Houthis emerge as global threat beyond Iran control amid Saudi strikes, former envoy warns

The Houthis are increasingly operating independently of Tehran, posing a "clear and very present danger" on the international stage as the terror group rearms and sharpens its strike capabilities, a former U.S. envoy warned Thursday.

The warning came amid deadly missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia in recent days and growing threats to global shipping routes and critical Middle East infrastructure in the run-up. 

Turki al-Maliki, spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, also confirmed Thursday that Houthi attacks on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh had killed 17 and injured 333 others from Oct. 7-11.

Speaking at a news conference in Riyadh, al-Maliki said the Oct. 10 attack involved 10 drones, missiles and other projectiles. 

"King Khalid International Airport has been subjected to 20 attacks since (Oct. 1)," he noted.

Tim Lenderking, who served as U.S. special envoy for Yemen from 2021 to 2025 and was posted to Saudi Arabia from 2013 to 2016, said Saudi officials had warned more than a decade ago that the Houthis would become a major threat, a prediction he says has now materialized.

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"The Saudis were very clear to our leaders that they viewed the Houthis as a major threat," Lenderking said of his time in the kingdom a decade ago.

At the time, he said, the group was "quietly building up their capability, burnishing their narrative of why they sought to lead Yemen as a messianic group, as a group from northern Yemen, with an agenda, with a mission."

The Houthis had emerged as a religious and political movement in Yemen in the 1990s, but their ties to Iran developed into a military partnership after 2014, when Tehran expanded its assistance and training during Yemen's civil war.

"The Houthis don't really need the Iranians anymore," Lenderking, a former acting assistant secretary for Near Eastern affairs at the U.S. State Department, continued, adding it was still "a very important relationship that "enabled the Houthis to become the powerful force that they are."

Lenderking, now a distinguished diplomatic fellow at the Middle East Institute (MEI), said, over time, the Houthis had developed their own "homegrown indigenous capability" as they capitalized on any disunity across the Gulf region.

Saturday's missile and drone attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh raised concerns that President Donald Trump could be drawn into a broader regional conflict as Saudi Arabia seeks U.S. assistance. 

Asked whether the U.S. would defend Saudi Arabia against further attacks, Trump said, "You'll find out soon."

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Speaking at an MEI briefing, Lenderking said the Houthis' sophisticated weapons and targeting capabilities have transformed the group from a regional insurgency into an international security threat.

"They have the capability to hit around the region, including up into the northern reaches of the Red Sea. So, this is a regional problem, and given the fact that the Houthis control the west coast of Yemen," Lenderking said.

"It's an international problem now." 

Lenderking cited the precision of the Riyadh airport attack as evidence of the Houthis' growing capabilities compared with earlier strikes during the Gaza conflict.

"They can hit things better. Now, they are hitting Terminal Four of Riyadh Airport, very specifically. It's a clear and very present danger," he said.

The Houthis reportedly launched multiple drones followed by cruise and ballistic missiles that traveled more than 620 miles to Riyadh, prompting an investigation into possible Saudi air defense failures, according to The Associated Press, citing regional officials.

Saudi forces intercepted two more ballistic missiles targeting Riyadh on Monday. On Tuesday, a Houthi strike caused damage to Aramco's headquarters in Dhahran, sparking a fire that spread across several floors, Reuters reported.

Lenderking said the Houthis have built extensive weapons supply chains, smuggling networks and domestic financing operations that allow them to sustain attacks without relying solely on Tehran.

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"They get a lot of supplies off the open market through the internet, through commercial exchanges. They have a very well entrenched smuggling network, from big boats onto small boats, onto tiny boats, on the pack animals, on people's backs.

"They are able to move things undetected through government terrain, even through various borders and with a lot of wide open space there. They are constantly moving, building, resupplying, restocking, innovating."

The group's self-sufficiency also extends to financing. Lenderking said the Houthis generate revenue through black-market oil sales, taxation and extortion while also forcing families to provide recruits, allowing the group to continue fighting even if Iranian assistance is cut off.

"They have had support from Iran over the years, so they have money in the bank from that," Lenderking said. 

"They relied on sales of black market oil in the past. They extort Yemeni transport companies, businesses. They tax people in areas that they control. They force many families to offer up a son to fight on the front lines."

The Houthis' expanding arsenal has raised concerns about potential Chinese involvement in their weapons supply networks.

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Yemen's government has accused the rebels of seeking Chinese components for medium-range ballistic missiles, raising concerns about the group's access to advanced military technology.

"There is a Chinese connection here that's very detrimental," Lenderking warned, adding that front companies have helped the group obtain weapons through commercial channels.

Lenderking warned that the Houthis could also target Saudi energy facilities, pipelines and desalination plants, infrastructure critical to the kingdom's economy and water supply. 

"The Houthis have hit pipelines," he said. "They have diesel plants and other energy infrastructure in their sights."

Attacks on such facilities could disrupt global energy markets, maritime commerce and regional stability.

The Houthis also control Yemen's western coastline along the Red Sea, a vital shipping corridor connecting Europe and Asia.

With the rebels now capable of striking targets hundreds of miles away, Lenderking warned that the threat extends far beyond Yemen's borders.

"One blast at Riyadh Airport is a huge statement," the expert said.

"That's why I come back to the fact that this is an international conflict," he said, adding that "immediate action is required."

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UN inquiry member says some genocide claims against Israel unverified as Gaza reports population growth

The allegations of genocide against Israel took more hits this week following the reported admission by a senior member of the U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Israel that claims had not been independently verified. This comes as the Palestinian Ministry of Health data shows Gaza’s population grew in 2025.

Critics say the accusations fueled antisemitism around the world and that those pushing the genocide claims — including major international media outlets — need to be made accountable for their words.

In September 2025, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and Israel (COI) released a report stating that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza since October 2023. In the report, the COI cited an article from the Guardian stating that 83% of Gazans killed in the conflict were civilians.

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Following the release of data from the COI commissioner, Chris Sidoti, in an interview last week reported by JNS and posted on X was asked whether the COI had independently established that the remainder of Palestinians said to be killed in the fighting were civilians, Sidoti said, "No, we didn’t because we don’t have that information … We literally do not know, nor does anybody else know, including the IDF, how many militants were there." 

The former chair of the committee, Navanethem "Navay" Pillay, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last week.

The Palestinian MOH Health Information Unit recently released statistics on overall mortality in Gaza for 2025. This is the first update to include non-violent deaths since 2022, prior to the outbreak of conflict following the terror attacks of Oct. 7, 2023.

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The MOH reported that 24,650 deaths were registered in 2025, with 18,085 (73.4%) being males and 6,565 (26.6%) being females. 70.1% of deaths, or 17,286 cases, were attributed to direct targeting in the war.

The MOH also reported 50,227 live births in 2025. Fox News Digital reached out to officials at the ministry but did not get a response by press time.

Elliot Malin, president at Stratos Council, told Fox News Digital that the MOH data is further evidence against accusations of genocide. With the number of live births in 2025 far greater than the number of deaths, Malin says it is "very hard for us to infer the intent of Israel was to destroy Palestinians in Gaza to a substantial portion."

"We’re not seeing a population under threat. We are seeing that it is actually able to sustain itself," Malin said. He took issue with the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) declaration last year that famine had reached Gaza in the summer of 2025. Malin said that "if the population is sustaining and growing through this, what they call a famine, it indicates that there is enough caloric intake to sustain the population."

Gabriel Epstein, senior policy associate at Israel Policy Forum, also told Fox News Digital that widespread allegations of genocide are not supported by the MOH report. First, the report "absolutely" demonstrates population growth in 2025, according to Epstein, who added it would "be surprising" if the population of Gaza, "one of the youngest…in the world," was not growing.

While he says that it is impossible to discern the actual rate of population growth given factors like emigration and immigration, Epstein said that "the argument that we would need to make to say that there was negative population growth in 2025 would be to more than double the number of both violent and non-violent deaths."

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Andrew Fox, senior associate fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, told Fox News Digital that "the data now shows that there was no famine in Gaza." He said that the allegations play into "the ages-old blood libel of Jews killing children and undoubtedly stoked the global fires of antisemitism. Agencies and the media who shared these false allegations have blood on their hands."

Epstein said that the latest MOH data is strong proof against the statements from external organizations who used estimates and ratios of non-violent deaths from other conflict zones to suppose that the MOH’s ongoing count of the death toll in Gaza was inaccurate, and that deaths had likely reached multiple hundreds of thousands. These estimated figures were largely used to drive the narrative that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza. He said that current MOH figures "really eliminate the possibility that there is a much higher death toll driven by non-violent or non-trauma deaths."

He noted that comparing the latest report with ongoing MOH data on overall casualties throughout the war shows that the MOH was not "missing the vast, vast majority of [malnutrition-related] deaths you would have needed to be missing to justify the IPC’s assessment" that famine had reached parts of Gaza in summer 2025.

The IPC did not respond to Fox News Digital’s questions about how new information impacts its prior declaration of famine.

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In the MOH’s favor, Epstein said that the current tranche of figures supports a real attempt at honest accounting from the health organization, which was accused of inflating civilian casualties — particularly those of women and children — during the early days of the war.

In its latest report, however, the MOH does not distinguish how many terrorists were among those killed in the conflict. In fact, it states that "The number of deaths among males was approximately 4.9 times the number of deaths among females within this group — attributed principally to the direct targeting of working-age men during military operations."

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A spokesperson from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told Fox News Digital that, "The IDF targets terrorists and military objectives, not civilians based on their age or gender. The fact that more military-age men are disproportionately among those eliminated is consistent with the fact that terrorist organizations are predominantly composed of men in this age group. It does not demonstrate that the IDF targets individuals because they are men or of a certain age." 

The spokesperson added that, "Targets are selected based on their military nature or an individual’s involvement in terrorist organizations or participation in hostilities, in accordance with international law and IDF directives. Unlike Hamas, which deliberately targets Israeli civilians, the IDF takes all feasible precautions to mitigate harm to civilians and operates under a structured targeting framework designed to ensure the identification of lawful military objectives."

Epstein also pushed back against the MOH claim that working-aged men are being purposefully targeted. Epstein said that "military-aged men aren't appearing disproportionately because the IDF was targeting military-aged men as such, but because the vast majority of militants come from that range." He said that "Gaza is unique in how heavily militarized its male population is."

Epstein added that available 2025 data does not support the claim that the IDF acted with the intent to cause harm to the population. Not only do the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks and hybridization of civilian and military structures in Gaza provide a rationale for military targeting, Epstein emphasized that the IDF has taken numerous mitigation measures to avoid civilian casualties.

Requests for comment to the Palestinian Ministry of Health were not returned by press time.

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El Salvador's Bukele announces plan to free up to half of prisoners jailed in gang crackdown

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has unveiled a plan that could allow the conditional early release of up to half of those detained under a state of emergency that authorities used to arrest more than 90,000 people in the past four and a half years as part of an effort to curb violent criminal gang activity.

Bukele's plan to cut the prison population was announced on Tuesday night. It would focus on freeing prisoners who were deemed gang collaborators, a broad term that can include various people, including gang lookouts and those who make extortion payments.

"There are many people who have indeed committed crimes, but their crime was collaborating with gangs," Bukele said. "They deserve to be in jail, but we come from a country where collaborating with gangs wasn’t so unusual, and if we were to arrest everyone who collaborated with gangs, we would have to arrest 20% of the population."

Without offering details, the president indicated that authorities plan to analyze cases to determine potential early release with monitoring, which could apply to half of the people detained during the state of emergency.

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The state of emergency was declared in March 2022 after a surge in violence left more than 60 people dead in a single day. The measure was initially imposed for 30 days but has been repeatedly extended.

The emergency declaration has coincided with a dramatic decline in the country's homicide rate and helped make El Salvador a more appealing tourist destination while also suspending or restricting certain constitutional protections, including the right to be informed of the reasons for detention, the right to access legal counsel and the right to visitation.

El Salvador's president has maintained that the measure was needed to rein in rival gangs MS-13 and Barrio 18.

Human rights groups, meanwhile, have denounced the declared emergency, arguing that it has sparked widespread arbitrary arrests. The groups have repeatedly demanded that Bukele scrap the measure.

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Human rights organizations have recorded more than 6,000 complaints during the emergency declaration and documented the deaths of at least 575 people in government custody.

The potential release of thousands of prisoners, some argue, is not enough to repair the damage of their prolonged imprisonment.

"The victims of arbitrary detentions don’t just deserve to recover their freedom, but they also deserve to be compensated for the harms caused by the State of El Salvador: the physical and mental harm that imprisonment causes, family suffering, loss of work or studies, reputational damage, among others," exiled Salvadoran lawyer Bertha Deleón wrote on X.

Bukele dismissed widespread criticism from national and international human rights groups, suggesting that they should take the side of the victims of gang violence.

The president also defended the need to keep the state of emergency while also indicating his goal of ending it eventually.

El Salvador's homicide rate has fallen dramatically over the past decade, including during Bukele's presidency, according to government figures. The rate dropped from a peak of more than 100 murders per 100,000 residents in 2015, four years before Bukele took office, to 1.3 per 100,000 in 2025.

But the government has narrowed the definition of homicide to exclude killings by police, murders in prisons and bodies found in unmarked graves.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Pentagon sends hundreds of Army troops to Latin America for training as drug-trafficking campaign expands

The U.S. military is deploying several hundred Army soldiers to Latin America for training and joint exercises with regional forces as the Trump administration expands its campaign against drug-trafficking networks, Fox News confirmed.

The deployment involves soldiers from the Army's 10th Mountain Division based at Fort Drum, New York, with the first troops from a roughly 600-soldier battalion expected to deploy to Panama, according to The New York Times, which first reported the deployment.

A senior U.S. official confirmed to Fox News that the troops are being forward-staged under U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), which will determine where they are ultimately deployed.

According to The Times, the troops will first deploy to a new jungle training facility in Panama before eventually training with local forces in Colombia and Honduras.

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The troops could also support U.S. special operations personnel who are advising local militaries conducting raids against suspected drug traffickers, the outlet reported.

Separately, several hundred soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division are expected to help staff a new Western Hemisphere military command based in Miami.

The deployment comes as the Pentagon continues military operations targeting suspected drug traffickers across Latin America and the Caribbean.

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Since the campaign began more than a year ago, U.S. forces have conducted dozens of strikes, with more than 235 people killed.

Gen. Francis Donovan, commander of SOUTHCOM, previously said the military was considering operations against trafficking networks on land.

"Do I see land strikes as options? Yes. We want all options at the table," Donovan said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

"Those actions might be strikes, arrests, or the takedown of a safe house," he continued. "It could even be something as routine as increasing the use of cargo scanners at border checkpoints."

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Donovan added that the goal was to create "total systemic friction" for the cartels.

The Trump administration has pursued agreements with allied nations that could allow it to expand military operations against trafficking networks onto land in multiple Latin American countries.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth previously said during a visit to Panama in August that Colombia, Guatemala and Honduras had agreed to allow the U.S. to carry out joint military operations against criminal groups within their borders, although Guatemala denied reaching such an agreement.

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Trump wishes Pope Leo speedy recovery after lung cancer diagnosis, speaks highly of pontiff's brother

President Donald Trump wished Pope Leo XIV a speedy recovery Wednesday following his lung cancer diagnosis, revealing that he is friends with the pontiff's brother, whom he described as an enthusiastic MAGA supporter.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One while traveling from Arizona to Montana, Trump expressed optimism about the 71-year-old pontiff's recovery following surgery to remove part of his right lung.

"I want to see Pope Leo get well. I hear the prognosis for that type of a problem. It's a cancer. It's big stuff. Anytime you have cancer," the president said. "But the prognosis seems to be good, I've watched. And we just want to wish him our love and our best wishes."

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Trump then discussed his friendship with the pope's brother and his wife, describing them as enthusiastic supporters of the president.

"His brother is a friend of mine, who's a great — he's a fantastic guy — and his wife. You know, they're big Trump supporters. They have MAGA all over their house," he continued. "And I can say that his brother loves him a lot. Loves the pope a lot, and that's good, but I just want to wish him well. Get better fast."

The president's remarks came one day after the Vatican announced that Leo had been diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma, a form of lung cancer, following surgery at Agostino Gemelli University Hospital in Rome.

According to the Holy See Press Office, doctors removed the lower lobe of the pontiff's right lung during a procedure that lasted approximately 90 minutes. Doctors reported no complications.

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The Vatican said the cancer diagnosis was confirmed through an examination of tissue collected during surgery, consistent with findings from tests conducted before the procedure.

Leo had previously disclosed that doctors discovered a small lump in his lung at an early stage and recommended surgery. Following the operation, he awoke normally and returned to his hospital room after a brief observation period, according to the Vatican.

Fox News Digital's Anders Hagstrom and Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report.

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Cartels use drones to scout border agents and map smuggling routes, expert warns

MEXICO CITY: Mexican cartels are said to be using commercial and modified drones to watch U.S. security personnel, map patrol routines and support smuggling corridors along the southern border as authorities expand efforts to disable the aircraft.

The U.S. military detected 378 drone incursions along the border during the previous 30 days, Brig. Gen. Brian Filler of Joint Task Force-Southern Border recently told reporters. He said the trend was increasing, and the aircraft were typically commercial drones with cameras used for surveillance tied to smuggling and human trafficking.

"On the border, the most common application is surveillance and reconnaissance as cartels look to establish a pattern of life for U.S. security personnel and support smuggling outcomes across the border," Austin Doctor told Fox News Digital. Doctor directs strategic initiatives at the National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology and Education Center and teaches criminology and criminal justice at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

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A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson confirmed the growing threat, telling Fox News Digital that "Rapidly advancing Unmanned Aircraft System technology presents persistent threats, including counter-surveillance, illicit cargo movement, and potential kinetic attacks. Cartels increasingly exploit UAS for surveillance, illicit activities, monitoring law enforcement, scouting crossing points and coordinating smuggling operations. CBP detected over 42,000 near-border UAS flights in FY25 and over 37,000 in FY26, underscoring the scale of this challenge."

The spokesperson added that "Under congressional authority (6 USC 124n), the Department of Homeland Security has approved Counter-UAS authorities for CBP. U.S. Border Patrol C-UAS operations, with DHS Secretary approval, cover the entire Southwest border and areas extending 100 miles inland for detection, identification, monitoring, and tracking of UASs. USBP C-UAS operates in all Southwest border sectors to detect, track, and mitigate these threats."

Doctor explained how the cartels are using drones. "Most cartels and cartel associates still rely on commercial-off-the-shelf drones," he said. More sophisticated aircraft are emerging, however, including "larger agricultural drone devices." He added, "Cartels continue to innovate their drone designs, often focused on increasing payload sizes, improving resistance to countermeasures and boosting operational capabilities."

He identified surveillance and logistics as the dominant border roles, with weaponized use more frequently documented inside Mexico.

"Cartels and cartel affiliates use drones for a wide range of tactics and operations… That includes kinetic attacks on rival factions, civilians in Mexico and local security forces." Doctor said NCITE research identified the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, or CJNG, as "a key driver of drone innovation and adoption within the Mexico cartel ecosystem," although drone use has spread among cartels and across Mexican states.

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A 2025 seizure in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, shows how border regions can support those programs. Mexico’s security cabinet said soldiers and state police detained a man and seized 18 drones, 151 explosive objects, two improvised explosive devices a drone detector and three counter-drone devices. The official announcement did not identify a cartel. Doctor said the safehouse "was reported as linked to the Los Metros faction of the Gulf Cartel."

Weaponized drones have also reached a Mexican border city. In Oct. 2025, Baja California’s prosecutor said a drone dropped homemade explosive devices at an anti-kidnapping prosecutor’s office in Tijuana, damaging four vehicles but causing no injuries. Authorities described it as criminal retaliation but did not publicly identify a cartel.

Doctor said Tijuana was among the exceptions to the pattern of attacks occurring farther inside Mexico. Border regions, he said, remain "critical facilitation hubs," and the risk of increased kinetic attacks there "remains credible."

Mexico says it is responding with interdictions, counter-drone equipment, military operations and new criminal penalties. During last month's Águila Alta operation in the Tijuana-San Diego area, the defense ministry said Mexican forces neutralized five drones, detained one person, seized a firearm, magazines and ammunition.

One aircraft was initially detected in the U.S. and later neutralized in Mexico following information-sharing with Customs and Border Protection. Officials said the operation deterred criminal activity and strengthened coordination but released no before-and-after data showing whether drone traffic subsequently declined.

Mexico made certain drone-related conduct a federal crime in 2024, including dropping explosives, adapting aircraft to carry weapons or drugs and surveilling public officials.

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Earlier this month Mexico deployed 500 soldiers and National Guard members, two helicopters, drones and mobile and fixed counter-drone systems in five Tamaulipas municipalities. The Navy separately reported 159 personnel, 11 vehicles and two drones under Operation Sable.

In response to Fox News Digital questions, a Department of War spokesperson said Joint Task Force-Southern Border, CBP and the Department of Homeland Security use layered monitoring and detection systems to "observe, evaluate and, if needed, engage threats." 

What remains unknown is the number of cartel-operated drones, which groups control individual flights and whether Mexico’s countermeasures are producing results.

Doctor said that increased counter-drone resources are important but cautioned that "it is almost certain that cartels will continue to innovate and adapt."

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Pope Leo undergoes blood tests, X-ray following cancer surgery, Vatican says

Pope Leo XIV underwent blood tests and a chest X-ray Wednesday following surgery to remove a small nodule on his lung, with his recovery going "as expected," the Vatican announced.

The development comes after the Holy See Press Office said "the night passed calmly for the Pope" at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital.

The 71-year-old pontiff on Tuesday underwent thoracic surgery to remove the lower lobe of his right lung with doctors confirming he had lung adenocarcinoma, a form of lung cancer, according to a statement released by the Holy See Press Office.

"This morning, the Holy Father underwent the blood tests and chest X-ray scheduled after surgery. The results confirm that his postoperative recovery is progressing normally: the values are within the expected range for the type of operation performed," it attributed Dr. Luigi Carbone and Professor Stefano Margaritora as saying.

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"The Holy Father has undergone respiratory physiotherapy and has begun walking around his room. He has resumed eating normally and had breakfast and lunch," their statement added. "His recovery is proceeding as expected."

The pope's diagnosis was confirmed through a tissue examination conducted during the operation, consistent with findings from preoperative tests, the Vatican said.

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The pope spent approximately three hours in the operating room, although the surgery itself lasted about 90 minutes.

Doctors said the procedure was successful and there were no complications.

"Doctors found a small lump in the lung," Leo said after an Angelus address at St. Peter's Square on Monday. "It was identified at a very early stage and well situated."

"The doctors consider it appropriate to intervene and so, following their advice, I decided to have surgery to remove it," he continued. "The surgery is already scheduled for the next few days. I thank you for your spiritual closeness and I rely on your prayer."

Fox News' Courtney Walsh, Anders Hagstrom and Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report.

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