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After more than a decade of negotiations, a new round of talks to finalize a code to regulate deep-sea mining in international waters begins Monday in Jamaica, with hopes high for adoption this year.The International Seabed Authority (ISA), an independent body established in 1994 under a UN convention, has been working since 2014 on the new rules for developing mineral resources on the ocean floor.The huge task has gathered pace, under pressure from corporate concerns eager to cash in on the untapped minerals.Canada’s The Metals Company plans to file the first commercial mining license request in June, through its subsidiary Nori (Nauru Ocean Resources Inc.), which hopes to extract polymetallic nodules from the Pacific.Here is a look at the proposed rules, and why they have sparked intense debate:- What does this mining code entail? -Under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the ISA must both oversee any exploration or mining of coveted resources (such as cobalt, nickel, or manganese) in international waters, and protect the marine environment.For activists worried about the protection of hard-to-reach ocean ecosystems, this twin mandate is nonsensical. Some groups, and more and more countries, are asking for a moratorium on seabed mining.With no consensus, the ISA-led negotiations have continued.The ISA Council, made up of 36 of the authority’s 169 member states, will spend the next two weeks trying to bridge the gaps on finalizing the code.They are working from a 250-page “consolidated text” already riddled with parenthetical changes, and comments on disagreements.But then there are dozens of amendments filed by countries, companies and non-governmental organizations.Emma Wilson of the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition told AFP there were “over 2,000 textual elements that are still being discussed — and that those debates were  “not close to being resolved.”- How would seabed mining work? -Any entity wishing to obtain a contract to mine the ocean floor must be sponsored by a specific country.Those applications for mining licenses would first go through the ISA’s legal and technical commission, which NGOs say is too pro-industry and opaque. The commission would evaluate the financial, technical and environmental aspects of the proposed plans, and then make a recommendation to the ISA Council, the final decision-maker.But some worry that rules already set by UNCLOS would make it too difficult to reject any favorable recommendations.The draft code calls for initial contracts lasting 30 years, followed up with extensions of five years at a time.- What about environmental protection? -Potential mining companies must conduct a survey of the possible environmental risks of their activities, but details on these surveys are still up in the air, with negotiators not yet even agreed on how to define the terms. More and more countries, along with NGOs, highlight that even the idea of surveying potential impact is effectively impossible, given the lack of scientific data about the zones. And some Pacific states insist that the code explicitly state the need to protect “underwater cultural heritage,” but that is under debate.- What about compliance? -The draft text calls for inspections and evaluations for deep-sea mining companies, but how such a system would work is under debate. Some even think such mechanisms are ultimately not all that feasible.- Will there be profit-sharing? -Under UNCLOS, resources on the ocean floor are seen as the “common heritage of mankind.”The mining code under consideration stipulates that each company must pay royalties to the ISA based on the value of the metals. But what percentage should they pay?A working group has proposed royalties of anywhere from three to 12 percent, while African states believe 40 percent is more just.

President Donald Trump’s administration on Sunday began mass layoffs at Voice of America and other US-funded media, making clear its intent to gut outlets long seen as critical for US influence.Just a day after all employees were put on leave, staff working on a contractual basis received an email notifying them that they were terminated at the end of March.The email, confirmed to AFP by several employees, told contractors that “you must cease all work immediately and are not permitted to access any agency buildings or systems.”Contractors make up much of VOA’s workforce and dominate staffing in the non-English language services, although recent figures were not immediately available.Many contractors are not US citizens, meaning they likely depend on their soon-to-disappear jobs for visas to stay in the United States.Full-time VOA staff, who have more legal protections, were not immediately terminated but remain on administrative leave and have been told not to work.Voice of America, created during World War II, broadcast around the world in 49 languages with a mission to reach countries without media freedom. Trump signed an executive order Friday targeting VOA’s parent US Agency for Global Media in his latest sweeping cuts to the federal government.The agency had 3,384 employees in the 2023 fiscal year. It had requested $950 million for the current fiscal year.With VOA in limbo, some of its services have switched to playing music for lack of new programming.The sweeping cuts also froze Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, formed in the Cold War to reach the former Soviet bloc, and Radio Free Asia, established to provide reporting to China, North Korea and other Asian countries with heavily restricted media.Other US-funded outlets being gutted include Radio Farda, a Persian-language broadcaster blocked by Iran’s government, and Alhurra, an Arabic-language network established after the Iraq invasion in the face of highly critical coverage by Qatar-based Al-Jazeera.The White House in a statement Saturday said that “taxpayers are no longer on the hook for radical propaganda,” a charge rarely leveled before Trump at staid VOA, long aimed at countering communism.Trump regularly criticizes media coverage of him and has questioned the wisdom of funding VOA when it has a “firewall” ensuring its editorial independence.The cuts come as China and Russia invest heavily in state media to compete with Western narratives, with China often offering free content to outlets in the developing world.In an editorial on the demise of VOA, China’s state-run Global Times said that “the monopoly of information held by some traditional Western media is being shattered.””As more Americans begin to break through their information cocoons and see a real world and a multidimensional China, the demonizing narratives propagated by VOA will ultimately become a laughingstock of the times,” it said.

Colombia’s defense minister on Sunday warned Donald Trump’s administration against blacklisting his country for failing to curb drug exports, saying the decision would bring yet more cocaine to the United States.Washington is currently weighing whether to “decertify” Colombia as a partner in the battle against drugs, a move that could restrict millions in US military aid and be a hammer blow to Colombia’s reputation.In an interview with AFP, recently appointed defense minister Pedro Sanchez said decertification would mean “we simply lose the ability to contain the threat.”  “Not being able to contain it would go against the interests of the United States. Because more cocaine would arrive and the United States would not be stronger, more prosperous, or safer.” “Fracturing relations and cooperation between our states is an opportunity for drug trafficking,” Sanchez insisted. Colombia has launched a diplomatic offensive to avoid blacklisting ahead of a September US review. But many officials are privately pessimistic that blacklisting can be avoided, putting at risk nearly half a billion dollars in annual US funding. Since President Gustavo Petro came to power in 2022, the area under coca cultivation has increased by about 70 percent, according to Colombian government and UN estimates. Trump has taken a hardline stance against drugs entering the United States from Mexico and Canada, hitting both countries with tariffs as apparent punishment. And there is no love lost between Trump and Colombia’s similarly pugilistic president Petro. The pair recently got into a spat on social media over migrant deportations, prompting Trump to threaten sanctions on Colombia. – Plan Colombia -The United States has poured billions of dollars into Colombia’s security forces over decades, helping to beat back insurgent groups and cartels that produce 90-plus percent of cocaine in the United States. But Petro’s signature policy of “total peace” has led to fewer military operations against drug-running militias and an abandonment of forced coca eradication. Sanchez admitted that “total peace” had led to an increase in the strength of some armed groups. “They grew because they betrayed the goodwill of the national government,” he said.He revealed that armed fighters had increased by about 1,500 in the last year alone. Decertification would be a major blow to the Colombian military, just as it tries to rebuild strength and retake territory from insurgent leftist guerrilla groups. Sanchez said the military’s capabilities had been degraded in recent years, as military spending had been cut. “They are weaker in certain capabilities, in intelligence, for example. We have fallen a little short in advancing rapidly in disruptive technology, such as drones and anti-drone weapons,” he said.  “We don’t have the same aircraft flying that we had 10 years ago.”The United States decertified Colombia once before, during the presidency of Ernesto Samper, whose 1994 campaign was accused of receiving money from the Cali cartel. Some vital aid was frozen and foreign investment to Colombia dipped.Eventually, the US resumed funding and, with a new government in Bogota, established “Plan Colombia” — a billion-dollar US plan to overhaul the Colombian security services. Despite today’s challenges, Sanchez said the military’s goal was to assert territorial control over all Colombia. ELN guerrillas currently control a swathe of land near the Venezuelan border, where fighting has displaced about 56,000 people. In a recent interview with AFP, ELN commanders vowed to repel a government counteroffensive and said years of “total peace” risk turning into “total war.”Sanchez dismissed the ELN as a “narco-criminal group” and vowed they would be met with “full force.”He also pledged to retake a major coca-growing region in the south of the country, a virtual microstate run by the Estado Mayor Central (Central General Staff). Sanchez admitted retaking territory was a “wicked problem,” but said it would be achieved.  “We’re going to have to make a lot of sacrifice, we’re even going to have tears, but in the end, we’re going to achieve it.”  

Iran-backed Huthi rebels in Yemen said Sunday they had attacked a US aircraft carrier group in the Red Sea and would target American commercial vessels, a day after US airstrikes the White House said killed senior rebel leaders.The Huthi health ministry said women and children were among those killed in the US strike on Saturday.”In response to this aggression, the armed forces conducted a military operation targeting the US aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman and its accompanying warships”, the group said in a statement.The Huthis said they had launched 18 missiles and a drone at the American ships.There was no immediate comment from the United States about the claim.Saturday’s American attacks on the rebel-held capital Sanaa as well as Saada, Al-Bayda and Radaa killed 53 people and wounded 98, Huthi health ministry spokesperson Anis al-Asbahi said Sunday, updating an earlier toll.”Final toll from the massacres perpetrated by the American enemy on March 15: 53 martyrs, including five children and two women, as well as 98 wounded, including nine children and nine women,” Asbahi posted on X.US officials on Sunday vowed further strikes until the Huthis stop attacking Red Sea shipping.The United Nations urged both sides to cease “all military activity”.Before their claimed attack on the carrier, the rebels had carried out no attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since January 19, when a ceasefire began in the Gaza Strip.On Tuesday, however, the Huthis said they would resume attacks on Israeli shipping over Israel’s halting of humanitarian aid to Gaza.In a televised address late Sunday, rebel leader Abdulmalik al-Huthi added US cargo ships to its targets “as long as it continues its aggression”. He called for a million Yemenis to march on Monday in defiance.”If the American aggression against our country continues, we will move to additional escalatory options,” he said.- ‘Overwhelming force’ -US National Security Advisor Michael Waltz told ABC News that Saturday’s strikes “targeted multiple Huthi leaders and took them out”.He told Fox News: “We just hit them with overwhelming force and put Iran on notice that enough is enough.”Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth vowed an “unrelenting” missile campaign until the Huthi attacks stop.”I want to be very clear, this campaign is about freedom of navigation and restoring deterrence,” Hegseth said in a televised Fox Business interview.”The minute the Huthis say, ‘We’ll stop shooting at your ships, we’ll stop shooting at your drones,’ this campaign will end. But until then, it will be unrelenting.”CENTCOM, the US Central Command, said it had carried out a “large scale operation” against the Huthis.Witnesses in Yemen, a country that has endured years of war, said Sunday they were taken aback by the attack’s intensity.Footage on Huthi media showed children, including a dazed girl with blackened legs wrapped in bandages, and a woman being treated in hospital.One father of two, who gave his name as Ahmed, told AFP: “I’ve been living in Sanaa for 10 years, hearing shelling throughout the war. By God, I’ve never experienced anything like this before,” he said.Trump, posting on social media, vowed to “use overwhelming lethal force” to end the Huthi attacks, which the rebels say are in solidarity with Palestinians during the Gaza war.”To all Houthi terrorists, YOUR TIME IS UP, AND YOUR ATTACKS MUST STOP, STARTING TODAY. IF THEY DON’T, HELL WILL RAIN DOWN UPON YOU LIKE NOTHING YOU HAVE EVER SEEN BEFORE!” he said.”To Iran: Support for the Houthi terrorists must end IMMEDIATELY!” Trump added.The Huthis, who had long complained of marginalisation, seized Sanaa in September 2014, forcing the government to flee south and leaving the rebels controlling large parts of Yemen.A Saudi-led coalition in March 2015 began a military campaign against the Huthis that the Yemen Data Project, an independent tracker, said involved more than 25,000 air raids.Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi condemned the deaths in Saturday’s US strikes and said Washington had “no authority” to dictate Tehran’s foreign policy.- ‘Fully prepared’ -The Huthis’ political bureau said its “forces are fully prepared to confront escalation with escalation”.They have launched scores of drone and missile attacks on ships in the two key waterways, and have previously targeted US warships.The Yemen Conflict Observatory database set up by ACLED, a non-profit monitor, shows 136 Huthi attacks against warships, commercial vessels, Israeli and other targets since October 19, 2023.The vital trade route normally carries about 12 percent of world shipping traffic, but the Huthi attacks forced many companies into costly detours around southern Africa.The Palestinian group Hamas, which has praised Huthi support, branded the US strikes “a stark violation of international law and an assault on the country’s sovereignty and stability”.The head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami, said: “Iran will not wage war, but if anyone threatens, it will give appropriate, decisive and conclusive responses.”The United States had already launched several rounds of strikes on Huthi targets.Israel has also struck Yemen, most recently in December, after Huthi missile fire towards Israeli territory.Fighting in Yemen’s own war has largely been on hold since a 2022 ceasefire, but the promised peace process has stalled in the face of the Huthi attacks on shipping.The war killed hundreds of thousands either directly or indirectly through causes such as disease, plunging Yemen into one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.burs-jj/gv

US officials expressed optimism Sunday that a Ukraine-Russia ceasefire deal could be reached in “weeks,” as President Donald Trump and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin are expected to discuss a possible truce.The United States this week proposed a halt in fighting in the three-year war after talks in Saudi Arabia, which Kyiv accepted. Washington and Kyiv’s European allies are pressing Moscow to accept it too.Putin however has given no clear answer, instead listing a string of conditions and raising “serious questions” over the proposal.Trump’s envoy for the conflict, Steve Witkoff, who met for several hours with Putin days ago, told CNN that he thinks “the two presidents are going to have a really good and positive discussion this week.”Trump, he added, “really expects there to be some sort of deal in the coming weeks, maybe, and I believe that’s the case”.Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday accused the Kremlin of not wanting to end the war. He warned that Moscow wanted to first “improve their situation on the battlefield” before agreeing to any ceasefire.- Rubio, Lavrov talk -Earlier, Moscow said that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had called his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov to discuss “concrete aspects of the implementation of understandings” at a US-Russia summit in Saudi Arabia last month. February’s Riyadh gathering was the first high-level meeting between the United States and Russia since Moscow launched its invasion in February 2022.”Sergei Lavrov and Marco Rubio agreed to remain in contact,” the Russian foreign ministry said, with no mention of the US-suggested ceasefire.State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said Saturday that the pair had “discussed the next steps” on Ukraine, and “agreed to continue working towards restoring communication between the United States and Russia”.The Lavrov-Rubio call came hours after the UK hosted a virtual summit on Ukraine, at which Prime Minister Keir Starmer accused Putin of “dragging his feet” on the ceasefire.  “The ‘yes, but’ from Russia is not good enough,” Starmer said, calling for a stop to the “barbaric attacks on Ukraine once and for all”.On Sunday, Kyiv said Moscow had launched 90 Iranian-made Shahed drones onto nine Ukrainian regions.- ‘Force Putin’ to peace -In his reaction to the ceasefire earlier this week, Putin said the initiative would benefit primarily Ukraine, as Russian forces were “advancing” in many areas. He raised “serious questions” over the initiative. The proposal came as Russia — which occupies swathes of southern and eastern Ukraine — has the momentum in some areas of the front.It has pushed out Ukrainian forces from parts of its Kursk region, where Kyiv hopes to hold onto Russian territory as a potential bargaining chip in any future negotiations. Putin said he wanted to discuss Moscow’s concerns with Trump in a phone call. Late on Sunday, Zelensky said he had spoken with Canada’s new Prime Minister, Mark Carney.”The Prime Minister made the right points about how we need to step up pressure on Moscow,” he said.”The shadow fleet, the banking sector. We must impose all-out sanctions on everything that provides Russia with funding for its war. Only then can we force Putin to a just and lasting peace.”Carney is due in France on Monday for talks with French President Emmanuel Macron that will cover the war in Ukraine, before travelling to London to meet UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.Canada has the presidency of the G7 nations this year.Also Sunday, Zelensky announced the chief of general staff of the armed forces, Anatoliy Bargylevych by Andriy Gnatov. Gnatov has been tasked with increasing efficiency in the armed forces.burs/jj/gv

“Novocaine,” an action-comedy starring Jack Quaid as a banker who cannot feel pain, topped the North American box office in its debut weekend, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported Sunday, but ticket sales overall were brutally slow.The Paramount film took in an estimated $8.7 million from Friday to Sunday — in one of the lowest-grossing debuts ever to take the top spot, at least since the uber-lows of the pandemic, according to Variety.Slipping to second place was “Mickey 17,” a black comedy from Oscar-winning director Bong Joon-ho starring Robert Pattinson, at $7.51 million.Pattinson plays Mickey, who volunteers for hazardous space missions and, when killed, is repeatedly “reprinted” to be sent out again. Steven Yeun, Toni Collette and Mark Ruffalo also star in the Warner Bros. film.”Black Bag,” a spy thriller from Oscar winner Steven Soderbergh starring Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett, debuted in third place just behind “Mickey 17” with $7.5 million.Marvel and Disney’s “Captain America: Brave New World” landed in fourth place, earning $5.5 million.The latest installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe starring Anthony Mackie and Harrison Ford has so far grossed $185.4 million at home, and $203 million overseas.”The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie” — a new animated caper featuring Porky Pig, Daffy Duck and other familiar characters — debuted in fifth place at $3.2 million.Rounding out the top 10 were:”The Last Supper” ($2.83 million)”Paddington in Peru” ($2.8 million)”Dog Man” ($2.5 million)”The Monkey” ($2.47 million)”Last Breath” ($2.3 million)

A White House official on Sunday said a wave of United States air strikes on Yemen killed senior Huthi rebel leaders and sent a message to their Iranian backers.Attacks on the rebel-held capital Sanaa as well as Saada, Al-Bayda and Radaa killed at least 31 people and wounded 101, “most of whom were children and women”, Huthi health ministry spokesperson Anis al-Asbahi said.US President Donald Trump said he had ordered Saturday night’s strikes and threatened more if the rebels kept up their attacks on Red Sea and Gulf of Aden shipping.The rebels have carried out no attacks in the waterways since January 19, when a ceasefire began in the Gaza Strip, but on Tuesday said they would resume attacks on Israeli shipping.US National Security Advisor Michael Waltz told ABC News the strikes “targeted multiple Huthi leaders and took them out.”He told Fox News: “We just hit them with overwhelming force and put Iran on notice that enough is enough.”The Huthis, who have fought for years in their country, vowed a response.Witnesses to the bombing said on Sunday they were taken aback by its intensity. Footage on Huthi media showed children, including a dazed girl with blackened legs wrapped in bandages, and a woman being treated in hospital.- ‘Terrified’ -One father of two, who gave his name as Ahmed, told AFP his “house shook, the windows shattered, and my family and I were terrified”.”I’ve been living in Sanaa for 10 years, hearing shelling throughout the war. By God, I’ve never experienced anything like this before,” he said.Trump, posting on social media, vowed to “use overwhelming lethal force” to end the Huthi attacks, which the rebels say are in solidarity with Palestinians during the Gaza war.”To all Houthi terrorists, YOUR TIME IS UP, AND YOUR ATTACKS MUST STOP, STARTING TODAY. IF THEY DON’T, HELL WILL RAIN DOWN UPON YOU LIKE NOTHING YOU HAVE EVER SEEN BEFORE!” he said.Trump also issued a stern warning to Tehran.”To Iran: Support for the Houthi terrorists must end IMMEDIATELY!” he said.The Huthis, who had long complained of marginalisation, seized Sanaa in September 2014, forcing the government to flee south and leaving the rebels controlling large parts of the country.A Saudi-led coalition in March 2015 began a military campaign against the Huthis that the Yemen Data Project, an independent tracker, said involved more than 25,000 air raids.Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi condemned the deaths in the US strikes and said Washington had “no authority” to dictate Tehran’s foreign policy.US Central Command, which posted videos of warplanes taking off and a bomb demolishing a compound, said “precision strikes” were launched to “defend American interests, deter enemies, and restore freedom of navigation”.- ‘Fully prepared’ -The Huthis’ political bureau said its “forces are fully prepared to confront escalation with escalation”.They have launched scores of drone and missile attacks on ships in the two key waterways.Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the Huthis had “attacked US warships 174 times and commercial vessels 145 times since 2023”.The Yemen Conflict Observatory database set up by ACLED, a non-profit monitor, shows 136 Huthi attacks against warships, commercial vessels, Israeli and other targets since October 19, 2023.The campaign put a major strain on the vital trade route, which normally carries about 12 percent of world shipping traffic, forcing many companies to take a costly detour around southern Africa.The Palestinian group Hamas, which has praised Huthi support, branded the US strikes “a stark violation of international law and an assault on the country’s sovereignty and stability”.Iran denounced them as a “gross violation of the principles of the UN Charter”.The head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami, said: “Iran will not wage war, but if anyone threatens, it will give appropriate, decisive and conclusive responses.”- ‘Political dialogue’ – The United States had already launched several rounds of strikes on Huthi targets.Israel has also struck Yemen, most recently in December, after Huthi missile fire towards Israeli territory.Trump’s administration this month reclassified the Huthis as a “foreign terrorist organisation”, banning any US interaction with the group.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also spoke to his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. Moscow is close to Tehran.”Continued Huthi attacks on US military and commercial shipping vessels in the Red Sea will not be tolerated,” Rubio told Lavrov, according to the State Department.Russia’s foreign ministry said “Lavrov stressed the need for an immediate cessation of the use of force and the importance for all sides to engage in political dialogue… (to) prevent further bloodshed”.Fighting in Yemen’s own war has largely been on hold since a 2022 ceasefire, but the promised peace process has stalled in the face of the Huthi attacks on Israel and Israel-linked shipping.The war killed hundreds of thousands either directly or indirectly through causes such as disease. The country plunged into one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.burs-smw/srm/it

The first US strikes against Yemen’s Huthis since Donald Trump took office killed 31 people, the rebels said Sunday, with the US president warning “hell will rain down upon” the Iran-backed group if it did not stop attacking shipping.The Huthis, who have attacked Israel and Red Sea shipping throughout the Gaza war, said children were among those killed.An AFP photographer in the rebel-held capital Sanaa heard explosions and saw plumes of smoke rising.Attacks on Sanaa, as well as on areas in Saada, Al-Bayda and Radaa, killed at least 31 people and wounded 101, “most of whom were children and women”, Huthi health ministry spokesperson Anis Al-Asbahi said.Footage on Huthi media showed children and a woman among those being treated in a hospital emergency room, including a dazed girl with blackened legs wrapped in bandages.Trump, in a post on social media, vowed to “use overwhelming lethal force” to end the Huthi attacks, which the rebels say are in solidarity with Palestinians amid the Gaza war.”To all Huthi terrorists, YOUR TIME IS UP, AND YOUR ATTACKS MUST STOP, STARTING TODAY. IF THEY DON’T, HELL WILL RAIN DOWN UPON YOU LIKE NOTHING YOU HAVE EVER SEEN BEFORE!” he said.Trump also issued a stern warning to the group’s main backer.”To Iran: Support for the Houthi terrorists must end IMMEDIATELY!” he said.”Do NOT threaten the American People, their President… or Worldwide shipping lanes. If you do, BEWARE, because America will hold you fully accountable and, we won’t be nice about it!”The Huthis vowed the strikes “will not pass without response”, while Iran’s top diplomat Abbas Araghchi condemned the deaths and said Washington had “no authority” to dictate Tehran’s foreign policy.The Huthi Ansarullah website slammed what it called Washington’s “criminal brutality”.US Central Command, which posted videos of fighter jets taking off and a bomb demolishing a compound, said “precision strikes” were launched to “defend American interests, deter enemies, and restore freedom of navigation”.- ‘Escalation with escalation’ -“Our Yemeni armed forces are fully prepared to confront escalation with escalation,” the Huthi political bureau said.The rebels, who have controlled much of Yemen for more than a decade, are part of the “axis of resistance” of pro-Iran groups staunchly opposed to Israel and the United States.They have launched scores of drone and missile attacks on ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the Huthis had “attacked US warships 174 times and commercial vessels 145 times since 2023”.The campaign put a major strain on the vital route, which normally carries about 12 percent of world shipping traffic, forcing many companies to take a costly detour around southern Africa.The Palestinian group Hamas, which has praised the Huthi support, lashed out at the US strikes, branding them “a stark violation of international law and an assault on the country’s sovereignty and stability”.Iran “strongly condemned the brutal air strikes” in a statement, denouncing them as a “gross violation of the principles of the UN Charter”.The head of the country’s Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami, said: “Iran will not wage war, but if anyone threatens, it will give appropriate, decisive and conclusive responses.”- ‘Political dialogue’ – The United States has launched several rounds of strikes on Huthi targets.After halting their attacks when a ceasefire took effect in Gaza in January, the Huthis announced on Tuesday that they would resume them until Israel lifted its blockade of aid to the devastated Palestinian territory.Trump’s statement did not reference the dispute over Israel, but focused on previous Huthi attacks on merchant shipping.Earlier this month, the Trump administration reclassified the Huthis as a “foreign terrorist organisation”, banning any US interaction with it.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also spoke to his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. Moscow is close to Tehran.”Continued Huthi attacks on US military and commercial shipping vessels in the Red Sea will not be tolerated,” Rubio told Lavrov, according to the State Department.Russia’s foreign ministry said that “Lavrov stressed the need for an immediate cessation of the use of force and the importance for all sides to engage in political dialogue… (to) prevent further bloodshed”.The Huthis captured Sanaa in 2014 and were poised to overrun most of the rest of the country before a Saudi-led coalition intervened.The war devastated the already impoverished nation. Fighting has largely been on hold since a 2022 ceasefire, but the promised peace process has stalled in the face of Huthi attacks on Israel and Israel-linked shipping.burs-smw/dv

At least 33 people have been killed and dozens more injured when tornadoes and violent storms raked across the central United States, as forecasters warned more severe weather was expected Sunday.Local news showed roofs torn off homes and large trucks overturned.Eight people died in Kansas in a crash involving more than 50 vehicles, caused by low visibility during a “severe dust storm,” local police said.Missouri State Highway Patrol confirmed 12 storm-related fatalities and shared images of boats piled on top of one another at a marina destroyed by the weather. The state police reported downed trees and power lines, as well as damage to buildings, with some areas severely impacted by “tornadoes, thunderstorms and large hail.””It was the scariest thing I’ve ever been through, it was so fast, our ears were all about to burst,” Alicia Wilson, who was evacuated from her home in Missouri, told TV station KSDK.Further south in Mississippi, the state’s governor said six deaths were reported and that three people were missing late Saturday.Meanwhile in Texas, local authorities told AFP that four people had died in vehicle accidents linked to dust storms and fires that reduced visibility on the roads.In the neighboring state of Arkansas, officials said three people had died and 29 had been injured in the storm.Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared a state of emergency in response and said she had spoken with President Donald Trump.”He said to tell the people of Arkansas he loves them and he and his administration are here to help with whatever we need following last night’s tornadoes,” Sanders wrote on social media platform X.The National Weather Service (NWS) warned of “severe thunderstorms” from the Lower Great Lakes to the Southeast on Sunday.”The hazards associated with these thunderstorms are frequent lightning, severe thunderstorm wind gusts, hail, and a few tornadoes,” it said in its latest forecast bulletin.- More tornadoes forecast -At least 250,000 homes and businesses across the central United States were without power by early Sunday morning, according to tracking site poweroutage.us.More tornadoes were forecast in the central Gulf Coast states including Mississippi and Tennessee.”Numerous significant tornadoes, some of which may be long-track and potentially violent, should continue into this evening,” the NWS said on Saturday.Tornadoes are spinning columns of air that touch the ground from massive cumulonimbus thunderstorm clouds.The central and southern states of Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas get the most violent ones due to unique geographical and meteorological conditions.Dubbed “Tornado Alley,” this is where winds of widely varying temperatures meet in volatile, potent storm clouds, with most storms occurring from May to June.In 2024, 54 people died in tornado-related incidents in the United States, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

A pair of astronauts stranded for more than nine months on the International Space Station were a step closer to returning home Sunday after a replacement crew docked with the orbital outpost.The astronauts were shown on live TV embracing and hugging their counterparts in zero gravity on the space station shortly after their SpaceX Crew Dragon arrived at 0545 GMT.Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have been stuck aboard the ISS since June after the Boeing Starliner spacecraft they were testing on its maiden crewed voyage suffered propulsion issues and was deemed unfit to fly them back to Earth.William said it was a “wonderful day” and “great to see our friends arrive,” speaking shortly after her colleges emerged onto the orbital lab.Footage posted online by NASA astronaut Don Pettit showed the Crew Dragon vehicle approaching the ISS as it orbited the Earth.The NASA duo’s Starliner had returned to Earth empty, without experiencing further major issues — leaving them stuck for nine months after what was meant to have been a days-long roundtrip.Their prolonged stay was significantly longer than the standard ISS rotation for astronauts of roughly six months. But it is much shorter than the US space record of 371 days set by NASA astronaut Frank Rubio aboard the ISS in 2023, or the world record held by Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov, who spent 437 continuous days aboard the Mir space station.Still, the unexpected nature of their stint away from their families — they had to receive additional clothing and personal care items because they hadn’t packed enough — garnered interest and sympathy around the world.Wilmore and Williams will now begin preparing for departure and their ocean splashdown off the Florida coast, no sooner than March 19.Along with the pair, NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov will also be aboard the returning Dragon capsule.The replacement Crew-10 team had blasted off Friday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.The team consists of NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan’s Takuya Onishi, and Russia’s Kirill Peskov. During their mission, the new crew will conduct a range of scientific experiments, including flammability tests for future spacecraft designs and research into the effects of space on the human body.