Guardian and RTÉ set the Riyadh airport fire beside Houthi attacks; The Independent files it under the Iran-US war. None says who struck

What all three report. Smoke and flames near Riyadh's main airport on Saturday 19 September, after overnight air raid alerts. No report gives a casualty figure for Riyadh.

Where they differ.

The Guardian goes furthest. It says this is the first time the Saudi government has issued alerts for Riyadh since the fighting escalated in July. It is the only report that says so. It quotes one resident, speaking anonymously to AFP: "In the direction of the airport, we saw black smoke and fire." It also quotes the Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree. He said the group had foiled "criminal attempts" in Sana'a, blamed Saudi Arabia and vowed a response.

The Independent's text does not match its headline. The text we hold is about Trump banning CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House. It never mentions Riyadh.

What is not settled - Who or what struck the fuel tank. No report names an attacker, and no report carries a Houthi claim for Riyadh. - Whether anyone was hurt at the airport. - Whether these alerts were the first since July. Only The Guardian says so.

What this is about. A fire at a fuel depot beside the main airport of Saudi Arabia's capital, and the question of which war it belongs to.

How it got here. Yemen's Houthi movement, also called Ansar Allah, seized the capital Sana'a in September 2014. In March 2015 Saudi Arabia led a coalition of states into Yemen to restore the government the Houthis had pushed out. For years after that the Houthis fought Saudi Arabia, and they fired missiles and drones at Saudi cities and oil sites. A UN-brokered truce in April 2022 largely stopped the fighting across the border. After the Gaza war began in October 2023, the Houthis attacked shipping in the Red Sea. The Guardian reports that fighting between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia escalated again in July this year.

Who the actors are. - Saudi Arabia is ruled by its royal family. Aramco is its state oil company and the core of its economy. - The Houthis hold Sana'a and much of northern Yemen. Iran backs them. The UN Security Council keeps an arms embargo on them. - Iran is Saudi Arabia's main rival in the region. The Independent's headline places Saturday's fire inside what it calls the Iran-US war.

What is at stake. The Bab al-Mandab strait lies between Yemen and the Horn of Africa. It links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, and much of the shipping between Europe and Asia passes through it. The Guardian reports that the Houthis took the port of Mokha and Perim island in the strait this month. It says this has raised fears of a second oil supply crisis. Citing the International Organization for Migration, it also reports that nearly 105,000 people have fled their homes in Yemen. The UK, Australia and Canada all depend on that shipping lane and on the price of Gulf oil.

Where it stands. The Guardian reports that the UN Security Council condemned continued Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia on Friday. By Saturday, no one had publicly said who hit the depot in Riyadh.