US pulls diplomats from Saudi Arabia as Iran said to plan attacks

Saudi Arabia's coalition said it destroyed a Houthi ballistic missile aimed at Riyadh and a drone over the Eastern Region overnight, then two missiles fired at Taif and Yanbu this morning. The attacks follow deadly strikes on Riyadh airport and Aramco sites; Aramco has told Dhahran headquarters staff to evacuate. The US updated travel advisories across the Gulf over Houthi aggression. Houthi media says Saudi strikes killed three in Sanaa and five of one family in Hodeidah.

Israel says its 'targeted and limited' operation in Hebron, launched after two soldiers were killed at a checkpoint, will last several days. Troops demolished buildings and made residents leave on foot; the mayor says about 2,200 have been displaced, with thousands more expected. Netanyahu has ordered a full West Bank lockdown, promised the Palestinian Authority a 'big surprise' and vowed to block a Palestinian state; raids hit 15 towns. Palestinians fear collective punishment days before Israel's October 27 election.

Gunmen attacked a Greek Orthodox church during a funeral in Karak, southern Jordan, on Friday, killing nine and wounding dozens. King Abdullah II called it terrorism and promised the 'harshest retaliation'. Security forces are hunting three gunmen, and authorities have not determined links to known militant groups. The US embassy in Amman says security has been stepped up at malls, embassies and other sites across Jordan.

A Russian strike damaged a private house in Kyiv's Obolon district and injured two people overnight, as Russia launched 126 drones at Ukraine, 101 of them downed. Ukrainian drones hit an industrial zone and an Ozon warehouse in Omsk, about 2,500 km from Ukraine. In an ABC interview Zelensky said Ukraine is ready to freeze the front line but won't cede land. A US official says Russia-Ukraine-US talks could be held in Abu Dhabi or Switzerland within two weeks.

France deployed about 70,000 police for Saturday's marches, with protests banned in Marseille and Lyon, a week after riots that were the worst since 2018. Police fired tear gas in Lyon, Toulouse and Nice and made 135 arrests by midday; police put the calm Paris march at 110,000. Student groups, now joined by unions and Yellow Vests, say they will keep protesting. Separately, a gunman killed one and wounded five near Paris in what authorities call a racist 'terrorist' attack.

Brazil votes on Sunday in a presidential runoff between President Lula and Flavio Bolsonaro, who are neck-and-neck in polls; the first round on October 4 was decided by less than two points. In their final debate they sparred over living costs and corruption in a calmer tone. The result could keep Latin America's largest country on the left or join a regional shift to the right championed by Trump.