Dollar Surges as Iranian Strike Wave and Hormuz Closure Rattle FX Markets

📉 MARKETS — Dollar spiking while the strait stays shut tells you who's absorbing the shock. 📌 LOOK CLOSER: Dollar strength in crisis is capital flight mechanics — but it compresses EM currencies holding dollar-denominated energy debt. With Hormuz at 11-15 vessels daily, import costs are already rising. A stronger dollar simultaneously raises the cost of any off-ramp: Iranian reserves erode faster, Gulf sovereign funds rebalance, and the London Brent benchmark climbs in tandem.

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Iran-Backed Iraqi Militias Refuse Disarmament as US Troops Exit

🇮🇶 BAGHDAD — The US is leaving; the militias aren't going anywhere. 📌 LOOK CLOSER: US withdrawal removes the only external pressure forcing militia restraint. With IRGC proxy coordination active across Yemen and Lebanon, Iraqi factions refusing disarmament signals Tehran will retain a land corridor to Syria post-withdrawal. Baghdad loses

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Pakistan Condemns Houthi Drone Attack on Mecca

🕌 ISLAMABAD — Islamabad condemns loudly; what it won't do is act. 📌 LOOK CLOSER: Pakistan's condemnation is calibrated — strong enough to signal Sunni solidarity with Riyadh, silent enough to avoid entangling Islamabad in Yemen. With MBS in Cairo seeking Egyptian troops, Sharif's statement is a diplomatic

breaking

Houthis Confirm Saudi F-15 Shot Down by Locally Made Surface-to-Air Missile

🎯 YEMEN — Riyadh's air superiority just became the war's biggest open question. 📌 LOOK CLOSER: An indigenous Houthi SAM killing an F-15 ends the assumption underpinning 52 daily strikes. Saudi pilots now fly into contested airspace over Taiz and Dhubab without reliable threat data. Riyadh's

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US House Passes War Powers Resolution on Iran for Third Time

🏛️ CONGRESS — Third vote, same result: the House can't end a war the Senate won't stop. 📌 LOOK CLOSER: A House war powers resolution dies in the Senate — that's been the pattern twice already. With DEFCON 1 active and Trump's electoral timeline driving strategy,

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Iran-Backed Iraqi Militias Refuse Disarmament as US Troops Exit

Pakistan Condemns Houthi Drone Attack on Mecca

Houthis Confirm Saudi F-15 Shot Down by Locally Made Surface-to-Air Missile

US House Passes War Powers Resolution on Iran for Third Time