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Egypt Pledges ‘All Necessary’ Support to Saudi Arabia as Parliament Weighs Sending Troops Against Houthi Attacks: October 18, 2026

CAIRO — Egypt said Sunday it is ready to provide “all necessary and possible support to Saudi Arabia to defend its safety and stability,” as Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis press on with attacks on the kingdom, Al Jazeera reported.

The pledge came from Egypt’s National Defence Council, chaired by President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, which said Egypt “stands fully with” Saudi Arabia in defending its resources, territorial integrity and Islamic holy sites, and promised to step up diplomacy to calm the region. The presidency’s statement did not mention troops, but Mostafa Bakry, a lawmaker close to the state, said on X that the council had approved sending forces on “a defensive mission,” The National reported.

Parliament convened an emergency closed session at 1 p.m. Cairo time on Sunday to consider authorizing el-Sisi to send forces if Riyadh asks. Under Article 152 of Egypt’s constitution, the president cannot send the army on a combat mission abroad without consulting the defence council and winning the approval of two-thirds of lawmakers. The pro-Sisi majority was widely expected to approve the request, and approval alone would not mean troops are deployed, The National said. An official result had not been reported by the outlets cited here at the time of writing.

“We do not want to fight or attack anyone. We will only defend Saudi Arabia,” el-Sisi said in a speech at the Military Academy on Saturday, according to The National.

The Houthis have attacked Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport at least 20 times since fighting flared again with Yemen’s Saudi-backed government, and have also targeted state oil giant Saudi Aramco, Al Jazeera reported. Gulf analyst Thomas Bonnie James told Al Jazeera that an Egyptian resident was killed in an attack on the airport, that millions of Egyptians live and work in the kingdom, and that Houthi pressure on the Bab al-Mandeb strait threatens Suez Canal revenue.

Yahya al-Raei, speaker of the Houthi-run parliament in Sanaa, warned Cairo that being drawn into the conflict “would pose a grave danger to its national security,” The National reported. Turkey and Pakistan have made their own pledges to help defend the kingdom under a Mecca defence pact signed in August.

Update, 11:55 a.m. PT, October 18: After a closed session that ran nearly three hours, the House of Representatives postponed the vote on el-Sisi’s request, extending deliberations into Monday and Tuesday so every lawmaker can speak, with a vote now expected Tuesday, Mada Masr and Ahram Online reported. Lawmakers were mostly in support but no details of what military support might look like were discussed, MPs told AFP. Mada Masr said MPs demanded more detail on the armed forces’ role, and Al-Masry Al-Youm reported that the Wafd party’s Mohamed Abdel Aleem Daoud and the Egyptian Social Democratic Party said they would abstain until they see the full details.

Sources: Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera explainer, The National, Mada Masr, Ahram Online, AFP via BSS

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EU Demands ‘Full Accountability’ After Masked Israeli Settlers Attack European Diplomats and a French Mayor in Taybeh: October 18, 2026

JERUSALEM — The European Union has condemned an attack by masked Israeli settlers on a delegation of European diplomats in the occupied West Bank, saying it expects “full accountability as well as effective measures” to stop violence against Palestinians and journalists, BBC News reported.

The diplomats — from Belgium, France, Poland and the Catholic Church — had gone on Saturday to Taybeh, a largely Christian village near Ramallah, to assess near-daily settler attacks on Palestinians harvesting olives. Belgium said its consul general was among those targeted and that a consulate car had a window smashed.

Bernard Baudoux, the 78-year-old mayor of Aulnoye-Aymeries in northern France, said settlers kicked him and beat him with iron bars, throwing him to the ground. “It’s the gratuitous nature of the violence that stuns me,” he told AFP. “They arrived completely enraged.” Baudoux said he suffered minor injuries, DW reported.

Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot condemned the attack “in the strongest terms” and said Belgium will keep pressing for EU sanctions on those responsible. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot urged Israel to “urgently halt this criminal violence,” and Poland called for “a firm response.”

The Israeli military condemned “the severe act of violence” and said no soldiers were present. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar condemned the “Israeli rioters” but said the visit had not been coordinated with the army. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office urged caution, saying the reports came “amid concerns about a coordinated campaign to smear Israel,” and Israeli police opened an investigation.

The attack came a day after settlers injured Palestinians and Washington Post photographer Heidi Levine in another West Bank village. U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee called that assault “a despicable act of terror carried out by masked cowards,” and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said it was “not a good look,” the BBC reported.

Sources: BBC News, DW

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Mexico Arrests Former Chihuahua Attorney General on Treason Allegations Over CIA Role in a Deadly Drug-Lab Raid: October 18, 2026

MEXICO CITY — Mexican authorities have arrested César Jáuregui, the former attorney general of the northern border state of Chihuahua, on suspicion of treason for allegedly allowing CIA officers to take part in an April raid on a clandestine drug laboratory without the authorization required by Mexican law, Attorney General Ernestina Godoy said Saturday, Reuters and El País reported.

“The investigation determined that Cesar N may have engaged in conduct that could possibly constitute the crime of treason in matters of national security because he allegedly allowed foreign individuals to intervene without authorization on Mexican territory and take part in actions that correspond exclusively to national security forces,” Godoy said in a video message, as Reuters reported. She said the arrest warrant was signed by a federal judge after months of investigation.

The case stems from an April operation in El Pinal, in the Sierra Tarahumara, in which state agents dismantled a drug lab. On the way back, a road crash killed two officials of the Chihuahua prosecutor’s office and two Americans whom Jáuregui, then still attorney general, described as U.S. Embassy instructors. CNN and other outlets later reported that the two Americans were CIA officers.

Godoy said investigators found evidence that the CIA officers had visited the offices of Chihuahua’s state criminal investigation agency several times “without any justification,” and that the raid — a federal responsibility — was carried out without the state prosecutor’s office having opened a case file, El País reported. She also accused Jáuregui of informing foreigners while alerting federal forces only after the operation.

Chihuahua’s acting attorney general, Gilberto Loya Chávez, said Jáuregui also faces state charges of unlawful exercise of public service and conspiracy, according to CNN. What is being investigated is how the operation was conducted, not the dismantling of the lab, he said: “A good result does not justify breaking the law.”

The deaths rekindled sensitivities over U.S. involvement in Mexican security operations. President Claudia Sheinbaum has said her government welcomes intelligence sharing but does not permit U.S. agents or forces to take part directly in operations on Mexican soil, Reuters reported.

Sources: Reuters (via Investing.com), CNN en Español, El País

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France Counts More Than 1,800 Arrests and a Gutted Limoges Town Hall After Protests Turn to Riots as Macron Prepares to Address the Nation: October 18, 2026

PARIS — More than 1,800 people were arrested across France after Saturday’s cost-of-living protests gave way to riots, looting and arson, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said Sunday, DW reported. Paris police reported 855 arrests in the capital, a figure they described as a record.

The interior ministry put nationwide turnout at 550,000, including 110,000 in Paris, while the CGT union estimated 800,000. Most marches were peaceful, but masked groups set cars and buildings on fire and looted shops in Paris, Marseille, Lille and other cities, BBC News reported. More than 500 police officers, gendarmes and firefighters were injured, the interior ministry said, and the Retail and Trade Federation said about 1,500 shops were damaged.

In Limoges, fire gutted the 143-year-old town hall and part of the building collapsed. “A wild horde” had “deliberately” set the blaze, said Maurice Barate, the prefect of Haute-Vienne. “There are no words to condemn what happened, so appalling is it,” Mayor Guillaume Guérin told broadcaster LCI. “The country is in chaos,” he said, as DW reported. In Lyon, the city’s historic tourist office burned, and in Marseille protesters used a metal fence as a battering ram to break into city hall.

In Saint-Étienne, a young man lost a hand to a small explosive, the city’s mayor said; the newspaper Le Figaro reported that the 17-year-old was hit by a grenade fired by police, according to DW. Nuñez blamed “several thousand far-left individuals” who were later joined by “delinquents who looted and ransacked numerous businesses.”

President Emmanuel Macron vowed that those responsible would be prosecuted and punished. “No room for violence in our Republic,” he wrote on X. The Élysée said he will address the nation at 8 p.m. Paris time on Sunday (11 a.m. Pacific).

The protests began with students demanding better schools and grew to take in fuel prices, wages and the grievances of farmers and firefighters, ahead of next spring’s presidential election. Far-right leader Marine Le Pen accused Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s party of having “legitimized the violence”; Mélenchon, who backed the marches, urged demonstrators to stay away from looting, calling it “contrary to our methods.”

Sources: BBC News, DW

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CENTCOM Insists the U.S. Controls Hormuz as Ship Attacks Hit a Wartime Record and Brent Crude Touches $110: October 17, 2026

TEHRAN — The United States and Iran are offering sharply conflicting accounts of who controls the Strait of Hormuz as attacks on merchant shipping reach their highest level since the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran began on February 28, Al Jazeera and BBC News reported.

At least 12 ships were attacked in the week ending October 16, the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) center said, while warning it is “struggling to accurately report true number of attacks with majority of vessels attacked refusing to report.” Of the confirmed 12, one sank and two were disabled, according to Al Jazeera.

In a video message on Friday, U.S. Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper said 400 ships and 100 million barrels of oil moved through the strait over the past week. “Let me be clear: The Strait of Hormuz is controlled by the United States and our regional partners, not Iran,” he said, blaming the attacks on “desperation” by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.

Iran’s IRGC said Saturday that a supertanker carrying more than two million barrels of crude caught fire after hitting a mine on an “unauthorised” route; CENTCOM says it has cleared the strait of mines and that vessels are being struck by projectiles. UKMTO also reported a tanker hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired from a small boat northeast of Jubail, Saudi Arabia.

Oil flows through Hormuz averaged 11.6 million barrels a day in the week to October 13, about 68% of the pre-war baseline, according to Kpler data cited by Al Jazeera, and Brent crude touched $110 a barrel on Friday for the first time since May. BBC Verify found the weekly tally of reported attacks had already set a record in early October.

Sources: Al Jazeera, BBC News

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Africa CDC Says More Than $700 Million in Ebola Aid to Congo Is Unaccounted For and Warns Aid Groups Could Be Blacklisted: October 17, 2026

KINSHASA — Africa’s top public health agency and Congolese health authorities say more than $700 million of donor money for the Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of Congo has yet to be accounted for, Reuters reported.

Dr. Jean Kaseya, director general of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said international donors disbursed about $962 million directly to organizations implementing Ebola response work in Congo, rather than to the government.

Only about a third of those partners attended a recent verification meeting called by Congo’s health ministry, Kaseya said. Those that did reported receiving $228 million, of which $127 million had been spent and roughly $100 million remained available, according to Reuters.

Kaseya told Reuters it was too early to speak of embezzlement, describing the gap instead as a major transparency and financial reporting failure that left authorities without a full picture of what had been mobilized and spent. He warned that non-compliant organizations could be barred from working in Congo and blacklisted across Africa.

Congo’s health minister, Samuel-Roger Kamba, echoed the concerns on X, saying aid groups are required to provide his ministry with details of funding sources, goals and progress. Reuters noted that mistrust of health workers remains a key obstacle to containing the outbreak, and that past Ebola responses in Congo were dogged by allegations of favoritism and corruption.

Sources: Reuters, CNBC Africa, Nairametrics

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Amazon Deforestation in Brazil Plunges 41.8% to the Lowest Level on Record Days Before Lula’s Run-Off With Flávio Bolsonaro: October 17, 2026

BRASÍLIA — Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon fell 41.8% in the year to July 2026, to 3,335 square kilometers — the lowest since satellite records began in 1988 — government data showed, BBC News and The Guardian reported.

The figure from the Prodes satellite series, compiled by Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research, beats the previous record low by 1,236 square kilometers, roughly the size of Rio de Janeiro. Clearing in the Cerrado savanna fell 23.8% to 5,516 square kilometers, its lowest since 2001.

Since 2022, the year before President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took office, the Amazon deforestation rate has slowed by 71.2%, The Guardian said. Environment Minister João Paulo Capobianco called the decline “absolutely stratospheric.” Lula wrote on X: “Our goal is to achieve zero illegal deforestation by 2030.”

The news lands ahead of an October 25 run-off between Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, under whom Amazon deforestation rose 59.5%. Polls suggest a close race, the BBC reported.

“The country will decide whether we move toward the end of deforestation or toward the end of the forest,” said Marcio Astrini, executive secretary of the Climate Observatory.

Sources: BBC News, The Guardian, DW

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Students, Unions and ‘Yellow Vests’ Fill French Streets as Police Fire Tear Gas in Paris and Marseille: October 17, 2026

PARIS — Mass protests spread across France on Saturday as high school and university students, trade unionists and veterans of the “yellow vest” movement marched against high prices, inequality and a crumbling school system, with police firing tear gas during clashes in Paris and Marseille, DW reported.

Organizers listed hundreds of rallies around the country, and a police source told AFP that authorities expected nearly 200,000 people. Paris police banned demonstrations around the Élysée Palace, the prime minister’s office and the Champs-Élysées. BBC News reported more than 160 arrests across France on Saturday.

The movement began in mid-September at a high school in the Paris suburb of Créteil over dilapidated buildings, overcrowded classrooms and teacher shortages, and has since spread to thousands of lycées, Al Jazeera reported. Authorities say more than 900 police officers have been injured since it began, while more than 6,700 minors have been taken into custody, according to reports cited by Al Jazeera.

Two cases have galvanized critics of the police response: a 15-year-old in Lens lost a hand to a stun grenade, and a 16-year-old in Tours lost his sight after being hit by a rubber bullet.

“This is a moment of fatigue in the country,” Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said Thursday. “We are in an atmosphere of perma-crisis: wars, inflation and issues surrounding purchasing power.” President Emmanuel Macron appealed for “calm and respect” on the eve of the protests.

The unrest comes as Lecornu’s government pushes a 2027 budget of spending restraint, including a public-sector pay freeze, after a deficit of 152.5 billion euros last year — 5.1% of GDP. Far-right National Rally leader Jordan Bardella, who leads polls ahead of next year’s presidential election, predicted “a day of chaos for France.”

Sources: DW, Al Jazeera, CBC News

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Trump Waives Congress’s Sweeping Russia Sanctions Two Days Before They Took Effect as Zelenskyy Urges Americans to Speak Up: October 17, 2026

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has signed an executive order waiving a sweeping package of sanctions on Russia that Congress passed and he signed into law in September, blocking measures two days before they were due to take effect, BBC News, CBC News and DW reported.

“I am hereby waiving the application of such sanctions, restrictions, and duties provided for in the Graham Act,” the order said, adding that Trump had certified to Congress that the waiver is “in the national interests of the United States.” The White House posted the decision late Friday and did not immediately explain how it served that interest, DW said.

The Lindsey Graham Act gave the president power to impose tariffs of up to 100% on the top buyers of Russian oil and gas — most significantly China and India — and targeted senior Russian figures including Vladimir Putin, Russian banks and Moscow’s “shadow fleet” of tankers. Many of those provisions have now been waived, according to the BBC.

Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev called the move “an important and truly historic moment.” Democrats pushed back: Rep. Don Beyer called it “Trump’s latest surrender to Putin,” and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who helped draft the bill, said the waivers had “everything to do with sucking up to Vladimir Putin.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday it was unfortunate the U.S. had decided to “completely disregard” the law. “This Act could have helped enormously — and still can! But it needs to actually work, and every voice in support of it matters,” he wrote on X, as CBC News reported.

Zelenskyy said Russia struck more than 15 Ukrainian energy facilities overnight, warning that Moscow “is trying to cause a blackout in Ukraine – right before winter.” Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched four cruise missiles and 332 attack drones. Zelenskyy also said Ukrainian and U.S. negotiators spoke on Friday and could meet next week.

Sources: BBC News, CBC News, DW

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Carney Warns ‘Some Outside Our Borders’ Want to Break Canada as Alberta Heads Into Monday’s Separation Vote: October 16, 2026

CALGARY, Alberta — Prime Minister Mark Carney urged Albertans to deliver a “decisive result” against separation in Monday’s provincial referendum, telling a pro-unity rally in Calgary that “some outside our borders are working to break us so they can own us,” BBC News and DW reported.

Carney did not name the United States or President Donald Trump, who has threatened to make Canada the 51st state amid a trade war. “This is not poker. A vote against Canada is a dangerous bluff that will lead to years of deep division and great uncertainty,” he said, according to DW. He told the crowd of more than 7,000 that “turnout will determine the outcome.”

The Oct. 19 ballot asks whether Alberta should remain in Canada or start the process toward a binding referendum on separation. More than 450,000 people had already voted early or by mail, the BBC said, and polls suggest most Albertans want to stay.

Premier Danielle Smith, who called the vote after a petition gathered about 300,000 signatures, backs remaining in Canada. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has called Alberta a “natural partner” for the U.S., and leaders of the separatist Alberta Prosperity Project have met State Department officials, DW reported.

Sources: BBC News, DW

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