Oct 16, 2026
LONDON — When attack drones struck Saudi Aramco's biggest oil pipeline last month, satellite images showed one of its pumping stations burnt to ashes. By the next day, scores of bulldozers were already building a new pipeline. Within days pumping resumed. The speed of the recovery illustrates how the world's biggest oil producer has transformed its ability to operate under attack after years of assaults on energy infrastructure across the region. "Today, our teams can handle multiple incidents simultaneously, and we continue to build this capability," Saudi state oil firm Aramco's chief executive Amin Nasser told Reuters in an interview last week. Nasser said Aramco has built specialised rapid-response teams, expanded emergency stockpiles for repairs and deployed drones to assess damage even while incidents are still unfolding. Lessons on how to operate under fire came after drones and missiles hit Aramco's major oil processing facility in Abqaiq in 2019, temporarily knocking out half of Aramco's production. "After Abqaiq in 2019, we came up with the idea of rapid response teams, or what
Yemen's Houthis fired missiles at the presidential palace complex in the southern city of Aden on Thursday, killing two security guards, two government officials told Reuters. Yemen's prime minister and cabinet members who were at the Maashiq presidential palace complex were unharmed, Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani said, adding that the Houthis had fired five missiles at the complex. The Houthi-run Saba news agency, citing a military official, said the group had targeted a military operations headquarters run by Saudi officers at the complex, as well as weapons depots. Reuters could not independently verify the claims. The Iran-aligned group's military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, said the strike on what he described as a Saudi military operations headquarters in Aden was part of the group's declared policy of "targeting Saudi military build-ups wherever they are." Three witnesses had earlier told Reuters they heard loud booms in the vicinity of the palace.
WASHINGTON — The firing squad execution of a convicted military base shooter will not be livestreamed, U.S. President Donald Trump announced Thursday, canceling a contentious plan by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The move to livestream Nidal Hasan's execution was widely opposed at home and abroad, prompting outrage from both U.S. Democratic and Republican politicians, the Catholic Church and the United Nations. The cancellation is a blow to Hegseth, who is already under fire over the stalemated Iran war and its fallout, which are weighing on Trump's Republican Party ahead of November midterm elections. Hasan "will die, as scheduled, by firing squad, but this event will not be streamed," Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform. The U.S. president indicated he did not personally oppose the streaming plan, saying it "might have been a strong deterrent for the World to witness how America deals with Terrorists and SCUM like Hasan." But "many very good and well meaning people would rather not watch him die," Trump said, adding that the execution could still be viewed in person by
NOTTINGHAM, England — Prince Harry and his wife Meghan appeared together in public on Thursday for the first time since they made a surprise return to Britain, revisiting the city where they made their maiden joint official engagement nine years ago. Harry, the younger son of King Charles, and Meghan shocked the monarch and other members of the royal family when they relocated from California to England two months ago with their children Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5. In their first joint public outing since then, the couple returned to Nottingham in central England which they visited in 2017, shortly after it was announced they were getting married. "It’s great to be back," Harry said. "Wonderful and great to be back in Nottingham, too." They began by visiting a recording studio run by a youth and community charity which has received support from a £1.1 million ($1.46 million) donation announced by Harry last year. At their next stop at the Himmah charity, which tackles food poverty, Meghan was reunited with four contributors to a charity cookbook released to raise funds
BANGKOK — Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh voiced optimism on Friday about U.S. economic strength and surprise about how well global economies have been "hanging in there" amid recent geopolitical shocks, despite tighter monetary policy to fight inflation. "I came out of meetings here yesterday and today and it's hard to be in a discussion with central bankers and not compare notes and hear the same thing about the surge in prices," Warsh said. With inflation a "common challenge," he said at the 2026 IMF-World Bank annual meetings in Bangkok, global central banks undertook "a synchronous tightening in monetary policy in most places around the world, and that means there's no free riders." In the U.S., he said, "We made very clear that we would deliver price stability, and we removed a dose of accommodation about a month ago," in a reference to the Fed's September interest-rate hike. No preview of need for more rate hikes But in keeping with his style since taking the reins as Fed chief in May, he gave no preview about whether he feels more interest-rate hikes will be needed, or when
A 16-year-old shot his way through locked doors to get into an elementary school in Bend, Oregon, on Thursday, killing three children and a teacher. He was then shot by a person at the scene who followed him inside, authorities said. The suspect was found dead inside the school minutes after the shooting was first reported, Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz said. The three children killed were aged 5, 8 and 11. Another child, 7, and a teacher, 54, were injured and taken to the hospital in critical condition, he said. The first 911 call came just before 1 p.m. from a person in a vehicle outside Silver Rail Elementary who reported being shot at by someone with a long gun, Krantz told reporters. Further 911 calls came from inside the school, and officers arrived on scene within minutes, police spokesperson Sheila Miller said. The attacker, who police identified as a Bend resident, was shot and went down inside the school shortly after officers arrived, she said. Police said they did not know if the shooter knew anyone at the school or whether he had attended. Children were taken by bus to a nearb
During questioning, Patel reportedly said he had not intended to kill his wife but "finished her" after she told him she wanted to stay with her new partner.
The Belarus-born American who learnt English from watching TV spoke to The Independent’s editor-in-chief Geordie Greig about his extraordinary life and what drove him to become one of the most prominent arts patrons of his generation
It comes almost a week after 24-year-old William Chapman was mauled to death
Ukrainian forces had their access to the technology restricted this week after Trump announced a new diesel deal with Russia
