Sunday’s briefing opens with the deadly Houthi missile strike on Riyadh’s airport, the Justice Department’s antitrust investigation into five television networks over the White House pool boycott, and fresh flash flooding in Nepal’s Gorkha district. Also inside: the Pentagon’s quiet correction of its Iran-war casualty toll, Trump’s clash with Zelensky over a U.S.-Russia diesel deal, opposition to the Dominion–NextEra merger in Virginia, Cleveland’s ALDS comeback, and birthday tributes for Amitabh Bachchan.
In This Roundup
- Houthi Missile Strike on Riyadh Airport Kills 12, Wounds 309
- Justice Department Opens Antitrust Probe of Five TV Networks Over White House Pool Boycott
- Flash Flood Sweeps Away Homes and Bridges in Nepal’s Gorkha District; 10 Missing
- Pentagon Quietly Raises Iran War Death Toll to 21, Lists 865 Wounded
- Trump Says Ukraine Should “Get a New President” as Zelensky Attacks Diesel Deal
- Virginia Lt. Gov. Hashmi Opposes $67 Billion Dominion–NextEra Merger
- Guardians Beat White Sox 2-0 in ALDS Game 5, Complete 0-2 Comeback
- Amitabh Bachchan Turns 84 as Bollywood Floods Him With Tributes
1 Houthi Missile Strike on Riyadh Airport Kills 12, Wounds 309
A Houthi missile slammed into King Khalid International Airport on Saturday, killing 12 people and wounding 309 in the deadliest attack on Saudi Arabia in more than a decade. The dead included four Saudis, two Bangladeshis, and nationals of the United States, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Sudan and Egypt. It was the third missile strike on the airport this week, and authorities closed the facility as more than 600 flights were canceled.
The scale of the strike is already rippling beyond the kingdom. President Donald Trump said he is weighing whether to join Saudi Arabia in striking Houthi targets, a step that would widen Washington’s direct involvement in the conflict. Saudi air defenses have intercepted repeated Houthi launches this week, but Saturday’s impact showed the limits of that shield.
Source: CNN
2 Justice Department Opens Antitrust Probe of Five TV Networks Over White House Pool Boycott
The Justice Department is investigating ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox News and CNN for possible violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act after the networks suspended White House pool coverage in solidarity with CNN. The suspension followed President Trump’s decision to ban CNN from the White House grounds. The investigation was first reported by The New York Times and confirmed by the department on Saturday night.
The White House argues the networks engaged in an illegal group boycott of the president. Press organizations and media lawyers see it differently, calling the probe a pressure campaign against newsrooms that stood together on coverage access. The outcome could set a lasting precedent for how the government treats collective action by the press corps.
Source: CNN
3 Flash Flood Sweeps Away Homes and Bridges in Nepal’s Gorkha District; 10 Missing
A landslide that blocked the Budhi Gandaki River unleashed a sudden flash flood on Sunday morning, sweeping away roughly 35 houses and six bridges in Nepal’s Gorkha district. At least 10 people were reported missing, and the flooding damaged a hydropower project along the river. Prime Minister Balen Shah deployed army helicopters for rescue work while the disaster authority ordered riverside villages in five districts to evacuate.
The disaster lands just weeks after the catastrophic August flood on the Nepal–China border that killed around 1,455 people, putting Nepal’s mountain communities on edge as another monsoon season brings fresh danger. Officials say the landslide dam that caused the surge remains unstable, and residents downstream have been told to move to higher ground.
Source: Reuters
4 Pentagon Quietly Raises Iran War Death Toll to 21, Lists 865 Wounded
The Pentagon updated its Defense Casualty Analysis System late Friday evening, adding previously omitted deaths tied to Iran operations and pushing the toll to 21 troops killed and 865 wounded. The revision added two noncombat deaths, including Maj. Sorffly Davius, who died in Kuwait in March, and an unidentified Navy suicide, and it logged Sgt. Devin A. Seibel’s Iraq training-accident death under Operation Inherent Resolve. Across the Middle East the total now stands at 22 deaths.
The correction matches September reporting by The Washington Post that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth had called a “complete lie.” Top Democrats on the House Armed Services Committee called the admission an embarrassment, and the quiet weekend update is likely to sharpen scrutiny of how the department has accounted for casualties in the Iran campaign.
Source: USA Today
5 Trump Says Ukraine Should “Get a New President” as Zelensky Attacks Diesel Deal
President Donald Trump lashed out at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday after Zelensky condemned a U.S. deal to ship millions of tons of Russian diesel to ease fuel prices ahead of the midterms. The deal, which came with sanctions relief from the Treasury’s OFAC office, drew a warning from Zelensky that it would embolden Vladimir Putin, even as Russia partially lifted its own diesel export ban the same day.
Trump dismissed the criticism and the parallel Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries, suggesting Kyiv would be better off with new leadership. Russia struck Zaporizhzhia on Saturday, underscoring how little the diesel arrangement has cooled the fighting it was supposedly bought with relief from.
“Ukraine should get a new president.”
Source: USA Today
6 Virginia Lt. Gov. Hashmi Opposes $67 Billion Dominion–NextEra Merger
Lieutenant Governor Ghazala Hashmi has come out against the proposed $67 billion merger of Dominion Energy and NextEra Energy, making her the first statewide elected official to oppose the deal. Hashmi said the combination would create the nation’s largest regulated utility without enough safeguards against rising rates, following a five-city listening tour where residents voiced fears about their utility bills.
State Senator Mike Jones has joined the criticism, and the State Corporation Commission must rule on the merger by January 11. The debate is shaping up as one of Virginia’s defining pocketbook issues, with opponents warning that size alone guarantees nothing for the customers who pay the bills.
Source: The Cooldown
7 Guardians Beat White Sox 2-0 in ALDS Game 5, Complete 0-2 Comeback
The Cleveland Guardians finished off one of the postseason’s great comebacks Saturday night, blanking the Chicago White Sox 2-0 in a winner-take-all Game 5 to advance to the ALCS. Down 2-0 in the series, Cleveland needed all five games to survive. José Ramírez’s fourth-inning two-run homer was the only offense, while Gavin Williams carried a no-hitter into the sixth and Cade Smith slammed the door with a five-out save.
The Guardians set a single-game postseason record with 21 strikeouts, and the victory sent them to their fourth ALCS berth since 2007. They open against Tampa Bay on Monday in Florida, still chasing the franchise’s first World Series title since 1948, the longest drought among past champions.
Source: USA Today
8 Amitabh Bachchan Turns 84 as Bollywood Floods Him With Tributes
Bollywood’s biggest icon turned 84 on Sunday, and the industry marked Amitabh Bachchan’s birthday with an outpouring of affection. Kajol called him a “witty and uber cool natural phenomenon,” while Kamal Haasan posted a characteristically playful tribute, marveling that Bachchan can make even a simple “Deviyon aur Sajjano” sound like a blockbuster. Producer Anand Pandit announced educational scholarships for 1,000 students in the star’s honor.
Six decades after he first appeared on screen, Bachchan remains the working benchmark for Indian cinema’s leading men, with fans gathering outside his Mumbai home as they do every year. The tributes carried through the overnight hours on both sides of the Indian diaspora’s time zones, a reminder of a career that crossed generations and continents.
Source: IANS
Editor’s Note: This roundup was prepared with the assistance of AI tools. Virginia Times gathered the source material from multiple sources and thoroughly reviewed the information before publication.
