US President Donald Trump has it wrong when he argues the US would be “foolish” to use arms sales as leverage with Saudi Arabia, claiming they could just get their tanks and fighter jets from other countries. In fact it’s one of the best bargaining chips he has with the kingdom, argues Terrence Guay. For his part David Mednicoff posits that continuing question marks over who is responsible for Jamal Khashoggi’s death is the consequence of Trump’s disregard for democratic politics and human rights in other countries. By abandoning support for democracy and civil rights the administration is hurting the interests of Middle Easterners as well as Americans.

Teachers across Iran went on strike earlier this month, citing unsafe and overpopulated classrooms, the embezzlement of public assets and discrimination. The government has hit back by arresting members of the teachers’ union, but the protest has received widespread support. In fact, argues Omid Shams, their brave stand could herald a new era of dissent.

More than half of Kenya’s urban population lives in slums, in extremely poor quality housing with little access to basic amenities. Yet, comparatively, they pay high rentals. Debabrata Talukdar explains that, because there’s a huge demand for low-cost housing, tenants are paying a high price for these bad conditions.