Maritime Security: UKMTO says guards on a cargo vessel off Yemen’s coast exchanged fire with six armed men in a small boat near the Bab Al Mandeb strait; no damage or casualties reported, while a separate Gulf of Oman incident involved a tanker engine-room fire and missing crew. Red Sea Risk: Houthi officials renewed threats to blockade “enemy ships” and claimed a complete ban on Israeli maritime navigation in the Red Sea, raising fresh uncertainty for shipping and regional trade. Digital Infrastructure: The EU pledged €37m to extend the Google-backed Blue-Raman subsea cable into East Africa, linking Djibouti with Somalia, Kenya and Tanzania to cut bandwidth costs and boost connectivity. Finance & Banking: Stanbic is weighing a wholly owned entry into Ethiopia as foreign ownership rules complicate acquisitions, with Djibouti-based BCIMR also eyeing the market. Labour Mobility: Kuwait tightened domestic-worker recruitment to 10 approved countries and banned many others, including Djibouti, Kenya and Nigeria—potentially reshaping remittance flows. Business & Trade: Ethiopia’s election week also kept the Red Sea access push in focus, while Kenya’s EU-backed digital deals underscore how connectivity funding is becoming a key growth lever across the Horn.