Daily Brief
2026-10-26
Top Story
Novatek, a Russian gas producer under US sanctions since 2022, secretly funded Polar LNG, a US company planning to export Alaskan gas, the New York Times reported
Polar LNG's former chief executive John Riddle resigned in September after learning the money traced to Novatek, Russia's second-largest producer of liquefied natural gas.
Around the World
Sri Lankan police say 1,093 people were arrested in scam-compound raids this year and none has yet been successfully prosecuted
Sri Lanka's 2007 computer crime law lets a case open only on a victim's complaint, and most victims live abroad. Most suspects are instead charged with visa violations and removed from the country.
Evergrande liquidators have recovered under 1% of overseas creditor claims, about HK$3.4 billion of HK$360 billion, Caixin reports
Caixin, the Chinese financial news outlet, reports the liquidators' latest progress report, dated October 22nd, showing about HK$3.4 billion recovered as of September 30th, 2026.
Myanmar's foreign-exchange regulator told a fuel buyer it would label a 113,000-barrel Iranian jet fuel shipment as diesel on its paperwork
In a November 2025 letter seen by Reuters, the regulator said it would issue import documents calling the cargo diesel "instead of jet fuel." The cover was a $15.8 million contract that broker Dynamic Wave signed with Thailand's Tawan-Oil Trading for a similar amount of South African diesel, and United Nations and Vortexa (a shipping data provider) figures show no such trade happened in 2025.
A Japanese trade ministry official says supply has stalled for yttrium, the metal used in jet-engine and chipmaking coatings, and the Financial Times reports stockpiles could run out within months
Japan says yttrium supplies have stalled amid Chinese export curbs, and Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning defended the controls on October 21st.
Attackers reportedly got into European energy group ENGIE through a CRM platform, and into the AI cloud platform Genesys through a training system
Attackers reportedly reached an internal ENGIE platform through a customer-relationship management system used by business partners.
Colombia's mining agency has drafted a resolution to expand its strategic minerals list from 17 to 28, with rare earths in focus
El Tiempo reports the mining agency has a draft resolution, published for comment, that would raise the strategic-minerals list from 17 to 28 minerals.
Canacar, Mexico's national trucking association, called its members onto the highways on Monday to protest highway crime and poor roads
Mexico's interior ministry says most other trucking groups agreed to talk with the government instead and calls Canacar's stance "inexplicable." Canacar says it is open to talks but wants firm answers.
Johns Hopkins researchers put Chinese creditors' hold on Zambian debt at about $6.6 billion in 2021, nearly double Zambia's own highest figure
Researchers at the China Africa Research Initiative put the total at approximately $6.6 billion in August 2021, against the highest figure Zambia's government had cited.
Flavio Bolsonaro says he will seek to annul Brazil's presidential election, which Lula da Silva won on October 25th
Bolsonaro is citing a two-hour extension of polling hours ordered by a justice of Brazil's Supreme Court.
Serbia's ruling party lost the parliamentary election to a student-led protest movement, and Aleksandar Vucic, in power since 2014, conceded defeat
The Student List, which grew out of protests after a station canopy collapsed in Novi Sad in 2024, killing 16 people, is set to hold 135 to 140 of the 250 seats against 105 for Vucic's Serbian Progressive Party, on preliminary results Vucic gave. It is unclear who will be prime minister.
Iran withdrew open station fuel cards in 11 provinces and tightened access to gasoline
The head of Iran's national oil products distribution company said the open station cards were withdrawn, so drivers in those provinces must now use a personal fuel card.
Algeria's parliament approved sending units of the national army into Niger
Parliament voted on October 25th to approve sending units of the national army to Niger, citing the protection of Algeria's energy interests there and a bilateral agreement between the two countries.
FATF, the global anti-money-laundering standard-setter, is expected to take up its evaluations of the United States and Mexico at its Paris meeting October 28th to 30th
It is the first meeting under the group's UK president, Giles Thomson. Delegates will also review countries on its increased-monitoring list. The evaluation reports are not due out until December.