World
Yemeni military says it targeted Sanaa Airport runway to stop Iranian plane landing
Yemen’s defense ministry says that its armed forces targeted the runway at Sanaa International Airport to prevent an Iranian plane from landing.
Yemen’s capital Sanaa is under the control of the Iran-aligned Houthi group, while the internationally recognized government, which has the backing of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, operates out of Aden in southern Yemen.
Houthi movement accused Saudi Arabia of launching air strikes against the international airport in Sanaa, and vowed to retaliate, Reuters reported.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree called the attacks “blatant aggression” and said it had ended a period of de-escalation in the long-running conflict. He said Saudi Arabia would bear the consequences and that the attack would not go unanswered.
Yemen has faced civil war and proxy warfare from outside powers for more than a decade, since the Houthis seized the capital and forced the internationally recognised government to relocate to the south.
The government, operating from the southern port of Aden, retains the backing of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states.
Moammar bin Mutahar Al-Eryan, the information minister in the internationally recognised government, said the Houthis were detaining an aircraft belonging to the International Committee of the Red Cross at Sanaa airport and holding its pilot and co-pilot.
Earlier on Monday, the government’s defence minister had said it had exhausted diplomatic efforts to persuade Iran and the Houthis to stop what he described as Iranian aircraft violating Yemeni airspace. He said government forces would respond to any hostile aircraft violating Yemen’s airspace “by all available means”, and held Iran responsible.
World
Venezuela quakes leave over 4,300 dead and 16,740 injured
The official tally of injured remained unchanged at 16,740, while 6,462 people have been rescued and about 17,000 have been left homeless.
The death toll from the two earthquakes that struck Venezuela on June 24 has risen to 4,333, National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez told reporters on Saturday, announcing that the distribution of housing to those affected will begin next week, Reuters reported.
Meanwhile, 315 of the dead have not yet been identified, the official said.
The official tally of injured remained unchanged at 16,740, while 6,462 people have been rescued and about 17,000 have been left homeless.
Rodriguez said acting President Delcy Rodriguez will allocate the first 200 homes to those affected next week, but did not give any more details.
Rodriguez also said that 856 buildings were affected, of which 190 either collapsed completely or suffered structural collapse.
According to the government’s preliminary estimates, 25,000 homes are needed. Authorities have already identified around 40 plots of land, totaling about 584,000 square meters, for housing projects in Osma and Chuspa.
Rodriguez said search operations are continuing, saying, “As long as there is life, there is hope. We still have one or two sites where the situation remains uncertain, active sites where we are searching for survivors.”
World
Trump says missiles aimed at Iran if Tehran targets US president
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he had ordered the military to be prepared to launch strikes against Iran if the Iranian government carried out or attempted an assassination of the president.
“1000 Missiles are Locked and Loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran, with thousands of more to immediately follow, should the Iranian Government act on its threat, pronounced in many corners of the Globe, to assassinate, or attempt to assassinate, the sitting President of the United States of America, in this case, ME!,” he said in a Truth Social post, Reuters reported.
“Orders have already been given, and the U.S. Military is ready, willing, and able, for a one year period of time, subject to extension, to completely decimate and destroy all areas of Iran.”
World
Russia denounces NATO summit decisions on aid for Ukraine, defence
NATO members at the summit pledged €70 billion ($80 billion) in military assistance to Ukraine for 2026.
Russia denounced NATO’s decisions at a summit in Turkey on Wednesday, saying they could have catastrophic consequences, after the alliance announced military aid to Ukraine and reaffirmed members’ commitment to collective defence, Reuters reported.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said NATO’s priorities remained unchanged: “the militarisation of the European continent, the focus on building up defence capabilities, preparation for an armed conflict with Russia, and, of course, aid to Ukraine”.
“It is a pity, because if NATO strategists had stopped and thought for a moment, they might not have made such irresponsible decisions that could lead to a catastrophe not just for the alliance, but for the whole world,” Zakharova said in a statement on her ministry’s website.
NATO members at the summit pledged €70 billion ($80 billion) in military assistance to Ukraine for 2026.
They reaffirmed their “ironclad commitment” to collective defence under the alliance’s Article 5 pact in a summit declaration and unveiled arms deals worth at least $50 billion.
In her comments, Zakharova said “cracks” between the United States and its NATO partners “have not gone anywhere”.
“Against this backdrop, the Americans do not hide their disappointment with the North Atlantic bloc,” she wrote.
“The issue with Greenland is not being resolved according to the American scenario. There is also resentment that alliance members, as Washington sees it, did not act in a supportive way when the United States needed their backing.”
NATO Secretary Genera Mark Rutte, in an interview with Reuters, said disputes between U.S. President Donald Trump and other NATO leaders showed the alliance’s democratic strength and should serve as a lesson for Russian President Vladimir Putin, read the report.
“I would say to Putin: You should have some more discussions yourself, out in the open,” Rutte told Reuters.
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