Saudi Arabia
-
'Save Mass Effect' petition hits over 180,000 signatures within days of BioWare's closure
The desperate plea to EA has fans sharing their memories of the spacefaring shooter.
-
Nicki Minaj shares Air Force One video as Trump hints at new press secretary
Nicki Minaj shared a video from aboard Air Force One, the US president's official aircraft, as Donald Trump departed for Port Huron, Michigan, on the midterm campaign trail. (October 25) The rapper publicly began supporting Trump in 2025 and was then welcomed to the White House in July 2026. White House director of communications Steven Chueng also shared a video of the singer on board the aircraft, as he teased she could be the president’s next press secretary. Sharing the video on X, he said: “I think we may have found the new White House Press Secretary!” The post comes after the White House announced Katie Zacharia was leaving the role last week, just days after taking up the post.
-
Saudi Arabia reopens Riyadh airport after Houthi attacks but flights remain limited
The renewed fighting in Yemen has shattered a UN-brokered truce that had largely held since 2022
-
Israel votes in first election since 7 October attacks and Gaza war
Israelis will head to the polls on Tuesday (27 October) in the first election since the 7 October attacks and subsequent wars in Gaza, Iran and Lebanon. Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a big challenge from former army chief Gadi Eisenkot, with neither expected to secure a parliamentary majority. But would a change in leadership bring peace in the region? Both candidates oppose an independent Palestinian state, and support continued Israeli security control over Palestinian territories. The Independent’s chief international correspondent Bel Trew reports.
-
Saudi Arabia reopens airport as attacks by Houthi rebels persist, and other Mideast news
Saudi Arabia has reopened its main airport for international flights after Houthi rebel strikes knocked it out of service
-
Saudi Arabia executes man for crime committed when he was 14
The kingdom carried out 347 executions last year, a new high despite efforts to transform its image
-
As the US and China form AI blocs, countries are increasingly torn between them
With the two leading AI powers, the United States and China, forming their own AI blocs, other countries are maneuvering to harness the strengths of both groupings without alienating either and risking losing out
-
Iran’s lethal plots against US officials abroad reach ‘advanced stages,’ memo reveals
This comes as American diplomats were instructed to depart Saudi Arabia on Wednesday with their families
-
Israel imposes closures across a West Bank city after attacks, and other Mideast news
Israel has imposed closures across a West Bank city following attacks by Palestinian gunmen that Israel says killed two of its soldiers
-
US is reducing staffing at 4 Middle East embassies over increased threats from Iran
The State Department says it will reduce staffing at four U.S. embassies in the Middle East after receiving intelligence that Iran has stepped up efforts to target American personnel in the region and elsewhere
-
Why private equity acquisitions like the one that just claimed BioWare are so dreaded
BioWare is just the latest casualty in a long history of private equity carnage.
-
US and Israel are warned against launching fresh strikes on Iran
Multinational ‘anti-war bloc’ uses Istanbul summit to call for a diplomatic solution to Middle East crisis
-
Seven shot dead by gunmen at church funeral in Jordan, officials say
Thirty-four people are also injured in the attack in southern Karak governorate, and a manhunt is now under way.
-
Oil price rises above $117 a barrel amid fears US will renew strikes on Iran
Brent crude increase follows Tehran threatening retaliatory attacks on Gulf refineries and datacentres
-
UAE diplomat running for UN chief faces questions over her country's support for Sudan rebels
Lana Nusseibeh, a diplomat from the United Arab Emirates, is the newest contender for United Nations secretary-general
-
White House ballroom construction progress seen in aerial footage
Donald Trump’s administration has released aerial footage showing the construction progress on the White House ballroom. Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino shared the video on X, which he said was filmed from Marine One during a flyover on the president’s journey to Joint Base Andrews. The original East Wing of the White House was demolished in October 2025 to make way for the 90,000-square-foot facility, proceeding without congressional authorization. Trump has defended the project, arguing it will offer a secure location for state visits, official ceremonies and inaugurations. In February 2025, the ballroom’s cost was estimated at $100m. The figure later rose to $250m and has since grown to $600m.
-
Andy Burnham warns of ‘winter of greater flooding’ – UK politics live
The prime minister said the government is having conversation about emergency preparedness
-
Ed Miliband set for crucial talks over Strait of Hormuz crisis and Houthi attacks
Ed Miliband will be in Turkey on Friday for the vital talks
-
Streeting tackled over ‘be-ready’ plan in Question Time ‘scaremongering’ debate
Wes Streeting defended the government’s campaign urging the public to prepare themselves for emergencies. The defence secretary told BBC Question Time that he wants people to be “alert but not alarmed”, adding there was a not a “specific thing” in mind when it comes to potential emergency incidents, but said the advice might help during power cuts or if a local shop is subject to a cyberattack. Put to him by an audience member that it could be “scaremongering” and push people towards panic buying like during the Covid-19 pandemic, he said: “We did have this debate though, just to reassure … because we want people to be alert but not alarmed, and the truth is we looked around the rest of Europe, ‘what are our friends doing across the continent?’ “They are way ahead of us on some of this stuff. So actually, my reaction as Defence Secretary wasn’t, ‘Is this the right thing to do?’ It’s ‘why haven’t we done this before, and why are we playing catch up compared to lots of other European countries’?”
-
Streeting cites Churchill after Trump envoy calls Putin ‘humanitarian’
Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said there is a “clear line between appeasement and a peace process” after Donald Trump’s chief negotiator on the Ukraine war described Vladimir Putin as a “humanitarian”. Speaking on BBC Newsnight on Thursday (22 October), the defence secretary said: “I understand when people are undertaking, you know, the path of diplomacy, that sometimes you might feel the need to be gracious to the host sitting in front of you. “But I’ve got to say there is a very clear line between appeasement and a peace process, we should be in no doubt that Vladimir Putin is a cold-blooded killer.” Asked if he was saying this is appeasement by the US, he said: “I’m saying don’t feed the crocodile”. The phrase refers back to a comment Winston Churchill made on neutral nations during the early stages of the Second World War, most commonly cited as “an appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last”.
-
MEPs call for Yemen's Houthis to be added to EU terrorist list
A non-binding European Parliament resolution urges a freeze on all the Yemeni group's funds, as the EU struggles to counter the threat to civilian maritime traffic in the Red Sea.
-
Stocks rattled by fears over tech sell-off and rising oil prices
In London, the FTSE 100 index ended down 27.85 points, 0.3%, at 10,725.03.
-
Gulf nations brace for possible return to all-out war
The volatility around the Israeli and US midterm elections is fueling fears of renewed US-Israeli strikes on Iran in a short and intensive military campaign to push Tehran into concessions, with Iran vowing a devastating response against the Gulf nations.
-
Star Wars Battlefront 3 is really happening and will reportedly be developed as a collaborative project between Respawn and DICE
Star Wars Battlefront 3 is reportedly in development after EA confirmed that Respawn and DICE will work collaboratively on a new project.
-
Trump orders diplomats to leave Middle East amid fears US could strike Houthis
Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia killed at least two people at an airport in Damman on Wednesday
-
Oil prices jump to five-month high as attacks threaten global supply
Iran’s IRGC says it hit four vessels in the northern Gulf and three more struck mines near the strait of Hormuz
-
Trump says Google refused request to rename Atlantic ‘American Ocean’
Donald Trump has claimed that Google has turned down his request to rename the Atlantic Ocean the “American Ocean.” The US president told supporters at a rally in South Carolina on Wednesday (21 October) that the company’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, had refused his suggestion. Trump says he called Pichai, who told him, "Oceans are different, sir. You know, they cover, they cover a lot of, they cover really a lot of countries." "So I'll probably pass... I think let's keep it the Atlantic Ocean, right? Pacific Ocean, we're gonna call it the American Ocean,” Trump added.
-
Venezuela claims to have 300 billion barrels of oil in the ground. But experts say that's a stretch
One figure sets Venezuela apart from the rest of the world: 303 billion barrels of so-called proven oil reserves
-
Israel using US-made electroshock weapons on Palestinian detainees
An American company is still supplying Taser weapons linked to prisoner abuse by Israeli forces
-
The next Mass Effect would have had 'a level of autonomy and choice that no other game has been able to match', according to BioWare veteran
BioWare had paid attention to Larian and CD Projekt.
-
Video game developer BioWare shuts down, next 'Mass Effect' canceled amid broader layoffs at EA
Video game publisher Electronic Arts is shutting down the popular and influential game development studio BioWare after more than three decades
-
Some US diplomats told to leave Saudi Arabia amid Houthi attacks
Reports emerge of similar withdrawals in UAE, Jordan, Qatar and Bahrain amid concerns about a return to conflict with Iran after US midterm elections
-
US orders some diplomats to leave Saudi Arabia as Houthi attacks escalate
The warning to US officials comes as at least three people die in the latest strikes at an airport and an oil field.
-
Aichi-Nagoya: Japan is known for world-class events - but the Asian Games were chaotic
Hotel chaos, transport mishaps and diplomatic blunders cast a spotlight on organisers and the firm hired to deliver the games.
-
RIP BioWare: EA has shut down the legendary RPG developer
Bloomberg also reports that EA is cutting "around 400 jobs" across the company.
-
Disappointed after meeting, French unions call for 5 November action
Trade unions, unanimously disappointed after their meeting with the government, are calling for a large mobilisation on 5 November. The CGT's general secretary is urging workers to "generalise the strike". #EuropeNews
-
US orders some diplomats to leave Saudi Arabia as fears of escalating Houthi attacks rise
The State Department is ordering some diplomats and the families of U.S. government employees to leave Saudi Arabia
-
With BioWare dead, EA lays out its 'next chapter,' and it's pretty much as predicted: Guns and football are fine, and everything else is under the microscope
The changes predicted when Saudi Arabia's PIF bought Electronic Arts are coming true.
-
Saudi authorities say 2 killed by falling debris at oil facility following a drone attack in Kingdom
Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry says debris from an intercepted drone has killed two people and injured two others at an Aramco-operated oil field in the country’s southeast
-
Saudi capital's airport opens to limited traffic, and other Mideast news
There were only a few flights by Saudi carriers from the Saudi capital's airport on Wednesday, even as Saudi authorities declared it's open for business
-
Country votes to bring back death penalty just six years after abolishing it
Capital punishment will again be used for crimes including terrorism, espionage, and treason
-
Macron hits back at Trump's ‘stupid’ comments about French riots
President Donald Trump has used the violence to rally his political supporters, urging Macron to ‘close your borders and take control before it is too late!’
-
Fury of French youth explodes across borders: Bel Trew unpacks the chaos
Battles near the Louvre, graffiti over Place de la République, protests along the Champs-Élysées, and shopkeepers trying to fight off looters and plumes of tear gas. Long-standing fury from youth in France has exploded into these fiery scenes. Rage has spread across borders, with protests erupting in Italy, Spain, Portugal and Albania. Why is this happening, and what does it mean? The Independent's Chief International Correspondent unpacks the chaos as more protests are planned.
-
Trump’s special envoy tells Vladimir Putin he is a ‘humanitarian’
Steve Witkoff, the United States’ special envoy, lauded Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin as a “humanitarian” for releasing a “wrongfully detained” American as Moscow continued bombing civilians in Ukraine. “You talk so much about my president, President Trump, being a humanitarian. You are a humanitarian also, sir, and I salute that, I commend you, and I thank you again,” said Witkoff in a clip posted by Russian state media as he met with Putin in St Petersburg. Witkoff is continuing attempts to bring Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table, after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday (October 20). On Wednesday, Russia released 74-year-old teacher Stephen James Hubbard, who had been held for four years over claims he was a Ukrainian mercenary. Russia has continued its bombing of Ukraine, killing 328 civilians in September alone.
-
Besieged Yemeni city on verge of ‘unmanageable’ crisis, aid workers warn
Water and fresh food running out in Taiz as fighting intensifies and Houthi advance cuts off most supply routes
-
How the Mecca defense agreement between Turkey, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia will work
Turkey has submitted a mutual defense agreement with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan to its parliament for ratification
-
Europe weighs energy-saving measures as Middle East crisis deepens
EU Energy Ministers will consider demand cuts if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed in the months ahead, according to a document seen by Euronews. #EuropeNews
-
Macron calls for extreme caution in Gulf, secures critical gas deal in Qatar state visit
French president concludes his state visit by reinforcing the strategic partnership with Qatar. He declares his Gulf tour objectives achieved after securing a crucial gas deal with Qatar as he seeks to lower tensions over living costs in France.
-
In The Room
France is reeling after a weekend of unrest that escalated dramatically. Hundreds of thousands marched peacefully, but elsewhere shops were looted, cars burned, police attacked and public buildings set alight. What began with schoolchildren furious about missing teachers, crumbling classrooms and a system they believe is failing them quickly became something much bigger. People of all ages joined demonstrations driven by anger over the cost of living, deteriorating public services and a future that feels increasingly out of reach. With France approaching a presidential election, the unrest exposes a deeper political crisis. But this is not just a French story. Across Europe, established parties are struggling to retain the confidence of increasingly disillusioned electorates. And Britain has experienced its own moments when public anger has spilled into violence. Helen MacNamara, who was inside government during the 2011 riots and has attended countless COBR meetings, examines what happens when governments begin to lose control of the streets, and what France's crisis might tell us about the pressures building closer to home. New episodes of In The Room come out weekly. Listen to the latest on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or watch on YouTube.
-
Tommy Robinson voicemail left on Daily Mail journalist’s phone played in court
Audio of a voicemail Tommy Robinson left on a Daily Mail journalist’s phone has been played to jurors at Southwark Crown Court. The 43-year-old, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, is on trial for allegedly harassing journalists Jacob Dirnhuber and Andrew Young, causing them fear of violence, in August 2024 after they worked on a story about him while he was on holiday in Cyprus. The voicemail, released by the Metropolitan Police and played in court on Tuesday (20 October), was left on Ted Verity’s phone. It said: “If it’s legitimate journalism then expect me to come knocking,” adding: “I’ve already located every f****** one of you.” Mr Yaxley-Lennon entered not guilty pleas to two charges of harassment causing fear of violence in July last year.
