‘Not getting involved’: US Vice President refuses to endorse Netanyahu - Al Jazeera

The Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar denied allegations of immigration fraud in a Wednesday appearance on MS Now, her first interview since federal agents raided her residence last week. Those in Donald Trump’s orbit – cabinet officials and rightwing influencers alike – have promoted baseless theories about the Democratic congresswoman, accusing Omar of being in a sham marriage with her brother and fudging details of her immigration paperwork. The brother rumors circulated on a Somali blog, Omar told MS Now host Chris Hayes, before it gained traction with rightwing conspiracy theorists in Minneapolis. She believes the raid was designed to appease Trump loyalists. “They kept alluding to the fact that something was going to happen to me,” Omar told Hayes. “They had to do something, I believe, to say, ‘Hey, look we raided her house.”The 12 October raid marked an escalation of a years-long feud between Omar and Trump. The president has repeatedly denigrated Omar’s character, faith and Somali heritage, most recently on Tuesday, when he called her a “sick, very dishonest person who hates our country” while answering reporters’ questions at the White House.

The US state department has ordered some diplomats and the families of US government employees to leave Saudi Arabia, as the gulf kingdom faces a barrage of near-daily attacks, with at least three people killed at an airport and oilfield on Wednesday evening. Attacks on “civilian airports and other critical infrastructure” by the Iranian-supported Houthis in Yemen were highlighted as the reason for the drawdown. State department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said: “The safety and security of department personnel and their families remain our highest priority.”The state department said the order covered its embassy in Riyadh and its satellite consulates. The embassy had been badly damaged at the start of the US war on Iran and had been operating with only a skeleton staff for months, although in recent weeks some diplomats had returned. The announcement comes as some media – including NBC and AFP – reported that families of US embassy personnel were also being withdrawn from the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Qatar and Bahrain, while the New York Times said the Trump administration was developing plans to restart the war on Iran.

US State Department says Iran-aligned Houthis have ‘increasingly ⁠⁠engaged in hostilities’ against Saudi Arabia. The United States Department of State has ordered the departure of nonemergency government employees and their family ⁠members from its mission in Saudi Arabia as attacks by the Iran-aligned Houthi movement on the kingdom have ramped up. “Iranian-supported Houthis have increasingly ⁠engaged in hostilities against Saudi Arabia, including attacks on civilian airports ⁠and other critical infrastructure resulting in civilian casualties and severe travel disruptions,” State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a social media post on Wednesday. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3WW1 to Houthis: British jets for Saudi Arabia build on long military bondlist 2 of 3Are the UK, France being pulled into the Saudi-Houthi conflict?list 3 of 3Macron makes surprise Saudi visit as France secures extra diesel suppliesend of list“The safety and security of Department personnel and their families remain our highest priority, and we will continue to take all necessary steps to protect and support them,” he added.