Windows were ​blown out across several floors of Saudi oil giant Aramco’s corporate office in the heart of the ‌financial district of the capital Riyadh on Sunday by what the energy ministry said was debris from an attempt to attack the building.

The ministry said damage to the Aramco Tower was limited and there were no injuries or fatalities, without assigning responsibility for the attack.

The Saudi-led coalition fighting ​Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen said Saudi air defences had intercepted Houthi missiles over the city in the early hours.

The ​Houthis, who claimed the attack, have escalated their fighting with the kingdom in what has become another ⁠front in the wider US-Israeli war against Tehran.

Many schools in the kingdom resumed in-person classes on Sunday after weeks of home ​learning and several Saudi government agencies returned to in-office work suspended after earlier Houthi attacks.
The Houthis have ramped up strikes on Aramco (2223.SE), opens new tab facilities ​in recent weeks, including the oil giant’s headquarters in Dhahran in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi-led coalition said air defences also intercepted a Houthi missile on Sunday in the province, where most of the oil and gas reserves of the world’s largest crude exporter lie. It said they ​had also destroyed two ballistic missile launchers in Saada used by the Houthis in the Sunday attack on Riyadh.

The renewed fighting between the Houthis and the coalition backing Yemen’s internationally recognised government intensified after the group advanced in September toward the Bab ‌el-Mandeb Strait, ⁠a strategic shipping chokepoint on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula from the Strait of Hormuz.

The Houthis have since stepped up missile and drone attacks on Saudi ports and airports, including Riyadh’s international airport. The group’s military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, said the airport was targeted in Sunday’s attacks, but there was no confirmation from Saudi authorities.
A strike on the airport in October killed 13 people ​and wounded more than 300.
In ​response to the attacks, Saudi ⁠Arabia has been carrying out air strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen.

The latest escalation comes a day after Yemen’s Houthi-run health ministry said Saudi airstrikes killed at least 33 people near Sanaa. ​Saudi authorities said they were investigating.

The kingdom, a key US ally, has also been requesting ​assistance from countries ⁠ranging from the US to Europe and the Middle East, for both defensive and offensive support against the Yemeni group.
Britain said in October it would fly fighter jets on defensive missions to help protect Saudi cities from Houthi aerial attacks.

At least seven people have died in a train crash near the Egyptian city of Giza, with more than 100 injured.

The country’s railway authority said two trains travelling south from Giza and Cairo collided, causing several carriages to derail and fall down an embankment.

Images from the scene showed people looking inside overturned carriages for injured passengers as a massive emergency response was launched.

Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi said he had ordered state authorities to “investigate the circumstances of the accident, and hold accountable anyone found to have been negligent”.

The public prosecutor’s office warned the death toll could rise.

The government said hospitals in the area had been put “on heightened alert” as they dealt with a massive influx of patients.

Egypt’s health minister Dr Khaled Abdel Ghaffar said people were being treated for broken bones and head injuries.

The driver of one of the trains was among those who died in the crash, the ministry confirmed.

The first train involved in the crash was travelling from Giza to Fayoum, south of Cairo, when it crashed into the rear of another service heading south from Cairo to Aswan, which was stationary on the tracks.

Images from the scene showed some carriages had overturned, with the body of at least one appearing to have split in two.

Trains between Giza and the Upper Egypt region were suspended as cranes were dispatched to remove the wrecked train
The collision occurred in the area between Kafr Ammar and Al-Raqqa stations in Al-Ayyat, close to where Egypt’s deadliest train tragedy occurred in February 2002, when a fire engulfed a passenger train travelling from Cairo to Luxor.

The train continued for around nine kilometres (5.6 miles) before coming to a halt.

In that incident, more than 370 people were officially reported killed, although some estimates put the toll considerably higher.

Two further crashes in the area in 2009 killed dozens more.

There were calls in Egypt on Sunday for the transport minister to resign over the latest deadly rail disaster.

Paraguay’s President Santiago Peña has been impeached and placed under house arrest.

Peña was arrested on Friday minutes after lawmakers, including from his own party, voted to remove him from office due to a crisis triggered by the collapse of Ueno Bank earlier this week.

He had offered to step down on Thursday, but the move to impeach him and charge him with misconduct rather than accept his resignation meant he was stripped of his lifetime Senate seat and the immunity granted to ex-presidents.

Peña, who until last year held shares in the company that owned the bank, has denied any wrongdoing.

The demise of the digital bank has left more than half of Paraguay’s population without access to their savings after it was seized by Paraguay’s central bank.

An estimated three million depositors remain unable to access their savings and pensions prompting widespread protests particularly in the capital, Asunción.

The impeachment charges that led to Peña’s removal alleged he had conflicts of interest, manipulated regulatory oversight, diverted pension funds, and participated in an institutional cover-up involving the central bank.

Peña is due to be questioned today (Saturday) over allegations of breach of trust, influence peddling, and misappropriation of funds, prosecutor Silvia Margarita Gonzalez Vester said.

Peña’s impeachment passed with 44 out of 45 senators voting in favour of it. One lawmaker was absent.

Afterwards, senate president Basilio Núñez said Peña was found guilty of “dereliction of duty”.

Paraguay’s Vice-President Pedro Alliana was then sworn in as interim President.

“Compatriots who are now going through a difficult time as a result of the financial collapse will be fully compensated,” said Alliana, who will serve as President until 2028.

Pedro Alliana takes the oath of office as interim President

Senator Rafael Filizzola said: “We are facing the biggest corruption scandal in our democratic history – a tremendous blow to the state, to private citizens, and to the country’s credibility and image.”

Analysts say Peña is likely to now be prosecuted over the bank’s collapse.

His defence lawyer Ricardo Preda described the allegations as a “reckless accusation” that was “irresponsible and opportunistic”.

In an address to the nation on Thursday, Peña said that he was sorry and that “it was never my intention to betray the trust you placed in me”.