WED 14 OCTMorning3:05 PM

Back to the brief

WORLDFrance 24

‘Growing ambitions’: Dr. Kendall on Houthis’ quest to be recognised as Yemen’s ‘legitimate' leaders

Photo: France 24

What is the strategic logic behind the Houthis’ increasingly high-risk confrontation with Saudi Arabia? “Their experience in the past is that threats pay,” explains Dr. Elizabeth Kendall, Middle East specialist and President of Girton College, University of Cambridge. Dr. Kendall argues that the movement’s increasingly audacious military operations are not merely expressions of ideological hostility or Iranian influence, but calculated instruments of political coercion aimed at securing legitimacy, expanding territorial control and strengthening its…

Read the original report

Opens France 24 in a new tab

WORLDThe Guardian

Israel blocks construction of key Gaza base created by Trump peace board

Israel has not permitted US-led project to house 150 international troops to move forward Israel is refusing to allow a key military outpost project for Donald Trump’s Board of Peace to proceed in Gaza, the Guardian has learned. In early August, the Board of Peace, the international organization authorized in 2025 by the UN and chaired by the US president, issued its first construction contract for Gaza : Louisiana-based Arkel International would construct a military outpost for 150 international troops that would be the vanguard of an international…

WORLDThe Guardian

Trump’s new press secretary faces scrutiny over claims to be a lawyer

Katie Zacharia describes herself as a lawyer but no public record shows she has been licensed in the US states where she resided Donald Trump ’s new press secretary, Katie Zacharia, has repeatedly described herself as a lawyer. But when asked after her inaugural press briefing on Tuesday to name the state where she passed the bar exam, she replied curiously: “when I moved to China”. No public record shows she has ever been licensed to practice law in the US states where she resided, and her answer to reporters’ questions on Tuesday only deepened…

WORLDThe Guardian

Zimbabwean author Simbarashe Kundizeza denies using AI to write prize-winning story

Article in Atlantic claims The Blue Fighter was artificially generated, days after it won Caine prize for African writers The Zimbabwean writer Simbarashe Kundizeza has denied using AI to write a prize-winning short story after an article in the Atlantic said software had flagged it as almost completely AI-generated. Kundizeza’s story The Blue Fighter was announced as the winner of the prestigious Caine prize for African writers on 6 October. Five days later, The Atlantic published an article by the author and journalist Vauhini Vara titled: “Yet…