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What to know about Yemen's Houthi rebels and the Red Sea conflict
The U.S. and U.K. carried out airstrikes against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels on Thursday in response to dozens of attacks by the militant group on merchant and commercial vessels in the Red Sea. Why it matters: The escalation in the Red Sea and the growing U.S. military involvement comes amid fears that tensions heightened by the Israel-Hamas war could boil over into a larger regional conflict. • The U.S. and U.K. strikes — which involved support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands — puts Iran in the precarious position of trying to maintain support for its Houthi partners without risking an ... (full story)