By Enes Abuomer and Kristina Harazim
Saudi defence minister holds calls with counterparts in Australia and Japan
Saudi Arabia’s Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman says he discussed regional security with his Australian and Japanese counterparts in separate phone calls in recent hours.
In a series of posts on X, Prince Khalid said he and Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles “affirmed our commitment to addressing regional challenges” and “condemned” Houthi attacks against Saudi Arabia.
In the call with Japan’s Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, Prince Khalid said the ministers “highlighted our strong defense cooperation and discussed ways to strengthen it”. He added, “We also underscored the importance of supporting efforts to advance regional security and stability and condemned the Houthi terrorist attacks on the Kingdom.”
Trump says US can ‘close down’ Iran at any time
The US president has been speaking at his 30th – and final – midterm rally in Salina, Kansas, where he told the audience that Washington has “dominated” Iran and that “we can close them down anytime we want.”
Trump added, “We’re trying to be nice – sometimes you don’t do that. We’re trying to be a little nice but I think, you know, it’s going to be very close. We’re just going to close them down. That’s going to be the end of it.”
Khamenei’s aide hails Iran’s resilience at pro-government rally
Saeed Jalili, the supreme leader’s representative on Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, says the country’s self-reliance has left major world powers in a state of desperation.
Speaking at a pro-government demonstration, Jalili said: “A nation that develops its own potential multiplies its strength. That is why the major powers have reached a state of desperation,” according to Iran’s Fars news agency.
He said people across Iran continued to demonstrate the same determination, standing firm and succeeding through what he described as faith and dedication.
His remarks came during one of the daily pro-government demonstrations held across Iran since the US-Israeli attacks began in February. The gatherings have become displays of support for the Islamic Republic and its stance against the US and Israel.
Mamdani says New Yorkers ‘stand with’ striking dockworkers
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has backed the strike staged by dockworkers worldwide on Friday against war and the use of ports for arms shipments.
“Dockworkers went on strike across 113 ports in 22 countries to disrupt the transport of weapons of war, in solidarity with the Palestinian people. New Yorkers stand with them, ” Mamdani wrote on X.
“When working people unite in their power, we build a better world. Dockworkers do not work for war,” he added.
The strike disrupted shipping and ferries, according to the Reuters news agency. Strikers also called for better pay and working conditions, and the right have doctors on board vessels crossing war zones.
“We will not work for their wars, and we will not become food for their cannons,” Apostolos Kypraios, head of the Greek union of merchant marine engineers, told Reuters at the Greek port of Piraeus on Friday.
What are Iran’s 7 conditions for peace talks
As we’ve been reporting, Iran is insisting that the US meet seven conditions before the Strait of Hormuz can reopen and peace talks can begin.
Mohsen Rezaei, Iran’s security chief, said Tehran set out the conditions in September, though he described only some of them.
Speaking to us on Saturday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi provided more detail. He listed the conditions as:
Rezaei had in September also called for an end to the US naval blockade of Iranian ports and US interference in Iran’s internal affairs, including its cooperation with “the opponents of our revolution”.
Palestinians in Lebanon suffering worsened by high energy prices, inflation
By Justin Salhani
Beirut, Lebanon – Osama Najjar is a Palestinian refugee living in the Beddawi refugee camp in Tripoli, Lebanon’s second-largest city, where he used to have a shop selling aluminium.
Palestinians are barred from working in specific professions in Lebanon, including medicine, law, engineering and pharmacy, meaning that owning a shop is a crucial economic lifeline for many, regardless of their education levels.
But Najjar, like other Palestinians in Lebanon, says the situation has grown increasingly difficult, as rising inflation and energy costs hit one of Lebanon’s most vulnerable communities particularly hard. With business stuttering and unable to keep up with his bills, he was forced to close his shop in early 2024. Since then, he has found work hard to come by.
“The whole Palestinian situation in the camps is tragic,” he said, citing high prices and rising electricity bills as two of his most recent concerns.
What’s the latest on the diplomatic efforts to end the US-Israel war on Iran
By Al Jazeera Staff
Hundreds of Palestinians families displaced as Israeli siege of Hebron continues
By Nour Odeh
Reporting from Ramallah, occupied West Bank
Israeli forces have forcibly displaced at least 537 Palestinian families from their homes, while many others remain trapped inside their neighbourhoods and now depend on the Red Cross for humanitarian supplies.
Displaced families have tried in vain to return to their homes.
Israeli soldiers have been demolishing and vandalising homes in the wider Hebron district.
Dozens of people, including journalists, have also been detained.
It’s not clear when this military assault on Hebron might end but this is what we do know: Hebron is home to the most far-right settler leaders allied with [Israeli Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu, including [Israeli Security Minister] Itamar Ben-Gvir and others.
Critics say that prolonging the campaign serves a political and ideological purpose for Israel’s rightwing.
Last week, Israel settlers installed mobile homes on top of Palestinian shops in the Old City, advancing their goal of taking over the city of Hebron.
Nobel peace laureate says any new US strike on Iran ‘would be a blow of madness’
Mohamed ElBaradei, an Egyptian politician who served as the head of the United Nation’s nuclear watchdog, has warned that the Middle East will “pay a heavy price” if the US launches new attacks against Iran.
“Any further American strike against Iran would be a blow of madness and would lead only to more violence and destruction,” he wrote on X. “I urge everyone who has influence over this reckless man to do everything in their power to dissuade him from it,” he added, in an apparent reference to US President Trump.
ElBaradei and the International Atomic Energy Agency were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005 for their efforts to prevent nuclear energy from being used for military purposes. He also briefly served Egypt’s vice president in 2013.
Israel’s military campaign in Hebron ‘disastrous’ for businesses
By Nour Odeh
Reporting from Ramallah, occupied West Bank
Life stands still in Hebron because of the ongoing Israeli military assault that has placed the economic capital of the occupied West Bank under lockdown.
So far, at least 15 industrial and commercial establishments have been demolished.
Business owners are scrambling to limit the damage, rallying to remove merchandise from a large home supply warehouse Israel has slated for demolition.
But this military campaign is disastrous for the local economy.
The head of the Hebron Chamber of Commerce, Abdo Idris, said losses are in the millions of dollars already, and that other cities are being affected because the lockdown has disrupted the supply chain.
UKMTO says two unknown projectiles struck tanker off Saudi Arabia
Two unknown projectiles have struck the port side of a tanker travelling through the Gulf, the UK’s Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency says.
UKMTO said the attack took place at 23:47 GMT on Sunday, about 72 nautical miles (133km) east of the Saudi Arabian coastal city of Khafji.
“All crew are accounted for and there is no reported environmental impact at this time,” it added.
Trump says US will ‘at some point’ have to give Iran ‘the hammer’
We have more from Trump’s campaign rally in Iowa.
He told Republican supporters that the US war on Iran has not finished because he wants “to be nice” and “try and save all those lives if I can”.
“But at some point, we’re going to have to give them the hammer,” he warned.
Trump again said the US had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity and that the war would end “very soon”.
He went on to describe rising petrol prices as “a very small price to pay” for US security, adding that they “will be coming down very, very shortly”.
Qatar stocks surge 4.6% as Gulf markets fall on Iran war fears
Qatar’s stock market has surged 4.6 percent, bucking a wider decline across Gulf markets as investors remain concerned about possible renewed US military action against Iran after the November 3 midterm elections.
Qatar’s benchmark index rose to 9,575 points on Sunday, marking its sharpest intraday percentage gain in more than eight years, Reuters reports.
Investor sentiment was supported by QatarEnergy’s efforts to secure long-term LNG supplies from the US and other producers as part of a trading strategy to protect revenues should exports through the Strait of Hormuz be disrupted, Reuters said.
Elsewhere in the Gulf, Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index fell 0.8 percent, Kuwait lost 0.8 percent, Oman’s declined 0.7 percent, and Bahrain’s slipped 0.6 percent.
The report came as Iranian officials held a third consecutive day of talks with Qatari mediators in Doha to reach an agreement to end the war. The talks continued amid concerns that Washington could resume military action against Iran after Tuesday’s US midterm elections.
Casualties as attacks hit port, oil company in Yemen’s Hodeidah, media report says
The Houthi-affiliated Al Masirah TV says at least seven people have been wounded following air attacks by the Saudi-led coalition on Yemen’s rebel-controlled Hodeidah governorate.
It said four people were wounded in an attack on the Ras Isa port, while three others were wounded in a raid on an oil company in the Bajil district.
There was no immediate comment from the Saudi-led coalition. We will bring you more when we have it.
Trump says US ‘might have gone too far’ with killings of Iran’s leaders
The US president has been addressing Republican Party supporters at a rally in the city of Dubuque, Iowa, with just one day to go before Tuesday’s midterm elections.
He again defended his decision to launch the war on Iran, repeating a line from his recent campaign rallies and claiming it was Tehran, not Washington, that started the conflict.
“I’ve protected our nation from the number one state sponsor in the world,” he said.
Trump claimed Iran has been “hitting us” since the Iranian revolution in 1979. He also blamed Tehran for the 2000 attack on the USS Cole off the Yemeni port of Aden, which was claimed by al-Qaeda, as well as for roadside bombings targeting US forces in countries such as Iraq.
He said the US military retaliated by killing Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani, whom he described as “the father of the roadside bomb”. The general was killed in Baghdad in 2020, during Trump’s first term in the White House.
“They [Iran] started this war. We didn’t start it. We’re finishing it. We’re beating the crap out of them,” he said.
Trump reiterated previous comments that the US has destroyed Iran’s navy and air force, its anti-aircraft radar, and leaders. But he added, “We might have gone a little far with the leaders – there’s nobody to talk to”.
Iranian lawmaker says any new war against Iran ‘will spread to Europe’
Manouchehr Mottaki, an Iranian former foreign minister who represents the capital, Tehran, in parliament, says Iran’s response to any new attacks will not be limited to the Middle East.
“If another war starts against Iran, it will spread to Europe,” Iranian media quoted Mottaki as saying. “Removing geographical limitations means our missiles will reach Europe.”
His remarks came a day after Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei ordered the military to prepare an immediate response to any new attack, without geographical restrictions. Mottaki said the order sent a clear message to Iran’s adversaries and their backers.
He also accused European countries, including the UK, Italy, Portugal and Germany, of allowing the US to use their military bases to launch attacks against Iran. “These countries are also complicit in America’s crimes,” he said.
Oil prices fall more than 1% as talks to end Iran war continue
Oil prices have fallen more than 1 percent in early trading in Asia, as Iranian and Qatari officials held a third consecutive day of talks aimed at reaching an agreement to end the US-Israel war on Iran.
Brent crude futures fell $1.51, or 1.33 percent, to $111.92 a barrel, according to Reuters.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped $1.78, or 1.71 percent, to $102.34 a barrel.
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.