Reuters World News - Houthi strikes, rogue AI and Ukraine's kill zone

Episode Date: July 23, 2026

 Iran-aligned Houthis attack Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea,  closing in on another key oil route. Iranian strikes on CIA facilities are prompting questions about a possible Russian role. OpenAI says AI models went rogue during testing. And how to visualise the "kill zone" frontline in Ukraine. Listen to the Morning Bid podcast ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠. Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠. Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt out of targeted advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi, I'm Kim Vinal in Wanganui, New Zealand. It's Thursday, July 23rd. Today, the Houthis attack Saudi oil tankers, closing in on another key oil route. Iranian strikes on CIA facilities raise questions about Russian involvement. An open AI model goes rogue during testing. And Reuters takes on the kill zone on Ukraine's front.

front lines. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, seven days a week. Recently, our company's softball team lost the big game by one run. Then Dale tried to console us with the quote, winning isn't everything. Well, Dale and I are very different. I get early payout from Bed 365. If my team goes up big, I get paid out instantly, even if they blow the lead later.

Sound familiar, Dale? Thanks, Beth 365. Must be 19 or older Ontario only. Please play responsibly. If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or the gambling of someone close to you, please go to Connects Ontario.c.com. The Iran-aligned Houthis have made good on a threat to impose a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia

to stop it exporting oil through the Red Sea. Houthi military spokesperson, Yaya Sari, says the Yemen-based group attacked two tankers using ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones. It's a significant escalation, as it means a potential second chokehold on world oil supplies, in what analysts view as a tactical move by Iran to get leverage in its war with the US.

Iran is still trying to assert control over the other oil export route in the region, the Strait of Hormuz. Oil prices have now reached a six-week high. We'll have a break. Breakdown of the market impact in a bit, but first two more updates related to the war. The Yeas are 216, the Nays are 212, the bill is passed. The US House of Representatives has passed a new defense spending bill,

authorising more than a trillion dollars in spending for the US military. Supporters of the bill say the money is needed given the ongoing fight with Iran to fund the development of defense systems and to buy equipment, as well as to give troops more benefits. A Senate version of the bill still needs to be passed before Armed Services Committee negotiators agree on a compromise version. That version must then pass each chamber

before President Trump can sign it into law. Iranian drone attacks on CIA facilities in the Gulf are prompting US intelligence analysts to explore whether Russia helped. Sources have told Reuters the U.S. isn't entirely sure one way or the other yet, but the way the strikes were carried out are being seen as potential evidence.

National security reporter Jonathan Landay explains. It's the precision, I think, that has the main piece of evidence that's got intelligence analysts looking into this question, but also let's not forget that Iran and Russia have been cooperating on drones and drone technology for at least two to three years. Russia purchased and then began to be. making its own version of the Iranian Shahid-136 drone, the Russians improved their version

using a guidance system of their own device. And the question is whether or not, at least one of the questions that's been raised is whether or not there is any evidence that they've supplied Iran with this guidance system. At this point, there is no evidence. But we do have sources who are telling us that Russia did contribute technological upgrades to the drones that were used against the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and that helped with the precision strike that ended up damaging the CIA station inside the embassy. Now to markets, and an update from Mike Dolan, host of our sister markets podcast Morningbid. So yes, oil markets are tightening yet again.

today, Brent crude almost hitting $98 a barrel, putting the $100 a barrel psychological level back in focus. The reasons are very clear. We've now got almost two weeks of escalating violence in the Middle East, which is expanded to the Red Sea and is worrying oil markets there as well because Saudi tankers turning back yesterday. European Union warning it ships not to go there. It all is creating a very big supply crunch yet.

again. And that's affecting the interest rate markets, the bond markets and the broader markets with the European Central Bank meeting today. They'll look at natural gas prices, for example, and feel this is going to be a worry for inflation going forward. Thanks, Mike. You can catch morning bid wherever you get your podcasts. Gregus believes in the art of living in choosing the pleasurable over the practical. It's why we craft our premium vodka in France using pure spring water from and why you hear the celebratory pub of our quirk reminding us to make every martini cocktail count. So go on and make every moment count because there's no better time than now. Gregus, make time wait.

Sip responsibly. Now, what happens when artificial intelligence designed to be contained finds a way out? Open AI says one of its most advanced AI agents has escaped a controlled security test, reached the internet and hacked into another AI company's systems. The breach is raising alarm across the cybersecurity world and fueling fears that increasingly powerful AI systems could be outpacing the safeguards built to control them. Here's Reuters. The AI is not meant to be able to break out and access the open internet.

But this one did. It was being tested to see whether it could chain together online vulnerabilities into a successful cyber attack. The model broke out, connected to the internet and hacked into a digital library of AI technologies owned by a platform called Hugging Face, because the AI had figured out that clues on how to pass the test might be in there somewhere. For AI researchers, this is the stuff of science fiction. Open AI says the breach was unprecedented and it's patching the vulnerabilities. For other AI experts, the breakout shows testing AI models like this might not be worth the risk. From fears about AI slipping its leash to concerns about who holds the leash in the first place. Around the world, buyers of US technology are asking an uncomfortable question.

Could Washington remotely cut off access to critical products that they depend on? The Trump administration is trying to stamp out concerns about so-called, Hill switches. But as Reuters' cybersecurity correspondent, Rafael Satter explains, the worries aren't going away. I think that there is increasing anxiety amongst America's partners that the tech products that they take for granted, the American tech products that they used every day, might, at a moment's notice, be yanked away from them. And so as a result, they are talking increasingly openly about things such as data sovereignty, tech sovereignty, AI sovereignty, having control over their own tech stack

so that somebody can't throw a kill switch somewhere in Washington or in San Francisco. And while it's always been theoretically possible for the owners and operators of these products to be able to remotely disable them, it's rarely done. However, recently, we've seen that done more often by the Trump administration in terms of people who've been sanctioned.

So we might be thinking about the International Criminal Court, for example, in Europe. They've had their access to U.S. tech products suddenly yanked away from them. And that's making others sit up and take notice.

We are seeing little baby steps being taken in various countries to move away from American tech platforms, including in places like France, which is moving away in some cases from Microsoft products, for example, and various other places

that are in the early stages of exploring whether they can create their own European or native text acts. That's Indian activist Sona Mwangchuk, saying he'll end the hunger strike he's been on if the government stops using force on student protesters. Youth-led protests have repeatedly clashed with police in recent days and spread across the country,

heightening the biggest youth challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, since he came to power in 2014. Yesterday we brought you the story of the Ukrainian soldier who spent 346 days in an underground bunker deep in the Russian kill zone. But what exactly is the kill zone? Well, Reuters has visualized it in an unprecedented way.

It's been described as hell on earth. A belt of land, 1,200 kilometers, along the front line, some 15 kilometres either side of it. There is the zone where journalists can no longer go. It's part of a graphics and visual investigation out today, the result of Reuters teams combing through hundreds of verified videos and speaking to soldiers who made it out alive. If you move within the kill zone, you're going to get spotted by a drone.

If you're spotted by a drone, you're very likely to be dead. Editor Mike Collett White says it's about showing what this new type of warfare looks like, when access is near on impossible. You know, what we're trying to do is to show all the different elements in a single flyover. So it's a more concentrated, immersive feel than reality would be, but this is our way of explaining what's happening in the kill zone and why, basically, a much smaller army, in this case Ukraine, has been able to virtually halt the advances of a much bigger army, in this case Russia.

There's a link to that in the pod description. For more on any of the stories from today, check out Reuters.com or the Reuters app. Don't forget to follow us on your favourite podcast player. If you're listening on a smart speaker, just ask for the latest news from Reuters seven days a week. We'll be back tomorrow with our daily headline show.