Latest news for 6 February 2026

IRAN

Leaving ahead of talks.

DC has (again) issued a notice urging US citizens to ‘leave Iran now’ ahead of today’s planned US-Iran talks in Oman. President Trump wants Iran to pause its nuclear program, limit its ballistic missile program, and stop funding proxies like Hezbollah and the Houthis, conditions the mullahs have previously rejected. (CNBC)

Comment: DC issued a similar warning when Trump was publicly weighing up strikes last month.

RUSSIA

General shot.

An unknown assailant has shot yet another senior Russian general in Moscow. This one (Alekseyev) is deputy head of Russia’s military intelligence. We say ‘is’ because he’s been rushed to hospital and his current status is unclear. (Reuters)

Comment: Whodunnit? The obvious suspect is Ukraine’s own intelligence services, which have a proven record of hitting these guys in the middle of Moscow. To boot, Alekseyev was one of the invasion’s key architects. But he was also famously tight with Prigozhin (of Wagner mutiny fame), so his enemies go beyond Ukraine.

PAKISTAN

We’re done here.

Pakistan’s military says it’s now ended its week-long operation against Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) separatists, with hundreds reported dead. The push across Pakistan’s resource-rich region came in response to coordinated BLA attacks on schools, banks, markets and military sites. (Al Jazeera)

Comment: Pakistan continues to accuse neighbouring India and Afghanistan of backing the Balochs, claims Delhi and Kabul deny. We explored this volatile situation here.

UNITED STATES

Re-opening of channels.

The US and Russia have agreed to re-establish senior military-to-military contact, frozen since Moscow's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. (Bloomberg $)

Comment: The US-Russia New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) expired yesterday (Thursday), so there’s probably a premium on any crisis phone right now. But it’s arguably also another US concession without anything in return.

CAMBODIA

Your records, our evidence.

Cambodia has asked France to provide historical documents and advisory support to help resolve its border dispute with Thailand, citing France’s 1907 role in mapping the frontier during the country's colonial era. (The Straits Times)

Comment: Thailand managed to seize quite a bit of disputed land during last year’s spat, and it’s hard to see it returning an inch, historical evidence or not.

MEXICO

¡Shots! ¡Shots! ¡Shots!

Authorities have arrested the mayor of Tequila (yes, it is a town) and three senior city officials for allegedly extorting tequila distilleries. It’s part of a federal anti-corruption crackdown targeting municipal officials accused of cartel links. (NYT $)

Comment: The last time one of Mexico’s ~2,500 mayors hit the headlines, it was because one (in Uruapan) took a brave stand against organised crime and was assassinated for his troubles. So there’s a book-end feel to this.

MOROCCO

Proceed with caution.

The Moroccan military has evacuated more than 140,000 people from the country’s northwest amid heavy rain, dam overflows, and flooding. It’s all broken seven years of drought, but the exceptional scale is disrupting everything from universities to maritime traffic with Spain. (ABC News)