US moves around 9,000 troops aboard ships to Middle East
Lebanon calls for full Israeli withdrawal
Yemen carries out 20 strikes on Houthi targets in Taiz province
US sends additional Patriot batteries to Saudi Arabia and Qatar
Mecca pact defence committee meeting in Riyadh soon: Pakistan


Yemen's Houthis said that they attacked an Aramco facility in Saudi Arabia's capital, Riyadh, with ballistic missiles and drones.
There was no immediate confirmation from Saudi Arabia.
The Israeli army blew up a school, burned homes and carried out airstrikes and artillery shelling across southern Lebanon, according to the official Lebanese National News Agency.
In Houla, in the Marjayoun district, Israeli forces planted explosives in a private school building and detonated them, destroying the structure, the agency reported.
Troops also set fire to homes in the town, it said.
More than 80 percent of the emergency oil stocks pledged by International Energy Agency (IEA) members in March have already been released, the head of the agency said.
"Around 325 million barrels of the IEA collective action announced on 11 March have so far been released," Executive Director Fatih Birol told G7 leaders, according to an agency statement. Birol added this represented more than 80 percent of the 400 million barrels originally pledged.
Energy markets continued to face significant pressure from the Strait of Hormuz crisis, particularly in diesel supplies, Birol said.
Iran's rial continued its decline, as the central bank announced an injection of up to $2 billion to support the currency while the economy faces US sanctions and a naval blockade.
The US dollar was sold around 2.688 million rials, up from 2.632 million on Friday, according to free-market tracking website bon-bast.com, while alanchand.com reported 2.695 million rials per dollar.
State television said state banks began selling up to $2 billion to support the currency, which has lost more than half of its value in the past year.
Portugal’s Public Prosecutor’s Office has opened an inquiry into the legality of US military use of Lajes Air Base ahead of its war against Iran, according to media reports.
The inquiry follows a complaint filed by the Left Bloc in April, which called for an investigation into whether the use of the base violated domestic and international law, broadcaster RTP reported.
Flights between Iran and Iraq’s Najaf will resume on Sunday, the Iraqi state news agency reported.
Iraq had suspended flights amid US sanctions before securing an exemption allowing air links between Najaf and Iranian airports.
A 25-year-old dual British-Iranian national arrested earlier this week as part of an investigation into a suspected plot involving Royal Air Force Fairford has been released on bail, police said.
In a statement, Counter Terrorism Policing said the suspect was arrested in Westminster on Thursday "on suspicion of preparation of terrorist acts under Section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006."
It said the suspect has been released on bail, adding that searches of two properties in the same area have concluded.
A large plume of smoke and fire was seen rising in the vicinity of an Aramco facility in Riyadh, a witness told Reuters.
There was no immediate confirmation from Saudi authorities about the fire. Aramco did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The fire comes amid escalating hostilities between Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis, who have stepped up attacks on Saudi cities and energy infrastructure.
The Houthi group claimed Saturday that Saudi air strikes targeted the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, and the northern Saada province amid escalation in the Arab country.
In a post on the US social media company X, the group's Al-Masirah TV said Saudi aircraft fired missiles at a telecommunications network in Saqain district in Saada as well as Maran in the same province.
Yemeni army spokesman Col. Majed Abdullah al Nuzaili said on Saturday that government forces carried out 71 “precise targeting operations” against Houthi positions in Taiz province.
He said the operations targeted combat gatherings, military buildups and reinforcements across 10 areas, including al Aqrood, Sama’, al-Ahkum and Jabal Rasin.
According to al Nuzaili, the operations “resulted in the destruction” of several transport and support vehicles and the “neutralisation of militia members.”
He did not provide casualty figures.
The Houthis did not comment on the statement.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed military commanders and supervisors to hold a one-day standdown by October 15, giving service members time to vote in this year’s midterm elections.
Similar pauses will take place during future election years.
Hegseth said troops stationed outside their home states can face difficulties obtaining, completing and returning absentee ballots.
“We’re not telling you who to vote for,” he said, adding that the day could be used to complete absentee ballots, assist family members or vote at polling places.
US President Donald Trump’s senior national security officials met for several hours at Camp David to discuss next steps in the Iran war and ongoing conflict in Yemen, Axios reported, citing three US officials.
Vice President JD Vance chaired the meeting on Friday, which the administration had not publicly announced, according to the report.
Participants included Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, White House envoy Steve Witkoff, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Dan Caine.
“Things were decided or at least deeply discussed,” one official told Axios, referring to the Middle East crisis. The report did not specify any decisions.
Russia’s envoy to the IAEA, Mikhail Ulyanov, has pushed back against US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz’s demand that Iran give up its nuclear programme.
“Iran is not obliged to abandon its nuclear programme. It is Iran’s inalienable right,” Ulyanov wrote on X.
He accused the Trump administration of grounding its position in “wrong assumptions” about nuclear non-proliferation norms and the IAEA’s role.
A crude oil tanker was struck by an unknown projectile four nautical miles east of Oman, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said.
The tanker’s master reported that the projectile hit the vessel’s port side. All crew members were reported safe.
UKMTO said no environmental impact has been reported so far.
Yemen's government forces and Houthis fought over an area near a waterway crucial to global energy flows, killing 80 combatants over the past day, sources on both sides told AFP on Friday.
Fighting in Taiz has raged since Houthis began a lightning offensive against the internationally recognised Yemeni government.
On Friday afternoon, the Houthis said that Saudi forces had launched 94 strikes against areas under their control in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of strikes to 1,350 since the start of the renewed fighting.
A Houthi projectile has hit a school in Saudi Arabia’s Najran, causing material damage, the Saudi civil defence has said.
The Yemeni army has said that it carried out 474 operations against Houthi targets across several fronts over the past 24 hours, killing or wounding 1,540 members of the group.
Military spokesperson Majed Abdullah al-Nazili said the operations used warplanes, drones, artillery, missiles and rocket launchers to target Houthi positions, movements, reinforcements and military capabilities.
The operations covered fronts from southern Haradh and the coast to Kitaf, Al-Jawf, Marib, Al-Bayda, Lahj, Sanaa and Saada, with a particular focus on Taiz, Nazili said.
The Saudi-led coalition supporting Yemen’s internationally recognised government has said that it intercepted and destroyed three ballistic missiles launched by Yemen’s Houthi group towards the southern Saudi city of Khamis Mushait.
The coalition announced the interceptions in a brief statement by its spokesperson, without providing further details on casualties or damage.
The latest launches came a day after the coalition said it intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles over Khamis Mushait and Jazan, as well as four drones over Khamis Mushait.
Pakistan's top diplomat says he "sensitised" the Iranian side about the trilateral pact signed in Mecca.


The airline says flights are suspended until further notice following an incident that prompted an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.


US moves around 9,000 troops aboard ships to Middle East
Lebanon calls for full Israeli withdrawal
Yemen carries out 20 strikes on Houthi targets in Taiz province
US sends additional Patriot batteries to Saudi Arabia and Qatar
Mecca pact defence committee meeting in Riyadh soon: Pakistan





