Deadly attacks by Iran-backed Houthis on Saudi airports highlight widening fallout from Yemen conflict

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By AFP | Posted by TOE Saudi authorities said Wednesday three people were killed in attacks on two of the kingdom’s international airports, including in the capital Riyadh, after Yemen’s Houthis claimed to have fired on both transport hubs. The Iran-backed Houthis have claimed a wave of attacks on Saudi civilian infrastructure in recent weeks, which came as Riyadh-backed forces pressed a counter-offensive against the group’s territorial gains. Since Yemen’s civil war reignited in July, more than 200,000 people have been displaced within the country, the United Nations said Wednesday. The Houthis claimed an attack on Riyadh’s main airport, while the Saudi-led coalition — which backs Yemen’s internationally recognised government in its fight against the group — vowed retaliation. The Houthis later claimed another attack on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport on Thursday and repeated a warning — “...
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Trump starts Gulf visit seeking big economic deals

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U.S. President Donald Trump was in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, the first leg of his three-nation visit to the Middle East this week meant to tackle multiple crises and conflicts across the region.

He was welcomed by Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, after Air Force One landed in Riyadh. Trump and the crown prince are to hold talks on U.S. efforts to dismantle Iran’s nuclear program, end the war in Gaza, hold down oil prices and more.

Trump is also expected to be feted by the crown prince with a formal dinner and a gathering of members of the Gulf Cooperation Council — made up of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — later on Tuesday.

Secretary of State and National Security Adviser Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth are travelling with the president.

Trump is expected to offer Saudi Arabia an arms package worth more than $100 billion, sources told Reuters. This could include a range of advanced weapons including C-130 transport aircraft.

The U.S. and Saudi Arabia are expected to avoid the topic of normalisation between Riyadh and Israel altogether, sources told Reuters, even as it is Trump’s most enduring geopolitical goal in the region.

Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said last week he expected progress imminently on expanding the Abraham Accords, a set of deals brokered by Trump in his first term by which Arab states including the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco recognised Israel.

But opposition by Netanyahu to a permanent stop to the war in Gaza or to the creation of a Palestinian state makes progress on similar talks with Riyadh unlikely, sources told Reuters.

Trump’s second and third stops, in Qatar and the UAE, are similarly expected to focus on economic issues.

Qatar’s royal family is expected to gift Trump a luxury Boeing 747-8 plane to be outfitted for use as Air Force One, an arrangement that has drawn scrutiny from ethics experts.

Trump is expected to donate the plane to his presidential library for use after his term ends.

SOURCE: AP, REUTERS AND AGENCIES



from The Times Of Earth https://ift.tt/XE87OtT

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