Yemen

• Saudi-led coalition claims missile intercepted over holy city; Ansarallah denies launching attack: The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen claimed Thursday that its forces intercepted and destroyed a cruise missile over the Medina region of Saudi Arabia, according to the coalition spokesperson.
  • Ansarallah said Yemeni forces had not carried out any attacks against Saudi territory on Thursday. A spokesperson described Saudi Arabia’s allegation of an attempted strike on the Islamic holy city as a “great and blatant fabrication.”
• Ansarallah claims direct hit on Saudi fighter jet: A Saudi Typhoon fighter jet was targeted with a surface-to-air missile over Saada governorate in northern Yemen, Ansarallah forces claimed. The aircraft had taken off from Taif Air Base in Saudi Arabia and sustained a direct hit, leaving it at risk of crashing. The claim has not been independently verified.
• EU-Gulf summit postponed: A summit of European Union and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) leaders scheduled for next week in Riyadh was postponed following Ansarallah attacks on Saudi Arabia and the suspension of operations at King Khalid International Airport.
  • The decision was made to ensure the safety of participating delegations, the GCC Secretary-General announced Thursday. A new date will be announced later, the European Council said, reaffirming its commitment to strengthening ties with Gulf states.
  • Gulf states hope the summit will advance efforts towards Schengen visa exemptions. Bulgaria is also pushing for a railway corridor that can transport Saudi oil to Europe through Syria, Turkey, and Bulgaria, bypassing the blockaded Strait of Hormuz.
• UN urges Ansarallah to release 71 detained staff members in Yemen: The United Nations called on Ansarallah to release all detained personnel from the UN, NGOs, civil society organizations and diplomatic missions, following the release of UN staff member Sami Al-Kalabi, who had been held in Sana’a since 2024. A total of 71 UN staff members remain in Ansarallah detention, many without charge or trial.
  • Ansarallah has accused some detained UN and humanitarian workers of espionage and collaboration with the U.S. and Israel. It has not provided evidence for those accusations.
  • Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have repeatedly called for Ansarallah to release “the dozens of arbitrarily detained members of Yemen’s civil society and UN staff,” and have documented Ansarallah’s use of torture and abuse in its detention facilities.

Palestine

• Israel suspends commercial goods from entering Gaza: Israel has suspended the entry of private-sector goods into Gaza over allegations that Hamas threatened and coerced merchants, according to Nickolay Mladenov, High Representative President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace.”
  • The decision further restricts essential supplies for more than two million Palestinians in the devastated enclave. Gaza relies on the entry of a combination of humanitarian aid and commercial goods that have both been subjected to heavy Israeli restrictions.
  • Mladenov said he received a letter from Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories informing him of the suspension. He condemned the alleged intimidation of merchants as “unacceptable” but did not call on Israel to reverse the decision or specify when commercial deliveries might resume.
  • Hunger in Gaza remains at crisis levels following a full-blown famine declared in the summer, according to the world’s leading authority on food insecurity, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification.
• Israeli drone strike kills Palestinian near school in Gaza City: A Palestinian was killed and several others were wounded by an Israeli drone strike near the Ibad Al-Rahman School, northwest of Gaza City, on Thursday, according to WAFA.
  • Over the past 24 hours, four Palestinians were killed and nine injured in Israeli attacks across Gaza, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
  • The total recorded death toll since October 7, 2023, is now 74,396 killed, with 175,449 injured. Since October 11, 2025, the first full day of the so-called ceasefire, Israel has killed at least 1,505 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded 5,332, while 838 bodies have been recovered.
• Israel’s closure of Rafah blocks medical evacuations from Gaza for second week: Israel has kept the Rafah border crossing closed for a second consecutive week, preventing sick and wounded Palestinians from leaving Gaza for medical treatment abroad, Gaza’s Health Ministry said Thursday.
  • Medical-leave waitlists for ailing Palestinians are growing daily, as peoples’ needs far exceed the capacity of Gaza’s devastated and besieged hospitals to accommodate patients or provide even minimum levels of treatment, the ministry said.
• Settlers attack Palestinians, damage farmland, and establish new outpost across the occupied West Bank:
  • Ramallah: Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian olive pickers in Burqa village, east of Ramallah, on Thursday, WAFA reported. Israeli forces blocked the village entrance, obstructing an ambulance for several hours.
  • Hebron: Settlers intercepted vehicles carrying Palestinian Medical Relief Society teams and attempted to prevent them from reaching Khirbet Al-Majaz, in Masafer Yatta, to provide medical care. In Beit Ummar, north of Hebron, settlers destroyed crops and cut irrigation pipes belonging to a Palestinian farmer.
  • Salfit: Settlers established a new pastoral settlement outpost in Wadi Yasuf, east of Salfit, erecting tents on Palestinian land.
  • Nablus: Settlers cut electricity poles connected to a home in Burin, south of Nablus. The home, located near the Yitzhar settlement, has been repeatedly targeted by settlers.
• Israel has detained more than 2,000 Palestinian children since October 2023, with 350 still confined: Israeli forces have detained more than 2,000 Palestinian children since October 2023, with 350 currently held in “harsh conditions,” according to a report from the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society.
  • Palestinian children face abuses ranging from “intimidation and arrest” to “torture, starvation and denial of healthcare,” the group said.

• Israeli guards shoot Palestinian prisoners with rubber bullets at close range: Israeli prison guards have shot rubber bullets at Palestinian inmates at close range, two Israeli rights groups warned, according to AP. The two groups documented nearly two dozen, most of which have occurred since last fall, compared to only a handful of incidents documented over the prior decade.
  • According to the groups Physicians for Human Rights Israel and the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, prisoners have been struck by rubber bullets in the legs, knees, stomach and pelvic area, according to the reports, with many not being treated for their injuries.
  • The Israel Prison Service’s legal adviser, in response to a letter from rights groups, said it saw no reason to stop using rubber bullets in “measured” and “appropriate” ways.

Iran

• U.S. military develops plans to strike Iranian energy and nuclear sites with “mother of all bombs,” CNN reports: The U.S. military developed new strike plans that include deploying the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB), the largest non-nuclear bomb in its arsenal, against Iranian energy infrastructure and nuclear facilities, should President Donald Trump order renewed attacks before or after the November midterm elections, according to CNN.
  • Officials questioned whether the MOAB could destroy deeply buried nuclear facilities. The bomb is designed primarily for massive surface-level destruction rather than deep penetration.
  • Some military planners described potential strikes as a “fireworks show” intended to give Trump a symbolic victory and a way out of the war. Others suggested the MOAB could serve as a psychological weapon to pressure Tehran to make a deal.
  • At a rally in Arizona, Trump claimed that the war on Iran would end “very soon” and predicted fuel prices would fall once the fighting stopped. “I knew gasoline would go high, but I had no idea,” he said. “I thought it was going to go much higher, to be honest with you.”
• CENTCOM says it destroyed Iranian-linked surveillance vessel in Gulf of Oman: U.S. forces destroyed an Iranian-affiliated dhow in the Gulf of Oman on October 6, claiming the vessel was conducting surveillance and targeting U.S. Navy warships, according to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM).
  • At least 10 ships have been attacked in or near the Strait of Hormuz since Sunday, the highest number over such a period since the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran began. Six vessels were attacked Sunday and four Tuesday, while two sailors are reportedly missing and a cargo ship was reportedly sunk by an Iranian naval mine.
• Iran must fight and negotiate simultaneously to deter future U.S. attacks, parliament speaker says: Iran must combine military action with diplomacy to establish lasting deterrence, as neither negotiations nor military confrontation alone can guarantee the country’s security, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Wednesday.
  • Ghalibaf argued that Washington’s pursuit of regional dominance meant military pressure alone would not force it to abandon its objectives. “Whenever we achieve a military victory on the battlefield, we must also turn that victory into a political victory, consolidate it and turn it into a document of defeat for the enemy,” he said.
• Iran vows further crackdown on Starlink: Iranian authorities pledged to intensify efforts to disrupt Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service, describing it as a “tool of war.” “It is a tool used for command and control by the enemy, for espionage and information gathering,” the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Cyberspace Council said.
  • Iran has imposed two prolonged internet shutdowns this year, including an 88-day blackout following the start of the U.S.-Israeli war in February.

Lebanon

• Israeli strikes wound two, including four-year-old, in southern Lebanon despite ceasefire: Israeli forces struck the town of Kfar Tebnit in the Nabatieh district on Thursday, while artillery shelling targeted Mansouri and Majdal Zoun in the Tyre (Sour) district, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency.
  • Israeli troops ordered Lebanese farmers from Kfar Shouba to leave the Azrael and Bastara areas while they were harvesting olives.
  • Two people, including a four-year-old, were wounded in an Israeli airstrike on Hadatha, Bint Jbeil on Wednesday.
• Hezbollah claims ownership of explosives seized in eastern Lebanon: Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah confirmed Thursday that a vehicle intercepted by Lebanese authorities at the Dahr Al-Baydar checkpoint in eastern Lebanon belonged to the group and was carrying materials used to fight Israeli forces. He demanded the release of those detained and the return of the vehicle and its contents, saying the explosives, including C-4, were intended exclusively for use against Israel.
  • Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam pledged Monday to hold accountable those responsible for transporting the explosives toward Beirut, expressing concern that C-4 had been used in political assassinations in Lebanon’s recent history.
  • Fadlallah rejected the suggestion of a connection to assassinations, accusing the government of fueling internal divisions and serving Israeli and American interests.

U.S. News

• The U.S. is sending hundreds of troops to Latin America to fight drug traffickers: The Pentagon is sending a 600-soldier battalion from the 10th Mountain Division to train and exercise with local forces in Latin America, U.S. military officials told the New York Times on Wednesday.
  • The first elements are deploying to a new jungle training facility in Panama. They will later train with forces in Colombia, taking part in the Southern Vanguard exercise later this month, and Honduras. They could also provide security for U.S. helicopters in raids against alleged traffickers.
  • Gen. Francis Donovan, head of Southern Command, has said the U.S. plans to expand from boat strikes to land strikes against “narco-terrorists,” and only a handful of countries, including Colombia and Honduras, have agreed to joint operations on their soil.
• WSJ: Ilhan Omar investigation aims to strip her citizenship and deport her: The Trump administration’s probe of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) is aimed at building a case to revoke her U.S. citizenship and ultimately deport her, the Wall Street Journal reports. Agents searched her Washington home early Monday, taking her cellphone, notebooks, personal computers, and passport.
  • At the center of the investigation is whether Omar or her father altered her age on her citizenship application to show 17 rather than 18, which would have qualified her automatically through his naturalization in 2000. More than a dozen subpoenas seek testimony before a Minnesota grand jury about the family’s immigration paperwork.
  • Homeland Security Investigations examined a similar tip under Biden and declined to proceed for lack of evidence of fraud.
• Watchdog group sues to bar Jared Kushner from acting as envoy without Senate confirmation or financial disclosures: Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics filed suit against special envoy Jared Kushner and the White House, arguing he “holds a continuing position and wields significant government authority” while running Affinity Partners, a Miami investment firm with over $6 billion under management, about 99% of it owned by foreign investors, mostly from the Gulf states.
  • CREW asks the court to block the Trump administration from continuing his role until the Senate confirms him and he files all financial disclosures.
• Illinois teen arrested over alleged mass shooting plot possibly targeting a Hindu temple: Police from the town of Palatine, Illinois, arrested 19-year-old Alexandros Paporakis on Sunday. Detectives who searched his home recovered a rifle, multiple loaded magazines, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, and a tactical vest with body armor and a patch bearing white supremacist imagery. They also found a document titled “Why I fought: A.K.A.: (Aurora Shooter’s Manifesto)” expressing white supremacist views and referencing violence toward South Asians, specifically Indians. Authorities are investigating whether he planned to attack a Hindu temple in Aurora, about 40 miles southwest of Palatine.
• ICE rejects GAO recommendation for automatic body cameras: A Government Accountability Office report recommended ICE use “automated camera activation” for unplanned use-of-force incidents, such as when an officer draws a weapon or turns on a siren. DHS rejected it, saying automatic activation could cause “the unauthorized recording of sensitive interactions with informants or victims.”
  • DHS told GAO all ICE offices had received cameras by Aug. 5, but on Wednesday said required training was still ongoing and should finish “soon.” GAO also found officers at ICE and CBP were confused about when to activate cameras, such as during vehicle searches or detainee transport, and that one ICE office hadn’t begun using them even after training.
• FTC sends civil subpoenas to OpenAI, Anthropic over consumer harms: The Federal Trade Commission is demanding documents on security incidents and safeguarding practices, plus marketing materials and privacy policies, from Anthropic and Open AI, in a probe focused on potential consumer protection violations, Axios reports. Demands to third-party AI organizations will follow later, Axios reported, and the FTC plans to compel top AI executives to testify.
• Teamsters leader demands GOP super PAC pull Maine Senate ad that misattributes quote about Troy Jackson: Lawyers for Gregory Floyd, president of New York’s Teamsters Local 237, sent the Senate Leadership Fund a cease-and-desist letter, first obtained by NBC News, over an ad attacking Maine Democratic Senate candidate Troy Jackson’s “Medicare for All” support. The ad’s caption reads “Troy Jackson’s ‘plan is a disaster,’” attributed to Floyd. Floyd says he never commented on Jackson’s plan—his comment was about a 2019 version by presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren—and that the ad conveys a “false and defamatory” message.
• Social Security benefits to rise 3.6% in 2027, an average of $75 a month: The Social Security Administration announced a 3.6% cost-of-living adjustment for 2027, raising retirement benefits by an average of $75 a month. Nearly 72 million Social Security beneficiaries will see higher payments starting in January, and about 7.3 million SSI recipients will see increases starting December 31, 2026. It follows September inflation of 3.7%, up from 3.4% in August and the highest since a three-year peak of 4.2% in May.

Other International News

• Five sentenced by Syrian court over mass sectarian violence: Two people were sentenced to death and three others to prison terms by a Syrian court on Thursday over their roles in a campaign of sectarian violence last year in the Alawite region of coastal Syria.
  • In March 2025, an uprising by elements of the former Assad regime was followed by a much larger and violent backlash by militias and security forces affiliated with the current Syrian government that spiraled into widespread sectarian violence that killed over 1,500 people. Read Drop Site’s coverage of the massacre here.
  • Separately, Syrian intelligence officials arrested Ali Kayali, the state-owned news agency SANA reported. Kayali is the primary suspect in the 2013 killing of hundreds of civilians in western Syria. At the time, he was the leader of a pro-government militant group.
• Ukraine strikes Russian oil refinery: Ukraine conducted a “large-scale attack” on an oil refinery in Ryazan, an industrial hub south of Moscow, Russia’s defense ministry said Thursday. The drone strike set the site on fire, the ministry added.
  • This week, Ukraine said strikes on Russian refineries would continue, despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement of an “energy ceasefire” on Sunday. Russia has also reportedly attacked Ukrainian energy sites since the ceasefire was called.
• Suspected Boko Haram fighters kill at least 10 soldiers in assault on Borno army base: Suspected Boko Haram fighters attacked a Nigerian army base in Borno state on Tuesday, killing at least 10 soldiers and wounding at least 20 others, Reuters reported. At least five civilians and a forest guard were also killed.
• North Korea test-fires cruise missiles: North Korea test-fired submarine-launched cruise missiles on Wednesday, the state-owned news agency KCNA reported. Among the test-fired missiles was a Pulhwasal-3-31, which North Korea reportedly fired from land last week. Its military is not believed to possess a fully operable missile submarine.
• U.S. lifts sanctions on leading Venezuelan lawmaker: Jorge Rodriguez, the president of the Venezuela federal legislature, was released from U.S. sanctions on Wednesday, Al Jazeera reported. Rodriguez, who is the brother of interim President Delcy Rodriguez, was sanctioned under the first Trump administration. The U.S. lifted the sanctions as it seeks closer relations with the Venezuelan government.
  • Earlier this year, the U.S. dropped its sanctions on Delcy Rodriguez, and later on Venezuela’s central bank and state airline. Jorge Rodriguez has pushed legislation that opens the energy sectors to foreign investment.
  • Nicolas Maduro and his wife, abducted by U.S. forces in January, return to court in Manhattan on Thursday to face a rewritten indictment accusing them of leading a state-sponsored campaign of repression that tortured scores of people. Maduro has denied the charges and is expected to plead not guilty.
• Guyana opposition leader arrested after gunfire outside home of officer testifying in his extradition case: Opposition leader Azruddin Mohamed and two other men were arrested overnight Tuesday following gunfire outside the home of Senior Superintendent of Police Prem Narine, who is testifying in the U.S. extradition case against Mohamed, Reuters reported. The government said that Mohamed and his companions had been filming Narine’s home, and that gunshots came from their vehicle. Mohamed’s office says he did not possess a weapon, and that police planted it on him.
  • In 2025, U.S. prosecutors indicted Azruddin Mohamed and his father Nazar on charges of conspiracy to commit fraud and money laundering, claiming that the two enriched themselves through gold exports and defrauded the Guyana government. The son and the father deny wrongdoing, and are contesting their extradition in court.
• Former British Army chef jailed for possession of weapons for “terrorist purposes”: Mark Broadhurst, a former UK Army chef, was sentenced to almost four years in prison on Wednesday, Al Jazeera reported. He was arrested in 2024, after police found a cache of weapons in his home, including what authorities called “an improvised homemade cannon.” Police also discovered online messages in which he expressed racist views and an intention to sell homemade firearms to right-wing groups. He was a member of an online chat group with three neo-Nazis who were sentenced last year for planning a “terrorist” attack on mosques or synagogues in anticipation of a “race war.”
• India orders U.S. citizen, Bollywood actor Imran Khan to leave the country over protest: Indian authorities told actor Imran Khan to leave India by the end of the month, saying he violated immigration laws by joining a protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Khan is a U.S. citizen; under Indian law, foreigners can be punished for participating in protests.
• School roof collapse in Peshawar kills over 30 children: At least 32 schoolchildren and one teacher were killed Thursday when a roof collapsed at Al-Khair Education Center, a school in Peshawar, Reuters reported. At least 45 children were injured, and three remain in critical condition. Rescuers spent hours pulling children from the rubble.