Israeli military issues unprecedented evacuation warning for Yemen's international airport
Jerusalem
CNN —
Israel's military has issued an unprecedented evacuation warning for Yemen's international airport in Sana'a.
It marks the first time the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has put out an evacuation warning in Yemen, more than 1,000 miles from Israel.
'Failure to evacuate the area endangers your lives,' Avichay Adraee, the IDF spokesperson in Arabic, said on social media.
The warning comes a day after the Israeli military carried out a series of strikes against the port in Yemen's Hodeidah and a nearby cement factory. The Huthi-run Ministry of Health said at least one person had been killed and another 35 injured in an Israeli strike on the factory in Bajil, east of Hodeidah.
The IDF strikes came after a Huthi ballistic missile penetrated Israel's air defenses and hit near Tel Aviv's international airport on Sunday. Several attempts to intercept the missile failed, the IDF said.
Israel struck Sana'a international airport in December, killing at least three people and injuring 30 others, according to the Huthi-run al-Masirah satellite television network.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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Egypt Independent
an hour ago
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US and China agree on plan to ease export controls after trade talks in London
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While neither side disclosed any specifics of the deal, Lutnick indicated that both had agreed to roll back export controls on goods and technologies that are crucial to the other. China's restrictions on exports of rare earth minerals and magnets to the US will be resolved as a 'fundamental' part of the framework agreement, Lutnick said, according to Reuters. 'Also, there were a number of measures the United States of America put on when those rare earths were not coming,' he added. 'You should expect those to come off, sort of as President Trump said: 'In a balanced way.'' Frustrated by what it saw as Beijing's retreat from its pledge made in Geneva to ease rare earth exports, the US restricted chip design software sales to China and vowed to 'aggressively revoke' Chinese student visas. Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, told CNBC Monday that the Trump administration may be open to loosening restrictions on some microchips that China views as critical to its manufacturing sector. The US will maintain restrictions on 'very, very high-end Nvidia' chips that are capable of powering artificial intelligence systems, he added. CNN has reached out to the White House for comment. Export controls take center stage The latest round of talks, held at the ornate Lancaster House in central London, underscored the increasingly central role export controls have played in the trade war between the world's largest economies. Li Chenggang, China's vice commerce minister, second left, and Wang Wentao, China's commerce minister, second right, arrive for trade talks at Lancaster House in London, UK, on June 10, 2025. Chris J. Ratcliffe/Bloomberg/Getty Images It also highlighted Beijing's powerful leverage from its dominance of the rare earth supply chain – and its growing readiness to wield it in pressing the US to ease export restrictions on China. Rare earth minerals and their magnets are essential for everything from cars to fighter jets, and China holds a near-monopoly on these materials that are critical to American industries and defense. Following their long-anticipated phone call last week, Trump said Xi had agreed to restart the flow of rare earth minerals and magnets, though he did not elaborate on how fast that would happen or the volume of the materials that would be released. Since early April, when Beijing imposed new licensing rules on certain minerals in response to Trump's tariffs, China's overseas shipments of rare earths have plunged, threatening industries globally, from electronics and defense to energy and carmaking. Over the past month, Trump has imposed punitive measures on Beijing, including limits on technology sales to China and threatening to revoke the US visas of Chinese students, which was prompted by a belief that China had failed to live up to commitments it made in Geneva, administration officials told CNN in May. The measures also include a ban on US companies selling to China software used to design semiconductors. The White House additionally warned US companies against using artificial intelligence chips made by China's national tech champion Huawei. The moves have triggered backlash from China, which views Washington's decisions as violating the Geneva consensus. The US and China agreed in the Swiss city on May 12 to temporarily roll back crippling tariffs on each other and use a 90-day window to hash out a broader deal to address their trade imbalance. But despite the reprieve, China's exports to the US suffered a steep decline of 34.5 percent in May, according to Chinese customs data, and the renewed friction necessitated another round of talks. 'The progress made during this round of talks in London is conducive to further building trust between China and the United States, promoting the stable and healthy development of China-US economic and trade relations,' Li, China's top international trade negotiator and vice commerce minister, said Wednesday, CGTN reported. Semiconductor chokepoint Although US access to rare earths has not been a source of friction until recently, the feud over advanced technology has been rumbling for some time. In recent years, Washington has stepped up efforts to restrict China's access to chip-related technologies, aiming to prevent Beijing from using American innovations to bolster its military and AI capabilities. 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Although US restrictions initially crippled its smartphone business, the company made a stunning comeback in 2023 with a handset powered by advanced chips, technology Washington believed it had blocked. The launch of the Mate 60 smartphone in 2023 even triggered investigations by the US government. In a rare interview Tuesday, Ren Zhenfei, the founder of Huawei, dismissed the impact of the technology restrictions the US had imposed on China and Huawei, while conceding that its chip technology remains one generation behind US technology. 'The US has exaggerated Huawei's capabilities. We're not that advanced yet,' he told the People's Daily, a newspaper run by China's Communist Party. But he added that China's current needs could be met by bundling microchips together, an approach the industry commonly refers to as packaging or stacking. 'There's actually no need to worry about the chip issue. 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Egypt Independent
an hour ago
- Egypt Independent
Syria orders women to cover up on beaches with conservative new dress code
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Egypt Independent
an hour ago
- Egypt Independent
UK, Canada and Western allies sanction two far-right Israeli government ministers
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'We are steadfastly committed to the two-state solution which is the only way to guarantee security and dignity for Israelis and Palestinians and ensure long term stability in the region, but it is imperilled by extremist settler violence and settlement expansion,' the joint statement said. 'Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich have incited extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights. Extremist rhetoric advocating the forced displacement of Palestinians and the creation of new Israeli settlements is appalling and dangerous,' the statement added. 'We have engaged the Israeli Government on this issue extensively, yet violent perpetrators continue to act with encouragement and impunity.' The sanctions imposed by the five Western nations represent a break in policy with the United States. While European and Commonwealth allies have increasingly put pressure on Netanyahu's government, the Trump administration has repeatedly reaffirmed the US-Israel alliance. The US has also called for the conflict in Gaza to end, but last week, the US vetoed a UN Security Council resolution demanding a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. While the sanctions are in relation to the West Bank, the Western allies' joint statement added that 'of course this cannot be seen in isolation from the catastrophe in Gaza. We continue to be appalled by the immense suffering of civilians, including the denial of essential aid.' A Palestinian girl waits to receive food at a distribution point in Nuseirat, central Gaza, on June 2. Israel has faced growing condemnation over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Eyad Baba/AFP/Getty Images Smotrich and Ben Gvir both live in settlements in the West Bank, which Palestinians and the vast majority of the international community hold as part of a future Palestinian state. Both ministers responded defiantly to the travel bans and financial sanctions on Tuesday afternoon, vowing to continue their agenda and accusing Britain of echoing its colonial-era restrictions on Jewish migration to British-mandate Palestine. Ben Gvir, the leader of the Jewish Power party, said that 'the sanctions do not scare me,' adding, 'I will continue to act for our country, for our people, I will continue to act and make sure that they do not let humanitarian aid into Hamas.' Smotrich, speaking during the inauguration of the new Jewish settlement of Mitzpe Ziv in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, said that he 'heard that Britain has decided to impose sanctions on me because I'm thwarting the establishment of a Palestinian state. There couldn't be better timing than this.' 'Britain already tried once to prevent us from settling the cradle of our homeland, and we will not let it happen again. With God's help, we are determined to continue building,' said Smotrich, who leads the National Religious Party–Religious Zionism. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the government will hold a 'special meeting' early next week 'to decide on our response to this unacceptable decision.' 'It is outrageous that elected representatives and members of the government are subjected to this kind of measure,' Saar said. Meanwhile, the foreign ministers of the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway said in their statement: 'The measures announced today do not deviate from our unwavering support for Israel's security and we continue to condemn the horrific terror attacks of 7 October by Hamas. Today's measures are targeted towards individuals who in our view undermine Israel's own security and its standing in the world.' Ben Gvir quit Netanyahu's government in January to protest the ceasefire in Gaza, only rejoining the government after Israel returned to war in March. He has repeatedly called for Palestinians to be driven out of Gaza and previously said Israel should 'encourage voluntary migration of Gazans to countries around the world.' Smotrich, who as finance minister has a seat on the Israeli security cabinet and holds significant sway over Netanyahu, has previously called for the formal annexation of settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. In May, he said his idea of victory in Gaza would be that the territory is 'destroyed' and civilians are moved to a 'humanitarian zone' in the south of the strip or leave for third countries. Last month, UK Foreign Minister David Lammy slammed Smotrich's comments on the possible destruction and cleansing of Gaza, telling British lawmakers: 'It is extremism. It is dangerous. It is repellent. It is monstrous, and I condemn it in the strongest possible terms.' At the time, the UK paused trade talks with Israel and imposed sanctions on West Bank settlers, but stopped short of sanctioning the far-right Israeli minister. CNN's Rob Picheta, Sharon Braithwaite and Abbas Al Lawati contributed to this report.
