Saudi-led coalition says it downed Houthi cruise missile over Riyadh

Air defenses over Saudi Arabia's capital lit up again. The Saudi-led Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen says it intercepted and destroyed a missile headed for the Riyadh area, the coalition's official spokesperson, Major General Turki al-Maliki, announced in a post on X.

Al-Maliki pinned the launch on the Houthis, describing a cruise missile fired by what he called the Houthi terrorist militia toward Riyadh. The coalition did not say whether anything on the ground was hit, and there was no immediate word on damage or casualties in the capital.

The claim landed alongside a grim report from the other side of the war. Houthi sources said airstrikes slammed into the Al-Hadhara market in the Taiz Governorate, in southwestern Yemen, leaving more than 30 civilians killed or wounded.

Taiz has been a pressure point for years, with the Houthis maintaining a siege on the city. Yemen's Foreign Minister Afrah al-Zouba pressed that case in Berlin on Friday, urging Germany and the European Union to ramp up support for the internationally recognized government, according to Breaking The News.

Al-Zouba also called for tighter maritime security cooperation to stop what he described as Iranian arms shipments reaching the Houthis, while Bundestag Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Armin Laschet raised concerns about human rights abuses and threats to shipping in the Red Sea.

The missile interception and the market strike show how quickly this war moves between front lines, capitals and diplomatic tables — with no sign yet that either track is slowing down.