Foreign News
UK-owned ship damaged in Houthi missile attack off Yemen, US says
A Palau-flagged, British-owned cargo ship was damaged and a minor injury was reported in the Gulf of Aden after it was hit by two missiles launched by Yemen’s Houthis, the US military says.
The MV Islander is continuing its voyage following the attack south-east of the Yemeni port city of Aden. UK maritime authorities said the missiles caused a fire on board.
A Houthi spokesman confirmed they had targeted the Islander and said they had also launched drones at a US warship.
The Houthis, who are backed by Iran and control much of north-western Yemen, have been attacking merchant vessels in the region since November. They say their attacks are a show of support for the Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and have claimed – often falsely – that they are targeting ships only linked to Israel, the US or the UK.
US and British warships have been deployed as part of an international task force to protect freedom of navigation and commercial shipping in the critical waterway, which accounts for about 12% of global seaborne trade. US forces, occasionally backed by British warplanes, have also been striking Houthi military targets in Yemen in response to the attacks since mid-January, but so far the Houthis have not been deterred.?
The US military’s Central Command said in a statement on Thursday that between 04:30 and 05:30 (01:30-02:30 GMT) US aircraft and a coalition warship shot down six Houthi one-way attack unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, in the Red Sea.
Later, between 08:30 and 09:45, the Houthis fired two anti-ship ballistic missiles from southern Yemen into the Gulf of Aden, it added. “The missiles impacted MV Islander a Palau-flagged, UK-owned, cargo carrier causing one minor injury and damage. The ship is continuing its voyage.”
Earlier, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency reported that two missiles set ablaze a vessel – which it did not identify – about 70 nautical miles (130km) south-east of Aden. It said the vessel and crew were safe and proceeding to their next port of call.
According to maritime security firm Ambrey the ship’s AIS transponder gave its destination as “Syrian crew on board”, but it appeared to be heading in the direction of the Red Sea from Thailand.
The Israeli military meanwhile said its air defence system had successfully intercepted a “launch which was identified in the area of the Red Sea and was en route to Israel”.
The Houthi spokesman later confirmed they had launched missiles and drones at various targets in what it called the “south of occupied Palestine”.
In a televised speech on Thursday afternoon, the Houthis’ leader said a total of 48 ships had now been targeted and that 13 operations had been carried out in the past week because the US and UK had “failed”. “Operations in the Red and Arabian Seas, Bab al-Mandab Strait, and the Gulf of Aden are continuing, escalating, and effective,” Abdul Malik al-Houthi declared.
He also announced that the Houthis had introduced “submarine weapons”, which he described as “worrying for the enemy”.
On Monday, the crew of a Belize-flagged, British-registered cargo vessel Rubymar had to abandon ship in the Bab al-Mandab Strait – which connects the Gulf of Aden with the Red Sea – after it was hit by a Houthi missile and started letting in water.
Images of the ship from Wednesday, which were obtained by the BBC, showed the ship was down by the stern but had not sunk, as the Houthis initially claimed. It is carrying 22 tonnes of a fertiliser classified as “very dangerous”.
The Houthis also said they had attacked two US-owned cargo ships in the Gulf of Aden on Monday. The US military confirmed that two missiles were fired at one of them, the Greek-flagged Sea Champion, which was able to continue its journey to Aden to deliver grain.
The US state department condemned the attacks as “reckless and indiscriminate”, warning that they had delayed deliveries of critical humanitarian aid to Yemen, Sudan and Ethiopia. It also said the US and its allies would continue to take “appropriate action”.
(BBC)
A rare pink diamond is going on display in France for the first time since it was stolen almost 100 years ago to the day – the last time it was shown to the public.
The nine-carat, pear-shaped gemstone known as the “Grand Condé” was pilfered in an overnight raid on the Château de Chantilly in October 1926 and concealed in a hollowed-out apple.
The diamond – one of few royal jewels to survive the French Revolution – was recovered a few weeks later when a hungry maid at the hotel in which the thieves were staying took a bite of the apple.
It will once again be on display in the Condé Museum at the Château de Chantilly until 3 January.
The museum’s director Mathieu Deldicque said that while the apple story may sounds far-fetched, it was widely covered by newspapers at the time.
Deldicque has faced questions about whether the exhibition may be tempting fate, especially given the string of heists on European cultural institutions in the past 12 months, including the daring daylight robbery of jewellery from the Louvre museum in Paris.
While he declined to reveal to CNN how much the diamond was insured for, he noted that extensive academic study into the properties of the diamond had taken place to make it uniquely identifiable.
The results of this analysis, as well as previously unseen archive material about the gem’s history and theft, form part of the exhibition, according to the museum.
Naturally occurring pink diamonds are exceptionally rare and often sell for tens of millions of dollars. The highest price ever fetched for one at auction was $71.2m (£53.6m) in 2017, according to Sotheby’s.
The exact origins of the Grand Condé remain a mystery.
It was first mentioned in 1740 in an inventory of Louis Henri de Bourbon, Prince of Condé, drawn up following his death, the Château de Chantilly said.
It then became part of the collection of Queen Marie-Amélie of Bourbon-Sicily, the wife of French King Louis Philippe I, and then her son, Prince Henri of Orléans, the Duke of Aumale.
He bequeathed it to the Institut de France, which now owns the Château de Chantilly, 50km (31 miles) north of Paris, along with thousands of artworks and manuscripts which became the Musée Condé collection.
(BBC)
A nursery owner and five members of her staff have been jailed after they were found to have poisoned more than 200 children with lead-tainted food.
Li Huifang, who operated the Heshi Peixin Kindergarten in Tianshui, in the Gansu province, was sentenced to life in prison for producing and selling toxic and harmful food, according to Chinese state media.
In July 2025, 247 pupils and staff at the nursery were found to have abnormally high blood lead levels after children began falling ill.
A report into the incident found that chefs at Heshi Peixin had used inedible paint to “enhance the look” of its meals to attract more students – despite the paint being being clearly marked as such.
In addition to the sentence, the Lanzhou Intermediate People’s Court also ordered the confiscation of 500,000 yuan (£56,200; $74,700) of Li’s personal assets, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
Nursery executive principal Zhi Jinglin was sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined 300,000 yuan.
Four other members of staff who worked in the nursery’s kitchen received sentences of between six to eight years, according to state media.
The court found the four had been instructed by Li and Zhi to add toxic and harmful ingredients to food served to children and staff.
Food samples were later found to contain lead 2,000 times in excess of China’s national safety limit.
The investigation into the poisoning began after 235 children from Heshi Peixin nursery had to be treated for lead poisoning after eating steamed red date cakes and sausage corn buns.
Investigators found that the red date cake and the corn sausage rolls had lead levels of 1052mg/kg and 1340mg/kg respectively, both of which far exceed the national food safety standard limit of 0.5mg/kg.
Lead poisoning is “particularly harmful to young children” and can “severely damage the brain and central nervous system”, according to the World Health Organization.
Officials later found that dozens of provincial officials and hospital staff attempted to cover up the incident by tampering with blood tests and accepting bribes from a nursery investor.
China has since published a set of national guidelines for the provision of meals on campuses. Among the measures is the requirement for every new batch of food to be tested, and for flour, rice and cooking oil to be purchased from centralised procurement points only.
(BBC)
Five people have been killed and 16 injured in a Houthi missile attack targeting the presidential palace in the port city of Aden in southern Yemen, which is the seat of the internationally-recognised government, officials say.
Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani told the BBC that the prime minister and other ministers were unhurt when five ballistic missiles hit al-Maashiq Palace.
The Houthis’ military spokesman, Yahya Sarea, said they struck “the Saudi enemy’s military operations headquarters in Aden”.
A coalition led by Saudi Arabia backs the government and is providing air support for an offensive by pro-government forces against the Iran-backed Houthis.
Yemeni health minister Qasim Buhaibeh said the casualties included “those working to guard the site and civilian employees”.
The country’s Prime Minister Shaya Zindani condemned the Houthis’ attack on Aden, calling it “cowardly” and a “continuation of their criminal behaviour”.
He said the government continued to carry out its duties and vowed that it would not weaken the resolve of its forces to continue operations against the Houthis on Yemen’s south-western Red Sea coast and other front lines.
Earlier, the Houthis denied that they had attacked Saudi Arabia on Thursday, after the coalition said its forces had intercepted a cruise missile in the Medina region, home to one of Islam’s holiest shrines.
The Houthis have been launching missiles and drones at airports, oil and gas facilities, and military bases in Saudi Arabia in retaliation for the strikes on the territory that they control in western Yemen, including the capital Sanaa.
On Saturday, a Houthi missile strike killed 13 people at Riyadh’s international airport, which was the deadliest attack in Saudi Arabia in more than a decade.
Saudi Arabia’s deputy foreign minister accused Iran of encouraging the Houthis to escalate their conflict with the kingdom.
“Iran continues to arm, train and support the Houthi militia in violation of UN Security Council resolutions,” Rayed Krimly told reporters, according to AFP news agency.
“We think that the escalation by the Houthis at this latest stage of the conflict is encouraged by Iran,” he added.
There was no immediate response from Iran’s government. However, it has previously denied supplying weapons to the Houthis and said it only supports them politically.
Iran’s foreign minister has also said it is ready to provide “any assistance necessary to facilitate the start of talks” between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis.
Yemen has been devastated by a civil war that began in 2014, when the Houthis ousted the internationally-recognised government from Sanaa. The conflict escalated in 2015, after the Saudi-led coalition of Arab states intervened in an attempt to restore the government’s rule.
A four-year-old informal ceasefire began to unravel in July, when the Houthis announced a “maritime embargo” against Saudi Arabia and began missile and drone attacks on Saudi airports, oil facilities and tankers in the Red Sea.
The Houthis said they were retaliating for what they call a Saudi blockade of their territory, as well as an air strike on Sanaa airport that they blamed on the kingdom.
The conflict escalated in September after the Houthis seized part of Yemen’s south-western Red Sea coast near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a chokepoint for global shipping. Their advance contributed to a rise in oil prices following six months of war between the US, Israel and Iran.
Last week, pro-government forces said they had regained control of territory overlooking Bab al-Mandab after launching a major counter-offensive with the support of Saudi air strikes.
At least 1,282 people have been killed and 5,890 injured in the fighting in Yemen since 6 August, according to the government’s health ministry.
The UN says another 201,000 people have been displaced and that there has been an alarming surge in suspected cholera cases.
(BBC)
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