Ally Sentnor, Ary Borges and Taylor Suarez scored in Angel City’s 3-1 victory over the Seattle Reign on Wednesday night at BMO Stadium.
In the 18th minute, Angel City midfielder Maiara Niehue’s volley attempt drew a handball on Seattle Reign midfielder Angharad James-Turner. Sentnor converted her second penalty kick in consecutive weeks to open the scoring.
Off a corner kick from defender Evelyn Shores in the 40th minute, an unmarked Borges headed it home to double the lead. Within 30 seconds of subbing on, Suarez raced past multiple defenders and placed it in the side-netting for the 3-0 lead in the 81st minute.
Defender Sofia Huerta’s long-range blast in stoppage time provided the Reign with their lone goal of the game.
Angel City (10-8-6) is unbeaten four matches unbeaten and now only trails the Reign by a point for the last spot in the playoffs. The loss ended a three-game winning streak for Seattle (11-9-4).
Cal Raleigh had two hits and three RBIs, Josh Naylor had two hits and two RBIs and the Seattle Mariners kept their slim playoff hopes alive with a 7-2 victory over the Angels on Wednesday night.
Randy Arozarena also walked, singled and scored three runs for Seattle, which is 5 1/2 games behind Texas and Houston in the American League West and 6 1/2 games behind the Chicago White Sox for the third AL wild-card spot with nine games left.
It was 2-2 when Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi (1-6) walked Arozarena and Dominic Canzone with one out in the fifth. Raleigh roped an RBI double to left for a 3-2 lead, and Julio Rodriguez was walked intentionally to load the bases.
Angels first baseman Vaughn Grissom made a sliding, backhand stop of Naylor’s potential double-play grounder, but his throw to second sailed into left field for an error, two runs scoring on the play for a 5-2 Seattle lead.
Mariners reliever Carlos Vargas (1-0) struck out Josh Lowe and Christian Moore — each on three pitches — with the bases loaded to end the bottom of the fifth, and Seattle pushed the lead to 7-2 on RBI singles by Canzone and Raleigh in the sixth.
Kikuchi threw 37 pitches during a two-run, three-hit first in which the Mariners scored on Raleigh’s sacrifice fly and Naylor’s RBI single.
Below-par showings were forgiven last season as Celtic simply just had to get by to stay in touch at the top before eventually leapfrogging Heart of Midlothian on the final day with a seventh successive league victory.
That Premiership-winning streak has been extended to 13 games following six straight victories to start the campaign, but concerns about performance level remain. Four of those six wins have been by a one-goal margin.
Twelve goals over three wins at Kilmarnock, Dundee United and in the first leg of the Champions League play-off against LASK sent an ominous warning to Celtic’s domestic rivals amid a period of high spending, particularly in forward areas.
Camilo Duran has been the standout summer recruit so far with six goals and three assists in 10 appearances, while record signing Kasper Hogh and fellow big-money arrival Haissem Hassan are yet to fully settle.
Sutton said his old club have been “flat-track bullies” by “beating the teams you expect them to beat”, but the collapse in Austria, plus Sunday’s bruising loss, has highlighted glaring deficiencies.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Monday Night Club, former striker Sutton also expressed his “great concerns” for O’Neill’s men and said they have “big issues” after a “lightweight” midfield was “run all over” by Rangers.
Celtic have struggled to build up play against coherent pressing teams, which results in opposition sides being offered too much encouragement when the ball turns over.
They faced a whopping 60 shots across both legs with LASK. Forty of them came in a mess of a second leg. In the Premiership alone this season, they have faced 64 attempts, the same number as Hearts and six more than Rangers.
Over just six games, that tally already makes up almost a quarter of the total they faced in the entirety of the 2024-25 league-winning campaign under Brendan Rodgers.
That said, in comparison to last term, which was overseen by Rodgers, Nancy and O’Neill, Celtic’s Premiership numbers show they are currently averaging a far better goal concession rate while scoring and shooting more.
Come Sunday, though, the most crucial statistic could be in the points column.
With a rapid rematch against Rangers offering the chance to move eight points clear of their city rivals after a test against European-level opposition, the next four days will at least be mood-shifting.
Whether that is to O’Neill’s benefit remains unclear.
Sydney: Australia will reduce migration by curbing “visa hopping”, tightening rules on students and working holiday makers as well as cracking down on overstayers, its interior minister said Thursday, as the far-right surges in the polls.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told the National Press Club in Canberra that immigration was “fundamentally a strength” for Australia, but accepted that housing pressures required changes.
He denied his ruling Labor party was tightening visa rules in response to the rise of One Nation, which has become one of the country’s most popular parties this year with pledges to drastically slash migration. Business groups warned such cuts would cause economic damage.
“We need immigration to soften enough that housing has a chance to catch up,” he said, while stressing the housing shortage was not caused by migrants.
Net overseas migration – the net gain or loss to the population through movement to and from Australia – reached a peak of 538,000 in 2022 after a surge in arrivals when borders re-opened after the Covid-19 pandemic.
Numbers fell to 292,100 in the year to March, data on Thursday showed.
Burke said this was 47 percent below the post-Covid peak — and that policy changes would help to reach a target of 225,000 for next year.
Australians want to know the government was “taking control” of migration but also “being decent about it”, he said.
Students are the largest group of arrivals, with 753,000 international students in Australia, most from China and India, data shows.
Under the new rules, family members seeking to join students in Australia will face new curbs and it will become harder for students to move between courses to extend their stay, Burke said.
A backlog of applications from the UK for working holiday visas would continue to be processed slowly after a record 80,000 applications — a matter that is under discussion with the UK government, he said.
Working holiday makers in rural areas will enter a ballot to stay for a second or third year, with just 5,000 visas available for the latter.
Family members seeking to visit Australians will have “no further stay” conditions attached to their temporary visas.
Migrants with construction and housing skills will be prioritised for visas, he said.
Australia would return to a policy of a decade earlier in which visa overstayers were given two weeks to leave the country or face detention and deportation, he said.
An additional 100 compliance officers and 250 more beds in immigration detention centres would show there are consequences to overstaying a visa, he said.
But he stressed “this is not the sort of operation that some people have seen on TV happening in other countries” — a nod to hardline immigration policies in the United States.
A third of Australia’s resident population of 27.6 million was born overseas, the latest census data shows.
Ospreys will be “stoked” if the new quartet make an impact like Smith did in his first season.
Wales might also be watching with interest after the signing of former Wallabies captain Wright.
The 28-year-old has won six caps but, courtesy of his grandfather from Pembroke, will be eligible to play for Steve Tandy’s side next summer.
That opens up the possibility of Wright targeting a World Cup spot, but the forward is concentrating on Ospreys after injury torment since a shoulder blow suffered playing against Wales in 2024.
“I know that I want to get myself back playing good enough footie and consistent enough footie to push for international honours again,” he told Scrum V.
“I’ve always imagined that for Australia, I didn’t come over here because of the Welsh heritage and trying to flip.
“But given my journey, it would be irresponsible to try and think too far ahead. I want to play good footie for Ospreys and put a lot of minutes under my belt, making sure that I am loving footie again.”
Brian Wolfe, a standout pitcher at Servite who played three seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays, has died at age 45, his wife shared Tuesday on Facebook.
“I’m am sorry to write this but after a really really difficult and torturous battle Brian Wolfe passed away early this morning,” Rachell Wolfe wrote.
No other details have been provided.
Wolfe was one of Orange County’s most dominant high school pitchers during the late 1990s. After going 8-0 with an ERA of 0.27 as a sophomore in 1997, he was the Friars’ ace the next two seasons.
Honored both years as a member of The Times’ All-Orange County team, Wolfe went 11-2 with a 1.37 ERA and a county-best 139 strikeouts as a junior and was 12-0 with a 1.30 ERA and nearly 100 strikeouts as a senior.
After committing to Cal State Fullerton in the fall of 1998, Wolfe opted to sign with the Minnesota Twins organization after being drafted in the sixth round (179th overall) the following summer. He spent the next several years working his way up through the minor leagues with the Twins, Milwaukee Brewers and Blue Jays before making his major league debut with Toronto as a relief pitcher in 2007.
Wolfe appeared in 72 games over three seasons with the Blue Jays, compiling a 5-5 record and a 3.81 ERA in 82.2 innings pitched. He became a free agent after the 2009 season and spent the next nine years playing in Japan with Nippon Professional Baseball, playing for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (including the 2013 season as teammates with Shohei Ohtani), Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (winning the Japan League title in 2014 and 2015) and Saitama Seibu Lions.
Former MLB outfielder Brandon Barnes posted a tribute to Wolfe on Wednesday, calling his fellow Orange County native “one of my best friends and a mentor.”
CINCINNATI — Dodgers left-hander Blake Snell left his start against the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday after one inning, with what the team identified as left groin tightness.
Snell gave up one hit, a single to Sal Stewart, which he quickly erased with a successful pick-off that caught Stewart in an inning-ending run-down.
Snell threw 19 pitches. Blake Treinen replaced him in the second inning.
Wednesday marked Snell’s eighth start of the season. His 2026 debut was delayed by shoulder fatigue. After one start, he landed back on the injured list to undergo arthroscopic surgery to remove loose bodies from his left elbow.
Since returning, he hasn’t given up more than one run in a start. Through Wednesday’s abbreviated outing, Snell has a 1.86 ERA.
Snell has a history of left groin and adductor strains. He spent time on the IL in 2021, 2022 and 2024 for such injuries.
Chelsea chairman Todd Boehly and director Mark Walter have sold their stakes in the club to majority owner Clearlake Capital.
Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss has also sold his stake, meaning Clearlake – led by co-founders Behdad Eghbali and Jose E. Feliciano – have now acquired full control of the club.
Boehly, Walter and Wyss each had a 12.8% stake, with Clearlake previously owning 61.5% of the Blues.
American Boehly will leave his role as chairman, a position he has held since 2022, when the consortium bought the club for £2.3bn from Roman Abramovich, who was sanctioned by the UK government in March 2022 over alleged links to Russian president Vladimir Putin – something he has denied.
Multiple sources said talks started within Chelsea‘s ownership group after a rift, first apparent in 2024, led both sides to explore buying each other out.
Boehly, who is a co-owner of baseball franchise the Los Angeles Dodgers, said it had been an “honour” to serve as Chelsea chairman.
“I would like to thank the many who helped secure a bright future for the club, including the English Premier League, the coaches and players, the talented leadership and staff at Chelsea, and the legions of dedicated fans,” he added.
“I have valued my partnership with Clearlake and the wider ownership group, and the collective decisions and investment we have made to support the immediate and long-term success of the club. I am confident that Chelsea is well positioned for continued success under Clearlake’s leadership.”
Fog Walk is a seasonal outdoor entertainment destination combining nature and relaxation. Runs until Feb. 28. For more details, visit abha.platinumlist.net.
Joe Buck will call his seventh Super Bowl in February. It will be his first with ESPN — and, it turns out, won’t be his last.
The “Monday Night Football” play-by-play announcer and the network agreed to a six-year, $108-million extension, according to the Athletic. Buck’s deal was set to expire following this season.
Super Bowl LXI at SoFi Stadium will be broadcast on ESPN and simulcast on Disney sister network ABC. It will be the first Super Bowl on ESPN and the first on ABC since Super Bowl XL, which followed the 2005 season. The game is scheduled to rotate back to ESPN/ABC in February 2031.
While Buck seems locked in for that Super Bowl LXV broadcast, his longtime booth partner may not be — at least not yet. The Athletic reports that color commentator Troy Aikman remains unsigned beyond this season.
When asked about the contract situations for Buck and Aikman, an ESPN spokesperson directed The Times to a statement executive vice president of communications Josh Krulewitz gave to the Athletic.
“With this historic season for ESPN now underway, our entire focus is on bringing fans the best possible football coverage, culminating with our first Super Bowl,” Krulewitz said. “To that end, we won’t be addressing talent contract specifics publicly before the Super Bowl.”
Buck broke into broadcasting in 1989, calling games for the Louisville Redbirds, a minor-league affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. Two years later, he joined his father, Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famer Jack Buck, in the radio and TV booths for the Cardinals’ games.
In 1994, Buck was hired by Fox Sports. He eventually became the network’s top play-by-play voice for the NFL and MLB, calling 24 World Series and six Super Bowls for the network. Buck joined his father in the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2022.
Buck and Aikman have been calling football games together since 2002 and left Fox for ESPN together before the 2022 season. Last season, “Monday Night Football” averaged 15.8 million viewers per game, the second-best ratings in ESPN’s 20 seasons of broadcasting the franchise (it averaged 17.4 viewers in 2023).
LONDON: UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband last week fired the starting gun on efforts to end British trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The government plans to introduce legislation within six to nine months. The question now is whether Britain’s existing customs and sanctions infrastructure is equipped to distinguish and block such trade.
“In a word, no,” one customs expert told Arab News, pointing to the difficulties Britain faced after leaving the EU.
“Obviously, the scale was completely different.”
UK trade with Israel totaled about £6 billion last year, while trade involving West Bank settlements amounted to just over £8 million, according to the Israel Manufacturers’ Association. By comparison, UK-EU trade runs into hundreds of billions of pounds annually.
“But you do not have the issue of needing to distinguish between two economies,” the customs expert added.
That distinction lies at the heart of the enforcement challenge.
For years, campaigners have warned of the difficulties in reliably distinguishing goods originating inside Israel from those produced in settlements in the occupied West Bank.
“This is why the obvious answer is to simply sanction all Israeli goods,” a legal academic told Arab News, arguing that such an approach would be easier to enforce.
Such a step, however, would go significantly beyond the government’s stated policy. Miliband and the government have sought to distinguish their opposition to settlements from opposition to Israel itself.
Sources familiar with briefings between Foreign Office officials and the British Embassy in Tel Aviv told The Times that officials had raised concerns about the practical difficulties of enforcing a settlement-specific regime.
One source told the newspaper that ministers had been warned policing the measures would be difficult because of problems tracing the precise origin of shipments.
Those concerns were underlined shortly before Miliband’s announcement when the nonprofit legal group Global Echo threatened legal action against HM Revenue and Customs.
Goods produced in Israeli settlements have been excluded from preferential tariff treatment under the UK-Israel trade agreement since 2005.
Global Echo, however, says weaknesses in the system have allowed settlement products to enter European markets while being declared as Israeli goods.
Its investigation analyzed more than 30,000 export documents over a nine-year period up to February this year and found that about one in six agricultural shipments listed as Israeli were in fact products originating in settlements.
“Global Echo identifies a number of Israeli exporting companies that its evidence reveals have exported settlement goods to the UK and asks HMRC to explain whether it has taken any steps to check, investigate or verify preferential tariff claims made in respect of those products, and, if so, what those inquiries found,” the group said.
“Should HMRC fail to adequately address these concerns, Global Echo plans to pursue legal action.”
Not everyone considers enforcement an impossible task.
Amnesty International has strongly backed restrictions on trade with Israeli settlements, arguing that they “are at the heart of Israel’s illegal occupation and system of apartheid — and the trade that sustains them must be stopped.”
It has pointed to the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation and the Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation, which already have powers to impose civil and criminal penalties and have been used to enforce sanctions against Russia since 2022.
HMRC and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office declined to comment to Arab News.
However, Arab News understands the government regards enforcement as a priority as it seeks to curb economic activity supporting settlements, which Britain considers illegal under international law.
Government sources have stressed that strong action could be taken against companies and individuals that breach the measures, including the potential confiscation of assets deemed to be the proceeds of crime.
The customs expert warned, however, that the effectiveness of the policy would depend on how clearly the government explains the rules to the companies moving goods and processing the accompanying paperwork.
“My experience from Brexit leaves me concerned,” the expert said.
LONDON: Pope Leo XIV expressed satisfaction with Jordan’s preparations for the 2,000th anniversary of Jesus Christ’s baptism in the Jordan River, according to a Jordanian priest on Wednesday.
Fr Rifat Bader, director of the Catholic Center for Studies and Media in Jordan, described the meeting with the pope in Rome last week to the Jordan News Agency as taking place in a “friendly and spiritual atmosphere.”
The Jordanian priest returned this week from a two-day religious dialogue platformed at the Vatican. The Interreligious Platform for Dialogue and Cooperation in the Arab World, affiliated with the International Dialogue Center, held its meetings early this month. The Jordanian delegation included Sheikh Omar Rousan of the department of fatwas.
The 2,000th anniversary of the revered event is scheduled for 2030 and will take place at Christ’s baptismal site, also known as Bethany Beyond the Jordan, a UNESCO World Heritage site that attracts Christian pilgrims and other visitors.
Jordan is home to many important Christian sites, including Mount Nebo in the Madaba governorate, where the Bible says Moses saw the Promised Land before he died.
In the past 24 hours there has been a backlash against Gabriel and his family, for the direction he is taking and around his professionalism and attitude.
Sources close to the player believe this is massively unfair and overlooks the dedication and commitment which means he is so well-regarded by so many clubs.
In addition, he is not the first young player to have a difference of opinion over their future direction with their club.
Jadon Sancho was 17 when he stopped training at City to force through a £10m move to Borussia Dortmund in the belief that he would play more often in Germany than under Pep Guardiola.
Morgan Rogers was Barry’s team-mate in the West Brom side that reached the FA Youth Cup semi-final in 2019. Within three months he had left for City, a move completed on his 17th birthday.
Sources feel that, in meetings with the United hierarchy that led to Gabriel committing his short-term future to the club last summer, promises were made over his career path that have not been kept.
He did start to appear in senior training sessions, initially under Ruben Amorim and then Michael Carrick, but speculation around a senior debut last season, which could only be in the FA Cup, was doused by Under-18s coach Darren Fletcher, who had by now taken the senior team manager’s role on an interim basis following Amorim’s dismissal. Fletcher felt it was too early for Gabriel.
It had been anticipated that Gabriel would feature during United’s pre-season programme.
His absence from the trip to Helsinki for a meeting with Wrexham on 18 July was put down to the date he returned for pre-season training.
He was part of every squad after that, but played only once, for eight minutes against Atletico Madrid in Stockholm.
Did that lack of action sow the seeds of discontent? Gabriel travelled to Trondheim for a meeting with Rosenborg on 24 July. Carrick used 11 substitutes that day. Gabriel was one of two United players who did not come on. Five of those who did have left, either permanently or on loan.
It was noted that 18-year-old Tynan Thompson was given a 45-minute senior debut against Leeds United at Croke Park – another game Gabriel travelled to but was not involved in – three weeks after his arrival from Tottenham.
Nevertheless, it was felt Gabriel was likely to become United’s youngest player this autumn – probably in the EFL Cup.
While the third-round draw delivered an Old Trafford rematch with Brighton, United’s Champions League schedule opened up another avenue.
It is conceivable that Azerbaijani champions Sabah could be the least difficult home game Carrick’s side have this season.
United were 3-0 up at half-time and Carrick had used all five substitutes by the 72th minute.
But Gabriel was not among them. As with Max Dowman at Arsenal last season, Uefa’s registration rules meant that, because he was 15, Gabriel could only feature if he was named on United’s A list of players.
It is not entirely clear why that did not happen. United named a maximum of 25 players, but among them was midfielder Manuel Ugarte, who will not play until after the registration window opens again in January because of a knee injury. Thompson was also on the list.
United coaches have previously suggested that Gabriel is not yet at the physical level required to be a senior player. Sources close to the player reject this.
Instead, they see how Arsenal gave Dowman his chance at 15 and Bayern Munich gave Lennart Karl his debut at 17, and wonder why United are not doing the same.
He became the youngest debutant and goalscorer in Ecuadorian top-flight history at the age of 15 before making his debut in the Copa Libertadores, South America’s equivalent of the Champions League, later that same season.
Later in 2023, aged 16 years and 131 days, he made his second appearance for Ecuador, becoming the second-youngest South American international to feature in World Cup qualifying after Diego Maradona.
A month later, he became the youngest South American to score in a World Cup qualifier in a 2-1 win away to Bolivia.
It was understandable, therefore, that Chelsea believed the attacker, who had two international goals and 18 caps when they agreed to sign him, was destined for big things.
Chelsea allowed him to train regularly with the first team before he was officially eligible to join the club following his 18th birthday.
They also provided security for Paez, his family and the family of international team-mate Moises Caicedo after violence broke out in Ecuador in early 2024.
A few months later, Paez was filmed in a New York strip club while away on international duty.
He initially impressed on loan at Chelsea‘s sister club Strasbourg by winning September’s Young Player of the Month award in the French top flight, but then came in for criticism from then-manager Liam Rosenior.
“We expect more, clearly,” Rosenior said later that season. “I’m tired of using the excuse of the player’s youth.”
Despite Strasbourg’s links to Chelsea through their shared ownership, the loan was cut short after one goal in 21 appearances. Instead, he joined Argentine giants River Plate on a two-year loan spell.
Sources in Argentina expressed similar concerns about his attitude when asked by BBC Sport. They point to a disappointing display in the 1-0 Superclasico defeat by fierce rivals Boca Juniors at the Monumental in April.
Shortly afterwards, Paez was named by club president Stefano Di Carlo as one of 15 players training away from River Plate’s first team, although other sources felt he could have been given more opportunities.
His loan ended by mutual consent after Paez scored once in 14 appearances in 461 minutes for River Plate.
Ahead of the international break, concern has been expressed in Ecuador, having built him up as the country’s next great attacking talent.
Michel Deller, the owner of Independiente, told Hincha Amarillo: “He’s like a son to us. We care about him deeply.
“He’s a good kid who’s had a tough time and has made decisions that have complicated his life.
“We are always hopeful he’ll show his exceptional talent one again but right now, it’s up to him to decide what to do with his life.”
These concerns are not dismissed completely by Chelsea or Paez’s environment. However, there is a belief they are grossly overstated, highlighting he is owed time to grow as a player and person.
Texas quarterback Arch Manning has apologized for his public reaction to a video that was altered by AI to show Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian slapping ESPN reporter Holly Rowe and knocking her to the ground.
Talking to reporters on Monday, Manning brought up the video, then laughed about it and called it “a good one” and “hilarious.”
The next day, the grandson of Archie Manning and nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning posted an apology on his Instagram Story.
“In my press conference yesterday, I made an insensitive comment about an AI video,” Manning wrote. “There is nothing funny about it. It’s easy to say I didn’t mean it, but I know my words and actions were hurtful to a lot of people. I do not take that lightly and am deeply sorry for that.
“I specifically want to apologize to Holly Rowe for what she has personally had to deal with because of my comments. I have a ton of respect for her and appreciate her showing me grace in this moment. I need to do better and will be more thoughtful going forward.”
Rowe posted Manning’s apology on X and indicated she’s not holding a grudge.
“Thank you Arch. I appreciate our conversation about this — which will remain private,” Rowe wrote. “Apology accepted. We move forward with respect and kindness for one another.”
On Saturday, Manning rallied the then-No. 4 Longhorns from a 20-point deficit in the fourth quarter to defeat top-ranked Ohio State 24-23. In the real video of Rowe attempting to interview Sarkisian, the coach yelled a few Texas cheers before rushing away from the veteran sideline reporter to join his team’s celebration.
Glentoran have identified Cliftonville manager Jim Magilton as their preferred candidate to take over from Declan Devine.
Devine left the Oval club on Monday after two years in charge following a poor start to the season.
Assistant managers Paddy McCourt and Tim McCann oversaw Tuesday night’s home defeat by Irish Premiership leaders Coleraine.
Magilton has emerged at the front-runner with the Glens making a formal approach to speak with the Cliftonville boss, with the clubs set to meet in an Irish Premiership fixture at Solitude on Saturday.
The 57-year-old former Northern Ireland international was appointed Cliftonville boss in 2023, succeeding Paddy McLaughlin, and led the club to Irish Cup glory the following year, ending a 45-year wait for the trophy.
Magilton, who previously worked at Ipswich Town, the Irish FA, Dundalk and Melbourne Victory, also led the Reds to the 2025 BetMcLean Cup, beating Glentoran in the final, but lost to Dungannon Swifts in the Irish Cup decider two months later.
JEDDAH: Saudi-Chinese relations are currently in an excellent phase, according to China’s Consul General in Jeddah, Yang Yi.
Speaking to Al-Eqtisadiah, Yi said this year marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, adding that bilateral trade reached $100 billion in 2025.
$100 billion in bilateral trade
Yi said China is Saudi Arabia’s largest trading partner, while the Kingdom ranks as China’s largest trading partner in the Middle East.
Bilateral trade amounted to about $50 billion during the first half of this year, with China’s imports from Saudi Arabia exceeding $26 billion during the same period. In contrast, the Kingdom’s imports from China amounted to about $24 billion.
Yi said trade between the two countries is “very balanced,” adding that bilateral trade relations have remained strong despite regional tensions. He also highlighted the growing economic and trade ties between Saudi Arabia and China.
Chinese firms support targets of Saudi Vision 2030
Regarding mutual investments, he estimated that Chinese investment in Saudi Arabia has exceeded $4.26 billion, while Saudi investment in China is also growing, particularly in new energy, advanced technologies and biotechnology.
Saudi investments also include the culture and education sectors, with Yi confirming that the strength of relations and the depth of the partnership are encouraging more Chinese companies to invest in the Saudi market.
At the same time, Saudi companies are showing growing interest in the Chinese market, with the consul general expressing his aspiration for “more prosperous and fruitful” bilateral economic relations in the coming period.
New energy and artificial intelligence
The Chinese official highlighted new areas of Saudi-Chinese cooperation, including new energy, green energy and artificial intelligence, noting that the two countries have held discussions on these areas in recent years.
The leaders of the two countries have also reached important understandings to strengthen cooperation in several areas.
Government entities, companies, and research centers in the two countries are working intensively to develop cooperation.
This aims to consolidate the Saudi-Chinese partnership and enhance cooperation in artificial intelligence and new energy.
China calls for the Strait of Hormuz to remain open
Yi said developments in the Strait of Hormuz are of great importance to countries in the region and the international community, stressing that China attaches great importance to the issue.
He said China supports a political settlement on the issue and called for an immediate ceasefire, adding that keeping the Strait of Hormuz open and free serves the interests of all parties.
He also stressed China’s support for efforts to find a peaceful solution to the issue, saying this would help maintain stability and security in the region while ensuring the continued flow of trade and energy.
Southern Section Adelanto 25, San Gorgonio 6 Antelope Valley 16, Palmdale 0 Aquinas 13, Riverside Poly 12 Arroyo Valley 14, Victor Valley 2 Beaumont 26, Redlands East Valley 6 Bishop Montgomery 40, Vasquez 12 Cajon 20, Citrus Valley 0 California Military 54, Pomona 0 Carter 7, Colton 7 Charter Oak 25, Duarte 7 Chino 7, Sunny Hills 6 Colony 25, Los Altos 0 Colton 7, Carter 7 Dos Pueblos 31, Oxnard 20 Esperanza 13, St. Paul 6 Etiwanda 38, Los Osos 0 Grand Terrace 12, Eisenhower 8 Hart 14, Saugus 0 Harvard-Westlake 32, Alemany 0 Hemet 18, Hillcrest 14 Heritage 24, Liberty 15 Highland 18, Eastside 6 Indian Springs 32, Fontana 0 JSerra 39, Mater Dei 7 Kaiser 19, Summit 6 Laguna Hills 20, La Palma Kennedy 0 La Mirada 6, Santa Fe 0 Lancaster 27, Littlerock 6 Mission Viejo 25, Aliso Niguel 13 Moreno Valley 34, Arlington 7 Mountain View 13, Rosemead 6 Newbury Park 26, Oaks Christian 18 Nogales 8, Sierra Vista 2 Orange 19, Oxford Academy 0 Orange Lutheran 26, Santa Margarita 20 Oxnard Pacifica 24, Channel Islands 6 Paloma Valley 32, Perris 0 Palos Verdes 27, Inglewood 13 Patriot 33, Norte Vista 0 Quartz Hill 12, Knight 6 Rancho Cucamonga 44, St. Lucy’s 13 Rancho Verde 33, Orange Vista 6 Redondo Union 41, El Segundo 7 Rialto 7, Jurupa Hills 6 Rim of the World 33, Bloomington 14 Royal 19, Moorpark 6 San Bernardino 25, Rubidoux 0 San Marino 15, Gabrielino 6 Santa Paula 56, Bishop Diego 0 SEED LA 34, Yeshiva 14 Shadow Hills 37, Temecula Prep 12 Simi Valley 26, Oak Park 21 South Hills 48, San Dimas 0 Tahquitz 26, West Valley 0 Temescal Canyon 31, San Jacinto 14 Tesoro 34, Capistrano Valley 7 Thousand Oaks 46, Calabasas 0 Upland 15, Chino Hills 0 Valley View 20, Lakeside 0 Ventura 33, Rio Mesa 0 Village Christian 33, Rio Hondo Prep 0 Western Christian 35, Cerritos Valley Christian 7 Westlake 21, Agoura 0 West Ranch 18, Canyon Country Canyon 13 Westridge 19, Pasadena Poly 14 Yucaipa 19, Redlands 18
Intersectional Culver City 34, Vistamar 6 Santa Monica 27, Venice 0
MONDAY’S RESULTS
City Section Bell 34, South East 0 Camino Nuevo d. Collins Family, forfeit Carson 18, Los Angeles Wilson 6 East College Prep 50, Belmont 12 Fremont 36, Dymally 0 Fremont 28, Crenshaw 6 GALA 33, Washington Prep 0 GALA 19, Port of Los Angeles 0 Garfield 21, Huntington Park 0 Granada Hills Kennedy 25, Sylmar 6 Jefferson 26, Manual Arts 6 Legacy 6, South Gate 0 Los Angeles University 12, Palisades 0 Orthopaedic 33, Annenberg 0 Panorama 42, Sylmar 0 Santee 31, Diego Rivera 0 Stern 12, Rise Kohyang 6 Taft 12, SOCES 0 Van Nuys 26, Sun Valley Magnet 0 Venice 49, Westchester 12 Washington Prep 12, Port of Los Angeles 6
Southern Section Adelanto 37, Indian Springs 6 Alemany 32, Flintridge Sacred Heart 12 Alhambra 13, El Monte Arroyo 12 Alta Loma 14, San Dimas 12 Arrowhead Christian 14, Woodcrest Christian 7 Baldwin Park 33, Duarte 0 Bishop Amat 38, St, Mary’s Academy 0 Calvary Baptist 12, United Christian Academy 0 Castaic 14, Vasquez 6 Cerritos 22, Santa Fe 8 Chaffey 7, Don Lugo 6 Chino 26, Montclair 0 Chino Hills 7, Rancho Cucamonga 6 Compton 21, Long Beach Cabrillo 0 Compton Early College 13, Compton Centennial 12 Corona Centennial 43, Corona 18 Covina 20, West Covina 6 Downey 26, Warren 6 Edison 27, Fountain Valley 12 Eisenhower 42, Bloomington 6 El Modena 15, Villa Park 12 El Rancho 32, San Gabriel 6 Etiwanda 20, Upland 7 Fillmore 42, St. Bonaventure 26 Gahr 12, Bellflower 0 Gardena Serra 51, St. Anthony 0 Glendora 68, Claremont 0 Grand Terrace 13, Colton 0 Heritage 27, Rancho Christian 16 Hillcrest 15, Riverside North 12 Huntington Beach 38, Marina 6 Indio 13, Palm Desert 6 Jurupa Hills 19, San Gorgonio 13 La Canada 13, Burbank Burroughs 0 Laguna Beach 19, Rosary 0 La Serna 40, Mayfair 6 Long Beach Poly 26, Long Beach Wilson 7 Mater Dei 21, St. Joseph 6 Murrieta Mesa 18, Temecula Valley 6 Newport Harbor 25, Corona del Mar 0 Nogales 7, Azusa 6 Norco 26, Eastvale Roosevelt 14 Northview 26, Charter Oak 14 Orange 7, Garden Grove 0 Paramount 6, La Mirada 0 Pasadena Poly 39, Ramona Convent 0 Ramona 25, Miller 6 Rancho Verde 60, Citrus Hill 0 Rim of the World 6, Carter 0 Riverside King 39, Corona Santiago 19 Riverside Poly 33, Canyon Springs 0 Saddleback 18, Los Amigos 13 Sage Hill 25, Northwood 0 Santa Ana Foothill 25, La Habra 12 Schurr 34, Bell Gardens 6 Segerstrom 20, Laguna Hills 19 Serrano 19, Lancaster 0 Shadow Hills 31, Desert Hot Springs 8 Sierra Canyon 48, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 14 Sonora 32, El Dorado 7 South El Monte 47, Keppel 0 South Hills 13, Los Altos 0 St. Lucy’s 8, Los Osos 7 St. Margaret’s 41, Irvine 0 Trabuco Hills 13, El Toro 7 Valley View 13, Arlington 0 Vista del Lago 32, Lakeside 7 Whittier 21, Glenn 0 Windward 26, Brentwood 0 Woodbridge 46, Portola 14 Workman 26, Pomona 6 Yorba Linda 25, Anaheim Canyon 13
Intersectional Cleveland 27, Valencia 7 Mira Costa 27, Wilmington Banning 7 Sotomayor 13, Cantwell-Sacred Heart of Mary 6 Torrance 20, San Pedro 13
On Sept. 26, 1983 the Soviet Union’s Oko early warning system reported that the US had launched five intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Lt. Col. Stanislav Petrov, the duty officer at the Serpukhov-15 bunker, broke protocol and refused to report the alert as a confirmed strike. He reasoned that a real US first strike would involve hundreds or thousands of missiles, not five. The system, it turned out, had mistaken sunlight reflecting off clouds for missile launches.
Petrov’s decision to defy protocol prevented an erroneous retaliatory nuclear strike and its incalculable consequences.
“I had all the data (to suggest there was an ongoing missile attack),” he told the BBC’s Russian Service 30 years later.
“If I had sent my report up the chain of command, nobody would have said a word against it. They were lucky it was me on shift that night.”
That Cold War lesson resonates loudly amid growing fear over how AI is being deployed in warfare. A recent appeal has put automation in war back in the spotlight, raising a question that leaves many uneasy: What would happen if a computer — an AI system — were the one calling the shots and it got the response to an attack wrong?
A mockup of a Soviet AN-602 hydrogen bomb (Tsar Bomb) is displayed at the exhibition devoted to the 70th anniversary of Russia’s nuclear industry in Moscow. AFP/File
In an essay published over the weekend, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called for AI model development to slow down and face closer scrutiny. The appeal was not unprecedented but this time it drew rare public agreement from two rivals: Sam Altman of OpenAI and Elon Musk of xAI.
“Over the last few months I have become convinced that fully addressing the risks requires even more prudence — not just investing in risk prevention but pacing the rate of capabilities advancement so that risk prevention has time to keep up,” Amodei said.
A threat-intelligence report published by Anthropic found that a cell based in northern Yemen tried to use Claude (its AI tool) to build guided rockets and missiles, including a ballistic missile with a claimed 2,000 km range and a separate program incorporating a hypersonic glide vehicle.
Anthropic said that it banned the accounts after detecting the activity, although there was no evidence that the group successfully fielded an operational weapon.
War offers no shortage of similar examples, where AI streamlines battlefield decisions or powers surveillance. The Middle East, given its strategic weight and the range of actors involved, has become a testing ground for the technology.
Dario Amodei, CEO and Co-Founder of Anthropic attends the 55th annual World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland. REUTERS/File
Israel has long used AI in its military. Over three years of war in Gaza its forces have reportedly deployed several machine-learning systems — Habsora (“Gospel”), Lavender, Fire Factory and Where’s Daddy — to automate large parts of target generation and strike planning.
The systems mine surveillance feeds, communications data and existing databases to propose targets and recommend munitions and strike schedules. Analysts reportedly went from producing about 50 targets a year to as many as 100 a day.
Concerns over AI-supported targeting resurfaced during the Iran war, after a US strike hit the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ school in Minab, southern Iran, killing at least 168 people, most of them children.
The US has not disclosed whether AI was used in that strike but Adm. Brad Cooper, the US commander leading the campaign, has confirmed the use of “a variety of advanced AI tools” to process large volumes of data, without naming specific systems. He said that the tools let commanders make “smarter decisions faster than the enemy can react,” cutting processes that once took hours or days down to seconds.
“Humans will always make final decisions on what to shoot and what not to shoot, and when to shoot,” he said.
Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of the US Central Command (CENTCOM), salutes during the funeral of American-Israeli hostage Captain Omer Neutra. REUTERS/File
The US military has run AI-enabled war programs since at least 2017. Its Maven Smart System, built by Palantir, helps fuse battlefield data, identify targets and accelerate decisions. NATO acquired its own version in 2025. OpenAI and Anthropic are also competing for military contracts, reflecting the growing reliance of defense operations on commercial AI and the increasingly close ties between the two sectors.
In Ukraine, both sides use AI for data processing and target selection. Ukraine’s former Deputy Defense Minister Yuriy Myronenko told the BBC that AI analyzed more than 50,000 front-line video streams each month, helping “quickly process this massive data, identify targets and put them on a map.”
But as war spills beyond the traditional battlefield into a hybrid, multi-faceted front, AI adoption follows.
In April YouTube banned Explosive Media, a Gen Z Iranian channel that used AI-generated Lego-style animations mocking Western figures — including Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu — while pushing pro-Iranian, anti-US and anti-Israel narratives.
More recently separate media investigations found that Israel had funded multimillion-dollar PR campaigns to shape how AI chatbots, including ChatGPT, answer questions about Gaza and the Israeli military. By setting up fake think tanks and publishing AI-generated papers with no real authors, the investigators said, Israel built a sophisticated operation to manipulate search results and shape public understanding — a shift in propaganda tactics that is harder to detect because it disguises advocacy as neutral expertise.
Throughout history militaries have sought tools that offer an edge over adversaries. But deploying AI in high-stakes environments like armed conflict carries risks distinct from any previous technology.
Part of the concern lies in the technology itself. An AI model trained on faulty or unrepresentative data can generate inaccurate results or malfunction once deployed in conditions that differ from its training environment.
Iran’s Explosive Media propaganda lego videos. Explosive Media/File
AI-supported targeting is a case in point. Where such tools generate targets at scale with minimal human oversight, errors are not difficult to imagine.
That risk grows more acute as AI development moves from decision support to agents that can pursue complex goals with little human supervision. The next step, recursive self-improvement, would involve systems upgrading themselves with decreasing human input in a potentially open-ended loop.
As Jean-Marc Rickli and Tobias Knappe of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy note in a recent paper, agentic AI “is shifting the AI landscape from being a passive, supportive tool towards an active executor that can increasingly define and take courses of action on behalf of a human user” — a shift that, they added, “also raises significant societal, security, legal and ethical risks.”
In this sense, the proliferation of AI, on and off the battlefield, has introduced unprecedented challenges, prompting scrutiny of its impact on moral agency and accountability.
In June the UN held its first Informal Exchange on Artificial Intelligence in the Military Domain. Discussions centered on human rights and international humanitarian law, with nongovernmental organizations pushing for a moratorium on AI systems used in lethal decision-making — such as automated targeting — until robust global safeguards are in place.
The meeting followed a December 2025 UN General Assembly resolution on “Artificial intelligence in the military domain and its implications for international peace and security.” Experts welcomed it as a step forward, despite notable absences — including the US, which voted against the resolution.
Momentum is now shifting to New York, where a factual summary of the Geneva talks is due to reach the UN First Committee during its October session.
The UN General Assembly established the Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence and the Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence Governance in Resolution A/RES/79/325, following intergovernmental negotiations and broad consultations with diverse stakeholders. AFP/File
Despite these efforts, battlefield AI remains governed largely by existing legal frameworks.
Existing international humanitarian law applies to AI-enabled weapons through the principles of distinction, proportionality, military necessity and precaution. Responsibility remains with states and human actors, while Article 36 of Additional Protocol I to the 1949 Geneva Conventions also requires states party to the protocol to review new weapons, means and methods of warfare for legal compliance. US Directive 3000.09 similarly requires “appropriate levels of human judgment” but stops short of mandating real-time human control or creating binding international accountability.
In early September a UN disarmament forum in Geneva concluded three years of work on autonomous weapons, colloquially known as “killer robots.” A total of 128 states reached a non-binding consensus text after last-minute objections from the US and Russia, backing a proposed two-tier framework: prohibiting autonomous weapons whose effects are unpredictable or designed to target humans directly and restricting all others through mandatory human supervision rules.
An ELTA’s BlueWhale autonomous submarine is presented to the media at the IAI’ ELTA Division in Ashdod, Israel. REUTERS/File
Human Rights Watch said that the final text was considerably watered down and the US and Russia remain opposed to binding negotiations. But with 76 states now backing a legally binding instrument, the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons’ November Review Conference looms as the decisive test of whether formal talks begin.
“AI systems will not change that the human is responsible for mistakes but it will obscure that humans feel responsible for mistakes and that can lead to a greater willingness to use force,” Elke Schwarz, professor of political theory at London’s Queen Mary University and author of “Death Machines: The Ethics of Violent Technologies,” told Arab News.
“There is a plausible deniability implicit in the use of AI enabled systems because they are essentially operating in a zone of invisibility.”
Israel offers the clearest example to date. When Israeli outlet +972 reported on the Lavender system it caused uproar by showing AI used not merely to assist analysts but to generate vast target lists — reportedly with only cursory human checks. The system’s scale, its claimed 90 percent accuracy and its use against people in their homes raised fears that human control was slipping and that AI could make large-scale violence faster, more impersonal and harder to attribute.
This handout satellite image by Planet Labs PBC shows the Shajareh Tayyebeh primary school in Minab in Iran’s Hormozgan province on March 4, 2026 after it was hit in the US-Israeli strikes. AFP/File
This marks a paradigm shift unseen in the history of conflict, which, as Schwarz argued, reshapes humanity’s relationship with violence and challenges conventional notions of ethical conduct in war.
She maintains that AI-enabled weapons systems facilitate the objectification of human targets, raising tolerance for collateral damage, while automation bias and technological mediation weaken operators’ moral agency and diminish their capacity for ethical judgment.
“Machines cannot be better at war than humans because machines don’t understand what war is, what it entails and what suffering it produces,” she said.
“They can only contribute to the actions humans decide on in better or worse ways. In my view AI-enabled systems make humans less restraint in using force, not more.
“Humans decide on the parameters. If they want to design a system that is less restraint, they will, if it is perceived to be more effective. A system cannot be a ‘better’ moral actor than the human because it has no concept of meaning for moral decisions. So, humans will not disappear from war with AI systems, but AI systems will change the relationship we humans have to violence. And that will make war worse.”
As a growing number of whistleblowers and experts warn, the risk is that an unchecked race toward superintelligent AI carries real risks to the very humans who built it.
An Iranian drone is displayed at the IRGC Aerospace Force Museum in Tehran, Iran. REUTERS/File
For Schwarz, an AI “doomsday” is no longer far-fetched science fiction.
“I think we have already witnessed a horrendous human cost on account of AI enabled weapon systems,” she said.
“The introduction of AI systems into war has, at the very least, not lead to more restraint, more global stability, less conflict, fewer civilians killed or harmed. Quite the contrary. Children are dying due to war at a staggering rate. This is quite doomsday-ish in my books.”
As comparisons between the AI and nuclear arms races grow sharper by the day, the argument circles back to Petrov and to an ominous question: Would an algorithm have shown the same restraint?
“We can of course conjure up all kinds of awful scenarios, for example if someone decides to put an AI agent in charge of nuclear decision making (which would be ludicrous but you never know) and a data glitch leads to a nuclear threat spiral. But I think things are already quite awful because the technology and dehumanization seem to go hand in hand.”
Anthropic’s Claude offers a similar note of caution.
“What’s not really disputed is that today’s actual military AI risks are the boring-sounding ones: bad targeting data, automation bias, escalation happening faster than diplomacy can respond, systems proliferating to actors with no safety culture at all. The ‘robots decide to turn on us’ framing, if anything, can be a distraction from those.”
ABU DHABI: Of all the memories Jujhar Singh carried home from Abu Dhabi last year, one has stayed with him more vividly than the others: the final slap he took on a night when he made history for India.
On Oct. 24, 2025, Singh became the first Indian striker to win at a Power Slap event in the UAE’s capital. Almost a year later, he is preparing to compete there again, this time against Louis Robinson and with the prospect of strong Indian support at Space42 Arena.
“I remember the last slap I took that night the most,” Singh said. “Returning to Abu Dhabi means a lot to me because the people of India want to see me compete again.”
Singh (1-0) competes at Power Slap 25 Presented by Monster Energy on Friday, Oct. 23, where he will face British heavyweight Louis Robinson (2-0, 2 KOs), currently ranked No. 8 in the division.
Singh added: “India versus England is going to be a huge match.”
Robinson has won both of his Power Slap appearances by knockout, setting up another significant test for Singh in Abu Dhabi.
Singh said: “This time, I’m facing an undefeated competitor, but I want to create more history in Power Slap and give him his first taste of defeat.”
For Singh, another victory is only part of what makes his return to Abu Dhabi significant.
“The Power Slap stage is a huge stage for me personally, and representing my country is like a dream come true,” he said.
That connection to India could be particularly evident inside Space42 Arena. Abu Dhabi is home to a large Indian community, and Singh expects plenty of support when he steps on the stage against Robinson.
Singh added: “This time the atmosphere in Abu Dhabi will be special as my Indian community is coming there in large numbers.”
Indian fans traveling from further afield also have an added opportunity to make the journey in October. A tourism initiative running until Oct. 31 covers UAE entry visa costs for eligible Indian passport holders traveling from India when they book an Abu Dhabi holiday of at least three consecutive nights through participating travel partners or online travel agencies.
With Power Slap 25 taking place on Oct. 23, the event falls within the initiative’s travel period, offering Indian fans the opportunity to combine a visit to Abu Dhabi with the chance to support Singh at Space42 Arena.
Power Slap 25 will mark the third consecutive year that the promotion has staged a live marquee event in Abu Dhabi, strengthening the UAE capital’s role in the sport’s international calendar. That continued presence could also play an important role in Power Slap’s future in India.
Singh said: “The events in Abu Dhabi are very important in increasing the popularity of Power Slap in India as it will give more Indian competitors a chance to compete.”
US correspondence reviewed by Asharq Al-Awsat has revealed that Washington had delivered a warning to the Houthis through what were described as “security channels.”
The precise substance of the warning was not apparent from the correspondence, but it was followed by a clear US assertion that Washington was not negotiating with the group.
The Houthis’ attempt to send a reassuring message that they would not target US vessels appears to reflect an effort to consolidate their position following weeks of military operations that culminated in advances along Yemen’s western coast overlooking the Bab Al-Mandab Strait.
The advance poses a renewed threat to international shipping through the strategic waterway, which carries around 12 percent of global trade.
The US clarification in the diplomatic correspondence came a day after remarks by US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance indicating that there had been communication with the Houthis, although neither explained the nature of those contacts.
Meanwhile, during a UN Security Council session on the Bab Al-Mandab Strait on Tuesday, Washington stated:
“The US supports Yemen’s legitimate government in confronting the Iran-backed Houthi militia. We call on the Houthis to halt their advance, withdraw from the territory they have seized and stop launching attacks.”
On the ground, the Yemeni government is working to raise military readiness in an effort to regain the initiative after recent setbacks on the Taiz and western coast fronts.
Government forces, meanwhile, have made slow but seemingly more consolidated gains on other fronts, including Al-Jouf and Al-Bayda. They have also continued to repel Houthi attacks and respond to militia buildups near Marib.
Government forces are engaged in fierce battles with the Houthi militia, which began escalating its military operations in August 2026.
The Houthis’ opponents accuse the group of violating deescalation arrangements under instructions intended to ease pressure on Iran.
And allow Iran’s Revolutionary Guard to use the group as a means of exerting pressure on the US during the war Washington launched in February 2026, which later intensified after Iran threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz.
Why security channels?
Observers speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat said that the use of security channels does not in itself indicate negotiations, a deal, or even US acceptance of the Houthis’ assurances.
Al-Baraa Shaiban, a fellow at Britain’s Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies, said the Houthi group was attempting to compensate for its lack of regional and international recognition by exaggerating the significance of opening communication channels with the US administration.
Asked about the phrase “security channels,” Shaiban said Western governments routinely maintain this type of contact with militias and terrorist groups.
Such communication, he said, remains limited, takes place outside diplomatic or political frameworks and is confined to sensitive or urgent security matters.
Iranian tactics
Reports of Houthi communication with the US were not treated in Yemen as merely another passing news item.
Many Yemenis sought to understand the group’s sudden move, particularly given that the Houthis’ slogan explicitly invokes “death to America.” The question, therefore, was how the group could simultaneously be communicating with Washington.
Mahmoud Shuhra, a fellow at Britain’s Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the current developments were “part of the Houthi strategy, which is an extension of Iran’s and the Revolutionary Guard’s behaviour and negotiating tactics.”
Shuhra, a former Yemeni diplomat, explained that the Houthi behaviour is based on gradual escalation, followed by a rapid military confrontation.
“If they achieve gains during that confrontation, they then begin offering reassurances in order to avoid being drawn into an all-out war,” he said.
He argued that this is effectively what happened in Bab Al-Mandab.
“The Houthis have now swallowed a very large bite and are trying to digest it,” he said.
The group is currently seeking to consolidate its gains, he added, and needs to offer reassurances in the meantime in order to avoid an immediate response against it.
This, he said, explains the attempt to reassure the US and the wider international community.
The Houthis also routinely seek to isolate their opponents, according to Shuhra, a tactic that has been repeatedly used in the past.
He recalled the group’s takeover of Sanaa, when the Houthis initially sought to reassure all political factions.
Once they had consolidated their presence, he said, they began meeting each faction separately and portraying the others as the enemy, eventually sidelining them all.
“The group now wants to use the same approach at the international level, regardless of how successful it may ultimately be,” he said.
