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• Anti-Houthi forces in Yemen have launched an official inquiry into a sudden military collapse that led to a rapid rout. • Some politicians claim that billions of dollars were offered to persuade military forces to abandon their positions. • The collapse raises critical questions regarding military coordination and morale among the forces opposing the Houthi movement.

Rout raises questions about coordination and morale as some politicians claim billions of dollars were offered to persuade forces to abandon positionA bitter inquest is under way among Yemen’s anti-Houthi forces as to how what was being billed as a decisive assault on Sana’a, the Houthi-controlled capital, suddenly collapsed into a military rout.More than 15 brigades were defeated as the country’s entire west coast fell into Houthi hands. Efforts are now being made to reorganise the anti-Houthi forces representing the UN-recognised Yemeni government in order to capture the Kahbob mountains, a strategic point from which to restrict Houthi forces moving closer to the crucial Bab al-Mandab strait. Continue reading...

Peer takes full-time position at the controversial company as it fends off pressure from both Andy Burnham’s government and Sadiq KhanAnother former government minister has been hired by a controversial US AI company, this time Palantir, which has appointed Andy Burnham’s former ministerial colleague Tom Watson.The Labour peer and former deputy leader will operate alongside Palantir’s UK and Europe chief executive, Louis Mosley, as the company attempts to fend off pressure on Burnham’s government to axe its £330m NHS contract. It is also fighting Sadiq Khan in court over the Labour London mayor’s block on a £50m contract to use its AI in Metropolitan police investigations. Palantir also wants to win more public sector work in the UK, where it already has an annual turnover of £427m. Continue reading...

The US health secretary added that he would’ve made sweeping changes ‘on day one’ but he had to follow the lawAs the death toll from the worst measles outbreak in decades rises, Robert F Kennedy Jr headlined the Washington DC conference of the anti-vaccine organization Children’s Health Defense, which he led for nearly two decades.“Let me be clear. You have a strong and steadfast friend at the White House,” Kennedy, now serving as secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), told anti-vaccine activists at the conference in a nearly hour-and-a-half-long speech. He urged patience, saying that he would’ve made sweeping changes “on day one” but that he had to follow the law in order to make permanent change. Continue reading...

• The Federal Reserve began its September policy meeting on Tuesday to decide whether to raise interest rates on Wednesday. • Investors estimate a 93% probability that the central bank will increase rates by 25 basis points to a new range of 3.75%-4%. • A rate hike would be the first in over three years and responds to solid economic growth and inflation that has not yet returned to the 2% goal.

• The Atlantic Council released its latest Atlas report analyzing the relationship between political freedom and economic prosperity across ten countries. • The report utilizes a thirty-year dataset covering political, economic, and legal developments to evaluate global trends. • The findings indicate that countries that democratize continue to experience greater economic growth and prosperity over time despite a global decline in democratic governance.

Announcement of visa restrictions follows Trump’s false claims of ‘white genocide’ taking place in South AfricaThe US has announced visa restrictions on some South Africans as Donald Trump’s administration continues to claim that South Africa’s government racially discriminates against white minority Afrikaners.The announcement did not specify individuals who were barred from the US. Trump has spent his second term falsely claiming there is a “white genocide” in South Africa and railing against its affirmative action policies. Continue reading...