Welcome back to World Brief, where we\u2019re looking at Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping, India\u2019s escalating Cockroach movement protests, and an Israel-shaped roadblock in the U.S.-Saudi nuclear deal.<\/p>\n
Red Sea Strikes<\/p>\n
U.S. President Donald Trump vowed<\/a> to hold Iran responsible on Thursday for future Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabian ships, just hours after the Yemeni rebel group targeted two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea. Although no casualties were reported, threats to another key shipping route risk adding a new front to the Iran war and worsening the already destabilized global energy market.<\/p>\n Welcome back to World Brief, where we\u2019re looking at Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping, India\u2019s escalating Cockroach movement protests, and an Israel-shaped roadblock in the U.S.-Saudi nuclear deal.<\/p>\n Red Sea Strikes<\/p>\n U.S. President Donald Trump vowed<\/a> to hold Iran responsible on Thursday for future Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabian ships, just hours after the Yemeni rebel group targeted two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea. Although no casualties were reported, threats to another key shipping route risk adding a new front to the Iran war and worsening the already destabilized global energy market.<\/p>\n \u201c[I]f they do this again, the U.S. will hold Iran responsible, in that the Houthis are a Surrogate and\/or Proxy of Iran, and major military punishment will be inflicted upon Iran and, of course, the Houthis, themselves,\u201d Trump wrote<\/a> on Truth Social on Thursday, adding that the rebel group\u2014whose official slogans include \u201cDeath to America\u201d\u2014had previously acted \u201cvery responsibly\u201d and \u201cvery professionally.\u201d<\/p>\n Last week, Houthi leadership accused Saudi Arabia of bombing Yemen\u2019s Sanaa International Airport to prevent an Iranian plane from landing; the aircraft was reportedly carrying Houthi rebels who had attended the funeral of former Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Yemen\u2019s internationally recognized government, which is heavily backed by Saudi Arabia, claimed responsibility for the attack; in response, the Houthis launched missile and drone strikes on Saudi Arabia\u2019s Abha International Airport and declared a naval blockade<\/a> against the oil giant.<\/p>\n This week\u2019s strikes on Saudi Arabia\u2019s Encelia and Layla tankers are believed to be the Houthis\u2019 first direct attacks on Saudi shipping since the blockade went into effect. Riyadh confirmed<\/a> the attack on Encelia on Thursday but did not mention Layla.<\/p>\n Tehran has had its eyes on the Red Sea for a while now. Iranian officials have previously pressed the Houthis to close the Red Sea\u2019s Bab el-Mandeb Strait<\/a> if U.S. forces continue targeting critical Iranian infrastructure; on Wednesday, Trump threatened to escalate airstrikes against Iran by targeting bridges and power plants near the capital.<\/p>\n Since around 12 percent of global trade passes through Bab el-Mandeb, the strikes on the Saudi ships risk plunging the strategic route into a similar fate<\/a> as the Strait of Hormuz, which Iranian forces have effectively stalled all traffic through.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Trump told Axios<\/a> on Thursday that he is considering renewing major combat operations in Iran. \u201cI am considering a massive attack, bigger than ever before,\u201d Trump said. \u201cI am close to making a decision. We are all set for it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey haven\u2019t received enough pain yet,\u201d Trump said of Iranian leadership, adding that although Tehran wants to negotiate, it is not ready for a deal.<\/p>\n Global markets have responded<\/a> to the escalatory rhetoric, with Brent crude prices jumping more than 6 percent to above $100 per barrel\u2014the highest level since May.<\/p>\n Today\u2019s Most Read<\/p>\n What We\u2019re Following<\/p>\n More protests to come. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged<\/a> leaders of the Cockroach movement to come to the negotiating table on Thursday to resolve New Delhi\u2019s biggest youth-led challenge since 2014. But rather than agree to talks, the self-proclaimed Cockroach Janta Party called for nationwide demonstrations on Friday.<\/p>\n Over the past week, thousands of people have protested<\/a> in New Delhi to demand the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over repeated exam question leaks that forced around 2 million medical school applicants to retake one of the world\u2019s toughest exams; the leaks have been tied to several student suicides. Although Modi has vowed to fast-track the establishment of special courts to prosecute those behind the leaks, his government has stopped short<\/a> of dismissing Pradhan.<\/p>\n The Cockroach movement is the biggest political crisis of Modi\u2019s third term to date, particularly after Indian police used tear gas and batons to dispel protesters on Monday. Ahead of Friday\u2019s expected widespread protests, the government shut down<\/a> 16 metro stations in and around central New Delhi, where many of the demonstrations have been staged. Modi also reportedly \u200bordered telecommunication firms to block mobile internet services in the area.<\/p>\n Doomed from the start? Trump announced<\/a> a new caveat on Thursday to the United States\u2019 nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia. The agreement \u201cwill be approved, but is totally subject to Saudi Arabia joining the very respected and successful Abraham Accords,\u201d the U.S. president wrote<\/a> on Truth Social, effectively tying Riyadh\u2019s nuclear energy ambitions to normalizing ties with Israel.<\/p>\n The landmark U.S.-Saudi nuclear deal<\/a>, announced late Wednesday, will allow U.S. companies to help the kingdom develop a civilian nuclear program. Although the pact, the text of which has not yet been publicly released, reportedly does not include<\/a> the United States\u2019 usual \u201cgold standard\u201d constraints, which bar partner countries from enriching uranium, Trump wrote on Thursday that the deal will have \u201cno enrichment of material\u201d and only be for \u201cnon-military use.\u201d<\/p>\n But Trump\u2019s inclusion of the Abraham Accords as a prerequisite<\/a> for the deal has cast its efficacy into doubt less than a day after it was unveiled. Riyadh has repeatedly stressed<\/a> that it will only join the accords if Israel first establishes a clear path to Palestinian statehood. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to entertain<\/a> any agreement that eventually leads to such an outcome.<\/p>\n Pay up, Google. The European Union fined<\/a> Google a total of 890 million euros ($1 billion) on Thursday for defying European antitrust regulations<\/a>. One fine, of 460 million euros (around $523 million), penalized Google for favoring its own services in search engine results. And a second fine, of 430 million euros (nearly $490 million), targeted the Big Tech company for using its Google Play store to prevent app developers from steering users toward cheaper offers on rival websites.<\/p>\n \u201cThe best products should succeed because they\u2019re better, not because they\u2019re owned by the company running the search engine,\u201d said Teresa Ribera<\/a>, the European commissioner for competition. \u201cAnd European consumers have a right to be told by app developers where to sign up to the best offers, even when the app store owner does not get a cut.\u201d<\/p>\n The fine is expected to elicit fierce backlash<\/a> from Washington at a time when the White House is weighing new tariffs on the EU; Trump has previously threatened<\/a> to retaliate against the bloc for what he claims is unfair targeting of U.S. companies. Google similarly lashed out at the decision on Thursday, with the company\u2019s global affairs president calling the $1 billion fine \u201cproduct degradation driven by a small group of self-serving complainants.\u201d Google\u2019s parent company, Alphabet, reported its biggest quarterly profit<\/a> ever on Wednesday: a whopping $112.1 billion.<\/p>\n Odds and Ends<\/p>\n