Rising tensions between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis illustrate how the Middle East continues to be shaped by the legacy of the Iraq War and by Washington enabling the Israeli campaign in Gaza.

Meanwhile, the global economy faces blockades in Hormuz and the Red Sea as a potential new Hormuz.

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Tensions between Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Houthis are rising once more, raising the risk that conflict-hit Yemen becomes further drawn into the wider Middle East confrontation now centered on Iran.

Recent military exchanges have broken the relative "peace" that followed the 2022 truce (even as Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping had already intensified from late 2023 in response to the

Several readers of my post yesterday (Medical Examiner's Wonky Conduct in Tyler Robinson Trial) have asked me what I think of the theory that Charlie Kirk's fatal neck wound was inflicted by the microphone or some other audio recording device that appears to be fixed to the upper left side (facing Kirk) of Kirk's chest.

I was already familiar with the theory that it was this device that inflicted Kirk's fatal neck wound.

Upon hearing this theory, I naturally thought of the exploding pagers that were clandestinely deployed on Hezbollah agents on September 17-18, 2024.

Benjamin Netanyahu seems to have alluded to these exploding pagers when he gifted President Trump a gold-plated pager on February 4, 2025.

In this incident, the pager batteries were packed with six grams of military grade high explosive that created a high energy blast, killing or maiming the Hezbollah agents who wore the pagers and anyone else who happened

Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected pleas by Donald Trump's Gaza peace envoy to stop bombing the enclave.

Nickolay Mladenov, representing Mr Trump's Board of Peace, held a tense meeting with the Israeli prime minister on Monday after the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) killed dozens of Palestinians in air strikes over the weekend.

The strikes followed the publication of the Board's new weapons decommissioning agreement with Hamas, which also included a "phased Israeli withdrawal" from Gaza.

Israel has remained defiant. According to Israeli media, Mr Netanyahu refused to end Israel's assassination campaign against Hamas members involved in the massacre on Oct 7 2023.

The prime minister also signalled that Israeli troops would not withdraw from Gaza in the manner stipulated under the new deal.

Israel later killed two Palestinians in a strike on Gaza.

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The Israeli government has once again delayed committing to a framework that could advance a broader ceasefire and political settlement in the Gaza Strip, underscoring a long-standing pattern of rejecting or revising agreements under domestic political pressure. While international mediators continue efforts to secure a durable end to the conflict, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made clear that his government has not approved the latest U.S.-backed proposal, despite reported assurances that any Israeli withdrawal from Gaza would only begin after the complete disarmament of Hamas.

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The latest developments come as Gaza continues to endure one of the gravest humanitarian catastrophes in its modern history. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, the war has resulted in more than 73,000 deaths and over 174,000 injuries since October

Economic change in India is usually told through statistics.

Growth rates, foreign investment, digital payments, infrastructure projects and the expansion of the technology sector all contribute to a narrative of a country 'developing' and moving rapidly into the future.  

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The ideology of 'development' aside (see The Agrarian Imagination for a biting critique), critical observers will be aware that statistics can be manipulated and reveal only part of a story. Moreover, they may tell us about economic output while saying little about the everyday realities of the people who produce, transport, sell and consume the goods and services that keep a country functioning.  

And they rarely capture the neighbourhoods where