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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

Oil prices jumped to a five-month high on Thursday after ​attacks in Saudi Arabia and hits to tankers in the strait of Hormuz threatened further disruptions to the world’s crude supply.

Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil prices, rose by 3% to hit $112 a barrel for first time since 18 May.

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© Photograph: Reuters

© Photograph: Reuters

© Photograph: Reuters

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Zain, Ooredoo close first phase of tower venture

Middle Eastern operators Zain Group and Ooredoo Group officially launched a joint venture tower platform after closing the first phase of the transaction by combining portfolios in their home markets.

The operators stated they have brought together the assets of Zain Kuwait and Ooredoo Qatar, comprising 4,000 towers in total.

They each own a 50% stake in the platform.

Announced in 2023, the tower company was pitched as the largest of its kind in the MENA region, with a combined value of $2.2 billion.

At the time, the companies and UAE-based TASC Towers stated the entity would comprise nearly 30,000 towers in Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Tunisia, Iraq and Algeria.

In the latest statement, the companies highlighted how the transaction is expected to create significant value through greater scale, capital efficiencies and a dedicated operating model focused on passive telecoms infrastructure.

Additional towers are expected “to be integrated progressively into the platform”, subject to closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

They further pointed to opportunities for operators to access infrastructure in a more capital-efficient manner while supporting the region’s digital infrastructure.

Zain CEO Bader Al-Kharafi said the first closing of the tower platform “reflects our shared strategy of creating focused, scalable and sustainable platforms”.

Ooredoo counterpart Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo added it is “now executing across every digital infrastructure segment identified in our strategy as we continue building a leading regional portfolio”.

The post Zain, Ooredoo close first phase of tower venture appeared first on Mobile World Live.

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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

The US state department has ordered some diplomats and the families of US government employees to leave Saudi Arabia, as the gulf kingdom faces a barrage of near-daily attacks, with at least three people killed at an airport and oilfield on Wednesday evening.

Attacks on “civilian airports and other critical infrastructure” by the Iranian-supported Houthis in Yemen were highlighted as the reason for the drawdown. State department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said: “The safety and security of department personnel and their families remain our highest priority.”

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© Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

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Heidi Levine recounts how Palestinian youths helped save her in settler attack

US photojournalist describes ‘protective shield’, vows to return to work in West Bank and criticises Netanyahu comments on incident

The Washington Post photojournalist who was attacked and seriously injured by Israeli settlers in the West Bank on Friday has described how she was saved with the help of local Palestinians.

Heidi Levine sustained four fractured vertebrae, two broken ribs and four puncture wounds when she was knocked to the ground and repeatedly beaten by a crowd of masked settlers while she and other journalists were covering the olive harvest in the Palestinian village of Abu Falah, north of Ramallah.

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© Photograph: Quique Kierszenbaum/The Guardian

© Photograph: Quique Kierszenbaum/The Guardian

© Photograph: Quique Kierszenbaum/The Guardian

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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

The humanitarian crisis in the besieged Yemeni city of Taiz is becoming unmanageable as the city runs out of water, fuel and fresh food, Oxfam aid workers in the country have warned.

Iran-allied Houthi forces have largely encircled the city of more than 900,000 people, cutting it off from most supply routes. This week, heavy fighting has raged around the city’s old airport, causing extensive damage in a densely populated residential area.

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© Photograph: Anees Mahyoub/Reuters

© Photograph: Anees Mahyoub/Reuters

© Photograph: Anees Mahyoub/Reuters

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Israeli military detain US and UK volunteers in West Bank including Democratic NY politician Brad Lander

About 80 US, Israeli and British volunteers held near Nahalin in West Bank and taken to police station

The Israeli military has detained about 80 US, Israeli and British volunteers helping Palestinians harvest olives near Bethlehem, including the New York Democratic congressional nominee Brad Lander, several rabbis and Israel’s former deputy attorney general.

“I’ve been detained by the IDF, along with a group of rabbis and volunteers,” Lander posted from a bus taking him to a police station. “We were simply harvesting olives in a grove near Nahalin in the West Bank. The occupation is a crime under international law. Harvesting olives isn’t a crime under any law I know.”

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© Photograph: Frank Franklin II/AP

© Photograph: Frank Franklin II/AP

© Photograph: Frank Franklin II/AP

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Troubled waters: life during wartime for Iranians on the strait of Hormuz

Despite US-Israeli airstrikes and Tehran’s attacks on shipping, the waterway still has to provide a lifeline for those that live and work there

Capt Farouq turns the wheel as he watches the ferry terminal of Bandar Abbas grow smaller, its bright lights flickering in the distance.

In front of him, the navigation radar beeps periodically, its green and pink lights glowing in the darkness. The ferry, today at about half capacity with roughly 100 passengers, turns and heads into the darkness of the strait of Hormuz.

Capt Farouq pulls into the deeper waters

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© Photograph: M Mohsenifar

© Photograph: M Mohsenifar

© Photograph: M Mohsenifar

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Fifth foreign firm pulls out of controversial Israeli cable car project to East Jerusalem

Rights groups say the planned 1.4km route, which ends at compound run by far-right settler group Elad, will displace Palestinians and reshape the cultural landscape

A fifth foreign company has pulled out of a plan to build a cable car from West to East Jerusalem that threatens to involve the seizure of land and property rights from dozens of Palestinian families along its route, but local authorities insist the scheme is proceeding as planned.

The project appeared to have stalled for four years until late September, just weeks before Israel’s 27 October elections, when the Jerusalem Development Authority (JDA) issued a notice of intent to award a contract without a public tender to ROPES, a cable car engineering consultancy based in South Tyrol, Italy.

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© Photograph: Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images

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UK to deploy fighter jets to protect Saudi Arabia from Houthi attacks

RAF Typhoon fighters to fly defensive missions over cities and infrastructure in extension of UK support for Riyadh

RAF Typhoon fighters are to be used in efforts to protect Saudi Arabia from attack by Yemen’s Houthis, flying protective missions over the country’s cities and critical infrastructure as western allies increase their intervention in the escalating conflict.

The operation – the most significant military mission signed off by Andy Burnham as prime minister – will involve RAF pilots attempting to shoot down Houthi missiles and drones, which attacked Saudi airports and oil facilities.

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© Photograph: Simon Maycock/Alamy

© Photograph: Simon Maycock/Alamy

© Photograph: Simon Maycock/Alamy

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Israeli police detain 10 people in rare raid against West Bank settlers

Move comes after US photojournalist and group of European diplomats and Palestinians were assaulted in separate attacks

Israeli police have detained 10 people in a rare raid against settlers, after a weekend of extreme violence in the occupied West Bank including an attack on US photojournalist Heidi Levine, which she described as an “attempted lynching”.

She was knocked down, kicked and beaten by a group of masked Israeli men as she covered the olive harvest in a Palestinian village on Friday. The militants broke four vertebrae and a rib, ripped open her finger so it required surgery and left her with lacerations across her body.

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© Photograph: Debbie Hill/UPI/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Debbie Hill/UPI/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Debbie Hill/UPI/Shutterstock

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Houthi attack kills 53 in biggest single loss of life since Yemen civil war reignited

More than 200 mostly young people said to be injured after ballistic missile attack on training camp for government forces

At least 53 people have been killed in a Houthi ballistic missile attack on a training camp for Yemeni government security forces, making it the largest single loss of life since the country’s civil war reignited in September.

The attack on al-Alam camp in the southern Shabwa province was said to have injured more than 200 others, mostly young recruits, and was described as a disaster by the country’s UN-recognised government. The injured were taken from the police and army training camp in the Jardan district to a hospital in the local capital, Ataq, where pleas for blood donations were made.

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© Photograph: Ahmad Al-Basha/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Ahmad Al-Basha/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Ahmad Al-Basha/AFP/Getty Images

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stc sets AI-native targets

stc Group seized the initiative on AI-native networking, setting a target of employing the technology directly in its core infrastructure by 2030.

The operator believes placing the technology at the heart of its infrastructure is essential to keep pace with growing demand for AI services and the resulting changes to connectivity requirements.

stc detailed its ambitions and approach in a white paper released during the Network X event in Austria last week in which it argued AI is essential to handle the complexity of modern telecoms networks.

In a statement publicising the white paper, stc explained the evolution to 5G-Advanced is a principal driver of increased operational complexity. It also pointed to “AI-enabled calling and immersive communications” as factors necessitating the technology.

stc argued operators are set to become essential providers of connectivity as AI services take-off, stating agents and automated systems “need networks to coordinate communications and computing resources”.

It believes an AI-native network is essential in this regard because of the greater levels of automated decision making and resource allocation the technology should afford.

stc is also seeking to improve network maintenance and reliability.

The post stc sets AI-native targets appeared first on Mobile World Live.

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People scour strait of Hormuz for spilt cargo after Iran attacks container ships

At least 15 vessels struck in waterway in past 10 days, with rumours that they were carrying valuable goods

People have been scouring the strait of Hormuz for spilt cargo after Iran attacked at least 15 container ships passing through the crucial waterway in the past 10 days.

Some ships have been hit by drones, others by mines. On Sunday, a ship was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade launched from a small boat 75 miles (120km) north-east of the Saudi port of Jubail.

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© Composite: Reuters

© Composite: Reuters

© Composite: Reuters

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Cuts force World Food Programme to end support for half a million Palestinians in Gaza

Two-thirds of population face crisis levels of food insecurity and 200,000 people are in danger of famine

This winter is likely to deepen hunger for Palestinians in Gaza, after sweeping aid cuts forced the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) to end support for more than half a million people each month, the agency’s director for Palestine said.

More than a year after a Trump-brokered ceasefire came into force, promised reconstruction has not begun, there are few jobs and the vast majority in Gaza still rely on aid to eat.

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© Photograph: Mohamed Hinnawi/WFP Mohamed Hinnawi

© Photograph: Mohamed Hinnawi/WFP Mohamed Hinnawi

© Photograph: Mohamed Hinnawi/WFP Mohamed Hinnawi

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Guardian reporter filmed masked militants seconds before West Bank attack on French mayor

New video footage of Israeli settler assault on European delegation as Netanyahu attempts to raise doubt

Hours after Israeli militants attacked a delegation of European diplomats, French clerics and a visiting mayor in the occupied West Bank, Israel’s leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, responded by questioning the delegation’s account of the assault.

“Serious accusations require serious evidence” was the all-caps headline of a social media post from the office of the prime minister. As news of the attack spread globally there was no pledge to find those accountable and bring them to justice.

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© Photograph: UGC/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: UGC/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: UGC/AFP/Getty Images

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Flydubai captain describes blocking axe blows as co-pilot attacked him

Capt Smit Machchhar said he screamed for help as he reached to open the cockpit door on flight FZ1073

The captain of a flydubai flight who was attacked by a co-pilot who intended to crash the plane has described ⁠blocking axe blows to his head and screaming for help as he reached to open the cockpit door.

Capt Smit ⁠Machchhar has been hailed ⁠as a ​hero for his role in averting disaster on the flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv last month, helping to thwart what the UAE ⁠attorney general has said was an attempted suicide attack by the co-pilot who had intended to crash the plane into Ben Gurion airport.

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© Photograph: Israel's Foreign Ministry/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Israel's Foreign Ministry/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Israel's Foreign Ministry/AFP/Getty Images

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US ambassador to Israel calls West Bank settler attack on American photojournalist ‘terror’

Mike Huckabee calls for arrest and prosecution of those responsible as Heidi Levine, 63, recovers in hospital in Israel

The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, has denounced the settler attack that left the Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine badly beaten and needing surgery as a “despicable act of terror” and called for the arrest and prosecution of those responsible.

Levine, 63, an award-winning journalist who lives in Israel, was set upon last Friday by masked Israeli settlers who used clubs and other weapons to attack Palestinian people attempting to harvest their olives in occupied West Bank towns.

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© Photograph: Ariel Schalit/AP

© Photograph: Ariel Schalit/AP

© Photograph: Ariel Schalit/AP

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Israeli settlers attack European diplomats in West Bank

French mayor and archbishop also attacked during violent attempt to stop Palestinians harvesting olives

Israeli settler militants have attacked European diplomats, a French mayor and the archbishop of Cambrai in Taybeh, in the occupied West Bank, injuring three people and damaging a car, in the latest violent attempt to prevent Palestinians from harvesting olives on their own land.

Bernard Baudoux, mayor of Aulnoye-Aymeries, was wearing his red, white and blue sash of office and attempting to enter a vehicle with diplomatic plates when he was assaulted and knocked to the ground on Saturday.

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© Photograph: Amit Orfali/Reuters

© Photograph: Amit Orfali/Reuters

© Photograph: Amit Orfali/Reuters

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Masked settlers attack European diplomats in occupied West Bank

Belgian foreign minister urges further EU sanctions and links attack to Israel’s ‘illegal settlement policy’

Masked settlers attacked a group of European diplomats during a visit to the occupied West Bank on Saturday, Belgium’s foreign minister said, on a second day of high-profile assaults on Palestinians and others during the sensitive olive harvest.

At least four people have been killed and more than 100 injured since the harvest began earlier this month, according to the Palestinian health ministry. Activists say Israeli authorities do little to stop attacks that involve weapons ranging from slingshots to guns. An attack on Friday seriously injured a Washington Post photographer and others.

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© Photograph: Faiz Abu Rmeleh/Getty Images

© Photograph: Faiz Abu Rmeleh/Getty Images

© Photograph: Faiz Abu Rmeleh/Getty Images

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UAE agrees with Saudi Arabia to re-enter Yemen conflict amid Houthi gains

United Arab Emirates will reportedly resume payments to Yemeni forces as gains by Iran-backed Houthi fighters alarm Gulf state rulers

The United Arab Emirates has agreed to re-enter the Yemen conflict by resuming payments to some government forces fighting Iran-aligned Houthis in the south, according to sources in Yemen. In return, Saudi Arabia has agreed to provide air cover for the anti-Houthi force.

The new cooperation agreement is the first tangible sign that the deep rift between the UAE and Saudi Arabia over Yemen’s future is starting to be healed – if only because the advance by Houthi forces across Yemen has alarmed all the rival Gulf state rulers.

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© Photograph: Mohammed Huwais/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Mohammed Huwais/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Mohammed Huwais/AFP/Getty Images

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