Houthi forces struck the Saudi capital for a third consecutive day on Monday, after a strike on Saturday killed at least 12 people and wounded more than 300, with one more killed in a follow-up strike on Sunday; a drone was also fired at Khamis Mushait near the Yemeni border. King Khalid International Airport remains closed until Saturday, and Etihad, Gulf Air and other carriers have suspended flights. "The Houthis are misbehaving very badly. No good," Trump said, giving no sign of US intervention, while Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said the kingdom's response "must be equally serious."
The UK said Monday that Iran was 'almost certainly' behind a suspected plot against RAF Fairford, a base used by the US, and sanctioned two Iranian nationals, including Ruhollah Bazghandi, described as head of IRGC counterespionage, over 'hostile activity.' Prime Minister Andy Burnham told parliament 'we will not tolerate these threats on our soil' and promised further sanctions, while Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband summoned Iran's ambassador, who 'categorically rejected' any Iranian role. The case follows the arrest, and later bail release without charge, of five British men near the base on 27 September.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), an initiative including UNICEF, the World Bank and the World Food Programme, warned Monday that an El Niño-induced drought affecting roughly half of Sudan is compounding a civil war that has displaced about 13 million people and killed at least 150,000, per the ACLED monitor. North and South Darfur, including two displacement camps where acute malnutrition already exceeds famine thresholds, and West and South Kordofan are most at risk; severe child malnutrition in Nyala roughly doubled between January and August, from about 5 to 11 percent.
