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Continued attacks on shipping by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi militia could jeopardise recovery of the partially sunk cargo ship MV Rubymar, which was abandoned after being struck by missiles last week.
Experts have told The National that failure to recover the ship could lead to an environmental disaster in the Red Sea as its cargo of 20,000 tonnes of fertiliser could damage the region’s fragile ecology.
The Houthis vowed on Tuesday to continue their near-daily missile and drone attacks on civilian shipping in the Red Sea unless Israel halts its “aggression” against Gaza,
The Houthi attacks and counter strikes by US and UK aircraft complicate what experts say would be difficult recovery operation even in peacetime.
Even if the Rubymar is saved from sinking, there remains “the question where to take her and deal with the hazardous cargo”, says James Brewin, an expert on maritime salvage in the UK. “This will be a tricky question as most ports will be reluctant to welcome her in.”
Djibouti has already refused to accept the ship, calling its cargo “dangerous”.
The ship has been taking on water since it was hit by two Houthi ballistic missiles, one of which pierced its side. The latest photos available show the vessel's stern submerged to deck level on Tuesday. Fuel leaking from the ship has created a 30km-long slick.
Red Sea conflict
US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence Daniel Shapiro said on Tuesday that the Houthis were committed to continuing their campaign to sever the Red Sea trade route, which carries around 12 per cent of maritime trade, until the Gaza war ends.
The Pentagon said this week that 230 targets had been struck inside Yemen, including Houthi missile launch sites, headquarters and drones on the ground. A naval interdiction mission is also continuing, with US ships intercepting vessels disguised as civilian ships carrying arms from Iran to the Houthis.
However, attacks continue, even as the naval task forces in the Red Sea are reinforced in a multinational coalition.
A German warship on Tuesday shot down two drones as part of a five-drone attack, the US military's Central Command said, days after joining the EU’s Aspides mission to protect maritime trade in the Red Sea, alongside the US-led Prosperity Guardian operation.
Rubymar recovery challenge
The Houthis may be reluctant to facilitate the recovery of the Rubymar – as occurred with the FSO Safer, a ship carrying more than one million barrels of oil that the group seized at anchor and left to deteriorate while using it as a bargaining chip.
Oil on the Safer was eventually transferred to another ship, after years of repeated warnings of a catastrophic spill in the confines of the Red Sea.
“No one wants to let the Rubymar into their ports because of the risk and, making matters worse, the weather is deteriorating and there are storms forecast. So it is bad and could get worse,” says Ian Ralby, whose maritime security company, IR Consilium, was among the first organisations to assess the stranded Safer in 2018.
Maoz Fine, an expert on coral reef conservation at the Interuniversity Institute of Marine Science, says a risk assessment of the ship’s cargo must be completed as soon as possible.
“The amount of fertiliser on the Rubymar may indeed cause an algal bloom if it remains in shallow (photic) waters, but less of a problem if it sinks to great depth. I think it will be wise to get a chemical oceanographer to calculate the dispersion and dilution rates of so much ammonium nitrate,” Mr Fine says.
Concern from nearby ports such as Djibouti could also relate to the potentially explosive fertiliser cargo.
“Over 20,000 tonnes is a big explosion risk. As for impact on the water, I assume it's all packaged, so depends on how it's wrapped (waterproof or not), but one can only hope for quick dilution, and if not, it's likely going to cause some local impact on fisheries, marine ecosystems,” says Wim Zwijnenburg, a UN Green Star Award-winning expert on the environmental impact of war.
Recovering the ship could present risks to any salvagers, says Mr Brewin.
“Priorities for owners will be very much in the order of safety of life and protection of the environment, and saving the vessel herself. Since the crew were safely evacuated, one job becomes about the safety of any salvage team deployed to assist,” he says.
“It's likely that some intervention by divers will be required as soon as practicable in order to prevent further fuel oil leakage and secure buoyancy. That could involve sealing up apertures in the hull, patching areas of damage below the water line, potentially pumping out water from the flooded engine room.”
Mr Brewin said the seawater in the engine room could reduce the ship's propulsion and electrical systems to “scrap”.
if you go
The flights
Emirates fly direct from Dubai to Houston, Texas, where United have direct flights to Managua. Alternatively, from October, Iberia will offer connections from Madrid, which can be reached by both Etihad from Abu Dhabi and Emirates from Dubai.
The trip
Geodyssey’s (Geodyssey.co.uk) 15-night Nicaragua Odyssey visits the colonial cities of Leon and Granada, lively country villages, the lake island of Ometepe and a stunning array of landscapes, with wildlife, history, creative crafts and more. From Dh18,500 per person, based on two sharing, including transfers and tours but excluding international flights. For more information, visit visitnicaragua.us.
Despacito's dominance in numbers
Released: 2017
Peak chart position: No.1 in more than 47 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Lebanon
Views: 5.3 billion on YouTube
Sales: With 10 million downloads in the US, Despacito became the first Latin single to receive Diamond sales certification
Streams: 1.3 billion combined audio and video by the end of 2017, making it the biggest digital hit of the year.
Awards: 17, including Record of the Year at last year’s prestigious Latin Grammy Awards, as well as five Billboard Music Awards
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Who is Mohammed Al Halbousi?
The new speaker of Iraq’s parliament Mohammed Al Halbousi is the youngest person ever to serve in the role.
The 37-year-old was born in Al Garmah in Anbar and studied civil engineering in Baghdad before going into business. His development company Al Hadeed undertook reconstruction contracts rebuilding parts of Fallujah’s infrastructure.
He entered parliament in 2014 and served as a member of the human rights and finance committees until 2017. In August last year he was appointed governor of Anbar, a role in which he has struggled to secure funding to provide services in the war-damaged province and to secure the withdrawal of Shia militias. He relinquished the post when he was sworn in as a member of parliament on September 3.
He is a member of the Al Hal Sunni-based political party and the Sunni-led Coalition of Iraqi Forces, which is Iraq’s largest Sunni alliance with 37 seats from the May 12 election.
He maintains good relations with former Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki’s State of Law Coaliton, Hadi Al Amiri’s Badr Organisation and Iranian officials.
More Expo 2020 Dubai pavilions:
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20SAMSUNG%20GALAXY%20Z%20FOLD%204
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Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
How Voiss turns words to speech
The device has a screen reader or software that monitors what happens on the screen
The screen reader sends the text to the speech synthesiser
This converts to audio whatever it receives from screen reader, so the person can hear what is happening on the screen
A VOISS computer costs between $200 and $250 depending on memory card capacity that ranges from 32GB to 128GB
The speech synthesisers VOISS develops are free
Subsequent computer versions will include improvements such as wireless keyboards
Arabic voice in affordable talking computer to be added next year to English, Portuguese, and Spanish synthesiser
Partnerships planned during Expo 2020 Dubai to add more languages
At least 2.2 billion people globally have a vision impairment or blindness
More than 90 per cent live in developing countries
The Long-term aim of VOISS to reach the technology to people in poor countries with workshops that teach them to build their own device
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SERIE A FIXTURES
Saturday (All UAE kick-off times)
Cagliari v AC Milan (6pm)
Lazio v Napoli (9pm)
Inter Milan v Atalanta (11.45pm)
Sunday
Udinese v Sassuolo (3.30pm)
Sampdoria v Brescia (6pm)
Fiorentina v SPAL (6pm)
Torino v Bologna (6pm)
Verona v Genoa (9pm)
Roma V Juventus (11.45pm)
Parma v Lecce (11.45pm)
Women%E2%80%99s%20T20%20World%20Cup%20Qualifier
%3Cp%3EFrom%20September%2018-25%2C%20Abu%20Dhabi%0D.%20The%20two%20finalists%20advance%20to%20the%20main%20event%20in%20South%20Africa%20in%20February%202023%0D%3Cbr%3E%20%0D%3Cbr%3EGroup%20A%3A%20United%20States%2C%20Ireland%2C%20Scotland%2C%20Bangladesh%0D%3Cbr%3EGroup%20B%3A%20UAE%2C%20Thailand%2C%20Zimbabwe%2C%20Papua%20New%20Guinea%0D%3Cbr%3E%20%0D%3Cbr%3EUAE%20group%20fixtures%3A%0D%3Cbr%3ESept%2018%2C%203pm%2C%20Zayed%20Cricket%20Stadium%20%E2%80%93%20UAE%20v%20Thailand%0D%3Cbr%3ESept%2019%2C%203pm%2C%20Tolerance%20Oval%20-%20PNG%20v%20UAE%0D%3Cbr%3ESept%2021%2C%207pm%2C%20Tolerance%20Oval%20%E2%80%93%20UAE%20v%20Zimbabwe%0D%3Cbr%3E%20%0D%3Cbr%3EUAE%20squad%3A%20Chaya%20Mughal%20(captain)%2C%20Esha%20Oza%2C%20Kavisha%20Kumari%2C%20Rinitha%20Rajith%2C%20Rithika%20Rajith%2C%20Khushi%20Sharma%2C%20Theertha%20Satish%2C%20Lavanya%20Keny%2C%20Priyanjali%20Jain%2C%20Suraksha%20Kotte%2C%20Natasha%20Cherriath%2C%20Indhuja%20Nandakumar%2C%20Vaishnave%20Mahesh%2C%20Siya%20Gokhale%2C%20Samaira%20Dharnidharka%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
%E2%80%98White%20Elephant%E2%80%99
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Jesse%20V%20Johnson%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Michael%20Rooker%2C%20Bruce%20Willis%2C%20John%20Malkovich%2C%20Olga%20Kurylenko%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Bareilly Ki Barfi
Directed by: Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari
Starring: Kriti Sanon, Ayushmann Khurrana, Rajkummar Rao
Three and a half stars
more from Janine di Giovanni
The%20specs
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Dark Souls: Remastered
Developer: From Software (remaster by QLOC)
Publisher: Namco Bandai
Price: Dh199
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 268hp at 5,600rpm
Torque: 380Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: CVT auto
Fuel consumption: 9.5L/100km
On sale: now
Price: from Dh195,000
Director: Paul Weitz
Stars: Kevin Hart
3/5 stars
Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion
The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".
The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.
He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.
"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.
As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.