Houthis Attack Multiple Saudi Airports, Wounding Bystanders - Warn Civilian Infrastructure Now In Crosshairs

Houthis Attack Multiple Saudi Airports, Wounding Bystanders - Warn Civilian Infrastructure Now In Crosshairs

TYLER DURDEN

Yemen's Ansar Allah movement, or Houthis, have over the past 48 hours been targeting airports along with Aramco sites within Saudi territory, and have warned further that civilian infrastructure will increasingly be fair game in retaliation for the Saudi blockade imposed on Yemen.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree also declared Tuesday that this is the result of the ongoing Saudi bombing campaign. The kingdom's Abha International Airport in the southwest of the country has come under fresh missile attack on Tuesday.

"We reiterate our warning to all international airlines regarding the consequences of continuing to operate flights within Saudi airspace, as it has become a theatre for our military operations - with the exception of the airspace over the Holy Sites in Mecca and Medina," the Iran-aligned rebel group said in a statement.

The Saudi government didn't immediately confirm the attack, but it follows Monday night attacks on airports in Jazan and Najran with several injuries and damage reported, according to Al Jazeera. Riyadh and its international airport were also targeted.

While King Khalid International Airport saw flight delays and gate closures, there's been no official confirmation of damage there, other than some open source claims of possible destruction. But casualties have been reported at the other airports. The Wall Street Journal reports:

Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation said King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Airport, a dual-use airport in the Red Sea city of Jazan, and Najran International Airport, were damaged in the strikes. Three people were wounded, the agency said. 

The Houthi military spokesman has newly decalred of Abha International Airport in Asir province that ballistic missile "was precise and direct … resulting in the disruption of air traffic at the airport." 

Saree further said in statement on X, "We reiterate our warning to all global airlines regarding the consequences of continuing to operate their flights in Saudi airspace, as it has become a theatre for our military operations."

Hundreds of Saudi coalition aerial attacks have unfolded in Yemen this week, and the Houthis are now making clear they intend to unleash their missiles and drones directly on the kingdom in return.

Several international reports have cited Saudi coalition progress in retaking territory along Yemen's Red Sea coast.

"Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces staged a lightning advance on Monday to retake the coast around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait up to the city of Mocha, the government said, pushing the Iran-backed Houthis out of most of the areas they seized last month," Reuters writes. Armored convoys have been spotted moving up coastal highways.

However, many of these reports rely on military officials from one side or the other, amid a fog of war situation where it's hard to assess which claims are true or possibly exaggerated. 

The Houthis taking the war directly to Saudi territory sets up the greater possibility of Pakistani or Turkish military intervention in support of Riyadh based on the Mecca Defense Pact.

Among neighboring regional countries, Jordan has been among the first to condemn the 'war on the airports' and against energy sites, with Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi having in a phone call to his Saudi counterpart "affirmed Jordan’s absolute solidarity with Saudi Arabia in confronting the Houthi aggressions, and its absolute support for all measures it takes to protect its security, stability, sovereignty, and the safety of its citizens."

In Europe, Ursula von der Leyen says the EU stands with Saudi Arabia in the wake of the attacks on the kingdom. "These attacks keep destabilizing the region, igniting further violence, and undermining global energy security," she wrote on X. "We stand in solidarity with Saudi Arabia and our Gulf partners." She laid out that as European Commission President regional security "will be at the heart" of upcoming October meetings between EU and Gulf Cooperation Council leaders.

50 Iranian Tanker Logjam Unfolds As US Naval Blockade Starves Tehran Of Oil Revenue

50 Iranian Tanker Logjam Unfolds As US Naval Blockade Starves Tehran Of Oil Revenue

TYLER DURDEN

Bloomberg cites a new report from United Against Nuclear Iran that claims the US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has created a parking lot of more than 50 Iranian tankers that dare not cross the critical waterway.

The nonprofit think tank, which focuses on combating threats posed by Iran, said the number of laden tankers was broadly unchanged from two months earlier. The tankers were mostly carrying crude, along with some petroleum products and LNG.

UANI also noted that empty tankers were waiting at anchorages across the Indo-Pacific region rather than returning to Iranian ports, adding that at least 20 Iran-flagged ships were positioned off Sri Lanka and another was off Oman.

UANI's report comes days after Bloomberg said Iran's crude loadings fell to zero in September.

Over the weekend, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent joined Mike Allen on "The Axios Show" and confirmed: "For the first time in history, they [Iran], since they started pumping oil, they will have no oil on the water this week. They will have no revenue."

Separately, last week, Goldman analysts Yulia Zhestkova Grigsby, Alexandra Paulus, and Daan Struyven told clients that a "divergence between the fall of Iranian exports and the rise of exports of other Persian Gulf producers" was underway.

The Goldman energy experts estimated that "dark exports" have helped boost Persian Gulf oil exports to 23.3 million barrels a day late last month, back to prewar levels.

All indications so far point to the Trump administration's "Operation Economic Outcast" working as planned, with allied Gulf exports continuing to flow while Iran is starved of oil revenue amid the blockade. The question is whether this plan should've been implemented on day one of the conflict.

Netanyahu vows to ‘finish the mission’ at somber memorial for Oct 7 victims

Netanyahu vows to ‘finish the mission’ at somber memorial for Oct 7 victims

All Israel News Staff

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog spoke at the State Memorial Ceremony for the civilians killed on Oct. 7, 2023, lauding the resolve of the Israeli people in facing disaster and promising to “finish the mission.” 

Throughout his speech, Prime Minister Netanyahu referred to victims and survivors of the Hamas massacre of Oct. 7, who demonstrated heroism and resolve. 

“From the abysses of the fracture, the forces of our life burst forth,” Netanyahu said, speaking of the heroism displayed by Israelis from various backgrounds. “In the most difficult moments, our heroes did not hesitate – they leaped into the fire. Soldiers, female soldiers. Policemen and policewomen. Security personnel. And no less than that – citizens imbued with mutual responsibility, who acted to rescue, to save, to deliver.” 

Netanyahu also praised the heroism displayed by Israelis in confronting antisemitism around the world, linking it to the recent Flydubai terror attack. 

“We will continue to struggle for the truth – and the truth will prevail. Good will prevail – Israel will prevail,” the prime minister stated. “Just as we saw the heroism of Israel’s citizens at its best on the plane from Dubai. That same heroism we saw on October 7 and throughout the War of Redemption.” 

Prime Minister Netanyahu also vowed to continue the fight against Israel’s enemies, including the Hamas terrorists involved in the Oct. 7 attacks. 

“We are eliminating them one by one – they are not worthy of walking upon the face of the earth,” he stated. “We will eradicate Hamas’s regime of blood. We will destroy it. That is how one ought to deal with those agents of darkness who aspire to destroy us all.” 

He spoke of the promise he made to Doron Journo, father of Karin Journo, who was killed in the Hamas attack on the Nova Music Festival, as she tried to hide behind an ambulance. 

Describing how Doron shared “from the depths of his tormented soul,” Netanyahu said he promised Doron, “This is my commitment. We will finish the mission.”

“We will settle accounts with those who dispatched and carried out the horrific massacre in our towns, our kibbutzim, our cities,” Netanyahu resolved. “There is no forgiveness for the murderers, the abusers, the arsonists. There is no forgiveness for the destroyers, the looters, the kidnappers.” 

“Terrorism will not extinguish the eternal light of our nation – the light of our loved ones who were murdered,” Netanyahu concluded. “By their light, we will persevere on the path. We will persevere in reaching out a hand to one another. We will persevere in marching forward – for the future of the nation and the State. With God’s help, the victims of hostile acts will always be part of our national journey toward revival, hope, and victory. May their memory be blessed.” 

President Isaac Herzog also addressed those gathered at the memorial, including families of Oct. 7 victims. 

“Three years since the day of our catastrophe, October 7th, we bow our heads in memory of those who were murdered and those who fell in battle, and we stand by your side, our dear and beloved bereaved families,” Herzog said in his opening remarks.

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Is Russia ‘plague’ a bioweapon leak? Mystery outbreak sparks fears of ‘malicious’ experiments at secret Siberia lab

Is Russia ‘plague’ a bioweapon leak? Mystery outbreak sparks fears of ‘malicious’ experiments at secret Siberia lab

Jeylin Mehmet

FEARS are growing that Vladimir Putin is hiding the truth about a suspected plague lab leak as experts warn the disease may have been weaponised.

Daria Shipilova, 28, fell ill after accidentally dropping and breaking a test tube containing plague bacteria at a research institute, reports say.

She is said to have been working with Yersinia pestis – the bacterium behind plague and the medieval Black Death. 

Daria become unwell during a research expedition in Buryatia, on Russia’s eastern frontier with Mongolia, to study plague-infested squirrels before being placed on a ventilator on September 29.

The young scientist later died in hospital from what Russian healthofficials described only as “pneumonia of unknown aetiology”.

Her sudden death sparked the immediate quarantine of 189 people who had been in contact with her at the lab in Shelekhov – and the World Health Organisation has asked for information from Russia.

Moscow flatly denies there was ever a laboratory accident.

Russian officials insist extensive testing found no microorganism linked to Daria’s work and maintain there is no plague outbreak.

But the huge containment operation and scramble to lockdown hospitals has sparked fears of a wider cover-up – and raised questions about what was really going on inside the Siberian lab. 

Speaking to Sam Homewood in The Sun’s new studio, chemical and biological weapons expert Hamish de Bretton-Gordon warned: “It is not beyond the bounds of possibility that they have an active biological weapons program.”

He added: “Because regulation is so poor, particularly in Russia, some of the scientists and some of these laboratories can possibly be used for really malign and malicious and dangerous activities.

“We now know there is a potential for some sort of plague-type pathogen to be travelling around.”

The expert questioned why a vaccine didn’t save Daria – particularly when it is usual practice for laboratory workers to be vaccinated against the diseases they work with.

It suggests Daria was working with a new strain of the plague that did not have a vaccine. 

Professor Simon Clarke, head of biomedical sciences at the University of Reading, warned that plague bacterium Yersinia pestis could potentially be weaponised.

He told The Sun: “This pathogen does have potential to be used as a bioweapon. It is no secret that could be something they were working on.

“There is speculation from a bioweapons perspective that antibiotic-resistant versions of the bacteria, Yersinia pestis, may have been developed in order to make them more difficult to treat.”

He added: “Under Putin, Russia has revived and increased investment in its illegal biological weapons program, at least at three military biological laboratories in Sergiyev Posad, Kirov, and Yekaterinburg.”

Now, the dramatic Kremlin response has caused a growing international alarm with experts warning the UK should be on high alert. 

Dr Andrew Weber, who has been inside anti-plague laboratories across the former Soviet Union, said UK health chiefs should consider screening passengers while the Kremlin remains tight-lipped over exactly what killed Daria.

The former US Department of Defence worker told The Sun: “If I were a public health authority in London, I would be monitoring flights and passengers coming from the region and screening them at the airport.”

Donald Trump has now offered to help Russia tackle the crisis as Washington monitors the mysterious death.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington was “watching and monitoring it closely”, warning such an outbreak “could quickly spread”.

Hamish, meanwhile, drew a chilling comparison with the pandemic that brought the world to a standstill.

He said: “Covid was a very transmissible but a very low potency pathogen. Covid killed less than one per cent of people infected.

“Now plague is something quite different. It has a mortality rate between 50 per cent and 100 per cent untreated.”

The warnings come as a wall of Kremlin secrecy surrounds exactly what happened to Daria inside the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute.

She died on October 2 from what officials described as “pneumonia of unknown aetiology”.

But Moscow’s huge response has fuelled questions over why such drastic precautions were needed.Almost 200 people linked to Daria have been placed under observation, while dozens of her colleagues have been confined inside the institute, according to reports. 

Hospitals have faced quarantine measures, events have been axed and workers at a giant aluminium plant ordered to wear masks.

Neighbouring countries have also tightened precautions amid fears over the mystery illness.

Hamish said the secretive response bore the hallmarks of an old Soviet playbook.

He said: “This is classic Russian or Soviet-type doctrine when a disaster happens to completely close down the networks.

And he questioned Moscow’s official explanation.

He said: “If it was pneumonia, we wouldn’t be seeing all the activity by military personnel in protective equipment.”

Another puzzle, he said, was how a scientist working inside a specialist plague facility could have died if exposed to an ordinary strain of the treatable disease.

“And secondly, the laboratory presumably would be full of medical countermeasures, ostensibly antibiotics. Plague is generally very treatable.

“Maybe the plague that was being worked on in this lab was different to bubonic plague, the Black Death, or pneumonic plague that we’re seeing.

“And the vaccines and the medical countermeasures have not been able to prevent this girl from being killed by it.”

He warned that rapidly advancing technology has transformed scientists’ ability to manipulate dangerous pathogens.

“AI is incredibly good at helping people particularly manipulate the genome and do what we call gain-of-function activities on pathogens to make them more dangerous,” he said. 

Adding to the intrigue, Russia’s chief state sanitary doctor Anna Popova flew some 2,600 miles from Moscow to Irkutsk to oversee the response to a “particularly dangerous infection”.

Locals have meanwhile described hospitals being sealed and institute workers forced to sleep on floors and chairs while isolated.

One resident said: “The more they reassure us, the more frightening it gets.”

Russian authorities continue to insist the epidemiological situation is stable and there is no evidence of a plague outbreak.

But Hamish said Moscow’s apparent reluctance to seek international assistance only deepened concern.

He said: “The fact that it’s happening in isolation, the fact that we’re all starting to talk about it, is a real concern. 

“And the fact that the Russians are trying to ignore it and not asking for international help again, is a bit of a concern.”

The Altar Is Ready-Are We Closer To Renewed Temple Sacrifices Than Most Realize?

The Altar Is Ready-Are We Closer To Renewed Temple Sacrifices Than Most Realize?

PNW STAFF

According to Rabbi Tovia Singer, one of the most widely followed Jewish teachers in the world, an altar suitable for Temple sacrifices has already been prepared. The priestly garments have been made. Silver trumpets have been fashioned. Other vessels necessary for Temple worship have been recreated.

And according to Singer, the altar is ready to be taken to the Temple Mount.

"We have an altar that's ready to go," Singer recently explained. "It's built. It's here. It's ready to go on the Temple Mount."

The biblical precedent is found in Ezra.

When Jewish exiles returned from Babylon to Jerusalem in the sixth century B.C., they found their city devastated and Solomon's Temple destroyed. Yet they did not wait until a new Temple could be constructed before restoring biblical worship.

They built the altar first.

Ezra 3:6 makes the sequence unmistakable:

"From the first day of the seventh month began they to offer burnt offerings unto the LORD. But the foundation of the temple of the LORD was not yet laid."

The Temple wasn't standing.

Its foundation hadn't even been laid.

Yet sacrifices had already begun.

None of this means sacrifices are about to begin.

Moving an altar onto the Temple Mount would be extraordinarily controversial. The site's religious sensitivities, Israeli government policy, Jordan's custodial role regarding Muslim holy sites and the reaction throughout the Islamic world create enormous obstacles.

An altar can be ready while the political circumstances necessary to use it remain nowhere in sight.

But there is an enormous difference between something being politically impossible and something being physically unprepared.

Political conditions can sometimes change almost overnight.

The physical preparations that might otherwise require years have increasingly already been made.

And that is where these developments become especially significant for Christians interested in Bible prophecy.

Several passages in Daniel describe sacrifices being halted.

Daniel 9:27 speaks of someone causing "the sacrifice and the oblation to cease."

Daniel 12:11 similarly describes a time "from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away."

Daniel 8 and Daniel 11 also contain important references to the removal or disruption of regular sacrifices.

Prophecy watchers have long noted an obvious implication: if sacrifices are going to be stopped during future prophetic events, sacrifices must first be taking place.

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