PDB Afternoon Bulletin | October 16th, 2026: Houthis Launch Deadly Attack on Yemen's Presidential Palace & Trump–Zelensky Feud Escalates

Mike Baker (0:11)

It's Friday, the 16th of October. Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. I'm Mike Baker. Your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, the Iran-backed Houthis have struck Yemen's presidential palace complex in a deadly attack, even as Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces press their offensive against the rebels. We'll examine why Riyadh is struggling to contain the Houthi threat and how the violence is beginning to affect international business operating in the kingdom. Later in the show, President Trump is escalating his criticism of Ukrainian President Zelensky over Kyiv's renewed strikes on Russian oil facilities. Apparently, he thinks Ukraine should stop fighting, while Putin continues to pound Ukrainian energy infrastructure. Meanwhile, new reporting reveals that the order to restrict Ukraine's military satellite communications appears to have originated inside the White House. But first, today's afternoon spotlight. The Iran-backed Houthis are expanding their campaign of attacks against Saudi Arabia and its allies, striking increasingly high-profile targets as the war in Yemen continues to escalate. The latest target, the al-Mashik Presidential Palace Complex, that's located in the southern Yemeni city of Aden, which serves as the headquarters of the country's internationally recognized Saudi-backed government. According to Yemeni officials, the Houthis launched missiles and drones at the compound Thursday, killing five people and wounding 16 others, including guards and civilian employees. Yemen's prime minister and cabinet members were reportedly unharmed. The Houthis, meanwhile, claimed they were targeting Saudi military operations headquarters inside the complex, allegedly containing weapons depots and Saudi officers. Reuters could not independently verify those Houthi claims. The attack represented a significant escalation in the ongoing war, marking the first time that the Houthis have targeted the palace complex in this renewed conflict, bringing the Houthi campaign directly to the seat of the government that Riyadh is fighting to defend.

As we've been tracking, Saudi-backed forces launched a major counteroffensive against the Houthis earlier this month, recapturing territory near the strategically important Bab al-Mandeb Strait, one of the world's busiest maritime choke points. The Houthis have responded with increasingly deadly strikes on airports, oil facilities and other critical infrastructure inside Saudi Arabia. Just this week, the rebels hit the headquarters of Saudi Aramco, that's the kingdom's state-owned oil giant, following a series of deadly attacks on Riyadh's main international airport. And the Saudi-led coalition is now providing a much clearer picture of the scale of the Houthi campaign. Speaking Thursday, a coalition spokesperson said the Houthis had launched 20 attacks against King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh this month alone, killing 17 people and wounding 333 others. The coalition also reported dozens of casualties from attacks on Aba Airport in southwestern Saudi Arabia near the Yemeni border.

In turn, the coalition said Saudi-backed forces have destroyed 127 Houthi weapon storage facilities and launch platforms in Yemen's mountainous regions.

But the problem for Riyadh is that despite the widespread damage reportedly inflicted on the Houthi's munitions stores, the Iran-backed group is still managing to strike some of Saudi Arabia's most important targets. The coalition also warned that the rebels have acquired increasingly advanced military technology, well, thanks to the IRGC patrons, including ballistic missiles, drones and explosive-laden fast boats. Iran has long provided the Houthis with weapons technology, training and other assistance, helping transform what began as a local insurgency into a force capable of threatening Saudi infrastructure and international shipping. Tehran, of course, denies funneling arms to the group. Who? Us? What? But with the broader war between Iran and the US still unresolved, the Iran backed rebels remain another means by which Tehran can apply pressure against Washington and regional allies.

Meanwhile, the consequences of the Houthi campaign are spreading beyond military targets. According to Reuters, several major international financial firms are now allowing employees in Saudi Arabia to work from home because of growing security concerns. JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank introduced remote working arrangements following Saturday's deadly airport attack, although their offices remain open. Citi has also offered employees the option to work remotely. An American investment firm Franklin Templeton has temporarily closed its Riyadh office, instructing staff to work from home until further notice.

Saudi schools have also shifted to online instruction while the Kingdom is preparing to offer remote participation at its flagship Future Investment Initiative conference later this month.

Now, those developments might sound relatively minor compared with missile-striking airports and oil facilities, but they do illustrate another vulnerability that the Houthis are exploiting. Saudi Arabia has spent years trying to transform itself into a global destination for international investment, finance, and tourism, with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman making economic diversification a central priority for the government. But those ambitions depend on stability and on convincing foreign companies that the Kingdom is a safe place to invest and operate. When international banks are sending employees home and major investment conferences are adjusting their plans due to security threats, well obviously, it becomes increasingly difficult to project that desired stability and confidence.