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The US, UK, Bahrain and other nations on Wednesday demanded that Houthi rebels in Yemen halt their attacks in the Red Sea and warned of “consequences” if they continued their “destabilising” actions.
“Let our message now be clear: we call for the immediate end of these illegal attacks and release of unlawfully detained vessels and crews,” a joint statement released by the White House read.
“The Houthis will bear the responsibility of the consequences should they continue to threaten lives, the global economy and free flow of commerce in the region’s critical waterways.”
A senior US official said that they “would not anticipate another warning” if the Houthis launched a further attack, but declined to answer if the coalition would launch a pre-emptive attack against the rebel group, or clarify any rules of engagement moving forward.
“The statement very much speaks for itself,” the official told reporters in a Wednesday phone call.
The joint statement was also signed by the governments of Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany and Italy, as well as Japan, the Netherlands and New Zealand.
Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, who are allied with Palestinian militant group Hamas, have threatened to prevent any Israel-bound ships from sailing through the economically vital waterway.
In response, Houthi Information Minister Dhaifallah Al Shami called the joint statement a “moral failure” and a “miserable attempt to cover up crimes” perpetrated by Israel.
“The coalition of the 12 countries comes to protect Israeli ships and Israel's crimes and not, as the US and western nations claim, to protect navigation in the Red Sea and Bab Al Mandeb [strait],” Mr Al Shami said, according to the Houthi news agency Saba. He added that Yemeni forces are not targeting any ships “except Israeli ones or those headed towards the occupied ports”.
Muhammad Al Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthi's Ansar Allah Political Bureau, called on the UN Security Council to issue a resolution “obligating Israel to stop genocide” and another resolution to stop Yemen's operations in the Red Sea against Israeli navigation.
The US official said that Washington “will act very forcefully when it comes to any threats against our people or our interests,” but added “we're also going to do so in a very smart way that does not potentially … play into the hands of some of these proxy groups”.
The UN Security Council met on Wednesday to discuss the Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea
“The threat to navigational rights and freedoms in the Red Sea is a global challenge and necessitates a global response,” US ambassador and deputy permanent representative Chris Lu said.
International Maritime Organisation chief Arsenio Dominguez told the global body that the Houthis were not limiting their attacks to ships connected to Israel.
“Attacks against international shipping in the Red Sea area are not acceptable,” he declared.
The joint statement said the “ongoing Houthi attacks in the Red Sea are illegal, unacceptable and profoundly destabilising” with “no lawful justification for intentionally targeting civilian shipping and naval vessels”.
“Attacks on vessels, including commercial vessels, using unmanned aerial vehicles, small boats and missiles, including the first use of anti-ship ballistic missiles against such vessels, are a direct threat to the freedom of navigation that serves as the bedrock of global trade in one of the world’s most critical waterways,” it said.
The statement came after US President Joe Biden huddled his national security team on New Year's Day, the senior US official added, aiming to convene “an effort to talk to allies and partners with a statement that would very clearly send a warning to the Houthis”.
Still, the Houthi threat has compelled shipping companies to divert vessels to other lengthier and more costly routes, like via South Africa's Cape of Good Hope.
Mr Dominguez told the UN body that 18 shipping companies were making that route change.
He added that de-escalation is necessary to “ensure safety of our seafarers, freedom of navigation and stability of supply chains”.
Children who witnessed blood bath want to help others
Aged just 11, Khulood Al Najjar’s daughter, Nora, bravely attempted to fight off Philip Spence. Her finger was injured when she put her hand in between the claw hammer and her mother’s head.
As a vital witness, she was forced to relive the ordeal by police who needed to identify the attacker and ensure he was found guilty.
Now aged 16, Nora has decided she wants to dedicate her career to helping other victims of crime.
“It was very horrible for her. She saw her mum, dying, just next to her eyes. But now she just wants to go forward,” said Khulood, speaking about how her eldest daughter was dealing with the trauma of the incident five years ago. “She is saying, 'mama, I want to be a lawyer, I want to help people achieve justice'.”
Khulood’s youngest daughter, Fatima, was seven at the time of the attack and attempted to help paramedics responding to the incident.
“Now she wants to be a maxillofacial doctor,” Khulood said. “She said to me ‘it is because a maxillofacial doctor returned your face, mama’. Now she wants to help people see themselves in the mirror again.”
Khulood’s son, Saeed, was nine in 2014 and slept through the attack. While he did not witness the trauma, this made it more difficult for him to understand what had happened. He has ambitions to become an engineer.
There are direct flights from Dubai to Sofia with FlyDubai (www.flydubai.com) and Wizz Air (www.wizzair.com), from Dh1,164 and Dh822 return including taxes, respectively.
The trip
Plovdiv is 150km from Sofia, with an hourly bus service taking around 2 hours and costing $16 (Dh58). The Rhodopes can be reached from Sofia in between 2-4hours.
The trip was organised by Bulguides (www.bulguides.com), which organises guided trips throughout Bulgaria. Guiding, accommodation, food and transfers from Plovdiv to the mountains and back costs around 170 USD for a four-day, three-night trip.
Key findings of Jenkins report
Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
When: December 6-16 Where: Games to take place at Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi and Hazza bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain Defending champions: Real Madrid
UAE insurance firm Al Wathba National Insurance Company (AWNIC) last year launched an e-commerce website with a facility enabling users to buy car wrecks.
Bidders and potential buyers register on the online salvage car auction portal to view vehicles, review condition reports, or arrange physical surveys, and then start bidding for motors they plan to restore or harvest for parts.
Physical salvage car auctions are a common method for insurers around the world to move on heavily damaged vehicles, but AWNIC is one of the few UAE insurers to offer such services online.
For cars and less sizeable items such as bicycles and furniture, Dubizzle is arguably the best-known marketplace for pre-loved.
Founded in 2005, in recent years it has been joined by a plethora of Facebook community pages for shifting used goods, including Abu Dhabi Marketplace, Flea Market UAE and Arabian Ranches Souq Market while sites such as The Luxury Closet and Riot deal largely in second-hand fashion.
At the high-end of the pre-used spectrum, resellers such as Timepiece360.ae, WatchBox Middle East and Watches Market Dubai deal in authenticated second-hand luxury timepieces from brands such as Rolex, Hublot and Tag Heuer, with a warranty.
Where to apply
Applicants should send their completed applications - CV, covering letter, sample(s) of your work, letter of recommendation - to Nick March, Assistant Editor in Chief at The National and UAE programme administrator for the Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism, by 5pm on April 30, 2020.
Please send applications to nmarch@thenational.ae and please mark the subject line as “Rosalynn Carter Fellowship for Mental Health Journalism (UAE programme application)”.
The local advisory board will consider all applications and will interview a short list of candidates in Abu Dhabi in June 2020. Successful candidates will be informed before July 30, 2020.
RESULT
RS Leipzig 3
Marcel Sabitzer 10', 21'
Emil Forsberg 87'
Tottenham 0
ACL Elite (West) - fixtures
Monday, Sept 30
Al Sadd v Esteghlal (8pm) Persepolis v Pakhtakor (8pm) Al Wasl v Al Ahli (8pm) Al Nassr v Al Rayyan (10pm)
Tuesday, Oct 1 Al Hilal v Al Shorta (10pm) Al Gharafa v Al Ain (10pm)
