Is Washington leaving Saudi Arabia to fend for itself?

Last week, Houthi rebels launched a series of missile strikes on Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital. Surveillance footage showed a fireball erupting as airport passengers ran for cover. At least fourteen people have been killed and hundreds were injured.

The attack is the latest escalation in a decade-long war between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis in neighbouring Yemen. The Saudis have long relied on financial, military and intelligence support from the United States, particularly in their fight against the Houthis. But Washington so far has shown little appetite for direct involvement in the fighting.

So why is the United States holding back? And what does that mean for the people caught in the middle?

The BBC’s chief international investigations correspondent, Nawal Al-Maghafi, recently reported from inside Yemen and joins The Global Story’s Asma Khalid to discuss why this conflict is escalating and what might happen next.

Timecodes:
0:00 Are the US going to join the Saudi fight against the Houthis?
1:21 Introduction to Nawal Al-Maghafi who talks us through the situation
4:31 How have Saudi Arabia responded?
7:35 Who are the Houthis?
9:39 Why has the US historically backed Saudi Arabia?
13:15 The unpopularity of the Saudi/Yemen war
17:00 Why has fighting re-started since the ceasefire?
18:00 Nawal’s visit to Taiz
21:58 Are the Houthi’s feeling more emboldened to fight?

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A Kenyan judge has started to deliver a verdict in a mass murder case involving doomsday preacher Paul Mackenzie.

Mackenzie and 29 of his followers are being charged with the murder of 191 people, all but one of them children.

His cult is alleged to have forced children to starve to death so that they could “meet Jesus”.

Mackenzie and the 29 others have all pleaded not guilty to murder, repeatedly insisting that nobody was forced to die.

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America’s pain at the pump could have major implications for the future of the war in Ukraine.

US President Donald Trump wants to bring down fuel prices for Americans. One way he’s trying to do it is by reopening the door to Russian energy, reversing a policy designed to deprive Russian President Vladimir Putin of money for his war in Ukraine.

The shift comes as relations between Trump and Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky have deteriorated dramatically. Trump has blamed Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries for contributing to the global diesel shortage, while Ukraine says those refineries are a crucial source of revenue for Russia’s war machine.

So, is American angst about fuel prices changing Trump’s approach to the war? And would importing Russian diesel even make a meaningful difference to US prices?

The Global Story’s Tristan Redman speaks to BBC Verify’s Ben Chu about the fuel crisis drawing together Trump, Putin, Zelensky and the American midterm elections.

0:00 Diesel prices are at a record high
1:02 Introducing Ben Chu from BBC Verify
1:39 Why has there been a domestic fuel crisis in the US?
4:29 Is there a link between the Ukraine/Iran conflicts?
7:42 Trump promised less than $2 a gallon, has he achieved this?
11:00 Is the Ukraine war or Iran war having more of an impact?
12:52 The reversal of US policy towards importing Russian diesel
18:03 Why did Trump make this deal with Russia?
20:23 The easing of the Russian shadow fleets
22:39 Is Russia using their fossil fuel exports to fund the war in Ukraine?
24:38 Is Trump making Zelensky a scapegoat?

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Yemen’s Houthis have warned aviation firms and passengers against using Saudi airports and airspace, after 12 people were killed in an attack on the international airport in Riyadh.

More than 300 were injured in Saturday’s attack on King Khalid International Airport in Saudi Arabia.

The Houthi statement on Sunday did not directly refer to Saturday’s attack, but previously did say they were behind separate strikes on the same airport on Thursday.

Four Saudis, two people from Bangladesh and one person each from the US, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Sudan and Egypt were killed, the Saudi civil aviation authority said.

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