Latest news for 21 July 2026

SAUDI ARABIA

Red Sea target.

Amid another escalation in the Iran war, the Saudis are now voicing outrage after Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis declared an immediate “maritime embargo” on Saudi ports, potentially closing a major Hormuz bypass that typically supplies 5% of the world’s oil via the Red Sea. (Bloomberg $)

Comment: The Houthis haven’t actually pulled the trigger yet, but they’ve hit enough tankers over the years for captains to know it’s no bluff. A rival Saudi-backed faction in Yemen is now pledging it’ll protect shipping, but those guys can barely protect their own turf. Meanwhile, maybe the only surprise here is it took this long for the Houthis to get involved, in what increasingly risks spiralling into a broader regional war.

UNITED KINGDOM

Burnham in, Miliband up.

Newly installed British leader Andy Burnham has unveiled both his team (Miliband as foreign secretary and Healey as chancellor) and priorities, including continued support for Ukraine’s self-defence, a domestic shift to cost-of-living relief, and rumours of more North Sea oil and gas. (Guardian)

NICARAGUA

No more elections.

Long-time leftist dictator Daniel Ortega is dropping all pretence, announcing his country (due to vote next year) will never hold elections again. (CNN)

Comment: Nicaragua is basically now a family autocracy that stopped holding free elections years ago. But why drop the pretence, particularly with likeminded and nearby Cuba now under so much US pressure? It could be a reaction to a) a more assertive USA, b) a more distracted USA, and/or c) a further loss of support among local Nicaraguans.

THAILAND

Raise the tank alarm.

The prime minister (Anutin) has objected to China’s Xi over Beijing’s recent delivery of 39 battle tanks to neighbouring Cambodia, warning the shipment could disrupt the fragile Thai-Cambodian truce. (Straits Times)

Comment: With China further dropping the pretence of neutrality here, we wonder whether Bangkok will lean more into its own long-running security ties with the US.

SIERRA LEONE

Pipeline politics.

West-African regional bloc ECOWAS has used its Freetown summit to formally back a planned new $25B, 7,000km (4,350mi) gas pipeline connecting 13 nations via Morocco and out to buyers in Europe. (Punch)

Comment: This looks a lot to us like a dual message: first, a reminder to the bloc’s three absent juntas (Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso) what they stand to lose. And second, to those backing the rival pipeline now getting built via Niger to Algeria: this new Atlantic route might be pricier, but still beats the security nightmare of a pipeline through the Sahel. A third signal comes from the regional power actually backing both projects: choose your pipeline, but Nigeria is the region’s indispensable power either way.

UKRAINE

Command shuffle continues.

Ukraine’s military chief (Syrskyi) is now widely expected to get shafted amid word President Zelensky will bow to days of Kyiv protests to reinstate his popular young ex-defence minister (Fedorov) instead. The two security chiefs reportedly clashed over Fedorov’s tech-drive reforms. (Guardian)

Comment: Putin’s propagandists like to frame it all as more Ukrainian chaos, though it’s probably more a reminder that a) protest isn’t even allowed in Putin’s Russia, and b) he probably should’ve fired his own military chief (Gerasimov) after his big invasion first failed.

CANADA

Tariff hardball.

Prime Minister Carney has flagged he stands ready to “intensify” ongoing trade talks with the US after the White House announced new 50% tariffs targeting a wide range of Canadian goods — think consumer items like wine, cheese, and hockey sticks (😲), through to industrial inputs like auto parts and cement. (CBC)

Comment: Trump is betting his 30-day implementation delay will compel Carney to compromise on long-running disputes like dairy and auto quotas. Beyond the Canada specifics, Trump’s new tariff tool is also revealing: by invoking s338 of the 1930 Tariff Act for the first time in history, he’s digging into old statutes to rebuild his court-hit tariff wall for leverage amid USMCA renegotiations.