Yemen wants the UN Security Council to take “binding deterrent measures” against the Houthi rebels for not allowing repairs on a stranded oil tanker that is close to spilling its million-barrel load into the Red Sea.
In a letter, Yemen's UN ambassador Abdullah Ali Fadhel Al Saadi called for "stricter" action on the FSO Safer, an oil platform moored off Yemen's coast that experts say could soon rupture and release 1.1 million barrels of oil.
Houthi rebels expelled Yemen’s internationally recognised government from the capital Sanaa in 2014. They control much of the area around the Red Sea port of Hodeidah, near where the decaying tanker has been moored for decades.
The UN council should “take binding deterrent measures against the Houthis to ensure the urgent unloading of oil and the disposal of the tanker before the world wakes up to one of the biggest environmental and humanitarian disasters ever,” wrote Mr Al Saadi.
The UN has repeatedly asked the Houthis to grant it access to repair the vessel and prevent a maritime disaster that the world body says could be four times worse than the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill near Alaska.
Houthi officials greenlighted a UN repair mission late last year, but that is currently being reviewed and appears unlikely despite the UN spending $3.35 million on recruiting engineers, leasing vessels and acquiring equipment.
The Houthis say the mission can still proceed, but analysts say the Iran-backed rebels want the FSO Safer in place to profit from its cargo and future oil sales and to raise the risk for any seaborne assault by Saudi forces.
In his letter, which was written earlier this month but released on Friday, Mr Al Saadi said the Houthis were using the environmental “time bomb” as a “bargaining chip to achieve political gains” in peace talks.
“The Houthis are also using the issue to blackmail the international community in disregard of the consequences of the imminent leak or explosion of more than 1 million barrels of oil and its dire environmental, economic and humanitarian impact,” he wrote.
The UN Security Council is set to discuss the tanker and revived efforts to end Yemen's war on Thursday. Britain's UN mission, which currently holds the council's rotating presidency, did not immediately answer The National's request for comment.
The letter comes amid growing appetite to counter the looming maritime disaster in Britain and in the Biden administration in the US, which has made ending Yemen's war a priority, two experts told The National.
Former UK foreign minister Sir Alan Duncan and Ian Ralby, chief executive of I R Consilium, a maritime security consultancy, said UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Biden administration officials are weighing a salvage operation.
The 45-year-old vessel has been stranded eight kilometres south-west of Ras Issa oil terminal, which is 60km north of the Houthi-held port of Hodeidah, since 2015, when the rebels took control of the region.
A major spill would hurt tourism, fishing and desalination plants across Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea and Djibouti and impede a shipping lane that is used for about 10 per cent of global trade.
Know your Camel lingo
The bairaq is a competition for the best herd of 50 camels, named for the banner its winner takes home
Namoos - a word of congratulations reserved for falconry competitions, camel races and camel pageants. It best translates as 'the pride of victory' - and for competitors, it is priceless
Asayel camels - sleek, short-haired hound-like racers
Majahim - chocolate-brown camels that can grow to weigh two tonnes. They were only valued for milk until camel pageantry took off in the 1990s
Millions Street - the thoroughfare where camels are led and where white 4x4s throng throughout the festival
Best Foreign Language Film nominees
Capernaum (Lebanon)
Cold War (Poland)
Never Look Away (Germany)
Roma (Mexico)
Shoplifters (Japan)
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
The specs
Engine: 2-litre 4-cylinder and 3.6-litre 6-cylinder
Power: 220 and 280 horsepower
Torque: 350 and 360Nm
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Price: from Dh136,521 VAT and Dh166,464 VAT
On sale: now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Stree
Producer: Maddock Films, Jio Movies
Director: Amar Kaushik
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti Khurana, Abhishek Banerjee
Rating: 3.5
INDIA'S%20TOP%20INFLUENCERS
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Honeymoonish
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Courses%20at%20Istituto%20Marangoni%2C%20Dubai
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PSG's line up
GK: Alphonse Areola (youth academy)
Defence - RB: Dani Alves (free transfer); CB: Marquinhos (€31.4 million); CB: Thiago Silva (€42m); LB: Layvin Kurzawa (€23m)
Midfield - Angel di Maria (€47m); Adrien Rabiot (youth academy); Marco Verratti (€12m)
Forwards - Neymar (€222m); Edinson Cavani (€63m); Kylian Mbappe (initial: loan; to buy: €180m)
Total cost: €440.4m (€620.4m if Mbappe makes permanent move)
Four-day collections of TOH
Day Indian Rs (Dh)
Thursday 500.75 million (25.23m)
Friday 280.25m (14.12m)
Saturday 220.75m (11.21m)
Sunday 170.25m (8.58m)
Total 1.19bn (59.15m)
(Figures in millions, approximate)
match info
Union Berlin 0
Bayern Munich 1 (Lewandowski 40' pen, Pavard 80')
Man of the Match: Benjamin Pavard (Bayern Munich)
The biog
Hobbies: Salsa dancing “It's in my blood” and listening to music in different languages
Favourite place to travel to: “Thailand, as it's gorgeous, food is delicious, their massages are to die for!”
Favourite food: “I'm a vegetarian, so I can't get enough of salad.”
Favourite film: “I love watching documentaries, and am fascinated by nature, animals, human anatomy. I love watching to learn!”
Best spot in the UAE: “I fell in love with Fujairah and anywhere outside the big cities, where I can get some peace and get a break from the busy lifestyle”
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
The specs
Engine: 2.4-litre 4-cylinder
Transmission: CVT auto
Power: 181bhp
Torque: 244Nm
Price: Dh122,900
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
The specs: 2018 Genesis G70
Price, base / as tested: Dh155,000 / Dh205,000
Engine: 3.3-litre, turbocharged V6
Gearbox: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 370hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 510Nm @ 1,300rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 10.6L / 100km
Farasan Boat: 128km Away from Anchorage
Director: Mowaffaq Alobaid
Stars: Abdulaziz Almadhi, Mohammed Al Akkasi, Ali Al Suhaibani
Rating: 4/5
GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Company%20profile
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The%20specs
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THE%20HOLDOVERS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAlexander%20Payne%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Paul%20Giamatti%2C%20Da'Vine%20Joy%20Randolph%2C%20Dominic%20Sessa%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
It Was Just an Accident
Director: Jafar Panahi
Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr
Rating: 4/5
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis