Advance by Iran-backed rebels gives Tehran effective control of two of the Middle East’s most important waterways; Houthis insist no cause for concern to international shipping; US diesel prices top $6 for first time.
SAANA, Yemen — Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis seized several strategic Red Sea island on Friday after capturing territory along the coast, sealing their takeover of a vital shipping corridor linking Europe and Asia.
The development is likely to deepen the Middle East war’s impact on international commerce, months after the strategic Strait of Hormuz was blockaded by Iran, which hailed its Yemeni allies’ advance on Friday.
After a week-long offensive that has left hundreds dead, the Houthis appeared to be in control of territory along the Yemeni side of the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the southern gateway to the Red Sea and, in turn, the Suez Canal. (Read More)
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman reportedly called US President Trump twice Thursday and urged him to launch strikes against the Houthi rebels in Yemen, the Axios outlet reported, citing two US officials.
Trump rejected the request, and US officials said the administration does not intend to take direct military action against the Houthis at this time, the Friday report said.
It was published hours before AFP reported, citing a local government official and eyewitnesses, that the Houthis have taken over a Red Sea island that is located in the middle of the Bab al-Mandeb shipping lane, causing the Yemeni government’s military to withdraw and completing the rebels’ push to control the area. (Read More)
The Saudi East-West oil pipeline was attacked using drones originating from Iraq, CNN reports. The attack was likely carried out by Iranian-aligned militias in Iraq, opening a new front in regional tensions. It remains unclear how long repairs will take.
A key oil pipeline system in Saudi Arabia was struck by projectiles on Thursday, according to two US officials familiar with the matter. Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Energy said in a statement posted to its website Friday that the pipeline had been attacked and “was shut down as a precautionary measure.”
An early analysis found that pump stations, which are located next to the pipeline itself, were hit, one of the US officials said. A satellite image taken Friday appears to show extensive fire damage at one pumping station, and an image of a different pumping station, taken Thursday, showed a small fire sending up plumes of thick, black smoke.
It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the strikes or if sections of the pipeline itself were damaged but one of the officials said it was struck by drones originating from Iraq. The strike signals that the kingdom’s oil resources — and its ability to export those resources — are facing increasing threats as the Iran War continues. The attacks on the pipelinecome within daysof an Iranian-aligned militia’s seizure of a strategic Red Sea port city in Yemen that could further threaten energy shipping in the region. (Read More)
A weapons development cell in northern Yemen used Anthropic's Claude AI to write guidance software for a guided rocket and for a ballistic missile with a stated range of more than 2,000 kilometers, the U.S. artificial intelligence company said in a threat intelligence report published Thursday.
Anthropic said it had no evidence the group succeeded in fielding an operational weapon. The company banned the accounts involved and shared threat information with government and industry partners.
The report does not name the group. Northern Yemen is controlled by theIran-backedHouthis, who have repeatedly launched ballistic missiles and drones at Israel since the start of the war in Gaza. (Read More)
Anthropic's 154-page report revealed the dangers of US and Western adversaries using artificial intelligence models to pose security threats.
Iran repeatedly used American-made artificial intelligence systems to target US naval forces in the region, target Israeli and Jewish diaspora organizations, and develop phishing strategies inside the country, a Thursday Anthropic report revealed.
Anthropic described what it called an “Iran-nexus threat actor” that used Claude, the company’s flagship product, to develop targeting recommendations against US Navy targets.
The actor, according to Anthropic, used AI to identify and track naval positions and compile information, including “a roster of US personnel scraped from captions on public military photographs; publicly accessible ship and aircraft transponder identifiers; commercial satellite-imagery query scripts; and an inventory of public websites that exposed US naval movements.”
The unnamed organization also used AI to research vulnerabilities in shipboard systems, including “maritime VSAT terminals, Cisco communications equipment, and industrial control products,” according to the report. (Read More)
Underground site in Natanz likely used to store nuclear material, according to Western intel; Trump also cites ‘a little activity’ at Pickaxe, warns Tehran ‘not to get cute’ there.
The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog said Thursday that the agency has observed construction activity at Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain, which Western intelligence has flagged as a site likely used to store nuclear material.
“There are some indications that there is movement around this construction site,” International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi told Bloomberg. “We don’t have any concrete information as to activities that may be taking place there.”
The IAEA has not sent inspectors into the heavily fortified underground complex, in the Natanz nuclear facility in central Iran, but is relying on remote imagery, Grossi told the news outlet.
Iran’s leaders are thought to have commissioned the underground complex following a 2020 explosion, allegedly caused by Israel, that significantly harmed a centrifuge assembly site in Natanz.
“They said at the time, ‘We are going to put everything in tunnels, inside a mountain’,” Grossi said. “This was going to be impermeable and protected from attacks.” (Read More)
______________________________________
Dr. Bill Salus reminds;
The ancient
territory of Elam, which is in modern-day Iran,is the subject of a latter days apocalyptic prophecy in Jeremiah
49:34-39. Within Elam are the following important nuclear related sites that
are strategic US targets.
Isfahan: Iran’s largest nuclear research
facility.
Pickaxe
Mountain: Suspected
location of Iran’s enriched uranium.
Natanz: Iran's primary enrichment facility.
Bushehr: One of Iran’s nuclear reactors.
Shiraz: Iran’s special weapons and missile
development facility.
The prophecy
foretells of a forthcoming epic biblical disaster.
The details
of Jeremiah’s end times Elam prophecy are summarized below.
The Lord declares He will;
bring
disaster upon
them, My fierce anger,
destroy from there the king and the
officials,
break
the bow of
Elam, at the foremost of their might,
bring
the four winds From the four quarters of heaven,
scatter
them toward all those winds,(worldwide)
cause
Elam to be dismayed before their enemies (invading forces)
and before those who seek their life,
send
the sword after
them Until I have consumed them,
set
My throne (authority)in Elam,
and,
(in the latter days) bring back the captives of Elam.
Major General (res.) Yiftach Ron-Tal says Prime Minister's
explicit statement that Israel aims to topple Iranian government marks historic
shift in Israeli policy.
Speaking on Galei Israel radio, he emphasized the weight of
Netanyahu's words: "Netanyahu stated yesterday in an explicit and
unambiguous manner that the overarching goal is to neutralize Iran's ability to
harm the State of Israel through toppling the regime ... We've always said that
the Iranians would do this themselves, that we cannot replace regimes."
He explained, "This is the first time that an Israeli prime
minister, and he's not saying this casually, says in the clearest possible way:
our goal is to replace the regime. In my opinion, this is coordinated with the
President of the United States. This is what will create the historic security
transformation in the Middle East, and in fact in the entire world. I think
this is dramatic, nothing short of it." (Read More)
______________________________________
Senior Resarcher Brad Myers Comments;
Most prophecy teachers do not believe that the current
Islamic government in power in Iran will be toppled. Could we see the
U.S., Israel, and enemies of the Islamic regime finally make it possible for the
people of Iran to overthrow their government?
Is it reasonable to believe that
Jeremiah 49:37–38 foretells a war in which the enemies of the current regime
which could include the protesting Iranians themselves, might take to the streets and, with
the help of the Lord, chase down and kill their government leaders, officials,
and the soldiers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), resulting in
the final overthrow of the government?
It must be pointed out that there is no historical
evidence whatsoever that Nebuchadnezzar II and his armies waged a war in which
a lot of Elamites were killed, including their king and officials. (Read the Dr. Bill Salus article below).
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf's unprecedented public confession of criminal negligence and economic collapse exposes deep fractures in Tehran's leadership — and signals a regime at war with its own people.
The cracks at the heart of Tehran's power structure have never looked so stark or so lethal. In a rare moment of truth-telling that crossed every red line the regime has drawn, Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf did the unthinkable: he declared out loud what millions of Iranians dare only whisper behind closed doors. While the country is drowning in a merciless economic and military war with the United States, Ghalibaf announced that the people are indeed willing to die for the struggle — but will not bear "one more second of failed management and criminal negligence."
Those earth-shaking sentences instantly became the epicenter of a political earthquake. While the regime's gatekeepers tried to contain the fallout, opposition analysts in Iran did not hesitate to define the event as "the regime's official declaration of suicide from within."
Even if some try to present this as calculated rhetoric, the reality on the ground is completely different: Iran today stands not only against a terrifying external enemy in American crosshairs, but is crumbling from within before a deep, brutal and irreversible internal abyss that could swallow the entire regime. (Read More)
President Donald Trump tried to turn one of his biggest political vulnerabilities into a strength for Republicans here Wednesday, making the war with Iran a key focus of his speech at the party’s midterm convention.
“Does anybody here think that Iran should have a nuclear weapon? Anybody?” Trump asked the crowd at American Airlines Center, articulating the administration’s core argument for attacking Iran.
The audience responded loudly and decisively: “No!”
“The war will be over very shortly after the election,” Trump said. “They’re hanging out for dear life, hoping that we lose, so they can deal with dumb, weak Democrats and they can have their nuclear bomb. But we’re not going to let that happen.”
The warTrump once predictedwould last only four or five weeks is now in its seventh month. A recentNBC News Decision Desk Pollpowered by SurveyMonkey found that 69% of Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of the war. The share of Republicans who say they strongly approve of his handling of the war has dropped 18 percentage points since the spring and now stands at 30%. (Read More)
After days of signals that Islamabad might deploy forces alongside Riyadh and Yemeni government troops against the Houthis, Pakistan's foreign minister shuts the door—marking an early failure for the Mecca Accord.
Pakistan has announced it will not join Saudi Arabia's renewed military campaign in Yemen, reversing days of signals from Islamabad that suggested the country was seriously considering deploying forces alongside Riyadh and Yemeni government troops against Houthi rebels.
The abrupt about-face comes as the pace of the Saudi-backed offensive has slowed and Houthi forces have scored their first significant gains, capturing the strategic Red Sea port city of al-Mokha in the south. Just yesterday, Pakistan's defense minister indicated that senior government discussions were underway about the possibility of providing offensive support to the Saudi campaign in Yemen following Houthi attacks on Saudi territory.
For a moment, it appeared the Mecca Accord (a kind of Middle Eastern NATO bringing together Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey) was finally taking concrete form. But the enthusiasm evaporated as quickly as it emerged. Pakistan's foreign minister has now delivered a statement that directly contradicts his defense counterpart's remarks from a day earlier.
"There is currently no discussion on the matter, and there are currently no intentions to take part in the fighting," the foreign minister declared categorically. (Read More)
AI could kill us, Anthropic researcher says after resigning
The people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end
of the decade, Coxon said on X, explaining his resignation. Jacob Coxon, who spent three years working on pretraining at
both OpenAI and Anthropic, resigned Tuesday and explained his decision on X.
"I resigned from Anthropic today. I spent the last
three years doing pretraining research at both OpenAI and Anthropic. Neither
company is acting responsibly. They are racing straight to self-improving
super-intelligence and gambling with our lives,” he said. "The people building AI earnestly believe that it could
kill us all by the end of the decade,” he added.
That statement makes Cameron's 42-year-old fiction look
almost prophetic. The movie opens with machines waging war on humans in 2029,
the same rough window Coxon says insiders are quietly worried about. Coxon
isn't alone at Anthropic making the extinction case.
The company's own alignment lead, Evan Hubinger, has said
separately he'd put the odds above 10%.
“Jacob is correct here—we really do earnestly believe AI
could kill all humans! I personally think it is >10% within the next decade.
I believe Anthropic is trying its best, but we do not yet have a plan to solve
alignment for superintelligence and are not clearly on track to,” Hubinger
said. (Read More)
__________________________________
Senior Researcher Brad Myers Comments;
While a former Anthropic researcher warns that "the people building AI
earnestly believe that it could KILL US ALL by the end of the decade,"
Jesus Christ says this will not happen in Matthew 24:21-22.
"This will be the worst time of suffering since the beginning of the
world, and nothing this terrible will ever happen again. If God doesn't make
the time shorter, NO ONE WILL BE LEFT ALIVE. But because of God's chosen ones,
he will make the time shorter." (CEV; emphasis addded)
What is truly alarming is the strong possibility that we
are all witnessing how AI might be used to kill humans in the future,
specifically during the time when the Antichrist and the false prophet use this
technology to track and execute those who do not worship the Antichrist (Rev.
13:15).
While al-Qaeda suffered losses and dislocation after the invasion of Afghanistan, its profile rose, and it expanded massively in the years that followed.
In the 25 years since al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked passenger jets and flew them into New York's World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon, the group founded by Osama bin Laden has spawned affiliates and inspired attacks around the world.
While it has suffered setbacks, notably bin Laden's killing in 2011 by US forces and the emergence of Islamic State as a rival, experts say al-Qaeda still serves as a source of support and inspiration for terrorists in many regions, particularly in Africa. (Read More)
Dr. Bill Salus reminds that according to Obadiah 1:18-20, Israel's IDF will destroy the Palestinians and capture the entire West Bank and much more Promised Land. The image below displays Israel's future prophesied land gains.
"The house of Jacob (the IDF) shall be a fire, And the house of Joseph (the IDF)a flame; But the house of Esau (the Palestinians) shall bestubble; They (the IDF) shall kindle them and devour them, And no survivor shallremainof the house of Esau,” For theLordhas spoken. TheSouthshall possess the mountains of Esau, And the Lowland shall possess Philistia. They shall possess the fields of Ephraim And the fields of Samaria. Benjaminshall possessGilead. And the captives of this host of the children of Israel Shall possess the landof the Canaanites As far as Zarephath. The captives of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad Shall possess the cities of theSouth." (Obadiah 1:18-20, NKJV; emphasis added)
Joint statement also calls to implement Trump’s plan for Gaza and reiterates demand for Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as capital, saying it’s only ‘viable path’ to peace.
From left, Qatar’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi, Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Saudi Arabia Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Sugiono and United Arab Emirates’ Foreign Minister Khalifa Shaheen Al Marar pose for a group photo prior their meeting to discuss the ceasefire and next steps for Gaza, in Istanbul, Turkey, November 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
A group of eight Muslim-majority countries, including Israel’s ally the United Arab Emirates, praised the United Kingdom on Wednesday for announcing that it will impose sanctions on Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and called on other countries to do the same.
The foreign ministers of Qatar, Turkey, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, in a joint statement, said they “welcome the decision of the Government of the United Kingdom to ban the import of goods from illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”
The statement came a day after British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced sweeping sanctions and a total ban on all dealings with West Bank settlements.
Shortly after Miliband’s speech, the leaders of the UK, France and Canada issued a joint statement confirming that they would “take steps to ban the importation of goods from settlements and enforce targeted measures against settlements and those who facilitate them or profit from them.”
Then, Canada, France, the UK, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden released aseparate statement promisingthey would also “introduce national and/or support European restrictions on trade in goods with settlements,” or were at least “actively considering” doing so. (Read More)
With attacks spreading across West Bank, locals and activists describe ‘vague’ orders, political pressure and systemic issues that result in troops punishing Palestinian victims rather than Israeli assailants.
QUSRA, West Bank — When Luai Beiruti began building a home for his young family on the outskirts of the Palestinian village of Qusra in 2023, he imagined a place where they could live safely and comfortably. Three years later, the 29-year-old’s house still stands unfinished.
Construction initially stopped after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack plunged Israel and the region into war. But when Beiruti eventually tried to resume work, it wasn’t fighting on Israel’s borders that kept him from the building site. The threat was much closer to home: escalating violence by Israeli settlers.
Since October 7, settler extremists have repeatedly harassed residents of Qusra, and in recent weeks even besieged two homes with the families, including young children, trapped inside.
Late last month, they turned their attention to Beiruti’s under-construction house, assaulting him and other Palestinians working there. Though he appealed to Israeli authorities for help, the attack ended with Beiruti in cuffs rather than his assailants, who allegedly used the opportunity to ransack the unfinished home he is now barred from visiting.
What happened to Beiruti is one episode in a much broader surge in settler violence — and, according to Palestinians, experts and military officials, an increasingly systemic failure to stop it by the forces responsible for protecting the population. (Read More)
TheIran-backed Houthis attacked Saudi Arabiathis week. This has been deemed the first test of the new alliance that Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan initiated in August. TheMecca Joint Defense Agreement, as it is being called, was formed to strengthen deterrence against any acts of aggression.
After its creation, a meeting in Turkey sought to form the framework for the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement. The three countries then crafted the role of a permanent secretariat, which is supposed to be in Saudi Arabia. “The move gives institutional shape to an alliance built around collective deterrence and regional responsibility. A mechanism for other countries to join the group was already underway, officials said,” Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN) reported on September 3.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke about the importance of the new pact when he went to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting in Kyrgyzstan, referring to “collective deterrence.”
Currently, people are wondering whether Pakistan or Turkey will respond to the Houthi attacks. Historically, both countries have been wary of any conflict with Iran. Unlike them, Saudi Arabia has been very critical of the Islamic Republic.
Israel has officially established a policy to respond militarily to any projectile or missile spillover entering its territory from Iranian attacks, according to CH2 NEWS. The security decision follows a series of Iranian strikes directed at American military facilities in the Middle East, including a barrage of 20 missiles launched at bases in neighboring Jordan.
Israeli defense officials highlighted that the ongoing military exchanges between the United States and Iran carry significant potential for regional escalation. The Israel Defense Forces maintain high operational readiness across defensive and offensive formations in direct coordination with the United States military, with both nations preparing for the possibility of joint operational action.
The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced that it targeted a US facility in Jordan, leading to interceptions visible in Israeli airspace. A US official stated to FOX NEWS, "100% of US troops in Jordan are accounted for, there are no US casualties in the attacks by Iran". The attacks in Jordan follow intensified maritime enforcement by the United States, which recently destroyed five Iranian oil tankers after ballistic missiles were fired toward a US Navy warship. (Read More)
