Fighting intensifies between Saudi forces and Iran-backed Houthis

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The Middle East conflict threatened to widen as fighting intensified between Saudi forces and Iran-backed Houthi fighters in Yemen. Riyadh said it intercepted a Houthi drone near the holy Muslim city of Mecca; the Yemeni group denied the charge and said it downed a Saudi fighter jet.
The US, meanwhile, tightened its travel advice to urge its citizens to “reconsider” visiting Saudi Arabia. The back-and-forth exchanges — which have already displaced more than 100,000 people in Yemen — came as analysts warned the US-Iran war risked tilting towards escalation and Israel ramped up its strikes targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon, which is facing its own displacement crisis.

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