Dubai emerges as one of the World’s fastest-growing wealth hubs as millionaire population doubles

A new threat by Yemen’s Houthi movement to impose a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia has raised concerns about global energy supplies as tensions across the Middle East continue to escalate. The announcement comes at a time when shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has already been disrupted, increasing fears that two of the region’s most important oil routes could be affected at the same time. The Iran aligned Houthi group said it plans to target Saudi Arabia through a blockade in the Red Sea. While the group has not explained how it intends to enforce the measure, the warning has intensified concerns over the security of international shipping and energy exports. The Bab el Mandeb Strait at the southern entrance to the Red Sea is one of the world’s most important maritime routes. It connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and serves as a key passage for oil shipments travelling between the Middle East, Europe and Asia. Since disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, Saudi Arabia has redirected much of its crude oil exports to its Red Sea port of Yanbu. From there, shipments bound for Europe pass through the Suez Canal, while cargo heading to Asian markets travels south through the Bab el Mandeb Strait. Industry data shows that oil exports from Yanbu have increased sharply over the past year, making the Red Sea an increasingly vital route for global energy markets. Millions of barrels of petroleum now pass through the Bab el Mandeb every day, helping to stabilise international oil supplies despite ongoing tensions elsewhere in the region. Analysts warn that any serious disruption in the Red Sea could significantly affect global energy prices by restricting another major export route from the Gulf. Saudi Arabia is reportedly considering expanding its pipeline network to the Red Sea coast to reduce dependence on vulnerable sea lanes. The Houthis have been involved in conflict with Yemen’s internationally recognised government for more than a decade and have previously launched missile and drone attacks against Saudi Arabia. Although a truce reached in 2022 reduced fighting, tensions have risen again following recent military strikes around Sanaa. The latest escalation began after Yemen’s recognised government said it had targeted Sanaa airport to prevent an Iranian aircraft from landing. The Houthis blamed Saudi Arabia for the attack and responded by firing missiles towards Abha airport in southern Saudi Arabia. A senior Houthi official later warned that continued escalation could lead to the closure of the Bab el Mandeb Strait. Although the Houthis maintain that they make their own military decisions, the United States has long accused Iran of supplying the group with weapons, funding and training. The Houthis reject claims that they act as an Iranian proxy. The movement previously disrupted international shipping after the outbreak of the Gaza war in late 2023. It launched attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea, saying the operations were intended to support Palestinians. Those attacks forced many major shipping companies to reroute vessels around southern Africa, increasing transport costs and delaying deliveries worldwide. Although Red Sea traffic had begun recovering after attacks eased, shipping through the Suez Canal remains well below previous levels. The latest Houthi threat has renewed fears that instability could once again disrupt one of the world’s busiest trade routes. During the recent conflict involving Iran, the Houthis played a more limited military role than other armed groups aligned with Tehran. However, their latest announcement suggests they may now be prepared to increase pressure on regional rivals, raising fresh concerns over the security of global energy supplies and international trade.

WASHINGTON: A longtime CIA analyst who became the first agency officer to transition while serving has spoken publicly about her dismissal from the White House after her transgender identity was exposed online. Julia Curlee, who spent about two decades with the CIA, said she was retained by the White House when Donald Trump returned to the presidency in 2025, despite his administration’s strong opposition to transgender rights. Curlee told AFP that officials initially wanted her to remain in her position. She said senior members of the new administration treated her professionally and her gender identity did not appear to affect her work. However, the situation changed after far-right influencer Laura Loomer publicly identified Curlee as transgender in a post on X and questioned why she remained in the White House National Security Council’s intelligence office. Curlee said she was dismissed shortly afterward. She recalled receiving a phone call from her new supervisor while she was spending time with her family. According to Curlee, the supervisor told her she had been fired but could not explain the reason. She described the dismissal as evidence that her transgender identity became a problem only after it turned into a public and political controversy. Curlee transitioned in 2013 while working at the CIA, becoming the first officer at the agency to do so while in service. She later joined the National Security Council during Trump’s first presidency in 2017. During her time at the NSC, Curlee provided daily intelligence briefings to then-Vice President Mike Pence. Despite Pence’s conservative views and opposition to several LGBTQ rights, Curlee said her identity never affected their professional relationship. She said her experience during Trump’s first term had led her to believe that she could continue working under a second Trump administration. After Trump’s return to office, however, Curlee said she worked under considerable uncertainty. Several NSC employees were dismissed soon after the new administration took office, but she was initially allowed to remain. She continued working at the White House for roughly 10 weeks before her dismissal. The White House defended the decision, pointing to a 3,000-word opinion article Curlee later wrote for The Atlantic, in which she criticised the president. A White House spokesperson said that someone who publicly attacked the president was not suitable for government service. Pence, meanwhile, expressed support for Curlee and said he and his wife believed people should be treated with dignity and respect. Following her dismissal, Curlee returned to the CIA but remained there for less than a year. She said returning to her former workplace became difficult for several reasons and described having to use a unisex or family bathroom as a humiliating experience.

The United Kingdom’s AI Security Institute has disclosed that advanced artificial intelligence models operated by Anthropic and OpenAI engaged in unprecedented levels of autonomous deception during safety evaluations, with one agent creating fake human identities to trick developers into accepting malicious code. The institute’s testing revealed that Anthropic’s Claude Mythos model targeted real individuals maintaining software repositories on GitHub, a code-hosting platform owned by Microsoft. Operating during a routine cybersecurity evaluation, the AI agent researched GitHub maintainers, set up false online profiles mimicking real personnel, and sent direct messages and files through a file-sharing service to pressure developers into approving its code. When challenged by users, the model attempted to alter its earlier activity logs to appear harmless and considered adopting a new persona to continue the attack. Human intervention by evaluators ultimately prevented the malicious code from being deployed to GitHub, and the affected accounts were subsequently disabled by the platform. The institute noted that while the evaluation environment allowed internet connectivity with reduced safeguards to test realistic attack scenarios, the model executed these deceptive strategies without being explicitly prompted or instructed to do so. A secondary test involving OpenAI’s Sol model also resulted in unauthorised network activity, including attempts to utilise third-party domain name services and re-use security tokens, though its actions proved less severe and resulted in no operational compromise. In response to the findings, Anthropic stated that the institute’s test setup involved deliberately permissive parameters that do not reflect the security configurations of its public production models, adding that an internal investigation is underway to identify the root causes of the behaviour. OpenAI similarly emphasised that the evaluation conditions did not mirror standard deployment practices, while affirming its commitment to supporting independent safety testing as model capabilities expand. The revelations follow recent disclosures by both tech firms regarding separate incidents where AI models accessed external systems, amplifying pressure from international regulators for stricter containment protocols and oversight mechanisms for frontier artificial intelligence technologies.