U.S. wholesale inflation surged past analysts' expectations in September, marking its biggest jump since 2022 as the war in Iran sent fuel prices rocketing, government data showed Thursday.

A Saudi foreign ministry official on Thursday accused Iran of encouraging the Houthis in their ongoing fight with the kingdom, adding that Tehran continues to arm and train the group.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Brussels Thursday seeking to rally support from Europe as his relations with US President Donald Trump have taken a fresh battering.

Zelensky said he would meet NATO chief Mark Rutte and hold a string of bilateral talks with European leaders before joining an EU summit on Friday.

A visiting senior United Nations official reaffirmed the body's commitment to stability in Lebanon as the mandate of its peacekeeping force in the country is set to expire this year.

Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix met officials as well as representatives of countries contributing to the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which counts some 7,500 personnel from nearly 50 countries.

Israeli opposition politician Gadi Eisenkot, Prime Miniter Benjamin Netanyahu's main rival in upcoming elections, vowed Thursday to defeat Hamas in Gaza if he becomes prime minister following the October 27 vote.

Israel's army chief said that the military was reinforcing troop levels "across all fronts", citing an increased risk of escalation as Israel heads into elections this later month.

On a visit to the occupied West Bank, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir said the potential for incidents on Israel's borders had grown because of the election period, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu facing a tight race to stay in power in the October 27 poll.

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis said on Wednesday they had targeted facilities belonging to Saudi oil giant Aramco as well as Riyadh airport, as they vowed to conduct more attacks.

"The Yemeni Armed Forces carried out a high-quality military operation targeting Aramco in Dhahran, in the Eastern Province, King Khalid International Airport, and the Aramco refinery in Riyadh. This was carried out using a large number of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones," military spokesperson Yahya Saree said, adding "operations toward Saudi depths will continue in the coming days, targeting Saudi enemy airports and oil facilities".

The United States is helping Russia in its war with Ukraine, a senior Ukrainian official told AFP on Wednesday, blaming Washington for not warning Kyiv about incoming strikes and slowing Starlink.

"There have already been two cases where the Americans did not provide warnings about Russian ballistic launches, a massive ballistic attack against our energy sector... And on top of that they've throttled Starlink speeds," said the official, who asked not to be identified.

Colombia on Wednesday officially opened its embassy in Jerusalem, joining a small but growing list of countries to do so while most other embassies to Israel remain in Tel Aviv.

"This is an important date for the State of Israel. It's also an important date for the city of Jerusalem," Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said during a ceremony while signing the embassy's guest book.

Loud explosions were heard in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Wednesday, AFP journalists in the city reported, as Yemen's Houthis step up attacks in an escalating war.

Messages were received on phones in Riyadh warning people of an "aerial threat" and urging them to take shelter. The alert was lifted a few minutes later.