The Gulf, Israel, Iran, and the wars and energy politics that meet the Red Sea and the Mediterranean.
Turkey and Qatar signed a mutual defence agreement in Istanbul on 13 November, weeks after Turkey ratified the Mecca pact with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. The text has not been published, Turkish troops are already in Doha, and a less-noticed mediation deal links the two countries’ peace diplomacy in Africa.
Houthi missiles and drones are hitting Riyadh, the East-West pipeline and Yanbu, the route Saudi Arabia relies on while Hormuz is shut. With Saudi tankers kept out of the Bab el-Mandeb, the crude now travels via Egypt and around Africa. This tracker logs each development and separates what is confirmed from what each side claims.
A Riyadh court has ordered 100 lashes for Esther Wanja Muthoni, a Kenyan domestic worker, for giving birth outside marriage. Nairobi calls the sentence cruel but defers to Saudi sovereignty. Its July recruitment deal does not reach criminal law, birth papers or legal aid, and formal remittances from Saudi Arabia have fallen by more than half in a year.
Saudi Arabia says falling shrapnel caused only minor damage to an Aramco building in the capital's financial district, but verified footage suggests a heavier hit. The attack shows how far the Houthis' campaign against the kingdom has spread since Yemen's truce collapsed in July.
Benjamin Netanyahu remains Israel’s caretaker prime minister after his bloc lost its majority in the October 27 election. President Isaac Herzog has given Gadi Eisenkot the first mandate to form a government, but 67 recommendations do not yet amount to a coalition.