Israeli military deploys additional forces to southern Lebanon: Reuters<\/p>\n
Israel deployed additional forces to southern Lebanon overnight, Reuters quoted an Israeli military spokesperson as saying on Tuesday, <\/p>\n
The spokesperson said the troops were taking up defensive positions to protect Israeli civilians and strategic sites from any potential Hezbollah attack, Reuters reported.<\/p>\n
“We’re only at the borderline area in a defensive manner to prevent attacks against civilians and very strategic important points,” Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said in an online briefing with reporters. <\/p>\n
South Korean defense stocks see massive surge on Iran war<\/p>\n
South Korean defense stocks pared gains, but still saw massive spikes on Tuesday after the country’s markets returned from a public holiday, as the Iran war fueled interest in defense names globally. <\/p>\n
Heavyweight Hanwha Aerospace, which is South Korea’s largest defense manufacturer, saw shares surge nearly 25%, before moderating to about a 20% gain, while Korea Aerospace Industries gained more than 12%, but cut those to 3%. <\/p>\n
Shares in air defense systems maker LIG Nex1 soared 30%, while electronic warfare systems manufacturer Victek and anti-aircraft missile components’ maker Firstec saw shares rise about 29.3% and 18%, respectively.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Lim Hui Jie<\/p>\n
U.S. State Department orders evacuations of personnel from 3 more countries<\/p>\n
The U.S. State Department has issued evacuation orders for non-emergency U.S. government personnel and their family members in Bahrain, Iraq and Jordan. <\/p>\n
This was due to “security concerns,” with the State Department travel risk at level 3 for both Bahrain and Jordan<\/a>, and at level 4 for Iraq<\/a>, which indicates “do not travel.” <\/p>\n This comes after reported retaliatory strikes on U.S. bases in Bahrain and drone attacks on hotels housing U.S. troops by Iranian-backed militia in Iraq.<\/p>\n \u2014 Lim Hui Jie<\/p>\n Supreme leader successor appointment ‘won’t take long’: Iran local media<\/p>\n FILE PHOTO: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks in Tehran January 8, 2007. <\/p>\n Stringer Iran | Reuters<\/p>\n Iran’s ISNA news agency reported Tuesday that a member of the Assembly of Experts said appointing a successor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “won’t take long.”<\/p>\n Under Iran’s constitution<\/a>, the supreme leader is appointed by the Assembly of Experts, an 88-member clerical body elected by the public every eight years. Candidates are first vetted by the Guardian Council, which tightly controls who can run.<\/p>\n When the position becomes vacant, the Assembly convenes to deliberate and select a successor<\/a>. The decision requires a simple majority vote.<\/p>\n In the interim,\u00a0a provisional three-member leadership council<\/a>\u00a0assumes the supreme leader’s duties until a replacement is formally appointed.<\/p>\n \u2014 Lee Ying Shan<\/p>\n Israel says it is conducting ‘simultaneous targeted’ strikes on Tehran and Beirut<\/p>\n The Israeli military said it was conducting simultaneous targeted strikes against military targets in Tehran and Beirut, the authorities said in a X post<\/a> on Tuesday.<\/p>\n The U.S. and Israeli war against Iran widened to Lebanon on Monday after the Lebanese Hezbollah militia fired missiles and drones into Israel.<\/p>\n \u2014 Anniek Bao<\/p>\n The Strait of Hormuz is facing a blockade. These countries will be most impacted<\/p>\n The closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran is sending shockwaves across global energy markets, with Asia expected to face the maximum pain.<\/p>\n A prolonged closure of the Strait would likely lead to a further surge in oil prices<\/a>, with some analysts seeing oil crossing $100 per barrel. Global benchmark Brent<\/a> was last up 2.6% at around $80 per barrel \u2014almost 10% higher since the conflict broke out.<\/p>\n About 20% of global liquefied natural gas exports that come from the Gulf are also at risk.<\/p>\n “In Asia, Thailand, India, Korea and the Philippines are the most vulnerable to higher oil prices, due to their high import dependence, while Malaysia would be a relative beneficiary since it is an energy exporter,” Nomura wrote in a note on Monday.<\/p>\n Read the full story here<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2014 Lee Ying Shan<\/p>\n Trump touts \u2018virtually unlimited\u2019 U.S. munitions; UAE, Qatar deny weapons’ shortage<\/p>\n President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the U.S. has a “virtually unlimited supply<\/a>” of munitions as the war with Iran escalates.<\/p>\n He added that the stockpiles “at the medium and upper medium grade” have never been higher or better. It was not immediately clear what weapon grades Trump was referring to.<\/p>\n ‘Wars can be fought “forever,” and very successfully, using just these supplies (which are better than other countries finest arms!),” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.<\/p>\n He added that “Much additional high grade weaponry is stored for us in outlying countries.”<\/p>\n Earlier, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar denied reports that their inventories of Patriot interceptor missiles were running low.<\/p>\n The two countries had requested assistance to counter aerial threats such as missiles and drones, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.<\/p>\n “These assertions are unfounded and misrepresent the UAE’s high level of preparedness, technological sophistication, and operational readiness,” the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.<\/p>\n Qatar’s International Media Office also said it is “well-stocked” with Patriot interceptor missiles.<\/p>\n \u2014 Victor Loh<\/p>\n Amazon says drone strikes damaged three data centers in UAE and Bahrain<\/p>\n People walk past the logo of Amazon Web Services (AWS) at its exhibitor stall at the India Mobile Congress 2025 at Yashobhoomi, a convention and expo center in New Delhi, India, October 8, 2025. <\/p>\n Anushree Fadnavis | Reuters<\/p>\n Amazon<\/a>‘s cloud computing unit confirmed<\/a> three of its data centers in the Middle East were damaged by drone strikes, taking the facilities offline. <\/p>\n The company posted in an update to its Amazon Web Services health dashboard<\/a> that two facilities in the United Arab Emirates were “directly struck” by drones on Sunday, causing extensive damage. A site in Bahrain was damaged due to a drone strike that occurred nearby. <\/p>\n “These strikes have caused structural damage, disrupted power delivery to our infrastructure, and in some cases required fire suppression activities that resulted in additional water damage,” the company wrote.<\/p>\n AWS encouraged customers to consider migrating workloads to other regions as the situation in the region remains “unpredictable.” It also said expected a prolonged recovery “given the nature of the physical damage involved.” <\/p>\n \u2014 Annie Palmer<\/p>\n Trump says U.S. response to attack on its embassy will be revealed ‘soon’<\/p>\n U.S. President Donald Trump told NewsNation that details of Washington’s response to the attack on the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, and for the deaths of American military personnel in the Iran conflict, would be revealed “soon,” according to a reporter<\/a> from the outlet who shared excerpts of the interview on X on Monday.<\/p>\n Trump also said that boots on the ground won’t be necessary, according to the reporter’s post.<\/p>\n Saudi Arabia’s defense ministry said earlier that the U.S. embassy had been hit by drones, causing a small fire and minor material damage.<\/p>\n \u2014 Vinay Dwivedi<\/p>\n U.S. embassy in Riyadh hit by drones, causing ‘limited fire,’ no injuries reported <\/p>\n