Israel Reports Second Attack from Yemen as Middle East Conflict Escalates

 Smoke rises following an Iranian missile strike, as the US-Israeli conflict with Iran continues, in southern Israel, March 29, 2026. (Reuters)
Smoke rises following an Iranian missile strike, as the US-Israeli conflict with Iran continues, in southern Israel, March 29, 2026. (Reuters)
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Israel Reports Second Attack from Yemen as Middle East Conflict Escalates

 Smoke rises following an Iranian missile strike, as the US-Israeli conflict with Iran continues, in southern Israel, March 29, 2026. (Reuters)
Smoke rises following an Iranian missile strike, as the US-Israeli conflict with Iran continues, in southern Israel, March 29, 2026. (Reuters)

The Israeli military said on Monday that Iran launched multiple waves of missiles at Israel, and an attack had also been launched from Yemen for only the second time since the US-Israeli war began.

It said two drones from Yemen were intercepted early Monday but gave no further details. Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi militia entered the war on Saturday, firing missiles at Israel, escalating a conflict that has engulfed the Middle East.

Israel's military also said the Air Force was carrying out strikes on Tehran on Monday, targeting what it described as military infrastructure.

The latest attacks came a day after President Donald Trump said the US and Iran had been meeting "directly and indirectly" and that Iran's new leaders have been "very reasonable", as more US troops arrived in the region.

Pakistan, which is acting as an intermediary between Tehran and Washington, said it was preparing to host "meaningful talks" in the coming days aimed at ending the month-long Iran war. It was not clear whether the US and Iran had agreed to attend.

"I think we'll make a deal with them, I'm pretty sure, but it's possible we won't," Trump told ‌reporters on Sunday ‌evening as he traveled aboard Air Force One to Washington.

Trump said he thought the US had already accomplished regime ‌change ⁠in Tehran after ⁠strikes killed the country's supreme leader and other top officials, but said twice that their replacements seemed "reasonable."

An initial Israeli strike on February 28 killed Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was replaced by his son Mojtaba.

The war has spread across the Middle East, killing thousands, causing the biggest disruption ever to energy supplies and hitting the global economy.

Iran's parliament speaker, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, has accused the US of sending messages about possible negotiations while at the same time planning a ground invasion.

"As long as the Americans seek Iran's surrender, our response is that we will never accept humiliation," he said in a message to the nation.

The US Department of Defense has dispatched thousands of troops to the Middle East, giving Trump the option of launching a ground offensive.

ISRAELI STRIKES

Israel's military said it had launched over 140 air strikes on central and western Iran, including ⁠Tehran, over the 24 hours to Sunday evening, hitting ballistic missile launch sites and storage facilities, among other targets.

Iranian ‌state media reported strikes had hit Mehrabad airport and a petrochemical plant in the northern city of Tabriz.

Four ‌weeks of intense US-Israeli bombardment has failed to silence Iran's missile and drone batteries, with Kuwait on Monday reporting it had intercepted five drones in areas under its protection.

A chemical ‌plant in southern Israel near the city of Beersheba was hit by a missile or missile debris on Sunday as Israel fended off multiple salvos ‌from Iran.

Iran also continues its effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which carries 20% of global oil and gas shipments, spiking oil prices and spreading economic pain around the world.

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis joined the conflict on Saturday, launching their first attacks on Israel and raising the prospect they could target and block a second key shipping route, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

Stocks slumped in Asia on Monday as investors dug in for a protracted conflict, bringing a spike in inflation and the risk of recession to much of the globe. ‌Japan's Nikkei index was down more than 3%.

Meanwhile, oil prices looked poised to extend their gains, with Brent headed for a record monthly rise. Brent crude futures jumped $2.43, or 2.16%, to $115 a barrel by 0342 GMT after settling ⁠4.2% higher on Friday.

Global airlines have ⁠begun to hike fares and cut capacity to cope with the surge in the oil price, but analysts warn the industry's ability to remain profitable may depend on whether consumers pull back on flying as energy costs threaten household budgets.

MORE US TROOPS ARRIVE

Several hundred special operations personnel have arrived in the region, the New York Times reported on Sunday, citing two military officials. That comes on top of thousands of US Marines that came on Friday aboard an amphibious assault ship, the first of two contingents, the US military has said.

Reuters has reported that the Pentagon has been considering military options that could include ground forces, although Trump has not approved any of those plans, according to multiple news outlets.

In an interview with Financial Times published on Sunday, Trump said he wanted to "take the oil in Iran" and could seize the export hub of Kharg Island. Taking control of Kharg would require ground troops.

The island handles 90% of Iran's oil exports and seizing it would give the United States the ability to severely disrupt Iran's energy trade, placing enormous pressure on Tehran's economy.

The majority of Americans are opposed to the war and a military escalation, which would risk a protracted crisis, would likely weigh further on Trump's already low approval ratings ahead of November midterm elections for Congress.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he had ordered the military to further expand its operations in southern Lebanon, citing continued rocket fire by Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Israel has said it will seize a chunk of southern Lebanon to create a "buffer zone" against Hezbollah, stoking fears among Lebanese of Israeli military occupation that could deepen instability and stoke further displacement.



Russia Says Ukraine Drones Kill Four, Kyiv Reports Hospital Hit

Firefighters work at the site of a reported Russian attack, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in a location given as Odesa Region, Ukraine, November 9, 2026, in this screengrab taken from a handout video.(State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Handout via Reuters)
Firefighters work at the site of a reported Russian attack, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in a location given as Odesa Region, Ukraine, November 9, 2026, in this screengrab taken from a handout video.(State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Handout via Reuters)
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Russia Says Ukraine Drones Kill Four, Kyiv Reports Hospital Hit

Firefighters work at the site of a reported Russian attack, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in a location given as Odesa Region, Ukraine, November 9, 2026, in this screengrab taken from a handout video.(State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Handout via Reuters)
Firefighters work at the site of a reported Russian attack, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in a location given as Odesa Region, Ukraine, November 9, 2026, in this screengrab taken from a handout video.(State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Handout via Reuters)

Russia said on Friday that it shot down nearly 1,200 Ukrainian drones overnight, one of the largest swarms sent by Kyiv that killed four people.

Ukrainian authorities reported that another night of Russian attacks had set a hospital ablaze and killed at least three people.

The deadly attacks came a day after intense shuttle diplomacy in US-led talks to end the war approaching its fifth year.

US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held hours of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday before jetting to Dublin to huddle with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

"In the course of the previous night... aerial defense systems intercepted and destroyed 1,198" Ukrainian drones over more than 15 Russian regions, Russia's defense ministry said in a statement.

Four people working in an industrial zone, home to an oil refinery and a chemical factory, died in the southern Volgograd region, local authorities said.

In Ukraine, a hospital in Kyiv was damaged after a Russian attack triggered a fire and forced people to seek shelter. One person was wounded.

In Odesa, two people were killed and five wounded in the overnight barrage, with "private residential houses and cars" damaged, regional governor Oleg Kiper said on Telegram.

A Russian attack on Zaporizhzhia in the southeast killed a 17-year-old boy, acting regional governor Mykhailo Semikin said.

Four people, who rescuers managed to pull from under the rubble, were wounded.

Another Russian strike hit the city of Rivne, in a northwestern region far from the frontline, damaging a kindergarten and wounding six people, including two children.

Ukraine has intensified its retaliatory drone attacks on Russia's energy industry over the past year-and-a-half, seeking to cut the Kremlin's revenues and undermine its ability to finance the war Moscow launched in February 2022.

Russia is heavily targeting Ukraine's own energy grid with aerial barrages, leaving residents across the country without power as temperatures plunge ahead of winter.


UN Nuclear Watchdog Urges Iran to Take ‘Steps’ Towards Inspections

An Iranian woman walks next to a billboard depicting Iran’s national flag in a street in Tehran, Iran, 09 November 2026. (EPA)
An Iranian woman walks next to a billboard depicting Iran’s national flag in a street in Tehran, Iran, 09 November 2026. (EPA)
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UN Nuclear Watchdog Urges Iran to Take ‘Steps’ Towards Inspections

An Iranian woman walks next to a billboard depicting Iran’s national flag in a street in Tehran, Iran, 09 November 2026. (EPA)
An Iranian woman walks next to a billboard depicting Iran’s national flag in a street in Tehran, Iran, 09 November 2026. (EPA)

The UN's nuclear watchdog urged Iran to take "incremental steps" to allow inspectors to return to key nuclear facilities in the Islamic republic, adding such access was "critical" in a report seen by AFP Friday.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has not had access to key nuclear facilities in Iran since Israel, joined by the United States, launched a 12-day conflict in June 2025 that included strikes on nuclear sites.

Nuclear facilities have also been hit in the latest war, which erupted on February 28, and the IAEA has repeatedly called for access.

In its report, to be discussed at an IAEA board of governors meeting next week, the agency noted that it was "critical" for it to conduct "verification activities in Iran without further delay".

"The director general encourages Iran to consider technical and gradual measures by which conditions are achieved that allow for the return of agency inspectors to Iran," the report said.

"Such incremental steps could pave the way to normal safeguards implementation in Iran while contributing to a confidence-building atmosphere conducive to a wider agreement," it added.

The report detailed correspondence in recent weeks between the IAEA and Iran.

IAEA inspectors were able to visit Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant in September, but have had no access to other facilities.

The IAEA "acknowledged that the military attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities and sites created an unprecedented situation".

But because of a lack of cooperation "the agency is not able to conclude that there has been no diversion of declared nuclear material from peaceful nuclear activities in Iran", the report said.

"The agency's lack of information about ... nuclear material and access to facilities to verify it is a matter of serious proliferation concern," the IAEA said, adding it "needs to be rectified with the utmost urgency".

The IAEA board in September referred Iran to the UN Security Council over its nuclear "non-compliance", marking the first time Iran has been referred to the UN top body in 20 years for failing to comply with its nuclear reporting obligations.

Before the June 2025 strikes, the IAEA calculated that Iran possessed approximately 440 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 percent, nearing the 90 percent needed to make a bomb and well above the 3.67-percent limit set by a 2015 now-defunct agreement with Iran.

Since June 2025, the fate of the stockpile has remained uncertain.

Iran has long denied striving to develop a nuclear bomb.


US Navy Quietly Fired Some Commanders And Officials, Drawing Congressional Pushback

 US Marine Corps aviation assets and personnel embarked aboard USS Boxer (LHD 4) support ongoing enforcement of the US blockade against Iran. (CENTCOM)
US Marine Corps aviation assets and personnel embarked aboard USS Boxer (LHD 4) support ongoing enforcement of the US blockade against Iran. (CENTCOM)
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US Navy Quietly Fired Some Commanders And Officials, Drawing Congressional Pushback

 US Marine Corps aviation assets and personnel embarked aboard USS Boxer (LHD 4) support ongoing enforcement of the US blockade against Iran. (CENTCOM)
US Marine Corps aviation assets and personnel embarked aboard USS Boxer (LHD 4) support ongoing enforcement of the US blockade against Iran. (CENTCOM)

The Navy has quietly fired or removed several top officers in recent months but broke with its usual practice of announcing those changes, drawing pushback from Congress, according to The Associated Press.

Two Democratic lawmakers said Thursday that the Navy failed to inform Congress that it fired the entire leadership team of a nuclear-powered attack submarine last month after an underwater collision.

Separately, the sea service in September fired the commander of a destroyer deployed to the Middle East, according to a defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe sensitive personnel matters.

Dr. Brian Monahan, a Navy rear admiral and attending physician for Congress and the Supreme Court, also departed his post during a Navy investigation — with no public announcement or confirmation.

All three are a break from the Navy’s longstanding policy to announce major removals of commanders and other highly visible officials. They also follow an increasing level of secrecy over military operations, especially in the Middle East.

“As a result of the Navy’s failure to communicate, what should have been a standard exercise in information sharing has instead raised questions about the Navy’s commitment to transparency and its commitment to a productive working relationship with Congress,” Representatives Joe Courtney of Connecticut and Adam Smith of Washington wrote in a letter to Navy leaders.

The developments could set up a contentious confirmation hearing next week for acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao as he seeks to permanently take over as the top civilian official.

Restrictions on the military sharing information go beyond the Navy.

US Central Command, which oversees operations in the Middle East, has released few details on recent limited strikes on Iran and refused to comment on or specify damage to bases or equipment, usually citing the need for operational security.

Major satellite imagery providers with US contracts have blocked or delayed public release of images in the region at the request of American officials.

As a result, it took months to determine that Iranian drone and missile strikes damaged or destroyed structures on 26 military bases and other sites with US equipment in the region, according to an AP analysis.