Egypt has told Saudi Arabia it prefers diplomacy over military escalation in Yemen, sources told Al-Akhbar. Cairo's position centers on protecting Saudi economic and security stability through naval, air and intelligence means rather than ground involvement. Egyptian officials warned that a war against the Houthis would amount to indirect confrontation with Iran and make Egypt a target. Threats to oil tankers in the Red Sea could push Egypt to act to protect freedom of navigation, but not inside Yemen.

Earlier today, Houthi forces struck Saudi Arabia’s capital, targeting fuel storage infrastructure at Riyadh International Airport.

Ursula von der Leyen says the EU will allocate €3.3bn for Ukraine’s missiles and drones after speaking with Zelensky. Zelensky says Norway has provided $100m in budget support via the Ukraine Facility.

Explosions reported in Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia amid air raid sirens across Ukraine, local media reports.

As Canada makes tangible progress on increased cooperation with the EU, specifically negotiations centered on becoming an associate member (a first), U.S. President Donald J. Trump has told reporters that that should Canada follow through with the move, he may cut off trade with Europe. The president also said he was mulling levying increased tariffs on European nations as well.

According to a release from U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), at the direction of SOUTHCOM, Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere (JTF-WHEM) conducted an interdiction of a vessel in the Eastern Pacific Ocean that was acting as a refueling station in support of illicit at-sea drug trafficking operations for the Los Choneros narco-terrorist organization. After the individuals on board were turned over to Ecuadorian authorities, the vessel was destroyed Following the lull in such operations, after the twin earthquakes in Venezuela and subsequent U.S. support operations there, the tempo of U.S. SOUTHCOM operations against designated organizations in known drug trafficking maritime lanes has picked up significantly.

Mohammad Sharifullah has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for providing material support to ISIS-K, five years after the group’s suicide bombing at Kabul’s Abbey Gate killed 13 U.S. service members and roughly 160 Afghans. A federal jury convicted Sharifullah in April of participating in a nine-year ISIS-K support conspiracy. Prosecutors said he surveilled a route to the airport and told ISIS-K leadership it was clear of Taliban checkpoints before the Aug. 26, 2021 attack. Importantly, Sharifullah was not convicted of causing the Abbey Gate deaths. Jurors could not unanimously determine that deaths resulted from his conspiracy, and his defense argued that prosecutors failed to establish his involvement in the bombing beyond statements he made during FBI questioning. Prosecutors also tied him to more than a dozen other ISIS-K attacks, including the 2016 Canadian Embassy bombing in Kabul and the 2024 Crocus City Hall attack in Moscow. He was captured in Pakistan in March 2025 and extradited to the United States.

Polymarket traders are currently pricing a 65% chance that the Israel-Iran ceasefire will remain in place through December 31, up about 5 percentage points over the past day. The market has seen more than $30 million in total trading volume, with the contract currently trading around 64 to 65 cents. Israel remaining out of direct renewed hostilities with Iran so far may be contributing to the recent increase in the longer-term probability.

The Justice Department has unsealed charges against five alleged members of a Russian intelligence-linked network accused of recruiting people in the U.S. to conduct surveillance and assassinations. According to the indictment, the network recruited a U.S. based Venezuelan this summer to surveil a prominent Russian dissident in the Washington, D.C., area, offering $1,000–$1,500 for surveillance and $40,000 for the killing. When the recruit declined to carry out the murder himself, the alleged recruiters asked whether he knew someone who could do it. The indictment alleges the network previously offered a U.S. citizen $25,000 to assassinate another Russian dissident in Lithuania, and discussed attacks against electrical substations, warehouses, fuel facilities and other infrastructure in NATO countries supporting Ukraine. The five defendants include a former Russian intelligence colonel, an alleged FSB officer, and associates based in Russia. All remain at large. The charges are allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

A surface-to-air missile takes out a Russian Shahed/Geran-type strike drone seconds before the Ukrainian interceptor drone gets there.

A Saudi F-15 was shot down over Yemen's Marib province overnight. Onboard footage from the Houthi SAM system. Looks like what’s the Houthis claim, turned out true

President Donald J. Trump said today that Ukraine should stop striking Russian oil refineries and diesel infrastructure, arguing that the attacks are contributing to a global diesel shortage. He specifically told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to stop targeting Russia’s diesel supply, while saying the resulting fuel shortage is pushing U.S. diesel prices above $6 a gallon. Russia has restricted diesel exports while Ukrainian strikes have taken Russian refining capacity offline. At the same time, the war in the Middle East has disrupted oil exports from the Gulf, while the Strait of Hormuz disruption has sharply reduced the availability of Middle Eastern refined fuels. Global refining capacity is also running with limited spare capacity. The result is competition for a shrinking pool of diesel. Europe is pulling more supplies from the U.S. and other alternative suppliers as Russian and Middle Eastern exports decline, while U.S. diesel inventories are unusually low heading into the fall and winter demand period. EIA says global distillate production is expected to remain below last year's levels in the coming months.