Missiles and drones have been intercepted over Riyadh after the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen struck a fuel depot near the Houthi-controlled capital, Sanaa, its spokesperson says.

Maj Gen Turki al-Maliki said several projectiles targeting the Saudi capital and other cities were intercepted after the coalition carried out a strike on the Yemen Petroleum Company’s al-Sabaha facility on Tuesday night.

The Houthis warned they would target the airport and Aramco refinery in Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh, and Aramco’s headquarters in the eastern city of Dammam.

Al-Maliki later said missiles targeting cities including Dammam had been intercepted, while shrapnel had fallen in a residential area in Dhahran.

It came as the Saudi cabinet, chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, said the Iran-backed group would “bear the consequences” of its recent deadly attacks on the kingdom.

Thirteen people were killed when a missile hit King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Saturday, while another person was killed in a similar attack there the following day.

On Tuesday, the coalition said its forces had destroyed three drones north of Riyadh.

The Houthis have said they are targeting airports, oil and gas facilities, and military bases in Saudi Arabia with missiles and drones in response to deadly Saudi strikes on territory that they control in western Yemen, including Sanaa.

The Saudi-led coalition has been providing air support for Yemeni pro-government forces mounting an offensive on Yemen’s Red Sea coast and several other front lines.

A correspondent for AFP news agency reported that queues formed at petrol stations in Sanaa on Tuesday afternoon following the coalition’s warning of an impending operation against the al-Sabaha oil facility, with many residents worried about shortages.

The Yemen Petroleum Company, which is run by the Houthis, issued a statement that sought to reassure them, saying the facility “does not contain any stock of petroleum products”.

The company also said it had “taken all necessary precautionary measures to address any emergency, ensuring the stability of the supply situation and the continued meeting of citizens’ needs in a normal manner”.

After al-Maliki confirmed the strike, first reported by Houthi media, explosions were heard over Riyadh and other Saudi cities, with al-Maliki reporting four missiles and two drones had been intercepted near the capital.

Yemen has been devastated by a civil war that began in 2014, when the Houthis ousted the internationally-recognised government from Sanaa. The conflict escalated in 2015, after the Saudi-led coalition of Arab states intervened in an attempt to restore the government’s rule.

A four-year-old informal ceasefire began to unravel in July, when the Houthis announced a “maritime embargo” against Saudi Arabia and began missile and drone attacks on Saudi airports, oil facilities and tankers in the Red Sea.

The Houthis said they were retaliating for what they call a Saudi blockade of their territory, as well as an air strike on Sanaa airport that they blamed on the kingdom.

The conflict escalated in September after the Houthis seized part of Yemen’s south-western Red Sea coast near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a chokepoint for global shipping. Their advance contributed to a rise in oil prices following six months of war between the US, Israel and Iran.

US President Donald Trump said on Truth Social on Tuesday the Houthis were “behaving very badly… and purposefully trying to drive up Oil Prices”.

Speaking to reporters, he did not answer a question on whether he’d made a decision to help the Saudis retaliate against them, but said he “might” ask Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to intervene.

Last week, pro-government forces said they had regained control of territory overlooking Bab al-Mandab after launching a major counter-offensive with the support of Saudi air strikes.

Hundreds of people have reportedly been killed in Yemen since August. The UN’s human rights office says they include at least 54 civilians, half of them children.

More than 216,000 people have also been displaced across the country, and suspected cholera cases have tripled in three weeks, rising from 217 to 647, according to the UN.

[BBC]

Pope Leo XIV has been diagnosed with lung cancer but had successful surgery to remove a lower lobe of his right lung, the Vatican has said in a medical bulletin.

The 71-year-old underwent a 90 minute surgery on Tuesday at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital and was subsequently diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma.

“After the operation, the Pope awoke normally and returned after a brief period of observation to his room on the 10th floor,” the Vatican said in a statement.

The lump was first detected during what the Vatican has described as “routine checks”.

Earlier, large crowds gathered outside the hospital to greet the Pope, with some waiting for several hours.

They cheered greetings and well wishes as he passed, while he waved and smiled back through the lowered back window of his car.

He was then met by staff on the hospital steps. “I’m sorry,” one of them commiserated, to which the Pope gave a smile and a shrug. “We’re here for you,” he was assured.

In its statement, the Vatican said the whole lower lobe of the Pope’s right lung was removed “to ensure the procedure was radical”.

A Vatican source told Agence France-Presse news agency further tests were being carried out to see if there was any sign the cancer had spread.

It was Leo XIV himself who on Sunday announced news of his operation to the world, speaking from the balcony in St Peter’s Square after delivering the traditional Angelus blessing.

He said the nodule, or growth, on his lung was “contained” and had been found “at a very early stage”, but that doctors had advised him to have it removed.

Gemelli’s thoracic surgery team operated on the Pope, whose schedule has already been cleared until 20 October to give him time to recover.

Nodules are quite common and not necessarily cancerous, but after it was examined the medical team confirmed it was pulmonary adenocarcinoma, “as suspected by pre-operative tests”, the Vatican said.

The Vatican has stressed that the pontiff, who is generally thought to be fit, had no symptoms of infection or illness.

Cardinal Kikuchi Tarcisio Isao of Tokyo wrote on social media that he’d had an audience with Pope Leo on Monday, and said the pontiff felt “nothing wrong” physically.

He said the Pope had decided to check in for surgery as soon as possible because he was due to travel to Latin America in early November, and was keen to stick to that plan.

The trip is particularly significant because it includes a visit to Peru, where the pontiff was a missionary and then a Bishop for many years.

Despite all the reassurances, the news has shaken Catholics all over the world.

“Am I worried? Yes, because I certainly wasn’t expecting anything like this,” Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Parolin told journalists on Tuesday.

He agreed that the news was like a “bolt from the blue”, but said the cardinals had been struck by the Pope’s “serenity” and were confident in his recovery.

Outside Gemelli Hospital, which has treated several popes and is home to a large statue of John Paul II, a few Catholics lingered after the pontiff was admitted.

Carla had come specially, wanting to be close.

“He seems calm, so we are calm too – even though illness is always unpleasant,” she told the BBC. “We will wait here and pray.”

[BBC]

[Prime Minister’s Media Division]