Foreign News
Yemen’s Houthis damage oil tanker, shoot down US drone
Yemen’s Houthis have damaged an oil tanker and downed another MQ-9 Reaper drone of the United States as they promise more attacks in opposition to Israel’s war on Gaza.
The Iran-aligned group’s military spokesman, Yahya Saree, said in his latest televised video address early on Saturday that “British oil ship Andromeda Star” was targeted in the Red Sea with naval missiles and was directly hit.
The US military confirmed that the group fired three antiship ballistic missiles into the Red Sea at multiple targets and damaged MV Andromeda Star. The vessel was recently sold to a company registered in the Seychelles, Reuters reported.
“MV Andromeda Star reports minor damage, but is continuing its voyage,” the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a post on X, adding there were no injuries or damage reported by the maritime military coalition led by the US that is deployed in the area to counter attacks from Yemen.
The Houthi military spokesman also said its air defence forces in Yemen also shot down an MQ-9 Reaper attack drone of the US military with a missile in the airspace of the Saada governorate “while it was carrying out hostile missions”.
The US military did not comment on the drone, but US broadcaster CBS News confirmed that an MQ-9, which costs about $30m, “crashed” inside Yemen early on Friday and said an investigation is under way.
This is the third US attack drone shot down by the Houthis since the start of the war on Gaza, with the first brought down in November, followd by another in February.
The Yemeni group made no comments about further attacks on vessels in its nearby waterways, but the US military said the anti-ship missiles fired by the Houthis also targeted MV MAISHA, an Antigua/Barbados-flagged, Liberia-operated vessel. It reported no damage.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) also confirmed two attacks on a vessel – which appears to be MV Andromeda Star – some 14 nautical miles (26km) southwest of al-Mukha (Mocha) in Yemen.
It said a first explosion happened “in close proximity” to the vessel and a second attack, consisting of what is believed to be two missiles, damaged the vessel.
The Houthi military had reported targeting “Israeli ship MSC Darwin” in the Gulf of Aden on Friday, adding that it launched a number of missiles and drones at targets in the southern Israeli port city of Eilat.
On Thursday, the group had launched an attack on the US flagged, owned and operated Maersk Yorktown along with Israeli-linked ship MSC Veracruz, with US and UK warships defending.
The reinvigorated military activity by the Yemeni group comes after weeks of a relative lull when the number of attacks had dropped.
Houthis say they will stop the attacks in one of the world’s busiest maritime routes, demanding Israel stop its war on Gaza. The Houthi attacks have disrupted global trade and affected traffic at Israel’s Eilat port.
People in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen have been protesting in large numbers every Friday since the start of the war to express solidarity with Palestinians and condemn Israel and its Western allies.
The Houthis initially targeted only Israeli-linked ships passing through the Bab al-Mandeb strait but expanded to include US and UK ships after Washington and London carried out attacks on Yemen.
Houthi-run media reported that “millions” more took to the streets in governorates across Yemen this Friday as well.
(Aljazeera)
The “covered-up” image of a nude artefact has been withdrawn from an Indian school textbook after it sparked a massive backlash from historians and educationists.
The bronze sculpture – known as the Dancing girl from Mohenjo-daro – shows a girl standing with one hand on her hip and is one of the most recognisable artefacts from the Indus Valley civilisation.
But in a newly released grade nine textbook, the figurine’s torso was covered with dark shading, hiding its anatomical features.
After it created an uproar, officials said that the original image has been restored in the digital version of the book and that new print editions would also carry the unedited photo of the bronze sculpture.
After news broke of the inclusion of the modified image, historians had accused the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) – which drafted the textbook – of disfiguring the iconic artefact.
The NCERT, an autonomous organisation under the federal education ministry, oversees syllabus changes and textbook content for children taking exams under the government-run Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).
NCERT director Dinesh Saklani told reporters that the modified image would be withdrawn from the textbook.
“Following consultations with experts, the department is replacing the image of the Dancing Girl with its original version,” Saklani told ANI news agency.
The BBC has contacted Saklani for comment.
A chapter on the Indus Valley has been a staple in Indian school curriculum, and though the Dancing Girl sculpture has appeared in textbooks for decades – including in earlier versions of NCERT textbooks – its torso has never been censored in any way.
The NCERT has not yet shared a reason for introducing the modified image but media reports have speculated that it could be due to concerns over nudity.
An editorial in the Indian Express newspaper, which first broke the news, criticised the modification of the artifact, saying:
“The Dancing Girl has been significant not because it conforms to a blindfolded standard of modesty but because it embodies poise, confidence and unmistakable presence. If the task of education is to equip young people to engage with the world as it is, then NCERT would do better to trust both students, and women – both contemporary and millennia old – with a little more agency.”
The textbook is part of the NCERT’s new Arts Education Series, introduced under the latest National Education Policy (NEP) to integrate visual, performing and literary arts into mainstream schooling.
The Dancing Girl sculpture, which was discovered at Mohenjo-daro – one of the largest settlements of the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation – depicts a girl adorned with ornaments with her hair tied in a bun.
Her posture captures the human body in motion and archaeologists have long considered the sculpture to be of great artistic value and evidence of the civilisation’s advanced knowledge of metallurgy.
The sculpture is currently housed in the National Museum in Delhi.
[BBC]
Iran’s leadership is trying to present its emerging memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the US not as a retreat, but as the result of resistance and victory. That is not an easy argument to make.
The country has just gone through a damaging war, the economy is under severe pressure, and parts of the Islamic Republic’s own support base have spent months denouncing any compromise with Washington.
There are also Iranians, both inside the country and abroad, who see the crisis not as a moment for diplomacy, but as an opportunity for regime change.
This is the divided political landscape in which Tehran is now trying to sell the deal.
Senior Iranian officials have framed the deal as a win. Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, the Speaker of parliament and the leading Iranian figure in the talks, said Iran had taken “a long step towards final victory”.
President Masoud Pezeshkian has described the understanding as potentially transformative, saying that if fully implemented it could resolve many of Iran’s problems and create “a different world” in Iran and the Middle East.
Qalibaf’s role is significant because he is not identified with Pezeshkian’s moderate camp; his public support suggests the deal has backing from more powerful parts of the system even within Islamic Republic Revolutionary Guards.
The leadership is also presenting the agreement as a victory because, in Tehran’s argument, the US and Israel failed to achieve their main objectives.
They did not force Iran into surrender, did not remove the Islamic Republic from power, did not end Iran’s nuclear programme through military action, and did not break Iran’s links to Hezbollah.
Instead, Iran is still at the negotiating table, with Lebanon included in the framework and sanctions relief being discussed.
But this official narrative is contested inside Iran.
One hard-line MP, the deputy chair of parliament’s National Security Committee, has reportedly described the draft deal as a document that would turn Iran into an American colony.
He also accused negotiators of ignoring the supreme leader’s directive not to re-open the Strait of Hormuz to shipping.
That criticism matters because it does not come from outside the system. It comes from within one of the institutions meant to oversee national security.
For months, hard-line voices in parliament, state-aligned media and nightly pro-government gatherings have argued that the US cannot be trusted.
They point to the fact that diplomacy was still taking place shortly before the war began, and say the Trump administration used negotiations as cover while Israel and the US prepared military action. For them, any deal with Washington risks looking like appeasement.
Yet some of these voices appear quieter now. That may suggest that the decision to proceed has been authorised from the highest levels of the state. It does not mean there is full unity.
It might suggest that, for now, the centre of power has judged that the cost of rejecting a deal may be greater than the cost of absorbing hard-line anger.
Economic pressure is central to that calculation.
Iran’s leadership may present the agreement as the result of military leverage, including pressure around the Strait of Hormuz and attacks on US and regional energy interests. But the economy has also forced Tehran’s hand.
The war, sanctions, restrictions on shipping, reduced access to oil markets and hard currency, and very high inflation have all squeezed the country and ordinary Iranians.
For many families, the question is not whether the agreement sounds like victory, but whether it lowers prices and reduces fear of another round of war.
US Vice-President JD Vance has said Iran would not receive taxpayer money but could gain access to billions of dollars if it fulfills its commitments and sanctions are eased. That allows Tehran to sell the deal as a path to investment and reconstruction rather than dependency on America.
Still, the risks are obvious. The details of the memorandum have not been fully published, and negotiations are expected to begin in Switzerland on Friday.
The most difficult issues, the future of Iran’s enriched uranium, the level of enrichment allowed, verification, sanctions relief, Hormuz and Lebanon, remain to be discussed in the talks.
There is also uncertainty over Israel. Its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has rejected reports that Israel will withdraw from southern Lebanon, saying Israeli forces will remain in Lebanon for as long as necessary.
Donald Trump, meanwhile, has publicly criticised Israel’s conduct in Lebanon, saying too many people have been killed. He also said he was unhappy with an Israeli strike on Beirut shortly before the Iran-US deal was reached, while insisting his relationship with Netanyahu remained excellent.
For Tehran, this visible friction between Washington and Israel is useful. It can be presented as evidence that Iran’s pressure has complicated Israel’s freedom of action. But it also makes the deal fragile.
If Israel continues operations in Lebanon, Iran will face pressure to respond. If Washington cannot restrain Israel, Tehran’s claim that Lebanon is covered by the memorandum may quickly be tested.
The reaction from BBC Persian’s audience suggests the official victory narrative is landing unevenly.
One audience member said they had been very worried about another Israeli attack, but even after hearing about the agreement, they had “no trust” and were worried about whether the country would be properly managed if the deal lasted.
Another anti-regime Iranian, who initially supported US military action, asked what the US attack had achieved, since if it did not lead to political change in Iran: “Our hope was that the ruling system would change. But apart from misery, inflation, and further damage to the economy, what benefit did it have for people?”
Others were more sympathetic to the government’s line. One audience member described Iran as the winner, saying the war showed sanctions are lifted not through “begging”, but through the use of power.
Another welcomed the agreement more cautiously, saying it allowed people to return to work and life with greater peace of mind. “I think it is temporary,” they said, “but we needed a few months of breathing space and calm.”
That may be the most realistic reading. The Islamic Republic is selling the deal as victory because it cannot easily sell it as necessity.
But for many Iranians, its success will not be measured by slogans. It will be measured by whether the war stops, whether prices ease, whether sanctions relief arrives, and whether the leadership can manage the next phase without another sudden escalation.
[BBC]
A daredevil social media free-climber nicknamed the “Spider-Man of Yemen” has died after falling into a volcanic crater in the country’s south-west.
Al-Qaqa Ibn Antar had been attempting to climb its steep rock faces on Friday without safety equipment when he fell in, according to local authorities.
The 30-year-old had a large following on social media and was well known for performing daring acrobatic stunts in online videos.
The Hardah Dam volcanic crater is one of the country’s most famous natural landmarks.
Video footage appearing to show the moment of the fall has been widely circulating online.
It shows Antar climbing the near-vertical wall of the crater before appearing to lose his grip and fall.
Yemen’s Civil Defence Authority praised the “heroic efforts” of its water rescue team for successfully recovering Antar’s body “from the bottom of the crater” in a statement issued on Sunday.
It described the operation over the weekend as “highly dangerous”, and “one of the most difficult and complex field rescue missions”.
The authority said the team had been promoted after demonstrating “exceptional field capabilities amid rugged terrain, harsh environmental conditions and high temperatures inside the volcanic crater”.
It produced footage showing rescuers scaling down the side of the crater using climbing equipment, before winching a cage down to recover the climber’s body.
His body was found by divers inside the 120m-wide crater at a depth of 30m (98ft) below the water surface, according to the Associated Press.
The Hardah Dam in Dhale province has become somewhat of a tourist attraction in recent years, with a hot sulfur lake sitting at its base.
[BBC]
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