Houthi militants sink cargo ship in Red Sea, killing four and kidnapping others
Six crew members were rescued after spending over 24 hours in the water, but the fate of 15 others remains unknown, with the Iran-aligned Houthis claiming to hold some seafarers.
The United States Mission in Yemen condemned the Houthis for kidnapping surviving crew members from the Eternity C, demanding their immediate and unconditional release.
This attack follows a similar Houthi assault on another vessel, the Magic Seas, which sank on Sunday, though all its crew were rescued.
Leading shipping industry associations have denounced the deadly operation, calling for robust maritime security to protect vital sea lanes and civilian seafarers.
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Reuters
19 minutes ago
- Reuters
Syria's Sharaa says protecting Druze citizens is 'our priority'
CAIRO, July 17 (Reuters) - Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa said on Thursday that protecting the Druze citizens and their rights is "our priority", as Israel vowed to destroy Syrian government forces attacking Druze in southern Syria. In his first televised statement after the powerful Israeli airstrikes on Damascus on Wednesday, Sharaa addressed Druze citizens saying "we reject any attempt to drag you into hands of an external party". "We are not among those who fear the war. We have spent our lives facing challenges and defending our people, but we have put the interests of the Syrians before chaos and destruction," he said. He added that the Syrian people are not afraid of war and are ready to fight if their dignity is threatened.
BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
Who are the Druze and why is Israel attacking Syria?
A fresh wave of deadly sectarian violence has rocked Syria, putting into focus the country's fragile security landscape as the new government attempts to impose its authority over the fractured Sunday 13 July, the reported abduction of a merchant from the Druze minority sparked days of deadly clashes between Druze militias and Sunni Bedouin fighters in southern on Tuesday 15 July, Israel intervened militarily, saying its forces were seeking to protect the Druze and to eliminate pro-government forces accused of attacking them in Suweida. At least 300 people are reported to have been killed in Suweida since Sunday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human violence is the first in the Druze-majority province of Suweida since fighting in April and May between Druze fighters and Syria's new security forces killed dozens of people. Prior to this, clashes in Syria's coastal provinces in March were said to have killed hundreds of members of the Alawite minority, to which former ruler Bashar al-Assad deadly unrest, along with the violent Israeli strikes, have re-ignited fears of a security breakdown in Syria, as the country grapples with the fallout from over a decade of civil war, and the recent Islamist-led rebel takeover of Damascus in December 2024. Syria's current leader, former jihadist Ahmed al-Sharaa, has vowed to protect Syria's minorities. Who are the Druze? The Druze are an Arabic-speaking ethno-religious minority in Syria, Lebanon, Israel and the occupied Golan Heights. The Druze faith is an offshoot of Shia Islam with its own unique identity and of its roughly one million followers live in Syria, where they make up about 3% of the population. The Druze community in Israel is largely considered to be loyal to the Israeli state, owing to its members' participation in military service. There are some 152,000 Druze people living in Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, according to the Israeli Central Bureau of have historically occupied a precarious position in Syria's political order. During Syria's almost 14-year civil war, the Druze operated their own militias in southern the fall of Assad in December, the Druze have resisted state attempts to impose authority over southern Syria. While the Druze factions in Syria are divided in their approach to the new authorities, ranging from caution to outright rejection, many object to official Syrian security presence in Suweida and have resisted integration into the Syrian army - relying instead on local militias. Despite the Syrian government condemning the recent attacks on Druze people and vowing to restore order in southern Syria, its forces have also been accused of attacking the minority - with the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) war monitor documenting "summary executions" of Druze people by government forces. Such reports have fuelled mistrust among some members of the Druze community towards the authorities in Assad's sudden fall, Israel has been reaching out to the Druze community near its northern border in a bid to forge alliances with Syria's minorities. It has increasingly positioned itself as a regional protector of minorities, including the Kurds, Druze and Alawites in Syria, while attacking military sites in Syria and government the sectarian clashes in May, Israel carried out strikes near the presidential palace in Damascus, saying it was a warning against attacks on the Druze. However, some Druze figures in Syria and Lebanon have accused Israel of stoking sectarian divisions to advance its own expansionist aspirations in the region. Why is Israel attacking Syria now? The most recent strikes have primarily acted as a warning and a deterrent against the Syrian army deploying to southern Syria, with Israel seeking to create a demilitarised zone in the area. In particular, Israel fears the presence of Islamist fighters near its northern border, along the Israeli-occupied Golan the Israeli air strikes on 15 July were limited to targeting security forces and vehicles in Suweida, the Israeli military expanded the scope of its attacks on 16 July, striking the Ministry of Defence and the Syrian army headquarters in Damascus. Syria has condemned the strikes represented the most serious Israeli escalation in Syria since December 2024, when it obliterated hundreds of military sites across the country and seized a UN-patrolled buffer zone in the Syrian Golan Heights. Israel has struck Syria multiple times, with the intention of preventing the new authorities from building its military capacities - viewed as a potential threat to Israeli security."The warnings in Damascus have ended - now painful blows will come," Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz wrote on social media on 16 July, shortly after Israeli strikes on Damascus targeting of the Syrian military headquarters was broadcast live by the leading Syria TV channel, from its studios located across from the building - with the presenter captured on air fleeing the studio. How has the rest of the world reacted? The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the US was "very concerned" about the violence and announced on 16 July: "We have agreed on specific steps that will bring this troubling and horrifying situation to an end tonight."Several Arab states, including Lebanon, Iraq, Qatar, Jordan, Egypt, and Kuwait, have condemned the Israeli strikes targeting Syrian government and security forces. Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry denounced what it described as "Israel's blatant attacks" on Syria, while Iran described the attacks as "all too predictable".Turkey, a key stakeholder in post-Assad Syria, described the strikes as "an act of sabotage against Syria's efforts to secure peace, stability and security".UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also condemned Israel's "escalatory" strikes in Suweida and Damascus. What could happen next? The violence has underlined the fragility of Syria's post-war security and political landscape, with the most recent spate of violence fuelling fears of renewed sectarian attacks across Sharaa attempts to establish control over Syria and to unite its various groups, it remains to be seen whether his Islamist-dominated government will be able to reconcile Syria's deep-rooted sectarian divisions, stoked by years of civil war. The sectarian clashes, along with the Israeli strikes, threaten to derail attempts at state-building and post-war for its part, is likely to continue to perceive the new authorities, and its affiliated Islamist fighters in the south, as a significant security threat - pushing it to pursue alliances with groups that may feel alienated by the new authorities.
Daily Mail
6 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Top Democrat presidential hopeful delivers bizarre speech about 'Sesame Street in Iraq'
Top Democrat Jasmine Crockett has delivered a rambling speech about how Iraqi 'Sesame Street' helps fight anti-American radicalization. The Trump administration dismantled the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in February over its alleged misuse of taxpayer money, including spending $20 million on a Middle Eastern version of the children's show. During a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday, Crockett defended USAID's support for the muppet-based TV program, saying it helps prevent potentially hostile countries from becoming 'radicalized' against the US. '[When] we start to talk about whether or not 'Sesame Street' or anything else that's on NPR or PBS ends up in other places, this is so there is not this warped thought process about the western world or the United States,' the Texas lawmaker said. 'We're talking about making sure that we don't end up allowing people to be radicalized against us because they have a terrible vision of us because they maybe in a government that actually puts out bad, terrible propaganda about us.' Crockett, 44, who has represented Texas's 30th congressional district since 2023, did not elaborate on how the show prevents anti-American radicalization. It comes as news emerged that the Missouri-born politician appears to be considering running for the US Senate in the 2026 midterm elections. In an interview last week with liberal comedian Hasan Minhaj, Crockett said that she already has her 'expiration date in mind for the House,' and has been 'eyeing people to replace' her. Polling released by the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) this week shows Crockett leads a hypothetical Democratic primary with 35 percent of likely voters, followed by former Rep. Colin Allred at 20 percent. As a rising star in the Democratic Party, Crockett could even become the next presidential hopeful for liberals. Crockett isn't alone in defending USAID's funding of the Iraqi Sesame Street scheme, as other progressives have also spoken out in favor of the project. USAID gave the $20 million grant to a nonprofit called Sesame Workshop, which delivers the show known as Ahlan Simim, or 'Welcome Sesame', in order to help it make a slicker version of the show in 2021. The project is made up of direct healthcare outreach programs, alongside a version of the popular kids program screened to around 29 million children in the Middle East and North Africa, often in areas where schooling has been disrupted by war. The Ahlan Simsim YouTube channel has 1.38 million subscribers and videos dating back nine years. Early videos posted before the USAID funding featured low-quality video production and puppetry. Later videos show classic characters such as Elmo and the Cookie Monster along with 'new characters such as 'Jad,' who was forced to flee his home, 'Basma,' who welcomed Jad when he arrived in his new community, and 'Ameera', who lives with a disability', according to the International Rescue Committee (IRC), which helps deliver the show. They 'act out stories that help marginalized children understand their emotions and experiences and teach them early learning fundamentals like counting and the alphabet'. Delaware representative Chris Coons also argued the project could benefit the US's interests overseas as a form of soft power. 'This isn't just funding a kids' show for children — millions of children — in countries like Iraq,' Coons told CNN. 'It's a show that helps teach values, helps teach public health, helps prevent kids from dying from dysentery and disease and helps push values like collaboration, peacefulness, and cooperation in a society where the alternative is ISIS, extremism, and terrorism.' Coons quoted President Donald Trump's previous Secretary of Defense General James Mattis, who was also a proponent of soft power. 'If you slash development and aid spending then I'm going to need more bullets for our troops,' he said. Coons also claimed that the project is 'pennies on the dollar' when compared to the $850 billion defense budget. Republican Senator Joni Ernst cited the project as another example of 'wasteful' spending by the embattled federal agency. 'USAID asked, 'Can you tell me how to get how to get to Sesame Street?' and ended up in Iraq,' Ernst said. 'USAID authorized a whopping $20 million to create a Sesame Street in Iraq. USAID has long been a reckless, out-of-control, unaccountable rogue agency.' According to the defunct USAID website, Ahlan Simsim is 'designed to promote inclusion, mutual respect, and understanding'. Over the last six years, Ahlan Simsim has reached over 3.5 million children and caregivers with direct services, as well as millions more through its TV show. René Celaya, Managing Director for Ahlan Simsim, wrote in a 2022 Medium post that USAID funding went towards early childhood development (ECD) services in the Middle East countries including Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. 'As we entered a more mature phase of the program, we shifted our focus to scaling and partnerships to ensure the long-term sustainability of Ahlan Simsim's impact on the systems that deliver ECD across the region and around the world,' she wrote. The IRC claims that the project functions in areas where millions of children have been displaced by war, serving as an educational tool when schooling is disrupted. Its Wash Up! program has educated more than 200,000 children on proper hygiene to help prevent deadly waterborne diseases across 15 countries, according to the IRC. USAID spending has come under scrutiny since Elon Musk took a sledgehammer to the agency in hopes of reducing public spending. The White House has touted schemes such as a 'transgender opera' in Colombia, a DEI musical in Ireland and $2.5 million on electric vehicles in Vietnam as evidence of wasteful spending by the department.
