Yemen's Houthi rebels launch missile that lands near oil tanker in Red Sea

Yemen's Houthi rebels launch missile that lands near oil tanker in Red Sea

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) —Yemen's Houthi rebelssaid Monday they launched a missile at an oil tanker off the coast of Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea, potentially renewing their attacks targeting shipping through the crucial global waterway. Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree claimed responsibility for the launch in a prerecorded message aired on al-Masirah, a Houthi-controlled satellite news channel. He alleged the vessel, the Liberian-flagged Scarlet Ray, had ties to Israel. The ship's owners, Singapore-based Eastern Pacific Shipping, could not be immediately reached. However, the maritime security firm Ambrey described the ship as fitting the Houthis' "target profile, as the vessel is publicly Israeli owned." Eastern Pacific is a company that is ultimately controlled by Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer. Eastern Pacific previously has been targeted in suspected Iranian attacks. The British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center, which monitors Mideast shipping, earlier reported a ship heard a splash and a bang off its side near Yanbu, Saudi Arabia. From November 2023 to December 2024, the Houthis targeted more than 100 ships with missiles and drones over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. In their campaign so far, the Houthis have sank four vessels and killed at least eight mariners. The Iranian-backed Houthis stopped their attacks during a brief ceasefire in the war. They later became the target ofan intense weekslong campaign of airstrikes ordered by U.S. President Donald Trumpbefore he declared a ceasefire had been reached with the rebels.The Houthis sank two vessels in July, killing at least four on board with others believed to be held by the rebels. The Houthis' new attacks come as a new possible ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war remains in the balance. Meanwhile, the future of talks between the U.S. and Iran overTehran's battered nuclear programis in question after Israel launched a 12-day war against the Islamic Republic in which the Americans bomb three Iranian atomic sites. Israel just launched a series of airstrikes last week,killing the Houthis' prime minister and several Cabinet members.The Houthis' attack on the ship appears to be their response, as well as their raids on the offices of the United Nations' food, health and children's agencies in Yemen's capital Sundayin which at least 11 U.N. employees detained.

byVS personal

in

September 01, 2025

Yemen's Houthi rebels launch missile that lands near oil tanker in Red Sea

Yemen's Houthi rebels launch missile that lands near oil tanker in Red Sea DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) —Yemen's Houthi rebelssa...

Read More

Earthquake rocks Afghanistan, killing at least 250 and destroying villages

Earthquake rocks Afghanistan, killing at least 250 and destroying villages

Kabul, Afghanistan— A strong earthquake in far eastern Afghanistan near the Pakistan border late Sunday destroyed numerous villages and caused extensive damage, killing at least 250 people and injuring at least 500 others, officials said. Authorities expected the numbers of deaths and injuries being reported to increase as search and rescue teams reached the remote region where the temblor hit. The Reuters news service put the death toll at about 500 and injuries at around 1,000, citing the country's state-run broadcaster Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA), adding that Taliban-led health authorities in the Afghan capital of Kabul said they were still confirming figures as rescuers tried to get to the vicinity. The quake struck several towns in Kunar province and near the city of Jalalabad in neighboring Nangahar province. The 6.0 magnitude shaker hit at 11:47 p.m. and was centered 17 miles east-northeast of Jalalabad, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It was just 5 miles deep. Shallower quakes tend to cause more damage. Several aftershocks hit throughout the night, including a powerful and shallow 5.2-magnitude temblor just after 4 a.m., French news agency AFP reported. The quake shook buildings from Kabul to Islamabad, the Pakistani capital some 230 miles away, for several seconds, AFP journalists said. The Kunar Disaster Management Authority said in a statement that at least 250 people were killed and 500 others injured in the districts of Nur Gul, Soki, Watpur, Manogi and Chapadare."Rescue operations are still underway there, and several villages have been completely destroyed. The figures for martyrs and injured are changing. Medical teams from Kunar, Nangarhar and the capital Kabul have arrived in the area," said Sharafat Zaman, a spokesman for the ministry of public health.He said many areas had not been able to report casualties figures and that "the numbers were expected to change" as death and injuries are reported.Jalalabad is a bustling trade city due to its proximity with neighboring Pakistan and a key border crossing between the countries. Although it has a population of about 300,000 according to the municipality, it's metropolitan area is thought to be far larger. Most of its buildings are low-rise constructions, mostly of concrete and brick, and its outlying areas include homes built of mud bricks and wood. Many are of poor construction. Jalalabad also has considerable agriculture and farming, including citrus fruit and rice, with the Kabul River flowing through the city. Afghanistan is located near the junction of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates and it is often struck with earthquakes. A magnitude 6.3 temblorrocked Afghanistan on Oct. 7, 2023, along with strong aftershocks. The Taliban government estimated that at least 4,000 perished. The U.N. gave a far lower figure of about 1,500. It was the deadliest natural disaster to strike Afghanistan in recent memory. More than 90% of those killed werewomen and children, UNICEF said. InJune 2022, a 5.9 magnitude earthquake struck parts of eastern Afghanistan, killing more than 1,000 people and injuring more than 1,500 others. "Portrait of a person who's not there": Documenting the bedrooms of school shooting victims The Long Island home renovation that uncovered a hidden story Passage: In memoriam

byVS personal

in

September 01, 2025

Earthquake rocks Afghanistan, killing at least 250 and destroying villages

Earthquake rocks Afghanistan, killing at least 250 and destroying villages Kabul, Afghanistan— A strong earthquake in far eastern Afghanista...

Read More

The fall of any euro zone government would be "worrying", says ECB's Lagarde

The fall of any euro zone government would be "worrying", says ECB's Lagarde

PARIS (Reuters) -France is not currently in a situation that would need the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to intervene but any risk of a government falling in the euro zone is "worrying", European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said on Monday. Speaking to broadcaster Radio Classique, Lagarde said fiscal discipline remained imperative in France, and that she was looking very attentively at the French bond spreads situation. French opposition parties have said they will bring down the minority government in the September 8 confidence vote which Prime Minister Francois Bayrou unexpectedly announced last week, over his unpopular plans for a budget squeeze in 2026. This has hit the stock and bond markets of France, which is the euro zone's second economy. (Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)

byVS personal

in

September 01, 2025

The fall of any euro zone government would be "worrying", says ECB's Lagarde

The fall of any euro zone government would be "worrying", says ECB's Lagarde PARIS (Reuters) -France is not currently in a sit...

Read More

Xi and Putin stand shoulder to shoulder as China casts itself as an alternative global leader

Xi and Putin stand shoulder to shoulder as China casts itself as an alternative global leader

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has cast his country as a force for global economic stability and pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to support its partners, at a time when President Donald Trump wages a global tariff war and has decimated foreign aid under his "America First" policy. Xi's comments came during an address on Monday that is the centerpiece of a two-day summit orchestrated to play-up China's global leadership and its close and enduring partnership with Russia, as the two neighbors seek to rebalance global power in their favor at the expense of the US and its allies. "We should leverage the strength of our mega-sized markets and economic complementarity between member states and improve trade and investment facilitation," Xi told world leaders in the Chinese port city of Tianjin for a summit of the Beijing- and Moscow-backed Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). The Chinese leader pledged 2 billion yuan ($280 million) in grants to SCO member states this year, and to set up a SCO Development Bank to provide "stronger underpinnings" for security and economic cooperation among the bloc. Without naming the United States, Xi vowed to oppose "hegemonism," "Cold War mentality" and "bullying practices" in an address to political heavyweights from across the world, including Russian President Vladimir Putin,Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modiand Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Those phrases are often deployed by Xi to criticize what he sees as a world order led by the US and its Western allies. The summit is a showcase for closer ties between China and Russia, as well as the friendship struck up over the years by their two autocratic leaders. The deep personal rapport between the two men was on show Sunday evening, when Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan hosted a welcome banquet for attending leaders. Footage released by Russian state news agency RIA showed Xi and Putin gesturing animatedly and smiling as they chatted at the event, showing a different side of the typically restrained Chinese leader – and his warm and relaxed demeanor with his Russian counterpart. The pair then walked shoulder to shoulder together after posing for a photo alongside other gathered leaders, with Xi gesturing for Putin to walk with him past the others, footage released by the Kremlin showed. The SCO summit is also the leaders' first opportunity to meet since Putin's summit with Trump in Alaska earlier this month – and comes as Putin resists Western pressure to end his onslaught in Ukraine. Just last week, Moscow's forces carried out their second largest aerial attack to date on Ukraine. Observers say that Xi sees the gathering – and a massive military parade that he'll host on Wednesday in Beijing, expected to be attended by Putin, North Korea's Kim Jong Un as well as some two dozen other leaders – as a critically timed diplomatic push. As Trump alarms nations with his global trade war and withdraws from international organizations and foreign aid, Beijing views the US as undermining the international order it worked to build – and sees an opportunity to ramp its own vision as an alternative. Chinese officials touted this year's SCO as the largest yet, saying ahead of the event that 20 leaders from across Asia and the Middle East would join. In addition to Russia, China and India, SCO members include Iran, Pakistan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account atCNN.com

byVS personal

in

August 31, 2025

Xi and Putin stand shoulder to shoulder as China casts itself as an alternative global leader

Xi and Putin stand shoulder to shoulder as China casts itself as an alternative global leader Chinese leader Xi Jinping has cast his country...

Read More