Arab Emirates were “directly hit” by drones on Sunday, causing significant damage, the company posted in an update to its Amazon Web Services health dashboard. The Bahrain site was damaged by a nearby drone attack.
“These strikes caused structural damage, disrupted power supply to our infrastructure, required firefighting efforts in some cases, and resulted in further water damage,” the company wrote.
AWS advised customers to consider moving their workloads to other regions as the situation in the region remains “unpredictable.” He also said he expected recovery to take time “given the nature of the physical damage.”
— Annie Palmer
President Trump says US response to embassy attack will be clear ‘very soon’
US President Donald Trump told NewsNation that details of the US government’s response to the attack on the US embassy in Riyadh and the deaths of US military personnel in the Iran conflict will be revealed “soon”, according to a reporter for the outlet who shared excerpts of an interview with X on Monday.
Trump also said there was no need to wear boots on the ground, according to the same reporter’s post.
Earlier, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defense announced that the US embassy had been attacked by a drone, causing a small fire and minor property damage.
— Vinay Dwivedi
Drone attack causes ‘limited fire’ at US embassy in Riyadh, no injuries reported
The US embassy in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh was attacked by two drones on Tuesday morning, the Middle East Ministry of Defense said.
Defense officials said the drone attack caused “limited fire and minor property damage” to the building.
The U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia warned residents of Jeddah, Riyadh, and Dhahran to hide in shelters and limit non-essential travel to military installations in the region.
“We advise American nationals in Saudi Arabia to evacuate to designated locations immediately,” the embassy said in a post on X.
— Anique Bao
