Two things worth your time this morning.
The Security Council heard on 15 September that Houthi forces are advancing toward the Bab al-Mandab Strait and have reportedly taken several islands in the southern Red Sea. Missile and drone strikes reached Saudi cities on 14 September, and on 12 September drones reportedly from inside Iraq hit Saudi Arabia's East-West Pipeline, shutting it for repairs. That pipeline is the route Saudi Arabia uses as an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz, so its loss narrows the options rather than creating a new threat on its own. At least 125,000 people have been displaced inside Yemen since the start of September and around 2,300 have reached Djibouti. The UN's own caveat is the one to carry: commercial shipping flows through the Red Sea appear unaffected so far. Treat this as a chokepoint and a regional escalation story, not yet a transit disruption.
Closer to home, the Security Industry Authority is consulting on changes to licence-linked qualifications, and two of the questions reach earnings. It is asking whether to make a valid first aid certificate a standing licence condition for close protection operatives, door supervisors and security guards, and whether close protection licence holders should still be able to work other licensable roles through licence integration. Both are open questions at this stage. Responses close at 11:59pm on Friday 23 October 2026, with new qualifications following in 2027.
Full pieces on both are in today's edition.
