The Straits Times
1521 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Syria considers help in Yemen war after Saudi airports come under Houthi fire
RIYADH, Oct 8 - Syria may deploy troops to help Saudi Arabia fight Yemen's Houthis, a US official and a Syrian defence official said, as the Iran-aligned group steps up its missile and drone attacks on the kingdom, killing three people at Saudi airports this week.
The possible entry of Syrian forces into the battle, an overspill of the US-Iran conflict, shows how Yemen's reignited civil war has added new chaos to a region already aflame, and risks drawing regional states into gruelling mountain fighting.
Saudi Arabia has pushed for support from allied nations, including Turkey and Pakistan, even if only in a logistical or purely defensive capacity, an effort made more urgent by the Houthi strikes on its infrastructure such as this week's deadly airport attack.
A succession of loud booms was heard in Riyadh on Thursday morning which Reuters could not identify.
🔮 Cilia Flores, wife of Venezuela's Maduro, to press for release from US jail
NEW YORK, Oct 8 - Cilia Flores, the wife of ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, is expected to appear in a US court on Thursday to urge a federal judge to release her from jail for health reasons while she awaits her drug trafficking trial next year.
🔮 Whether Democrats in these Midwestern states can convince moderate voters they agree with their views on trans issues, or successfully change the topic, could determine how much support they are able to win back from cultural conservatives — and could foreshadow how the party's presidential hopefuls handle the issue in 2028.
🔮 That could signal erosion in Republican support among a demographic that was a pillar of Trump's 2024 victory.
🔮 He said he might ban other outlets but was unsure it would hold up in court.
🔮 "Despite resuscitation efforts, the life of a 37-year-old school employee could not be saved," police said on X.
Earlier police said they had detained a 15-year-old who entered a school in Leszczydol-Nowiny, in Wyszkow County northeast of Warsaw, at around 9:00 a.m. and wounded three staff members with "a sharp object".
🔮 Although a human made the final decision to launch the AI-guided interceptor drone, the process could be fully autonomous, said Intelic CEO and founder Maurits Korthals Altes.
🔮 Student rallies backed by teachers and trade unions were planned, including on Paris's Place de la Bastille, two days after hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets nationwide.
POLARISED POLITICAL RESPONSE AS ELECTION LOOMS
Whether Thursday's gatherings attract such large numbers will provide a test of the government's attempts to defuse the crisis, although unions are already planning a bigger day of protests on October 17.
🔮 Senior members of Germany's governing coalition have vowed to quickly implement reforms, according to a message to lawmakers seen by Reuters on Thursday, as the government faces record-low approval ratings and the surge of the far-right AfD.
"The coalition agrees that economic growth, secure jobs and social cohesion will be at the heart of the agenda," said the message, which was signed by the leaders of the parliamentary groups of Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservative bloc and the centre-left Social Democrats.
🔮 "We have worked extremely closely with relevant operational colleagues within the Ministry of Defence as our investigation has progressed to ensure appropriate measures could be taken to mitigate any potential risks linked to this matter.
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