Saudi TV: Drone attack on airport wounds 8, damages plane
Dubai (AP): A bomb-laden drone on Tuesday targeted an airport in southwestern Saudi Arabia, wounding eight people and damaging a civilian plane, Saudi state television reported, the latest assault on the kingdom amid its grinding war in neighboring Yemen.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, the second such strike on Abha airport in the last 24 hours. The earlier attack, blamed on Yemen's Iran-backed Shiite Houthi rebels, scattered shrapnel across the tarmac but caused no casualties.
The Saudi-led military coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen did not elaborate on the assault or provide details about those hurt, beyond saying that its forces had intercepted the explosive drone.
The attack comes just days after missiles and drones smashed into a key military base in Yemen's south, killing at least 30 Saudi-backed Yemeni troops and marking one of the deadliest attacks in the country's yearslong civil war. No one claimed responsibility for the strike, which bore the hallmarks the Iranian-supported rebels.
Since 2015, Yemen's Houthi rebels battling the Saudi-led military coalition have targeted international airports, along with military installations and critical oil infrastructure, within Saudi Arabia.
Those attacks, often striking near the southern cities of Abha and Jizan, have rarely caused substantial damage but wounded dozens, killed at least one person and rattled global oil markets. Within Yemen, the Saudi-led bombing campaign has drawn international criticism for killing civilians, hitting non-military targets like hospitals and wedding parties and devastating infrastructure in the Arab world's most impoverished nation.
The Yemen war has settled into a bloody stalemate even as international diplomatic efforts to halt the fighting intensify. The Houthis have accelerated their push to wrest control of the oil-rich government stronghold of Marib in recent months, and escalated their cross-border attacks on the kingdom.
Yemen's war started in 2014, when the rebels seized the capital, Sanaa, and much of the country's north. The Saudi-led military coalition intervened months later to dislodge the Houthis and restore the internationally recognized government.
The war has killed some 130,000 people and spawned the world's worst humanitarian disaster. (AP)
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'Grew up in a family where women were bosses': Rahul tells students
New Delhi (PTI): "I grew up in a family where the women were the bosses," Congress leader Rahul Gandhi told students during an interaction in Kerala recently, while asserting that women are generally more intelligent than men.
On International Women's Day, Gandhi posted a video of his interaction with the students on his YouTube channel on Sunday and said that a few days ago, he met some young women students in Kerala during a lunch interaction and had a very interesting conversation with them.
"I was deeply impressed by each student's dreams, curiosity, and confidence. Such conversations remind us that when women recognise their potential and move forward with an open mind, they can bring about extraordinary change," the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said.
"Every woman is unique. Their sensitivity, understanding, and emotional intelligence provide balance and direction to society. Women also wield power in their own unique ways - with patience, long-term vision, and empathy," Gandhi asserted in his post in Hindi, accompanying the video.
"Therefore, they should have every right to move forward according to their identity, personality, and aspirations, rather than being bound by society's restrictive norms," he said.
"Heartiest greetings to all women on International Women's Day. May your strength, courage, and dreams continue to propel society toward a positive future," Gandhi said.
Posting the video on X, Gandhi said interacting with some young students in Kerala was incredibly inspiring.
"Their confidence and belief in their dreams demonstrate that women are the ultimate force for change," he said.
In the video, Gandhi is seen having a free-wheeling chat with the women students.
"I grew up in a family where the women were the bosses. So the boss of my family was my grandmother and I have always in my family, like on this table, been outnumbered by women," Gandhi tells the students.
"Women are generally more intelligent than men for the most part. Men are in a hurry and men get blinded by silly things.Women think longer term, they don't apply direct power they apply indirect power, it is more effective," he says.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge shared on X a quote by BR Ambedkar on gender equality - "You are not born to suffer. You are born to rise"
"Women are not merely participants in development. They are its driving force. Through their wisdom, resilience, compassion, and determination, women strengthen communities, and build stronger nations," Kharge said on X.
"On International Women's Day 2026, we celebrate the courage, leadership, and countless contributions of women everywhere. True progress will come when equality is not an aspiration, but a lived reality for every woman," the Congress chief said.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also greeted women on International Women's Day.
"On this Women's Day, may every woman realise her strength, her rights and her power to shape the future. You matter. Your voice matters. Your dreams matter," she said on X.
केरल में कुछ युवा छात्राओं के साथ हुई बातचीत बेहद प्रेरणादायक रही।
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) March 8, 2026
उनका आत्मविश्वास और सपनों पर विश्वास बताता है - महिलाएँ बदलाव की सबसे बड़ी शक्ति हैं।
सभी को #InternationalWomensDay की हार्दिक शुभकामनाएँ। pic.twitter.com/OV2fvth1rB
