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The hardest part has just begun for Iraq, where the United States, together with its international coalition partners, completed a full withdrawal from the country on Wednesday, pursuant to a decision agreed with Baghdad in September 2024 under the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden. During its twelve years in Iraq, the Washington-led coalition trained Iraqi forces to work alongside the political authorities to protect the country from Iranian and jihadist ambitions. Although it enjoys Washington’s unwavering support, Ali al-Zaidi’s government is entering a period of great uncertainty, given the major challenges standing in the way of its goal of restoring full sovereignty.

“We were on Mount Tabor… now we must come down from the mountain and root this renewal of faith in everyday life.” In these terms, poet Jean-Pierre Lemaire summed up the four memorable days of Pope Leo’s visit to France (Paris-Lourdes-Metz, September 25–28). In many respects, the visit bore the mark of total surprise, even of a “miracle,” to borrow an expression used by the Pope himself aboard the plane taking him back to Rome. Leo XIV has had “a fortunate touch,” Catholic-world observers believe. Nearly half a century after John Paul II’s first visit to France in 1980—more than a generation later—he reaped what his predecessor had sown with his famous challenge: “France, eldest daughter of the Church, are you faithful to the promises of your baptism?” This harvest took the form of Christianity’s sudden visibility in a country believed to have become, according to the Washington Post , “the graveyard of Catholicism.”

The return of Saudi-Emirati coordination in Yemen would constitute a development of immense regional importance, in addition to being the worst possible news that could reach the ear of the “Islamic Republic.” It is no secret that Iran is prepared to go far in exploiting Yemen, part of which has become, thanks to the Houthis (the Ansar Allah group), a military base affiliated with it in the Arabian Peninsula. The Houthis’ return to the port of Mokha, threatening navigation through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, along with the attacks against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia launched from Yemeni territory, indicate that confronting the Houthis has become unavoidable. Indeed, they must be reduced to their natural size in northern Yemen. Such a confrontation is in the interest of every Arab state in the region, not Saudi Arabia alone.

Some journeys end when you return to the airport. Others truly begin only after you come back. Weeks have passed since our visit to Rome, yet many details have stayed with me. It was a short visit, but it made me look at Lebanon from a different distance. Who Opened Rome’s Doors to Us? Behind this visit was an effort that deserves to be acknowledged. Bernard Selwan Khoury and Jessie Karam played a central role in organizing the meetings and opening doors for us in Rome, through a program that was not merely a series of protocol appointments, but an attempt to bring a different Lebanese voice into academic, political and Vatican circles.

A flight operated by the Emirati airline, carrying 180 Israeli passengers, was forced to make an emergency landing at a Saudi airport after a “fight” between the pilots. Israel’s defense minister denounced a “jihadist terrorist attack.” An incident aboard a flydubai flight on Wednesday nearly ended in disaster. In fact, the Emirati airline’s aircraft, carrying 180 Israeli passengers, was forced to make an emergency landing at a Saudi airport on Wednesday morning while en route from Dubai to Tel Aviv. According to several Israeli media outlets, the incident stemmed from a “fight” between the pilots, one of whom, the Jerusalem Post reported, citing an Israeli official, allegedly tried to “hijack the plane.” The Israeli official said that “a major disaster was narrowly averted.”

In September 2026, the Houthis seized control of the Yemeni shore of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and struck Saudi Arabia’s oil heartland. This shift brought to a close the phase of “controlled escalation” observed at the outset of the US-Israeli-Iranian war and opened a direct confrontation with Riyadh and its new allies in the Mecca Pact. To understand it, one must return to the religious, familial and social roots of a movement born in the mountains of Saada. Introduction On September 11, 2026, Ansar Allah fighters planted their flag on the island of Mayun (Perim), in the middle of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. In three days, they had captured Hays, al-Khokha, the port of Mokha and then the district of Dhubab, wresting some 5,400 km² from forces loyal to the internationally recognized government. Three days earlier, their missiles had struck Abha Airport, King Khalid Air Base and Aramco facilities in Abha and Jizan, in the heaviest attack against the Kingdom in years.