“Compute Diplomacy” was a US strategy to dislodge Chinese companies in the Middle East, and compel cooperation with Silicon Valley AI developers. Bahrain and the UAE hosted large Amazon Web Services data centers, and planned a $30 billion, 5-GW Stargate project. But Iran targeted AWS facilities in the earliest days of the war, knocking them offline for months. Cloud Services is Amazon’s primary profit driver, and is a “dual-use” company that serves a wide range of military and commercial clients. The Stargate project in the UAE is now under review, as the managers wrestle with how to protect the facilities from attack by drones and missiles. China’s “Token Outbound” economy is ramping up, and is ironically in the best position of all to benefit from Iran’s attacks on data centers in the Gulf. Closing scene, Zhejiang, near Wenzho.
Meeks posted a statement to X that while he is firmly committed to Israel’s security and its ability to defend itself, he is concerned about the risk to civilian lives, citing Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, and against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The ranking member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., announced Wednesday that he was putting a hold on the Trump administration’s plan to sell 40,000 one-ton bombs to Israel for a reported price of $2.8 billion.
Meeks posted a statement to X that while he is firmly committed to Israel’s security and its ability to defend itself, he is concerned about the risk to civilian lives, citing Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, and against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“I therefore will not clear this sale at this time. The decision does not diminish Congressional support for Israel’s legitimate defense needs; it reflects Congress’s responsibility to ensure that U.S.-funded weapons are used lawfully, responsibly, and with meaningful safeguards for human life,” said Meeks.
His decision to go public with his opposition, which typically occurs behind the scenes in an attempt to find a compromise, according to The Hill, is based on frustration with both the Trump administration and the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The weapons package, first reported by the Washington Post, includes 20,000 MK-84s and 20,000 BLU-117s. It also includes 20,000 I2000 Penetrator warheads, the Post reported.
Israeli media says the Yemeni advance is an ‘urgent issue’ for not only Riyadh but Tel Aviv as well
The advance of the Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) across Yemen’s western coast and its seizure of the vital Bab al-Mandab Strait has heightened concerns in Israel about the ongoing crisis and the near-total shutdown at Israel’s Port of Eilat, Israeli media said on 17 September.
This shutdown at the port was caused by Yemen’s forces, intensifying in the years that followed 7 October and the launch of a Yemeni blockade and military campaign in support of Gaza, which included missile strikes and drone strikes on Israel and attacks on Israeli shipping.
“Even before the threat to Saudi oil routes prompted Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to seek US assistance, the Houthis had already registered a significant strategic achievement against Israel by almost completely disrupting regular commercial shipping to the Port of Eilat,” wrote the Jerusalem Post.
Israeli media has, in the past, extensively reported on the devastating effects Yemen’s Gaza support blockade had on the Port of Eilat and Israel’s economy.
“Nearly three years have passed … and no solution remains. [Israel] has repeatedly struck Houthi targets in Yemen, the state has provided assistance to the port, and an alternative import route has been established through Aqaba. None of this has brought international shipping companies back to regular, direct sailings from the East to Eilat,” the new Israeli report added.
No Israeli cabinet decision has “defined” the restoration of shipping at the shuttered port as a “security and diplomatic objective,” according to Jerusalem Post.
The outlet calls the Yemeni seizure of Bab al-Mandab an “urgent strategic issue” for Saudi Arabia, but for Israel as well.
“Israel and Saudi Arabia now have parallel diplomatic and strategic interests concerning the same maritime route. From Israel’s perspective, Saudi Arabia’s predicament creates an opportunity that did not previously exist to the same extent: to harness a regional effort around Bab al-Mandab to restore shipping to Eilat as well,” it added.
The Jerusalem Post notes that Sanaa’s new positions allow the YAF to monitor movements and enhance their targeting of vessels.
A new Reuters report claimed Ansarallah told US officials that they would not hit US or Israeli ships, only Saudi ones.
Sanaa did not comment. The US State Department told Reuters it had no comment on the report.
The situation at Eilat Port has steadily worsened since Tel Aviv began the Gaza genocide.
Yedioth Ahronoth reported at the very start of this year that Eilat Port is “almost completely paralyzed.”
“Every morning, workers arrive at empty docks, ready and waiting, and the ships do not arrive,” Yedioth Ahronoth reported.
“The port’s revenues, which previously reached about $74 million a year, have dropped to almost zero,” the newspaper added in its January 2026 report.
Trump’s government, which took the same measure against Ramallah last year, said the move was a result of the PA’s ‘failure to reform’
Washington has banned Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas from entering the US and making a speech at the UN General Assembly, with Ramallah condemning the move as an “unjustified measure” in an official statement on 17 September.
The ban includes Abbas and other Palestinian officials. Washington said its decision was a result of the PA’s “failure to reform.”
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry statement expressed “rejection of the decision announced by the US State Department to extend restrictions on granting entry visas to officials in the Palestinian National Authority and members of the Palestine Liberation Organization.”
It called it an “unjustified measure that contradicts efforts to restore confidence, develop Palestinian–American relations, and create the necessary political climate for implementing the two-state solution.”
US President Donald Trump’s government took the same measure last year, barring Abbas and others from attending the UN General Assembly.
Washington, the EU, and other major powers have demanded sweeping reforms from the PA as part of Trump’s Gaza’s plan, which offers a potential “path” to Palestinian statehood but no concrete commitment whatsoever.
Israel categorically rejects any prospect of Palestinian statehood, and has barred a US-endorsed, PA-linked technocratic body from entering Gaza as part of the US plan for the strip.
On the ground, it is actively working to expand settlements in a way that destroys continuity between Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank, and in a clear effort to split apart the lands that would form any future Palestinian state.
This is particularly the case with the E1 settlement project currently in motion.
Washington’s move coincides with Israeli media claims that PA-affiliated forces may be preparing an attack on Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank.
A late August Israeli report by Israel Hayom alleged that the PA buildup includes an arsenal of “anti-tank weapons” and other arms.
Palestinian forces have reportedly been undergoing training and receiving military support from Egypt over the past year for “post-war” efforts to administer the Gaza Strip – which is still being subjected to genocide by Israel.
However, for the most part, the PA and its security forces continue deep security coordination with Tel Aviv, and Ramallah has significantly aided Israeli operations against the resistance via crackdowns and arrest campaigns.
Some elements of the PA and its Fatah party – such as the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades – remain committed to armed resistance against Israeli occupation.
Following the Hebrew media claims, Israeli War Minister Israel Katz threatened an “all-out war” against the occupied West Bank, warning not only Hamas and other resistance factions, but also the PA and its forces.
“If the security apparatuses of the PA and bodies associated with them launch, or we know for certain that they are about to launch, a 7 October-style terrorist attack against forces and Jewish settlements … Netanyahu and I instructed the [army] to prepare to launch an all-out war,” Katz threatened.
As I reported earlier this week, the Yemen takeover of the Red Sea has changed everything in the Middle East, and things are moving fast now.
[…]
As I write this on September 16, 2026, Saudi Arabia is currently exporting ZERO oil. This is the country with the largest oil company in the world, Aramco, which was started by the United States and today employs tens of thousands of Americans in Saudi Arabia.
There were reports earlier this week that Saudi Arabia’s leader, Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), was under house arrest, but he appeared in public yesterday in a state visit to Egypt, dispelling those rumors.
But that doesn’t mean that there is not currently chaos in the Royal Al-Saud family, and even the possibility that the Al-Saud family could be in danger of being able to hold on to its power in Saudi Arabia. The original name of this area was just “Arabia”, and included what is today called “Yemen.”
Here is a short interview with international journalist Pepe Escobar that was published just before MBS appeared in public in Egypt yesterday, explaining how damaging the Yemen takeover of the Red Sea has been to Saudi Arabia.
Here is another good 20-minute interview with Professor Mohammad Marandi from inside Iran, discussing the question: Is Saudi Arabia Heading for Collapse?
Pepe Escobar has also published a couple of articles on the Yemen situation, but as of this writing I have only found one in German, and one in Spanish, but nothing in English yet.
Here are some excerpts from the Spanish and German articles that were translated online.
Ansarallah now has the luxury of installing a tollbooth — possibly multi – layered — at Bab al -Mandeb, if they so wish.
No less than 25 years after 9/11, the Angel of History strikes another powerful blow. Five years ago, we witnessed the stunning imperial humiliation in Afghanistan , accomplished in a matter of days.
Now, we are witnessing the stunning humiliation of Saudi Arabia—a vassal of Epstein’s Syndicate—in Yemen, also accomplished in a matter of days. Series of humiliations now follow the Empire like a plague.
The widespread collapse of Saudi mercenary groups in Yemen is happening so rapidly that even Epstein’s Syndicate’s mainstream media has been forced to acknowledge it.
Ansarallah’s “Rolling Storm” is taking cities and islands; capturing thousands of thugs; freeing all prisoners—and granting them amnesty; seizing control of countless American tanks and weapons—a “reissued Afghanistan”; and being hailed as liberators of Yemeni land across the tribal spectrum.
And, of course, Ansarallah has now officially assumed full control of the mega-strategic Bab al-Mandeb, or “Gate of Tears”.
The intelligence that underpinned Ansarallah’s Operation Rolling Thunder—described as the largest mass capture operation in modern warfare—was carefully coordinated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The Axis of Resistance was fully aware that, following the devastating Iranian attacks on bases in Jordan, the United States was limited in its ability to assist the Saudis in preventing a Yemeni offensive.
The US Navy had already been effectively driven out of the Red Sea by Yemen’s advanced military capabilities, including hypersonic missiles manufactured entirely domestically.
It seems Riyadh hasn’t learned its lesson.
At the Asian level, Iran’s dual control of the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait (through its allies in Ansar Allah) is being staged one day before the opening of the momentous BRICS summit in New Delhi—which is geopolitically linked to the previous Shanghai Group summit (12 days earlier) and the trip of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Egypt (11 days earlier).
During the BRICS summit, the reverberations of the dual control of the Hormuz and Bab al-Mandeb straits were felt with the special treatment given by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who also received deferential treatment from Presidents Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping.
In my opinion, Ansar Allah’s hold on the Red Sea will depend, to a large extent, on the results of the BRICS summit in New Delhi —which could play an optimal mediating role between two of its members (Iran and Saudi Arabia)—and on the crucial APEC summit in Shenzhen 67 days later, where the three leaders of China, Russia, and the US are highly likely to meet.
In Shenzhen, quite possibly, a New World Order could be established , following the pattern of a Vienna Congress 2.0, where the US would attend as the ‘loser’ in its two wars, in Ukraine and Iran—more so than a Yalta 2.0, which was about ‘three winners’.
In less than 72 hours, the course of history accelerated due to a confluence of events that would normally unfold over several years.
Following a lightning offensive, the Yemeni Ansarallah movement now controls the entire Red Sea coast from the port of Hodeidah to Bab al-Mandab, including Mayyun Island, a volcanic rock outcrop in the middle of the “Gate of Tears”.
Saudi Arabia’s east-west pipeline –the only bypass around the Strait of Hormuz– has been shut down for at least a month following a combined attack with drones and ballistic missiles.
It remains unclear where the attack actually came from: from Iraq, from Yemen, from both countries, or was it a “false flag” operation?
Diplomatic sources in Moscow and Tehran confirmed that Russia and Iran acted as a coordinated duo in New Delhi and were in complete agreement in their rejection of Washington’s war against Iran and the sanctions architecture.
The now viral photo of Lavrov, Wang Yi and Araghchi standing together like old friends only tells part of the story.
Yemen’s advance on the Red Sea is the maritime half of the same story.
Russia and Iran agreed on three points: condemning the US war, rejecting the sanctions regime as a whole, and resolutely opposing the secondary sanctions associated with US Treasury Secretary Bessent, that despicable former henchman of Soros.
In New Delhi, there were indications that the original RIC (Russia–India–China), as conceived by the late, great Yevgeny Primakov, might be revived – now as RIIC, supplemented by Iran.
This is becoming more about platforms watching what people do, guessing who they are, and demanding proof when the guess goes wrong.
The digital ID age verification agenda has landed in Canada. Google has announced it is introducing age verification in Canada. Google Canada’s government-affairs and public-policy director Jeanette Patell announced on September 14 that the rollout will happen over the coming days.
Google will use machine learning to surveil users and estimate whether an account holder is over or under 18, using “signals” from data already gathered and tied to that account, such as “the types of information a user has searched for” and “the categories of videos they’ve watched on YouTube.”
The announcement post by Patell is filled with references to protecting children, but also reveals that the model may produce false positives, i.e., classify an adult as a minor.
As for why an adult would want to “correct” their classification, it turns out that if they don’t, they will be treated like a child by Google.
According to the announcement, those who are “likely” under 18 will get YouTube Digital Wellbeing reminders to take a break and go to bed, as well as “safeguards” that limit repetitive viewing of some categories.
Locals in Indonesia, the Philippines, India, and Thailand object to their countries playing host to troops from an army carrying out a genocide
Residents across South and Southeast Asian countries are pushing back against Israeli soldiers and veterans vacationing in their countries, using confrontations, street protests, and legal complaints to object to hosting members of an army carrying out Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, Anadolu Agencyreported on 16 September.
The backlash stretches across Indonesia, the Philippines, India, and Thailand, which are all favored destinations for Israeli troops who take their army discharge payments and head abroad on extended tours as part of a post-service travel ritual known in Hebrew as Tiul Gadol.
In Thailand, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul this month ordered the expulsion of an Israeli man found guilty of making threats against a zoo owner after the zoo put a Palestinian flag on show.
The man is the first foreign national to face an expulsion order under the country’s new deportation regulations.
Hundreds also rallied outside the Israeli embassy in Bangkok, where organizers accused Israeli tourists of flouting Thai law, disturbing public order, and disrespecting local traditions.
Despite the local backlash, Israeli visitor numbers are still climbing, reaching more than 277,000 between January and August, roughly seven percent higher than the same period a year earlier, according to Thailand’s Ministry of Tourism and Sports.
In Indonesia, Bali gym owner Samir Shafiq told Anadolu he threw three Israeli tourists off his premises in mid-August after they used obscenities in an argument with an Indonesian employee and one admitted to serving in the Israeli army.
In early June 2026, the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) urged Indian authorities to arrest Israeli soldier Eitan Gilboa, accusing him of taking part in the destruction of civilian infrastructure in Gaza.
Mumbai-based political activist Prashant Pundir told Anadolu that Hebrew-speaking cafes, hotels, and Chabad houses have sprung up to cater to Israeli backpackers along the route they dub the Hummus Trail.
On the Philippine island of Siargao, advocate Rich Tuason told Anadolu that frustrated residents fear being branded antisemitic if they speak openly, and that complaints over trespassing and property damage are hard to pursue because “the suspects just fly out.”
“If you serve the IDF, and we all know and have seen these past few years what they did and what they are still doing, yeah, you’re not allowed to come,” Shafiq said.
“I don’t care if you’re Jewish, you’re Muslim, you’re Hindu, you’re atheist,” said Shafiq, who has since faced attempts to brand him antisemitic. “But if you serve the IDF, and we all know and have seen these past few years what they did and what they are still doing, yeah, you’re not allowed to come. You can call me a racist or whatever, I’m okay with it.”
Never-before-seen photos show Iranian missile and drone strikes tearing through US positions across the Middle East, including a direct hit on an E-3 Sentry at Prince Sultan Air Base that severed the aircraft’s tail from its burned fuselage, CBS News reported, citing US soldiers sharing the pics.
The wider damage bill already includes up to $3.7 billion in equipment losses and nearly 60 US aircraft destroyed or damaged.
Buildings and barracks at US bases in Kuwait were left gutted, while Iranian strikes have hit American facilities across eight countries.
💬 “We’re standing there with our eyes closed getting punched in the face,” a deployed US service member said.
💬 “We’re not defending these bases. We’re just watching them get destroyed,” he stressed.
Three of Russia’s six largest diesel-producing refineries are now either shut or operating at roughly one-quarter capacity after Ukrainian drone attacks damaged plants that together form the backbone of the country’s fuel system.
The six refineries—Omsk, Kirishi, Taneco, Volgograd, NORSI and Perm—account for roughly half of Russia’s diesel production, according to Reuters calculations based on market data. Kirishi is completely offline. Volgograd and NORSI are running at about 25% of nameplate capacity.
Taneco was struck Sunday. The extent of the damage there was still being assessed Monday.
The attacks have become routine. The International Energy Agency estimates a Russian refinery was successfully struck by a drone once every three days during the first eight months of 2026.
Russia has already restricted exports of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel to preserve domestic supply. Diesel exports fell below 1 million metric tons in June, according to trader estimates cited by Reuters. Combined diesel and gasoil exports totaled about 1.8 million tons.
A year earlier, Russian refineries were shipping roughly 2.5 million tons of diesel each month, or 3.3 million to 3.4 million tons including lower-quality gasoil. Turkey and Brazil had been taking at least half of available Russian diesel cargoes before Moscow imposed the restrictions.
Those missing barrels are landing in a global diesel market already short on fuel from the Middle East. U.S. diesel prices crossed $6 per gallon last week for the first time, while refining margins have climbed as product inventories shrink.
Russia’s problems also extend beyond refining. The IEA last week cut its Russian crude production forecast to 8.7 million bpd for 2026 after August output fell to 8.36 million bpd, down 940,000 bpd from January.
United States President Donald Trump’s administration is preparing to sell 60,000 highly destructive, 2,000-pound (907kg) bombs to Israel in a multibillion-dollar package which will be funded by American taxpayers.
US media has reported that the Trump administration has approved the sale, which features some of the most destructive munitions in Western arsenals, and has informally notified Congress.
This is one of the biggest US munition packages to Israel and comes after nearly three years of genocidal war on Gaza, ongoing pogroms by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank and a mighty assault on southern Lebanon – which together have killed tens of thousands and displaced millions in the region.
It also comes as the US’s own munitions stockpile has been depleted due to its war on Iran, with the crisis worsened by Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Washington is reported to be on track to deliver a munitions package to Israel that is believed to include 60,000 warheads, including 20,000 MK-84s, 20,000 BLU-117s and 20,000 I-2000 Penetrator.
The sale is worth $2.8bn, the majority of which will be paid for by the US’s Foreign Military Financing scheme, wherein Washington pays Israel from its own taxpayers’ funds to buy American-made weapons and military equipment.
That is about the weight of the entire steel skeleton of New York’s Empire State Building. Or seven times the weight of the iron structure of the Eiffel Tower.
Its mass also far exceeds the most infamous single conventional air raid of the 20th century. The March 1945 Tokyo firebombing, which killed more than 80,000 people in one night, used roughly 1,600 tonnes of bombs.
On a broader scale, 54,400 tonnes is nearly the total weight of bombs dropped on Berlin throughout World War II, and also roughly one-third of all bombs that fell on Japan’s home islands.
(Photo credit: Shutterstock)
(Photo credit: Gil Eliahu)
The Most Revolutionary Act 