World roundup: October 17 2025

Stories from Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Ecuador, and elsewhere

PROGRAMMING NOTE: Due to a personal commitment this evening tonight’s roundup is out early. I will catch anything I’ve missed on Sunday. Thanks for reading!

TODAY IN HISTORY

October 17, 1437: The Battle of Tangier ends in disaster for the attacking Portuguese, led by the famed Prince Henry “the Navigator.” Not only did the Portuguese fail to take the city, they wound up facing a siege of their own encampment by a Marinid relief army and were forced to leave behind another royal, Prince Ferdinand, as a hostage lest their entire army be wiped out. He eventually died in custody. Having failed in his attempt to seize Tangier, a key northern terminus of the north-south trans-Saharan trade network, Henry devoted his time to finding a maritime route around the western coast of Africa that could connect Portugal directly to Mali. That effort, needless to say, proved to be much more successful.

October 17, 1973: OPEC imposes an oil embargo against countries that supported Israel in the Yom Kippur War—Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The embargo immediately caused a spike in oil prices and contributed to shortages that led to gasoline rationing in the targeted countries. It notably did not cause any of the targeted countries to change policy.

MIDDLE EAST

LEBANON

Al-Monitor reports that the Israeli military (IDF) bombed multiple targets across Lebanon overnight:

Israel fiercely bombed south Lebanon overnight Thursday into Friday morning in one of its largest attacks in the country since last year’s ceasefire that ended the Israel-Hezbollah war, just as Washington reiterated its support for the Lebanese Armed Forces’ efforts in disarming the Iran-backed group.

Dozens of airstrikes were launched across the south, including in the town of Banafoul in Sidon, Ansra and Ali al-Taher hill in Nabatieh, Kaoutariyet el-Siyad village and the Mazraat al-Sinay area in southern Lebanon.

The strikes sparked massive explosions in Mazraat al-Sinay. Videos circulating online showed huge plumes of orange smoke lighting up the sky. The Lebanese Health Ministry said at least seven people were injured in the strikes.

Israeli warplanes also struck the town of Shmistar in eastern Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, killing one person.

IDF spokesperson Avichay Adraee said that one of the targets was a “quarry used by Hezbollah to produce cement for rebuilding terrorist facilities and infrastructure.” Calling this a “ceasefire” seems somewhat quaint at this point, but this round of strikes is particularly notable inasmuch as it came a bit over a day after US Central Command boss Brad Cooper met with Lebanese officials to discuss their plan to disarm Hezbollah south of the Litani River and came away praising their efforts. Every Israeli airstrike makes that project more difficult.