Dunes and gloom: MBS’s annus horribilis

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman faces a precarious year as his major strategic gambles—reforming the economy, securing a reliable alliance with Donald Trump, and managing the conflict in Yemen—simultaneously falter. Despite his domestic social reforms, the kingdom struggles with economic contraction and security threats from Houthi attacks. Meanwhile, convicted FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried remains committed to effective altruism from prison, though he acknowledges the failure of his leadership during the exchange's collapse. Separately, Southeast Asia grapples with a severe haze crisis exacerbated by El Niño, as wildfires across Indonesia choke neighboring nations like Singapore. While governments attempt to mitigate the environmental and health impacts through legal notices and emergency shelters, the economic incentives for plantation burning and the geopolitical complexities of cross-border enforcement continue to hinder effective long-term solutions.