Houthis' Saudi blockade, oil prices, India's Gen Z and Taco Bell lawsuits
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Hi, I'm Kim Vinnell in Whanganui, New Zealand. It's Tuesday, July 21. Today, Yemen's Houthis enter the Middle East conflict, announcing a shipping embargo on Saudi Arabia that could choke off even more of the world's oil supply. In the US, people who got sick from contaminated food are suing. Gen Z protests turn violent in India.
How are Yemen's Houthis threatening a Saudi naval blockade in the Red Sea?
And the woman who captured the now viral video of Jimothy gives her take on why he's become such a hit. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, seven days a week. The conflict between the US and Iran may be opening a dangerous new front. Yemen's Houthis, who are aligned with Iran, are threatening a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, stopping their oil shipments getting through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. That could further impact global oil supplies, with the other oil route out of the region, the Strait of Hormuz, closed again. Reuters Saudi Arabia correspondent Timur Azari is in Riyadh.
So the key question is, will the Houthis implement this with fire? It's important to note they have only said they will target Saudi ships, not all international shipping as they did before. And they've also not said that they will close the Bab al-Mandib, that's right. But it's potentially incredibly significant, both for Saudi Arabia and the global economy, because for Saudi Arabia, the Red Sea has become the key oil outlet, filling the coppers of the Saudi state while other Gulf states, you know, struggle.
While the Saudis lead a coalition in Yemen that's fought against the Houthis, they have had a truce in place for years. And Timur says Riyadh doesn't want this to escalate.
We've seen statements from the Saudi foreign ministry where they condemn this. They say that they will respond appropriately if they need to. It's a statement that was quite calm and measured. And so they're not trying to pour fuel on this fire.
Tehran and Washington are also showing signs of trying to find a diplomatic end to their conflict, with Iran's foreign ministry saying mediators have presented them with proposals. While you may have felt the impact of the world's oil supply being disrupted during the now five months of conflict, it turns out oil prices have actually remained surprisingly low compared to what analysts expected. Our European and Middle East energy editor Dmitry Zudanikov explains.
So China is the world's biggest consumer. It's buying a huge amount of oil, like 15% of global oil. ends up in China. At some point, China decided, we don't want to do this. Citizen adapted to the crisis by simply going electric, by choosing public buses or by doing share ride on taxis. And as a result, the Chinese demand, the Chinese imports of crude fell by a huge number, by 5 million barrels per day. That's 5% of global demand. And on top of that, the United States kept on increasing oil production. and released a lot of reserves from strategic stocks.
In other markets news, the US is slapping a 50% tariff on a wide range of Canadian products, from wine to hockey sticks to cement. President Trump is using a nearly century-old trade law, citing what the White House calls Canada's discriminatory treatment of American cars, alcohol and dairy industries. The announcement comes as the US and Mexico, without Canada, sit down today to discuss renegotiating the US-Mexico-Canada trade deal.
Britain needs to show the world that we can regain our stability once again.
In the UK, newly sworn in Prime Minister Andy Burnham is promising a new era. And as part of that, he unexpectedly announced John Healey, a former defence minister, as the new finance minister, known in the UK as the Chancellor of the Exchequer. For how markets are reacting to that, check out our sister markets podcast, MorningBid, wherever you get your podcasts. A judge has hit pause on Paramount's proposed $110 billion-plus takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery. That gives the dozen states fighting the move, claiming the merger would give the company too much power, an early win.
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