Flash News

TREE NEWS update: Brazil’s presidential election will hold its first round of voting on October 4, with 13 candidates on the ballot. Incumbent left-wing President Lula and right-wing candidate Flavio Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, are the leading contenders. Recent polls by multiple Brazilian institutions show the two far ahead of the other candidates but in a technical tie with each other, leaving the outcome uncertain.

TREE NEWS reports: China’s railways carried 19.273 million passengers on the fourth day of the national holiday, up 6.1% year on year, with a notable rise in short- and medium-distance trips. Highway interprovincial travel and new-energy vehicle traffic continued to grow, and 33 expressway sections — mainly in Jiangsu, Sichuan, Guangdong, Hunan and Zhejiang — were flagged as congestion-prone. Waterway passenger volume was expected to exceed 1.95 million.

TREE NEWS reports: Haikou Customs supervised 358 million yuan ($50 million) in duty-free sales on Hainan island during the first three days of the 2026 National Day holiday, from October 1 to 3. Some 55,100 shoppers bought 277,000 duty-free items, with sales, shopper numbers and item volumes up 8.85%, 12.90% and 8.02% respectively from the same period in 2025.

TREE NEWS update: China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) said the main structure of the new central platform for the Dongfang 1-1 gas field, the country’s first offshore carbon-injection enhanced-gas-recovery demonstration project, has been completed and entered full commissioning. Once operational, the project is expected to store more than 1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually in subsea geological formations.

TREE NEWS update: The United States expelled two members of Iran’s delegation to the UN General Assembly in New York on October 3, after they had been asked to leave the country several days earlier. A US official said the two Iranians had remained in New York long after the General Assembly concluded and have now been deported.

TREE NEWS update: The Saudi-led coalition said on the 3rd that the Houthi claim of an attack on Riyadh that day was “misleading.” Coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said the group has suffered casualties in Taiz province in southwestern Yemen and on other fronts, and is seeking a “false victory” to divert attention from those losses.

TREE NEWS reports: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy took action against at least seven “non-compliant” oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz over the past five days as of October 3 local time, Iranian sources said. Multiple sources said the actions averaged more than one tanker per day, despite US claims that the strait remains open and under American control.

TREE NEWS update: Iraq’s Najaf International Airport announced it will resume flights to and from Iran on October 4, with three round-trip services scheduled for the first evening — one to Mashhad and two to Tehran. Airport management said the flights had been suspended for several days and that frequency is expected to rise gradually in the coming days based on airlines’ operating schedules.

TREE NEWS update: Yemen’s Houthi movement said on the evening of the 3rd that it struck Saudi Aramco targets in Riyadh with multiple ballistic missiles and drones, in response to Saudi airstrikes on Sanaa and other parts of Yemen. The group said the operation “achieved its objectives,” hitting targets and causing fires. Saudi authorities have not yet commented.

TREE NEWS reports: Yemen’s Houthi-controlled Al Masirah TV said on the 3rd that Saudi airstrikes hit the capital Sanaa that day. The report gave no details on the targets struck or any casualties. There was no immediate response from Saudi Arabia.

TREE NEWS update: The International Energy Agency said it has released about 325 million barrels of the 400 million barrels of strategic oil reserves it announced in March, more than 80% of the pledged total. IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol, who joined a G7 leaders’ video conference convened by French President Emmanuel Macron on global energy market conditions, said the releases have helped fill the supply gap and stabilize market confidence.

TREE NEWS update: The U.S. Coast Guard said a private Gulfstream jet carrying six people went missing on October 3 while flying from Bermuda to Boston. The Federal Aviation Administration notified the Coast Guard earlier that day that the aircraft had lost contact with the ground. Air and sea search teams have been deployed near Nantucket, Massachusetts, south of the mainland.

TREE NEWS reports: Explosions were heard near Qeshm Island in Iran, Iranian media reported. No further details on the cause, the number of blasts, damage or casualties were given. Qeshm Island sits in the Strait of Hormuz, the chokepoint for a large share of global seaborne oil shipments.

TREE NEWS update: The first Israeli civil aircraft carrying stranded Israeli travelers flew from Dubai to Tel Aviv early on the 3rd, after UAE carrier Dubai Airlines suspended all flights to and from Israel, according to Israel Airports Authority website information released the same day. The flight, operated by Arkia Israeli Airlines, departed Dubai on the 2nd and landed at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv at about 1 a.m. on the 3rd.

TREE NEWS update: US President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that Republicans must win the 2026 midterm elections. He said supporters should use every appropriate method — early voting, absentee voting, mail-in voting or in-person voting — to “flood” the radical left. Trump called the election extremely important and urged voters to turn out.

TREE NEWS update: Jiuzhaigou Scenic Area received its 5 millionth visitor of 2026 on the evening of October 3. The Sichuan park has sustained high visitor volumes through the year, with National Day holiday tickets continuing to sell out. The milestone marks a full recovery in annual traffic for the UNESCO-listed destination.

TREE NEWS reports: Cross-border passenger traffic at Shenzhen’s ports stayed at high levels on October 3, the third day of China’s National Day holiday, with multiple ports reporting year-on-year growth of more than 10%. Shenzhen border inspection authorities forecast average daily inbound and outbound traffic of 970,000 passengers across the city’s ports for the holiday period.

TREE NEWS update: China finished the 20th Asian Games with 169 gold, 89 silver and 83 bronze medals, a total of 341, topping both the gold and overall medal tables. The result marks China’s best performance at an Asian Games held outside its own territory.

TREE NEWS update: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Iranian oil currently in transit at sea will drop to zero this week. The remark signals continued pressure on Iranian crude exports, a key source of global supply. No further details or figures were provided.

TREE NEWS update: Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun on Oct. 3 rejected a US House select committee’s claim that Starbucks’ plan to open stores in Xinjiang is ‘morally bankrupt,’ calling allegations of ‘genocide’ in the region an outright lie. Guo said the committee’s accusations are baseless and politically motivated, and that Xinjiang remains stable with economic growth and religious harmony. He added China will keep expanding high-level opening-up and offer more opportunities to foreign firms.