Once again, Trump threatens to bomb Iran and saying the time is short to make a deal

The Syrian government has denied that its representatives held face-to-face talks in Turkey with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

Reuters had earlier reported on Thursday that Syrian government officials and Hezbollah representatives held secret talks in Turkey to try to calm tensions between them, citing six sources briefed on the first known meeting between the longtime foes.

"These claims are false. No such meeting took place," Syria’s Information Ministry wrote on its official English-language account of its Foreign Media Department on X, Syria Response.

These claims are false. No such meeting took place. https://t.co/YzKPsS4g8O

— Syrian Response (@SyrianResponse) October 1, 2026

The Indian ambassador to United Arab Emirates met with the wounded captain from the flydubai flight on Thursday, with the embassy saying he was in "good health and recovering well".

Ambassador Deepak Mittal met with "Captain Smit Machchhar and his family at the hospital. Captain Machchhar is in good health and recovering well," the Indian embassy in the UAE wrote on X.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking on the "Fox & Friends" TV show said Machchhar "was stabbed in the head and his arm was basically split in two and there was a lot of blood".

Earlier, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his actions helped save hundreds of lives and avert "a great tragedy".

"Captain Smit Machchhar is a HERO," Modi said in a post on social media.

The Israeli army carried out an intense explosion in the southern Lebanese town of Majdal Zoun, according to the Lebanese National News Agency (NNA).

NNA said the explosion took place in the Tyre district but did not provide further details.

Iran's proposal to open the Strait of Hormuz within seven days was "simply not enough," US President Donald Trump said during an interview with Time Magazine published today, on Thursday.

Two Palestinians have been injured as Israeli settlers opened fire while attacking homes in the occupied West Bank town of Yasuf, Palestinian Wafa news agency reports.

Rapper Macklemore's highly anticipated ‘Free Palestine’ tour has sold out all three European arena shows following his controversial removal from Ed Sheeran's US tour over his onstage remarks in support of Palestine.

In a social media post on Wednesday, the US artist confirmed that all three concerts, scheduled to take place in Dublin, Paris and London, had "sold out immediately".

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8 people have been killed and 26 wounded by Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip over the past 24-hours, according to the health ministry in Gaza.

The ministry reported 1,439 people have now been killed and 5,052 wounded since a alleged US-brokered ceasefire took effect last year.

Israel has killed at least 74,040 Palestinians and wounded 175,168 since October 2023.

Iran will never shy away from dialogue with the US, President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday, as Tehran weighs a US response to its latest proposal to resurrect the collapsed ceasefire in the Gulf.

"We have never shied away from talks, and we never will, although the United States has targeted our country three times despite having signed an agreement," the semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted him as saying.

Flights to and from Tehran's main international airport have fallen by nearly half, 42 percent, since a US ban on Iranian airlines, but some popular routes remain, tracking data up to Wednesday shows.

On average 53 daily international flights have operated to and from Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport since September 23, when the US ban took effect, compared to a daily average of 91 flights before the ban, according to data from tracking platform FlightRadar24.

Traffic had already fallen after Israeli-American strikes on Iran at the end of February led to the complete closure of its airspace.

Since flights resumed, only Iranian carriers operated services out of Iran.

Pre-ban September data shows that a typical week included services to 18 countries.

Since the ban, flights have completely stopped to Georgia, Oman and Azerbaijan, which normally have regular service to Tehran.

Iran is preparing a broader and more forceful response if the United States resumes large-scale military attacks, sources said, while continuing a diplomatic push that Iranian officials privately see as unlikely to succeed.

The planning reflects a conviction within Iran's leadership that any renewed US campaign must be met with a stronger response than before, even as Tehran seeks to avert escalation through talks.

Senior commanders are reviewing plans to expand potential targets beyond US-linked assets to countries that support US military operations and possibly to locations outside the Middle East, according to three senior Iranian officials and an insider familiar with the discussions.

Since President Masoud Pezeshkian returned from New York last week, commanders and senior officials have focused on the scope and timing of any response if Washington strikes again.

No final decision has been made, but planning has intensified as neither side shows signs of willingness to compromise.

Emirates airline announced that it is suspending all codeshare flights with flydubai to and from Tel Aviv’s airport until further notice.

“Passengers whose final destination is Tel Aviv will not be accepted for travel at the point of origin,” the UAE carrier says. “Customers already en route to Tel Aviv will be accommodated and provided with all possible support to complete their journeys.”

In practice, this means anyone who booked a flight to Israel through Emirates, which always requires a stopover in Dubai and a transfer to a flydubai jet, will now also be unable to board the Emirates plane for the first leg of their journey to Dubai.

In a statement carried by Anadolu, the Yemeni government forces said they "are engaged in violent battles in the Bani Bakari area in the Jabal Habashi District, and on the Himyar front in the Maqbanah District in the western countryside of Taiz, and in the Al-Aqroud front southeast of the governorate."

The statement added that the army forces "inflicted losses on the Houthi militia in lives and equipment," without details.

There was no comment from the Houthi as of yet.

The average price of diesel at the pump across the EU has hit a record of 2.24 euros per litre -- equivalent to $9.60 per US gallon -- compared with 1.59 euros before war erupted in the Middle East, according to EU Commission data published Thursday.

Twelve EU member states recorded fresh all-time highs, including Belgium, Italy, Romania and Poland, according to an AFP analysis of data submitted weekly to Brussels by national authorities since 2005.

The data reflect prices at filling stations, either at the start of the week or at the end of the previous week, depending on the country.

The price of diesel, the main fuel used by road freight transport and farming machinery, exceeded 2.50 euros per litre in Denmark, the Netherlands and Finland, and reached 2.44 euros in Germany.

In Belgium, where prices hit a record, diesel averaged 2.43 euros per litre on Monday, compared with 2.39 euros the previous week.

In Italy, it rose by seven cents to 2.35 euros. French filling stations, excluding overseas territories and Corsica, were charging an average of 2.37 euros per litre, a very slight decline.

Across the whole of the European Union, there was an average rise of one cent per litre over the last week.

Representatives of the Syrian government and Lebanese Hezbollah have held face-to-face talks in Turkey to try to calm tensions between them, according to six sources briefed on the first known meeting between the longtime foes.

The Syrian officials and the Iran-aligned group met secretly at least once last month, the sources—who include two Syrian officials, a US official and a senior Lebanese security source close to Hezbollah—told Reuters.

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The internationally-recognised Yemeni government's stated that they "thwarted a massive Houthi attack on all fronts of the Tur al-Baha axis and eliminated all of its attacking groups," without mentioning additional details.

 In another brief statement, the army said, "The armed forces' warplanes launched 6 raids on the positions and vehicles of the Houthi militia," noting that the raids targeted sites "in the Al-Akbush, Al-Ahkoum, and Haifan fronts, south of Taiz Governorate," without details.

The United Arab Emirates' chief prosecutor on Thursday said an investigation had been launched into the incident on board a flydubai flight to Israel.

The state news agency WAM said the attorney general had ordered the probe, adding that "the investigation team has launched its work into the incident" that forced the plane to land in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.

It also said the investigation would determine "the degree to which (the incident) was linked to any terrorist activity or intent".

Israel claimed on Wednesday that the co-pilot of the flight had tried to crash the aircraft but that the pilot and passengers intervened and averted the crash.

Passengers described rushing the cockpit after the plane suddenly plummeted, losing around 17,000 feet of altitude in the span of a minute, according to the Flightradar24 website.

Airline flydubai said all of the passengers—of whom 166 out of 174 were Israeli, according to media reports—were safe.

Israeli officials called the incident "an attempted terrorist attack" while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US broadcaster Fox News it was "too early" to say who was behind the altercation and lauded those who prevented a crash.

"During the flight, as they approached the country, one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot, and apparently tried to crash the plane with everyone on board," Netanyahu said in a video message.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Wednesday that the United States has slashed the number of its generals and admirals by 20 percent, in a move he said is aimed at "accountability."

Hegseth suggested the cuts targeted officers who failed to get on board with his efforts to ensure the military is focused on war-fighting rather than the "woke" policies of previous administrations, describing the reductions as an "accomplishment."

"The number-crunchers say we fired 10 percent of the generals and admirals across the force," Hegseth told troops at the Quantico military base, saying: "We've also reduced the overall number of general officer slots by an additional 10 percent."

"So yes, 20 percent reduction across the board," he said. "The media calls that a purge. I call it accountability, and long overdue."

Saudi Arabia turned down multiple requests by Israel to send its own planes to retrieve passengers from a diverted flydubai flight, a Saudi source with knowledge of the matter told AFP Thursday.

"They asked to send military warplanes. Two or three direct to Tabuk airport," the source told AFP. "Turned down. Then asked to send [El Al] commercial one. Turned down as well."

The source also told AFP the message was communicated through the UAE and not directly with the Israelis.

The comments come a day after a plane heading to Tel Aviv from Dubai was forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia, after one of the pilots allegedly tried to crash the plane and kill everyone onboard.

The Saudi source said the kingdom fulfilled its "international obligation" and assisted the passengers of the flight after they made the emergency landing, emphasising that nationality of the travellers had no impact on their decision.

"We were to act the same way, regardless of the nationalities of flydubai passengers," the source added.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Thursday welcomed the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq as a "historic victory" and called for American troops to leave the Middle East.

The Revolutionary Guards "congratulate the proud nation of Iraq, the united front of the Islamic Resistance, and the revolutionary fighters of the Islamic world on this historic victory," the IRGC said in a statement carried by their official media.

Two decades after Israel evacuated its settlements from Gaza, a hardline settler movement is mobilising to return—and waiting for a green light, writes Fin de Pencier.

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Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi on Thursday announced June 30 as a new deadline for armed factions to turn over their weapons to the state, following the end of the US-led coalition's mission in the country.

"October 1 is considered a serious beginning to address the issue of weapons outside state control... according to a clear roadmap and agreed timelines extending no later than June 30, 2027," Zaidi said in a statement, after having backed away from an initial September 30 deadline.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered Iran’s foreign minister and his delegation to the UN General Assembly to leave New York earlier than they had planned, two US officials said Wednesday.

The Trump administration had granted visas, albeit with severe restrictions, to Iran’s president and foreign minister and their delegations to attend the annual meeting of world leaders despite the hostilities between the two countries.

While President Masoud Pezeshkian left New York a day after speaking at the United Nations last week, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had remained behind ostensibly to participate in indirect talks with the US on opening the Strait of Hormuz, ending the conflict and resuming negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program.

According to some accounts, Araghchi had planned to stay in New York until Wednesday.

Iraqi armed factions backed by Tehran said Wednesday that they were "not bound by any timeline or agreement" to surrender their weapons to the state, as the government seeks to disarm them under mounting US pressure.

A military spokesman for Kataeb Hezbollah, Jaafar al-Husseini, said at an event to celebrate the withdrawal of US-led coalition forces that the factions had been in talks on "regulating" their weapons but "have not yet received a response from the Iraqi government".

"Based on this, the Islamic Resistance declares that it is not bound by any timetable or agreement that any governmental or political party has spoken of or may speak of."

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham on Wednesday said there were "strong indications" Iran was involved in suspicious activity at a UK airbase that triggered a major security incident this weekend.

"There are strong indications that Iran played a part in what happened over the weekend at RAF Fairford," Burnham told the BBC, referring to Sunday's bomb scare near the airbase in southwest England, which is used by the US military in its war against Iran.

"Of course it remains an ongoing, complex, and serious police investigation," said Burnham.

Iran's embassy in London earlier said it "categorically rejects and strongly condemns" speculation it was involved in the incident, while Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on X that Burnham was "barking up the wrong tree".

Police said on Tuesday that no explosives were found at the scene. The nature of the threat has not been explained by officials.

Burnham's comments are the first official confirmation from UK authorities that Iran may have had a hand in the incident, which saw three white vans appearing to head towards RAF Fairford in the early hours of Sunday.

A local resident who rang the police said she saw a group of masked men near the vans, which were blocking a road in a village next to the military base.