By Heba Habib, Alex Milan Durie and Christine Maguire
Saudi-led coalition says Houthi drone destroyed in Riyadh region
Turki al-Maliki, the spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition, says the kingdom’s air defences have “intercepted and destroyed a hostile drone” in the Riyadh region.
The announcement on X came hours after al-Maliki said two other drones had been shot down in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province and in its southern region.
Israeli forces bomb southern Lebanon
Israeli forces have launched an air attack on the town of Kfar Tebnit in the Nabatieh district, southern Lebanon, according to our colleagues on the ground.
The attack comes as Israeli forces continued demolitions and artillery shelling in towns in the Bint Jbeil and Tyre districts in the south, large parts of which continues to be occupied by Israel’s military.
Destruction in Lebanon: Israeli military razes southern towns
Are renewed US attacks or a deal to end the war more likely
By Nils Adler
The US and Iran have sent mixed signals this week about what comes next in their eight-month war.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the head of United States Central Command, Admiral Brad Cooper, briefed Trump on options for additional attacks on Iran.
However, it also reported that Vice President JD Vance had offered to meet the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Moshen Rezaei, to discuss ending the war.
Qatari mediators were in Tehran on Friday to discuss talks coordinated with the US, raising questions about whether renewed attacks or an end to the conflict is more likely.
If you’re just joining us
Here are the latest developments:
Trump defends war on Iran, claims Hormuz oil flows higher than 7 months ago
The US president has again defended his decision to go to war with Iran during a campaign rally in Daytona Beach, Florida.
In a rambling speech, he brought up Iran several times and repeated claims about destroying its navy and air force. “We are never going to give them a nuclear weapon,” he said.
Trump also denied that the US had started the war, saying, “This was a war they started many years ago”, and “Iran has been waging war on America since 1979″.
He went on to dismiss criticism over soaring energy costs, claiming that “more oil is flowing right now out of the Hormuz Strait than seven months ago”. He added that petrol “prices are dropping to levels much lower” than during the administrations of his Democratic predecessors.
Trump also slammed Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna for his criticism of the cost of the war. Trump said Khanna had complained that “we spent 25 billion on Iran,” adding: “What he didn’t say is, in Venezuela, we have made about 10 times that amount.”
The US has taken control of Venezuela’s oil sector after abducting the country’s President Nicolas Maduro in January.
Araghchi warns of ‘earth-shattering blow’ after Merz’s complaint over Europe’s energy costs
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has hit back at Friedrich Merz after the German chancellor said the war on Iran has added more than 100 billion euros ($112bn) to Europe’s energy costs.
In a post on X, Araghchi noted that Merz had “hailed” the US and Israel’s attacks on Iran in June of last year, when he said: “This is the dirty work Israel is doing for all of us.”
The Iranian foreign minister then warned that any renewed attacks could come at a far higher cost for Europe.
“100bn Euro is nothing compared to the Earth-shattering blow Iran’s Powerful Armed Forces will deal against those who dare harm our people,” Araghchi wrote. “Red lines are a thing of the past,” he added.
Iran’s security chief, Mohsen Rezaei, also criticised Europe’s concerns over growing energy costs on Friday. “When you cheered on war crimes, did you think the fallout wouldn’t hit you, too ” he asked on X.
Iranian lawmaker calls for Iran to leave NPT and change nuclear doctrine
Iranian legislator Seyyed Mahmoud Nabavian has called for Iran to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and change its nuclear doctrine, adding to similar demands from lawmakers and public figures.
“Now that we have paid the heavy costs of war and sanctions, it is time for the Iranian nation to withdraw from the NPT treaty and change the nuclear doctrine,” he wrote on X.
In parliament, Ebrahim Rezaei, a member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said 10 proposals to withdraw from the treaty had been registered, and withdrawal was under consideration, according to the Fars news agency.
Mohammad Javad Haj Ali Akbari, an Iranian politician and cleric, also called for a review of Iran’s nuclear doctrine, describing it as a “national demand” during his sermon on Friday, state broadcaster IRIB reported.
He said the demand was not a hasty or emotional reaction, but reflected Iranians’ awareness of what he described as US failures to honour its commitments.
Why are oil prices climbing despite increased supply
By John Power
Oil flows out of the Gulf have increased substantially, easing the huge supply disruption caused by the US and Israel’s war on Iran.
Crude exports from the Gulf averaged 24.6 million barrels per day (bpd) in the week to October 18, exceeding the pre-war average, according to market intelligence firm Kpler.
Yet, oil prices continue to rise.
Brent crude, the global benchmark, is trading at its highest prices since April, up more than 60 percent compared with before the war.
Analysts say the climbing prices reflect anxiety about the possibility of renewed hostilities in the US war on Iran, dwindling oil stocks, and the increased costs of transporting supplies out of the region.
“The market is doing exactly what it is supposed to do: It is telling us there is plenty of prompt oil, but there is no end to this war in sight – in fact … escalation is very likely,” Adi Imsirovic, a lecturer in energy systems at the University of Oxford, told Al Jazeera.
“Therefore, futures markets reflect that expectation,” Imsirovic, a veteran oil trader, said.
Israeli settlers, soldiers carry out 22 pogroms on West Bank olive harvesters
Palestinian authorities say Israeli settlers and soldiers carried out 22 attacks on Palestinian olive harvesters across five governorates of the occupied West Bank on Friday.
According to the Wafa news agency, the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission said the pogroms included assaults with stones and pepper spray, the use of live ammunition and tear gas, arrests, and theft of olive crops and farming equipment.
In Hebron’s Tel Rumeida neighbourhood, five members of a Palestinian family were wounded when settlers attacked them during the harvest and stole their olives.
In Salfit, a farmer was taken to hospital after settlers beat him and damaged farming vehicles. In Bethlehem, Israeli forces arrested three olive pickers and detained dozens of foreign activists who were helping Palestinian farmers.
Further attacks were reported in Ramallah and Nablus, where Israeli settlers and forces drove farmers off their land and stopped them from finishing the harvest.
The UN said in an October 22 report that it had documented 272 settler attacks linked to the olive harvest since September 1, more than in the whole of the 2024 and 2025 harvest seasons.
What’s the latest on diplomatic efforts to end the US-Israel war on Iran
As we’ve been reporting, Trump told a local radio station on Friday that the war on Iran was “going to get wrapped up soon” without saying how.
His comments came as Washington and Tehran sent mixed signals about whether the eight-month war is heading back to full-scale strikes or towards a peace deal.
Here’s what we know:
Attacks on Hormuz shipping hit record in October, UKMTO data shows
Our tally of UKMTO data shows there have been at least 35 attacks on shipping in the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz in October.
That makes October the worst month for attacks on shipping in the region since the US and Israel launched the war on Iran in February.
March was the second-worst month, with about 30 attacks, according to UKMTO data.
As we have been reporting, Iran’s IRGC said at least four ships caught fire in and near the Strait of Hormuz on Friday. UKMTO reported one attack on that day, saying a vessel was hit by a projectile south of Iran’s Lavan Island, causing a fire on board.
‘My life is buried here’: Iranian man whose 12 family members were killed
By Fatemeh Karimkhan
Hamed Mirzaei lost 12 members of his family in an attack on a residential building in Tehran. Among those killed was his wife, 26-year-old Mohadeseh. The young couple had been planning to start a family.
He describes how the US-Israeli attack on his home on March 9, 2026, changed his life.
“Seven months have passed since the bombing. Even now, on many days, when I come to my senses, I find myself back at my destroyed home, searching for my loved ones,” he said.
“My grandfather and my father’s uncle built the house that was hit. They divided its apartments among their children. A year ago, when I got married, my wife and I moved into one of the apartments in the same building. We were just beginning to prepare for a child. We were young, with our whole lives ahead of us. Then the bombing happened.”
Hormuz shipping ticks up but remains 70% below pre-war levels, UKMTO says
The UK’s Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency says it recorded 122 outbound and 155 inbound transits through the Strait of Hormuz in the week ending on October 28.
That is roughly 70 percent below levels seen before the US and Israel launched their war on Iran, but up from the previous week’s 114 outbound and 127 inbound transits.
The agency reported three attacks in the strait during that period. Its tally does not include the four tanker incidents announced by the IRGC on Friday. According to the UKMTO, one of the ships continued its voyage, another required assistance, while the status of the third is not known.
The agency said at least 144 attacks have been reported in the Strait of Hormuz, the Gulf of Aden and the Sea of Oman since the war began on February 28.
Germany’s Merz says war on Iran ‘cannot be resolved militarily’ as Europe’s energy costs soar
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz says the war on Iran has added more than 100 billion euros ($112bn) to Europe’s energy costs over the past eight months.
Speaking to reporters in Seoul on Friday, he said Germany was coordinating and stepping up diplomatic efforts to bring the conflict to an end.
“Businesses and consumers in Europe have paid more than 100 billion euros extra because energy has become more expensive as a result of this conflict,” he said. “We therefore also have an economic interest in bringing this conflict to an end as quickly as possible.”
Merz also appealed for dialogue, saying: “This conflict cannot be resolved militarily.”
Saudi-led coalition says drone intercepted in southern region
The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthis says its air defences have intercepted and destroyed a drone over the kingdom’s southern region.
The claim came hours after the coalition reported downing a drone over Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province.
Iran condemns Canada’s backing of UAE’s claim to Abu Musa and Tunb islands
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, has again condemned the UAE’s claim to three Iranian-controlled islands in the Gulf, after Canada voiced support for the Emirati position.
“The UAE was established in 1971. Yet, despite the overwhelming historical record, geographical facts and documented evidence concerning Abu Musa and the Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb, it lays claim to these IRANIAN islands whose history of being part of IRAN stretches back many millennia,” Baghaei said on X.
“Remarkably, Canada’s Prime Minister has chosen to echo this absurd claim!” Baghaei added.
“Is territorial integrity and respect for historical and legal facts a fundamental principle for Canada, or does it matter only when Canada’s own sovereignty is at stake? Does Canada not realize that, in doing so, it is effectively sawing off the very branch on which it sits?”
In a joint statement earlier this week, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and UAE President Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan called for an end to the “occupation” of the three islands, which they said violates the UAE’s sovereignty and the principles of the UN Charter.
Mr.BadGuy
Publisher
Mr.BadGuy
Publisher
These soldiers are from a country whose president is a Jew Zelensky. Orthodox churches are also being destroyed in this country. Synagogues are not touched. Surprisingly, it turns out that Jews get along well with the Bandera Nazis.