Yemen's air force carried out 20 strikes on Houthi targets earlier on Friday, Brigadier General Majid Abdullah Al-Nuzaili, Spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces, said. Meanwhile, the Iran-backed Houthis denied targeting a power plant supplying energy to a mosque in Medina, Saudi Arabia.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday (2 October) that he would not authorise an export ban on diesel, hours after G7 countries agreed to release diesel and crude oil from their emergency reserves.
The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said on Friday that it had intercepted and destroyed three ballistic missiles launched towards the southern Saudi city of Khamis Mushait.
The Yemeni army said on Friday that it carried out 474 operations against Houthi targets across several fronts over the past 24 hours, claiming 1,540 Houthi fighters were killed or wounded.
The military said the operations targeted Houthi positions, reinforcements and command centres, with a particular focus on Taiz amid intensified fighting.
At least two civilians, including a 14-day-old infant, were killed and seven others injured Friday in separate shelling incidents blamed on Yemen’s Houthi group in Taiz province.
The Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedoms said a woman and the infant were killed in shelling in Al-Turbah and Al-Dhabab. Six others were injured when residential areas in central Taiz were shelled, according to local sources cited by Saba news agency.
The deaths come amid intensified fighting across Taiz, with the Yemeni army reporting 20 airstrikes on Houthi positions and clashes on several fronts.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II stressed the need for a comprehensive regional de-escalation agreement during a phone call with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday, according to the Royal Hashemite Court.
Abdullah said any agreement should safeguard the security and sovereignty of Arab states and highlighted the U.S. role in supporting regional stability.
The two also discussed Israeli escalation in southern Syria, with Abdullah reiterating Jordan’s support for Syria’s security, stability and territorial sovereignty. They also discussed the outcome of the latest Aqaba Process meeting in France, which focused on supporting the Lebanese army.
A tanker was struck by an unknown projectile while transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations. The incident caused a small fire and a blackout, but no casualties or environmental impact were reported. The fire was extinguished and the vessel is underway as authorities investigate.
G7 leaders on Friday agreed to immediately begin a coordinated release of 100 million barrels from emergency oil reserves over four months, as global energy prices and market volatility rise.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that European countries had agreed to release a “massive amount” of diesel stocks, as governments seek to ease pressure on fuel supplies and prices.
Türkiye's Head of Communications Burhanettin Duran on Friday condemned a Houthi attack targeting civilian infrastructure serving the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina, Saudi Arabia.
Israeli officials are expected to question the co-pilot of a Flydubai flight who allegedly attempted to crash the plane while it was travelling to Tel Aviv, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Armed groups opened fire on security posts and homes in the Mazraa area of western Suwayda province in southern Syria on Friday, according to Alikhbariah TV.
EU ambassadors will meet on Friday to discuss the global energy situation amid tight diesel supplies and high prices, the Irish Presidency of the EU said.
Pakistan's foreign minister said it won't be possible to entertain new requests to join the Makkah defence pact until it is fully operational, a process that could take up to a year, Reuters reported.
More than six countries are keen to join the pact, the foreign minister said.
Pakistan's foreign minister said a meeting in Riyadh next week will focus on Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia, Reuters reported.
In a second alert, Reuters said a meeting of the Strategic Political Defence Committee under the Makkah Accord will be held in Riyadh soon.
The alerts did not say whether the two meetings are the same event.
Pakistan has strongly condemned an attack blamed on Yemen’s Houthis on a power distribution station in Saudi Arabia’s Medina, calling it a “grave provocation” and a threat to regional peace and security.
Yemen’s army said Friday that its air defences shot down Houthi drones over the interim capital Aden as government forces targeted Houthi positions in Sanaa, Saada and Taiz.
Army spokesman Majed al-Nuzaili said the drones were intercepted before reaching civilian areas. He also said government forces struck high-value targets in Sanaa and 11 targets in Saada province.
In Taiz, the army said its air force carried out 20 strikes over three hours against Houthi movements, fighters, vehicles and military equipment. The Taiz Military Axis said intense clashes were also underway on the northern front of the city.
Maj. Gen. Mohammed Salem Abdullah al-Khawlani, chief of staff of Yemen’s Interior Ministry Emergency Forces, was killed in clashes with Houthi fighters in the southwestern province of Taiz, the ministry said Friday.
The ministry said al-Khawlani was killed while fighting Houthis on the Al-Kadaha front. His death marks the highest-ranking security official reported killed by the Yemeni government since the latest military escalation began in July.
Fighting has intensified across several fronts in Taiz in recent days, including Al-Kadaha, Jabal Habashi, Maqbanah and Al-Misrakh, with government forces also reporting airstrikes on Houthi positions.
Yemen's Houthis have denied attacking a power plant supplying energy to a mosque in Medina, Saudi Arabia.
Riyadh claimed the Medina attack was part of what it described as repeated Houthi attempts to target two holy mosques in the city.
A Houthi military source, quoted by the Houthi-run Saba news agency, denied the claim and said it was intended to cover up what he described as Saudi Arabia's failure to substantiate an earlier accusation that the Houthis had targeted the Muslim holy city of Mecca.
Pakistan has criticised an attack by the Iran-backed Houthis on a power plant supplying electricity to the Al Masjid-e-Nabawi mosque in Medina, Saudi Arabia.
“We call for an immediate and unconditional end of such reckless actions that also constitute a grave threat to regional peace and security,” Islamabad's Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on X.
Yemen's air force has carried out 20 strikes on Houthi targets over the last few hours, Brigadier General Majid Abdullah Al-Nuzaili, Spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces, said on X.
“The air strikes achieved direct hits on the enemy targets, inflicting losses on the militia's elements, equipment, and military movements,” a translation of his statement from Arabic to English read.
The U.S. is sending at least another 9,000 troops to the Middle East, as President Donald Trump mulls renewing strikes on Iran after November's midterm elections, the Wall Street Journal reports citing American officials.
A third aircraft carrier support group and an extra Marine expeditionary unit will be dispatched to the region as part of the plans, according to the report.
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Delegations from Russia, Ukraine and the United States met in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday for their first formal talks in nine months. They did so with no agreement on what a ceasefire would be tied to or who gets to keep the land currently under Russian control.
At least 17 people have been reported killed in an explosion at a steel plant in western Türkiye, after a crane collapsed during maintenance work. The disaster has prompted a criminal investigation into what went wrong at the industrial facility.
Russia and Ukraine are set to return to Abu Dhabi on Tuesday for a fourth round of U.S.-brokered peace talks, with European participation, security guarantees and territorial disputes expected to shape the negotiations.
U.S. envoy Jared Kushner said Washington believes the Russian President is prepared to reach a peace agreement under the right conditions, as U.S., Russian and Ukrainian delegations began trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday 10 November.
Armenia could lose its voting rights within the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) on 11 November after failing to pay membership fees for more than two years, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.
Heavy rain and strong winds have flooded around 70,000 tents across Gaza, leaving displaced Palestinian families exposed to cold, hunger and worsening living conditions as winter approaches, according to local authorities.
Trade along the Middle Corridor is accelerating, opening new opportunities for Central Asia and the South Caucasus as countries strengthen transport links between China and Europe. Cargo volumes reached around 4.7 million tonnes in 2025, up from less than one million tonnes in 2021.
Kazakhstan says the North Aral Sea’s water volume has risen by 24 per cent since 2022, reaching 23.4 billion cubic metres. The figures were unveiled at the COP31 climate conference in Antalya, Türkiye, as the country outlined ambitious plans to accelerate restoration.
Israel’s newly elected parliament was sworn in on Tuesday amid political deadlock, with President Isaac Herzog urging lawmakers to avoid another election as Gadi Eisenkot struggles to form a government.
Pakistani and Saudi investors have agreed to launch a private equity fund worth hundreds of millions, with 75 per cent of the money set to be invested in Pakistan, as the two countries strengthen economic ties.
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