The centre of the danger is in the Red Sea, where Houthi forces based in Yemen and backed by Iran have been attacking freighters with real or perceived links to Israel.
The US has offered protection to shipping travelling through the region, assembling a multinational naval coalition. But President Joe Biden has said he wants to avoid direct military confrontation with the Houthis for fear of triggering an escalation.
Last Sunday, US naval forces crossed that line for the first time, killing all crew on three Houthi boats that had been attacking a container ship. Early this week, as Tehran rejected calls from Washington and London to end its support for the Houthis, an Iranian destroyer sailed into the Red Sea.
Meanwhile, the UK and US were considering a warning about strikes on military installations in Yemen.
How did the crisis begin?
Denne historien er fra January 05, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian Weekly.
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Denne historien er fra January 05, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian Weekly.
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Finn family murals
The optimism that runs through Finnish artist Tove Jansson's Moomin stories also appears in her public works, now on show in a Helsinki exhibition
I hoped Finland would be a progressive dream.I've had to think again Mike Watson
Oulu is five hours north from Helsinki by train and a good deal colder and darker each winter than the Finnish capital. From November to March its 220,000 residents are lucky to see daylight for a couple of hours a day and temperatures can reach the minus 30s. However, this is not the reason I sense a darkening of the Finnish dream that brought me here six years ago.
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I see you
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Rumbled How Ali ran rings around apartheid, 50 years ago
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Trudeau faces 'iceberg revolt'as calls grow for PM to quit
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Lost Maya city revealed through laser mapping
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'A civil war' Gangs step up assault on capital
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