SEOUL, Oct 7 (Reuters) – North Korea criticised the United States over its arms sales and military support for Taiwan, accusing Washington of fuelling tensions in the Taiwan Strait, state media KCNA said on Wednesday.

A KCNA commentary citing North Korean international affairs analyst Kim Myong Chol said US policy on Taiwan was undermining peace and stability in the region.

The commentary condemned the appearance of US-sold fighter aircraft in Taiwan, saying the US “should think twice whether it is ready to stand in frontal confrontation with the powerful national power of the People’s Republic of China for the security of Taiwan and whether it can cope with its consequences.”

The first two of a batch of 66 new F-16V Block 70 fighter jets ordered in 2019 arrived in Taiwan last week, as Taiwan faces a rising military threat from Beijing which claims the democratically governed island as its own territory.

Meanwhile, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pledged continued support for Russia and its war effort in a birthday message to President Vladimir Putin, state media KCNA said on Wednesday.

Kim said Pyongyang would continue to expand joint work under the countries’ comprehensive strategic partnership, saying he was convinced that Russia’s “sacred war of justice” to defend its sovereignty, security interests and territorial integrity would end in victory, KCNA said.

The message did not explicitly mention Russia’s war in Ukraine. North Korea has sent an estimated 14,000 to 15,000 troops to support Russia’s war in Ukraine since 2024, according to Ukrainian and South Korean estimates.

North Korea and Russia have strengthened ties sharply since Putin and Kim signed a mutual defence pact in June 2024.

(Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Sonali Paul)

WASHINGTON, Oct 6 (Reuters) – Christa Pike, who survived a Tennessee attempt to execute her by lethal injection last week, has regained consciousness and is speaking, her lawyers said in a statement on Tuesday.

Despite severe injuries to her arms, Pike, 50, is “still handcuffed and shackled to the bed,” where she “continues to receive critical medical care,” her team of public defense attorneys wrote.

Pike, sentenced to death for her role in the torture-murder of a schoolmate three decades ago, survived a botched execution attempt on the night of September 30 at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, the state capital, and has been hospitalized since then.

The episode capped a 30-year saga that began with the murder of a 19-year-old vocational student, Colleen Slemmer, by an emotionally troubled classmate whose punishment, her lawyers say, failed to account for her own childhood trauma as the victim of sexual abuse, neglect and untreated mental illness.

Pike went from being the first woman Tennessee had tried to put to death in more than 200 years to becoming the first person in the United States known to have survived after execution drugs were administered.

(Reporting by Ismail Shakil and Daphne Psaledakis; editing by Michelle Nichols and Rosalba O’Brien)

By Lisandra Paraguassu

BRASILIA, Oct 6 (Reuters) – After a bruising first round of Brazil’s presidential election, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is rushing to overhaul his campaign communications to engage millions of Brazilians who did not vote, according to people close to the campaign.

Lula finished nearly 2 percentage points — about 2.2 million votes — behind right-wing Senator Flavio Bolsonaro in Sunday’s vote, making the three-term leftist the underdog in an October 25 runoff.

As markets cheered Bolsonaro’s odds, Lula’s allies met in Brasilia on Monday to regroup and plan a rebrand.

At the meeting, Lula pushed what is being dubbed internally the “fear strategy” to remind voters of the risks a Bolsonaro presidency he says would pose to popular social benefits.

People close to the campaign say Lula blames the messaging for failing to reach enough young people and women.

Some party figures point to Lula’s social communications minister, Sidonio Palmeira, whose business partner Raul Rebelo runs the campaign’s messaging, for pushing less accessible themes like sovereignty and critical minerals. One TV campaign advert was devoted entirely to rare earths.

Rebelo is staying for now, but Otavio Antunes, a more aggressive strategist, is expected to join the national team, two people with the campaign said.

Lula’s Workers’ Party is courting the 9 million-plus voters who backed minor candidates, but mainly targeting the record 33 million who abstained on Sunday, which it attributes to apathy rather than opposition to Lula.

A new Workers’ Party social media ad warns that “some losses can’t be undone,” as slips of paper naming government programs, including one sending doctors to remote areas and above-inflation pension increases, blow from an open hand.

Bolsonaro’s press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a recent interview, he pledged to keep Bolsa Familia — Brazil’s flagship cash-transfer program created by Lula — and let recipients stay on it even after finding formal work or starting a business.

With less than three weeks to go, campaign coordinator Paulo Okamoto said the campaign would build a network of left-leaning influencers to aid the social media push.

Lula himself could prove an obstacle. The 80-year-old does not carry a phone and often criticizes screen culture.

While he promised Monday to make more social videos — which he calls “selfies” — Lula also said he wants to do more radio interviews before the runoff.

(Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu; Additional reporting by Ricardo Brito; Editing by Brendan O’Boyle and Aurora Ellis)

MOSCOW, Oct 6 (Reuters) – Emergency crews on Tuesday rescued the 23-member crew of a Liberian-flagged tanker, the Aframax Rio, which was set ablaze off Russia’s Black Sea coast after coming under attack from an unmanned vessel, the Russian Transport Ministry said.

The ministry, in a report posted on Telegram, said the crew was made up entirely of Indian nationals. It said there were no injuries.

The ministry said firefighters had sufficient means to tackle the blaze once it became less intense.

Russian regional authorities in the settlement of Sirius had earlier reported the fire aboard the tanker. Beaches in the settlement in Russia’s south Krasnodar region were closed to the public, the authorities said.

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Barbara Lewis, Ron Popeski and Cynthia Osterman)

By Karen Sloan

Oct 6 (Reuters) – Cornell University has hired a top former US Justice Department lawyer for an internal investigation of how it handled a student’s allegations that she was gang-raped, a case that has brought mounting scrutiny and triggered student protests at the Ivy League school.

Sally Yates, who served as deputy US attorney general from 2015 to 2017, will conduct an independent review of how Cornell prevents and responds to sexual assault claims, university officials said on Tuesday.

The investigation by Yates, now a partner at law firm King & Spalding, will include a “detailed review” of Cornell’s response to the student’s claims that she was sexually assaulted by multiple men during a fraternity party in October 2024.

The student, referred to as Jane Doe in a lawsuit she filed against Cornell and seven fraternity members, has said the Ithaca, New York university failed to adequately investigate and punish the fraternity members involved.

Other Cornell students staged a mass rally on Monday voicing solidarity with Jane Doe and demanding that the school take firmer action against sexual violence on campus.

A newly formed Special Committee of the Cornell University Board of Trustees said Yates will have “full independence” to conduct her review.

A lawyer for Jane Doe, Thomas Giuffra, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday about the investigation.

Yates was previously hired by the US Soccer Federation to investigate allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct within the National Women’s Soccer League.

‘DEFINING MOMENT’

Cornell University President Michael Kotlikoff on October 3 called the alleged sexual assault case a “defining moment” and said the university “must do better.”

In her lawsuit, filed last month, Jane Doe said she was plied with drugs and alcohol and then sexually assaulted by ⁠several members of the campus chapter of the Chi Phi fraternity in October 2024 after she had become incapacitated.

She had reported the alleged assault to police several weeks after the fact, leading to an internal university investigation and a law enforcement probe, but the local prosecutor declined to bring criminal charges.

Cornell, which has defended its response to the original report, shut down the Chi Phi chapter and imposed a range of discipline on the fraternity members involved, including expulsions and other sanctions.

(Reporting by Karen Sloan; Editing by David Bario and David Gregorio)

By Edward Carron

Oct 6 (Reuters) – Video posted by government forces in Yemen showed them driving armoured cars over Houthi fighters as they recaptured areas around the vital Bab el-Mandeb Strait from the Iran-backed group on Monday in a deadly new phase of the fragmented country’s war. 

The videos gave a glimpse into the brutal closing stages of a pitched battle for control of territory near the strait that the Houthis had captured last month. The Houthi advance sent shockwaves through the oil market and pushed up petrol and diesel prices worldwide. 

Fighting continued near Bab el-Mandeb on Tuesday as Saudi-backed government forces battled to consolidate Monday’s counter-attack, besieging Houthi fighters at a military camp near the strait and pushing into hills to the east, Yemeni military sources said. 

The videos, verified by Reuters and filmed from inside the armoured vehicles, showed them striking fighters with their vehicles. Some were armed and some were walking or running. However, others were unarmed and some were sitting, lying or crouching on the sandy shore and made no move to evade the oncoming vehicle as they were run over.

At one point, a vehicle hits a man, running and unarmed, and another crouching on the ground. It then loops back to drive over two men, both with their hands up and unarmed. Shooting can be heard during the video and at one point the vehicle’s windscreen is cracked by a gunshot. 

A Houthi statement decried the videos as proof of war crimes, saying they showed “the true nature of the Saudi regime and the forces it has mobilised from extremist factions”. 

Asil al-Saqladi, spokesperson for the Giants Brigade  — the main Yemeni government force involved in the fighting at Bab el-Mandeb this week  — said the force was conducting an investigation into the incident.

He added that the brigade had been misled into believing that the Houthi fighters there were surrendering but that some of them had then fired on the government force.

The Saudi-led coalition backing the government forces in Yemen did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the videos or the Houthi accusations of war crimes.

The Homeland Shield Forces, a significant formation in the Yemeni government’s military coalition, did not comment directly on the videos but issued a directive on Tuesday urging troops to treat prisoners well and adhere to religious, ethical and legal standards.

Rights groups have previously accused the Houthis of war crimes, including sniper and shelling attacks on civilian targets, seizures of aid, abuse of prisoners and use of child soldiers. The group has denied war crimes.

‘TURNING POINT’

Reuters has not been able to independently verify the extent of government gains and the Houthis denied they had lost ground, saying the government claims of advances were baseless. 

Intense fighting meanwhile continued around Yemen’s third-largest city of Taiz, where Houthi gains in a mountain district have in recent days cut off a main road to Aden, leaving government forces encircled. 

Yemen’s civil war pits the Houthis against an uneasy coalition of sometimes rival military forces under the internationally recognised government, backed by Saudi Arabia and its allies.  

The renewed clashes have added a new front to the Iran-US conflict, with the US rebuffing Saudi requests for military help to reverse Houthi gains on the Red Sea coast near Bab el-Mandeb last month and end the group’s missile and drone attacks on their territory. 

“The operation itself is significant because it’s a turning point in the trajectory of the conflict between the Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition,” said Ahmed Nagi, Yemen analyst at International Crisis Group. 

“The biggest test will be when they move towards the mountains,” he added.

RELIGIOUS AND REGIONAL FAULTLINES 

The Giants Brigade is a southern military formation originally formed by students at ultra-conservative Sunni Muslim religious colleges. 

That background gives both a religious and regional edge to their enmity with the Houthis, who originate in north Yemen and belong to the Zaydi school of Shi’ite Islam. 

The Giants have themselves fractured this year, splitting between factions backed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, illustrating the internal divisions that have long beset the Yemeni government’s efforts to fight the Houthis. 

As well as further squeezing global trade routes after Iran’s disruption of shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, the conflagration in Yemen has brought the conflict more directly to Saudi Arabia, a US ally. 

The Houthis have repeatedly targeted Saudi infrastructure, including airports, oil refineries and pipelines. Residents of the Saudi capital Riyadh reported hearing booms overnight and two of the kingdom’s southern airports were targeted. 

Saudi Arabia’s intervention in the latest wave of fighting included intense air strikes on Houthi forces on Monday as the Giants Brigade advanced along the flat coastal strip towards Bab el-Mandeb.     

(Reporting by Edward Carron and Reuters Gulf newsroom; Writing by Angus McDowall; Editing by Aidan Lewis and Sanjeev Miglani)

Oct 6 (Reuters) – President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday that the latest intelligence suggested Russia was preparing a “massive attack” on Ukraine.

“There is updated intelligence indicating that Russia is preparing a massive attack,” Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.

“Ukrainian services and our air force are ready to respond to the extent permitted by our available means of defence.”

Zelenskiy said Ukraine’s position depended largely on what its allies could provide in terms of weaponry to defend against a new Russian attack.

“A great deal depends on our partners, on every leader and every country in the world that has the defensive capabilities we need and can provide them to us,” he said.

“It is critically important that there be the political will to do so, particularly in the United States, in Europe and among our other partners.”

(Reporting by Ron Popeski and Oleksandr Kozhukhar; editing by Deepa Babington)

Saudi Arabia Deploys 100 Fighter Jets as Yemeni Forces Secure Bab el Mandeb  

By The Media Line Staff  

A Saudi-led coalition sent about 100 warplanes Monday as Yemeni government forces opened a major campaign against the Houthis and said they had captured the Bab el Mandeb strait on the Red Sea.  

On the ground, the Giants Brigades and Nation’s Shield Forces gained control of the Bab el Mandeb area, a spokesperson said. The government also reported advances around Dhu Bab, saying its forces captured the airport and secured the route between Dhu Bab and Mokha.  

President Rashad al-Alimi announced the campaign, dubbed “Dawn of Yemen,” with the stated goals of dismantling Houthi military capabilities, returning state institutions to government control, recapturing Sana’a and ending the coup.  

“With the will of our people, the bravery of our forces, and the support of our brothers, Yemen will move toward a new dawn” al-Alimi vowed Monday.  

Government troops encircled hundreds of Houthi fighters in Dhu Bab and called on them to give themselves up, according to the spokesperson. Other Houthi fighters escaped the area aboard boats.  

Coalition aircraft are maintaining continuous cover for the government troops and providing aerial protection over the Bab el Mandeb Strait. Since “Dawn of Yemen” began, coalition forces say their aircraft have struck and destroyed 324 high-value Houthi targets.  

The campaign comes after fighting intensified again in Yemen, with the Houthis taking territory near Taiz and extending their control along the Red Sea coast.   

Pakistan, Turkey Agree To Rapid Deployment in Saudi Arabia Under Mecca Defence Agreement  

By The Media Line Staff  

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey agreed to begin the “rapid deployment” of military forces and capabilities under the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement as Saudi Arabia escalates operations against the Houthis in Yemen.  

Following a meeting in Riyadh, the three countries agreed “to move immediately to the practical implementation of the collective defence commitments and to take the necessary measures to provide the agreed military forces and capabilities and ensure their rapid deployment in the Kingdom,” according to a joint statement.  

The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, signed by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey on August 7, 2026, established a collective security arrangement modeled on Article 5 of NATO on the principle that any armed attack against any one of the three states shall be regarded as an attack against them all.  

Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman said the meeting reflected a common position among the three countries in response to attacks against Saudi Arabia and the holy sites.  

“The emergency meeting of the Strategic Political and Defense Committee of the Mecca Defense Alliance affirms the solidarity and unified stance of our countries in confronting the sinful aggressions that targeted the Kingdom and the Holy Sanctuaries, activating collective deterrence against these aggressions, and against all those standing behind them within the framework of the Mecca Defense Alliance,” Khalid bin Salman posted on X.  

Earlier Monday, a Saudi-led coalition deployed about 100 warplanes as Yemeni government forces launched a major campaign against the Houthis and reported capturing the Bab el Mandeb strait on the Red Sea.  

President Rashad al-Alimi announced the operation, named “Dawn of Yemen,” with the stated objectives of dismantling Houthi military capabilities, restoring government control over state institutions, recapturing Sana’a and ending the coup.  

A spokesperson said the Giants Brigades and Nation’s Shield Forces had taken control of the Bab el Mandeb area. Yemeni government forces also reported advances around Dhu Bab, including the capture of the airport and control of the route connecting Dhu Bab and Mokha.  

Houthis Claim Strikes on Riyadh Airport, Aramco Refinery as Yemen Fighting Escalates  

By The Media Line Staff  

Iran-backed Houthis said Monday they struck King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, an Aramco refinery and other targets across Saudi Arabia with drones and missiles as fighting intensified between the group and Saudi-backed Yemeni forces.  

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the attacks involved ballistic and cruise missiles as well as drones and “targeted King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh.” He said “the Aramco refinery in Rabigh” was also hit, along with military installations and smaller airports in southern Saudi Arabia.  

Explosions were reported in Riyadh on Monday evening.  

The attacks came as Yemen’s Saudi-backed military carried out 1,000 strikes and began an offensive against the Houthi-held capital, Sanaa. The Saudi-led coalition supporting Yemen’s internationally recognized government said 100 warplanes flew sorties at dawn and reported destroying Houthi targets along the Red Sea coast.  

A Saudi energy sector source told AFP that an attack Sunday again halted pumping through the East-West pipeline to the Red Sea. The pipeline has become a key route for Saudi oil exports since Iran blockaded the Strait of Hormuz at the beginning of the wider Middle East war.  

Oil prices had already risen sharply because of the broader conflict before the Houthis began attacking infrastructure belonging to Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter.  

Saudi Aramco Chief Executive Amin Nasser warned Monday that global oil inventories were “scarily thin” because of the war.  

“The system is already straining,” Nasser told the Energy Intelligence Forum in London.  

Yemeni military sources said pro-government forces had severed the only supply route to the Houthi-held city of Mokha on Monday but did not confirm an official announcement that the port had been recaptured.  

The latest fighting follows the collapse of a ceasefire that had been in place since 2022. Hostilities resumed in July after the Houthis accused Saudi-backed forces of striking Sanaa’s airport to prevent an Iranian plane from landing. The Houthis subsequently declared a maritime embargo and began retaliatory drone and missile attacks on Saudi infrastructure.