BBC News, the Guardian, Telegraph, Independent, Reuters and Sky News report that an explosion has caused a fire on an Iranian tanker near the coast of Saudi Arabia, Iranian media say. The vessel, from Iran’s national oil company (NOIC), was 60 miles (97km) from the Saudi port city of Jeddah when the incident took place, reports said. The ship’s two main storage tanks were said to be damaged, causing an oil spill into the Red Sea, but no-one was injured. NOIC claimed the vessel was hit by missiles, but did not provide evidence.

In the Financial Times, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif argues that “the Strait of Hormuz region can find its own solution”: “we should create task forces to build trust”.

BBC News, the Telegraph, Times, Financial Times, Reuters and Sky News report that casualties are increasing as Turkey presses on with its cross-border offensive on Kurdish-held areas of northern Syria. At least 11 civilians have died and dozens of fighters from the Kurdish-led SDF and pro-Turkish factions have been killed, reports say. The first death of a Turkish soldier was confirmed by Turkey’s military. Tens of thousands of people have fled homes in the area, as international calls to halt the attack increase. Meanwhile, Republicans in the US House of Representatives have announced plans to introduce a sanctions bill against Turkey, and President Donald Trump has offered to mediate.

The Independent, Reuters and Daily Mail report that President Erdogan has threatened to send millions of Syrian refugees to Europe in retaliation for stinging world criticism of his military operation in northern Syria. Lashing out at the EU and others that joined a global chorus of condemnation, Erdogan warned he would “open the gates” if anyone called his offensive “an invasion”.

Reuters reports that Syria’s Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Maqdad on Thursday attacked US-backed Kurdish led forces saying they had betrayed their country and accused them of a separatist agenda that gave Turkey a pretext to violate his country’s sovereignty.

The Guardian and Reuters report that the US has set down red lines for the Turkish offensive into Syria that would trigger sanctions against Ankara, including “ethnic cleansing” and indiscriminate fire directed at civilians. On Thursday, a senior US official also condemned the Turkish invasion on Thursday, saying “it endangers our allies in the fight against terror […] and then thirdly, it creates tremendous insecurity for the entire region”.

Reuters reports that French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has called for an emergency meeting of the coalition created to fight IS.

The Independent reports that Kurdish leaders travelled to Brussels on Thursday to appeal for help from the European Union against Turkey’s military offensive into northern Syria. Ilham Ehmed held a press conference in the European parliament, where she was flanked by supportive MEPs who urged the EU not to “abandon” the autonomous region.

Reuters reports that Turkish police have launched criminal investigations into Kurdish lawmakers and detained scores of people, accusing them of criticising the military’s incursion into Syria on social media, state media reported.

Reuters reports that Kremlin sources have claimed that Turkey’s incursion into Syria is an opportunity for Russia to dial up its influence in the region.

Reuters reports that Israel is uneasy over ‘Trump’s refusal to stand with the Kurds’. The Daily Mail reports that Israel has warned Turkey against an ‘ethnic cleansing’ of the Kurds after President Erdogan launched an assault against Kurdish forces in northern Syria.

In the Guardian, Martin Chulov interviews Kurds fleeing the ‘Turkish onslaught’: “waiting at a roadside depot, Hussein Rammo, a stooped elderly Kurd, his eyes wet with tears, had the look of a broken man. “Betrayal leaves the bitterest taste,” he said, his voice at a whisper as he discussed Donald Trump’s decision to abandon Syria’s Kurds”.

The Telegraph argues that the UK cannot ignore the spiralling crisis in the Middle East.

In the Telegraph, Fraser Nelson maintains that Europe is “dangerously unprepared for a world without a US policeman”.

In the Financial Times, Edward Luce states that “Trump’s betrayal of Kurds hastens [the] waning of US power”.

In the Times, Catherine Philp argues that “Erdogan’s invasion of Syria will create a new refugee crisis”.

In the Times, Richard Spencer explains the Kurds “helped [the] Allies fight off the Nazis”.

In the Independent,Kim Sengupta contends that US President Donald Trump’s “reactionary foreign policy will usher [IS] right back into Syria”.

The Times and Independent report that two UK jihadists belonging to the so-called Beatles Isis cell are expected to be tried in a US court in Virginia, a state which has the death penalty. Alexanda Kotey, 35, and El Shafee Elsheikh, 31, were relocated from a Kurdish detention centre in northeastern Syria to American custody as Turkey launched a military campaign in the area. In the Times, Lucy Fisher explains why the ‘Beatles’ are among the most feared IS cells.

Reuters reports that the Houthi movement has offered the internationally recognised Yemeni government a prisoner swap involving 2,000 detainees after the group unilaterally freed hundreds of prisoners last month.

The Financial Times and Reuters report that Saudi Arabia lost production worth more than $2bn after attacks on vital energy infrastructure last month that were the most significant assault on the kingdom’s oil sector in its history.

The Telegraph reports that the five-year-old daughter of a British-Iranian woman jailed in Iran has returned home to the UK after more than three years living in the Middle East.

The Guardian and Reuters report that the Supreme Court has overturned a decision to release alleged child sex abuser Malka Leifer to house arrest. In a shock ruling last week, a Jerusalem district court announced that the former Melbourne headteacher wanted on 74 sexual assault charges in Australia should be released on bail.

BBC News, the Guardian, Times and Sky News report that Iranian women have attended a World Cup qualifier in Tehran after being freely allowed to enter a stadium for a men’s match for the first time in decades.

In the Independent, Harriet Marsden examines The battle to end Iran’s ban on female football fans.

In the Guardian, Anne Joseph interviews the makers of a controversial new film about the assassination of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin.

The Economist argues that “Iraq’s government seems powerless to halt [the] protests in the Shia heartland”:

Likud re-appoint Netanyahu as party leader: All the Israeli media report that the Likud Central Committee voted overwhelmingly last night to affirm Benjamin Netanyahu as party leader for the duration of the current government formation process. Only 300 (out of 3700) Central Committee members attended the vote in Tel Aviv, leading Netanyahu to cancel his planned appearance and speech at the last minute. The motion stipulated that Netanyahu will be the party’s sole candidate for prime minister for the entirety of the 22^nd Knesset – that is, for the entirety of the period prior to the next general election – and that Likud would only enter a government with Netanyahu as prime minister, including any alternating premiership arrangement. If another (third) election was to be called, however, then a party leadership primary is expected. In related news, Ynet reported that several former Likud officials, including Benny Begin, the son of party founder Menachem Begin, could be dismissed from the party for criticising Netanyahu.

Yamina party breaks up: The right-wing Yamina party confirmed its dissolution yesterday, Israeli media reported, with The New Right and Jewish Home-National Union going their separate ways. The New Right is led by former ministers Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked; Jewish Home-National Union is led by Education Minister Rafi Peretz and Transportation Minister Bezalel Smotrich. Yamina was established as a “technical bloc” between the three parties for the September election and was intended to increase their overall electoral prospects. While Shaked was placed at the head of Yamina, Bennett is now expected to regain the leadership of the New Right. Maariv reported that Ayelet Shaked objected to the dissolution, but was overruled by Bennett, Peretz and Smotrich, who cited differing worldviews and political attitudes.

Israeli officials speak to German counterparts: In the wake of the shooting attack at a synagogue in Halle, Germany on Yom Kippur, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin spoke by telephone yesterday with their German counterparts, Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, respectively, Israeli media reported. Netanyahu expressed appreciation for Merkel’s vigorous stand against antisemitism, adding that it was important to step up efforts against it. Merkel, for her part, said she intended to increase security for Germany’s Jewish community.