The Houthis' shock advance and what it means for the world - podcast

A new front in the US-Iran conflict is emerging around the Bab al-Mandab strait in Yemen, according to a podcast explained by Guardian diplomatic editor Patrick Wintour. The Houthis now control the 50 km waterway on Yemen’s south-western coast, a position Wintour says makes the route effectively the entrance between the Red Sea and Asia. On one side are Yemen and Saudi Arabia, while on the other are places such as Djibouti. He frames it as the second most important commercial shipping route globally, similar in global ripple effects to the Strait of Hormuz. If oil traffic slows through Bab al-Mandab, he warns, interest rates, unemployment and inflation in Europe could rise.