In the shadow of a waterway that carries a tenth of the world's commerce, Britain has extended its hand to Saudi Arabia — not with weapons aimed outward, but with fuel to keep defensive aircraft aloft. Prime Minister Andy Burnham, traveling to the United Nations as the Houthis tighten their grip on Red Sea chokepoints, approved a time-limited RAF refuelling mission that speaks to how deeply intertwined security, trade, and alliance have become in the modern world. The decision is small in scale but large in signal: that London, mindful of how distant conflicts can unravel global markets, will