Former UK defence secretary Michael Fallon told The National in Dubai that Britain should do more for its Gulf allies, including considering strikes on the Houthis as it did two years ago alongside the US. He argued that Washington's priorities have shifted to homeland defence and the Indo-Pacific, so Europe and the Middle East matter less to it. Fallon said Gulf security is also Britain's economic and energy security, since regional trade and energy affect UK inflation and interest rates. With the Houthis in direct conflict with Saudi Arabia since July and threatening the Bab Al Mandeb strait, he said Britain's support so far, including an RAF air-defence deployment to Kuwait and a tanker for Saudi jets, has been limited. On Russia, he called the US Treasury's waiver of diesel sanctions until April 2027 a miscalculation, since Moscow would read it as weakness and had given nothing in return.
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Related tickers and likely impact
PAXG/USDT
▲ Likely positivePAX Gold
Relevance: low
| Market | Crypto |
|---|---|
| Exchange | Binance |
| Sector | Real-world assets |
| Market cap | $1.8B |
| Close on 10/19/2026 | 4,133.66 |
| Change that session | -1.08% |
XAUT/USDT
▲ Likely positiveTether Gold
Relevance: low
| Market | Crypto |
|---|---|
| Exchange | Binance |
| Sector | Real-world assets |
| Market cap | $3.4B |
| Close on 10/19/2026 | 4,134.00 |
| Change that session | -1.05% |
XAU/USD
▲ Likely positiveRelevance: low
| Market | Gold |
|---|---|
| Close on 10/19/2026 | 4,140.75 |
| Change that session | -0.60% |
Impact is scored by AI from the headline and may be wrong. It is not investment advice.
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