
Greek ship manager 'relieved' to see Houthi video showing missing seafarers alive
The six-minute video was released by the Iran-aligned Houthis, who said on Monday they had rescued the seafarers from the Liberia-flagged Eternity C cargo ship.
In a statement, the Athens-based ship management company said efforts were continuing to ensure the sailors' "safe and swift return home to their families".
"Cosmoship Management is deeply relieved to see in video footage released by the Houthis on ... 28 July that ten of our missing crew members, as well as one of the vessel's security guards (11 in total), are alive and appear to be receiving care," it said.
The Philippine government confirmed on Tuesday that nine of the rescued seafarers were Filipinos.
Migrant workers minister Hans Cacdac said the sailors were in "good physical condition" based on accounts from their families, and that the government was working to secure their release and safe return.
Cosmoship added that it hoped the Houthis "will release our crew at the earliest opportunity".
The Eternity C was the second ship to sink off Yemen this month after repeated attacks by Houthi militants with sea drones and rocket-propelled grenades. Another Greek-operated vessel, the Magic Seas, had gone down days earlier.
The strikes on the two vessels marked a revival of attacks on shipping by the Houthis, who hit more than 100 ships between November 2023 and December 2024 in what they said was a show of solidarity with the Palestinians in the war in Gaza.
Eternity C's crew and three armed guards were forced to abandon the ship following the attacks. Ten of them were rescued by a privately led mission, while five more are feared dead.
On Monday, the Houthis released a six-minute video showing pictures of the missing seafarers, with some of them apparently talking to family members by phone.
They also showed testimonies saying that the crew members were not aware of a maritime ban by Houthis against vessels sailing to Israeli ports. They said the vessel was heading to Israel's Eilat Port to load fertilizers.
Reuters could not independently verify the footage.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Trump increases tariff on Canada to 35%, White House says
WASHINGTON, July 31 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday increasing tariffs on Canadian goods to 35% from 25%, the White House said. The new rates goes into effect on August 1. "In response to Canada's continued inaction and retaliation, President Trump has found it necessary to increase the tariff on Canada from 25% to 35% to effectively address the existing emergency," the White House said.


Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
‘America First' agenda could leave USD behind
NEW YORK, July 31 (Reuters) - Europe and Asia could leverage U.S. President Donald Trump's "America First" strategy for their own benefit, eventually spurring the development of regional tripolar FX blocs that could erode the dominance of the U.S. dollar and reshape global markets. The dollar has struggled this year, especially since Trump's April 2 tariff announcement. While the currency is on pace for one of its strongest weeks this year after jumping around 1% on Monday following the announcement of U.S.-EU trade deal, this short-term move doesn't change the long-term trends that could undermine the greenback's position. Economic dominance in the future could largely depend on access to affordable, efficient energy to power artificial intelligence technologies. And in the race to dominate the industries of the future, the U.S. is arguably going in reverse. It's retreating from the renewables space, as seen in the administration's recent move to eliminate many clean energy subsidies, opens new tab. The president appears to be making the bet that the U.S. can maintain energy dominance indefinitely by relying on its own fossil fuel resources. This could ultimately result in uncompetitive power costs in the future, especially given that China is already dominating in clean energy technologies like solar and electric vehicles. As historian Adam Tooze argues, "for the first time in two centuries the West is no longer the leader in future technologies but the follower." While Trump may be seeking to enhance American self-sufficiency, the administration's policies may actually be increasing the country's dependency on foreign capital. Trump's recently passed budget bill – which looks pretty ugly to fiscal watchdogs despite its name – could cement the U.S.'s position as the world's biggest capital importer by adding an expected $3.4 trillion to the U.S. deficit over the next decade, according to estimates by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, potentially locking in 6% to 7% budget deficits for years. Importantly, the U.S. has also been running current account deficits of roughly 4% over the past several years, and this widened to 6% of GDP in Q1 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. By spending beyond its means and running these twin deficits, the U.S. will continue to require large amounts of foreign capital inflows. But unfortunately for Washington, this capital may soon be harder to come by, if both Europe and Asia seek to keep more of it closer to home. Europe is pushing for increased defense spending, as seen in its new goal to spend 5% of GDP on defense in the coming decade. While the bloc has agreed to increase U.S. energy purchases through the recently announced U.S. trade deal, much of that agreement remains up in the air and the volumes suggested are pretty unrealistic. Meanwhile, Asia has begun to trade more internally, as China has been focusing on export diversification. A growing regionalization of supply chains began during the pandemic and appears to be accelerating as Trump seeks to drive production back to the U.S. and all major global powers focus on securing regional raw material access (e.g., rare earths and other critical minerals) for national security purposes. This shift could eventually create the foundation for true regional FX blocs across Asia, Europe and the Americas. This development would have a major impact on the global economy, currency values and capital markets, arguably providing a more balanced global economy with three poles of supply and demand, each attuned to their own regional dynamics rather than the current set-up whereby the global economy responds primarily to the Federal Reserve and U.S. internal dynamics. Recently, European policymakers have discussed what ECB President Christine Lagarde has termed a 'Global Euro' moment, one built upon a European Savings and Investment Union designed to foster both a European safe-haven asset that could eventually compete with U.S. Treasuries and deeper, more liquid European capital markets to fund European infrastructure and innovation. Of course, this won't be an overnight shift. The dollar remains the world's dominant reserve currency, and the U.S. debt market is estimated to be more than three times the size of Europe's, according to the World Economic Forum. But simply having a larger percentage of European capital stay at home could make a huge difference. Europe's current account surplus has averaged roughly $400 billion over the past few years, and Europe invests roughly $300 billion per year in offshore financial assets, according to the New York Times. Within Asia, Pan Gongsheng, Governor of the People's Bank of China, has recently highlighted China's interest in having the yuan play a larger role in a multi-polar currency world. Other officials soon followed, discussing how China plans to improve home market access for foreign capital while expanding opportunities for the Chinese to invest abroad. While China's capital account remains closed, Asian currencies already primarily trade off the yuan rather than the U.S. dollar. Even though China faces challenges, such as its fight against deflation, its efforts on this front – namely, boosting consumption and reining in excess supply, especially in the renewable energy space across solar, wind and batteries – could ultimately help attract more foreign capital by boosting China's growth profile and corporate earnings. There is obviously no guarantee that these measures will be successful, but the government's intense focus on achieving these goals is evident. The recent decision to provide $12.4 billion in childcare subsidies suggests a potential policy Rubicon has been crossed, as China has typically resisted these types of direct fiscal stimulus measures in the past. In a world of currency blocs, both Europe and Asia could emerge as potential winners, as they erode the U.S.'s position as the world's financial powerhouse. So while many investors may get lost in the short-term currency noise, it might be wise to instead focus on the long-term signal. (The views expressed here are those of Jay Pelosky, the Founder and Global Strategist at TPW Advisory, a NYC-based investment advisory firm. You can follow Jay on Substack at The Tri Polar World, opens new tab). Enjoying this column? Check out Reuters Open Interest (ROI),, opens new tab your essential new source for global financial commentary. ROI delivers thought-provoking, data-driven analysis of everything from swap rates to soybeans. Markets are moving faster than ever. ROI,, opens new tab can help you keep up. Follow ROI on LinkedIn,, opens new tab and X., opens new tab


BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
Iran drives out 1.5 million Afghans, with some branded spies for Israel
Ali Ahmad's eyes fill with tears as he lifts his shirt to show deep bruises across his he was detained, Iranian officers struck him and accused him of spying, he says. "They used hoses, water pipes and wooden boards to beat me. They treated us like animals."He was speaking to the BBC earlier this month at Islam Qala on the two countries' border, before crossing back over to Afghanistan. His name has been changed to protect his - which says it hosts more than four million undocumented Afghans who fled conflict in their homeland - has been stepping up deportations for months. In March those without papers were given a July deadline to depart voluntarily, but since a brief war with Israel in June, the authorities have forcibly returned hundreds of thousands of Afghans, alleging national security returns peaked at about 50,000 people in early July, according to the United Nations – often after arduous Ahmad says Iranian officials confiscated his money and phone and left him without "a single penny to travel back". He'd lived in Iran for two and a half years. 'Scapegoats' Iran's crackdown has coincided with widespread accusations linking Afghans to Israel's intelligence agency Mossad, including Iranian media reports that cite police sources claiming some individuals were arrested for espionage."We're afraid to go anywhere, constantly worried that we might be labelled as spies," one person, who wished to remain anonymous, told BBC News Afghan."You Afghans are spies", "You work for Israel" or "You build drones in your homes", are other frequent accusations, according to this Rubin, an expert on Afghanistan who served as senior adviser to the US Department of State, says Tehran may be "looking for scapegoats" for its shortcomings in the war against Israel."The Iranian government is very embarrassed by their security failures", which show Iran "was very thoroughly penetrated by Israeli intelligence", he says."So they had to find someone to blame."Critics also say the accusations of espionage are aimed at buying legitimacy for the government's plan to deport undocumented BBC attempted to contact the Iranian government but did not receive a response. The return of Afghan refugees "without tension and with respect for human rights… is a goal pursued at all levels", the state-backed Islamic Republic News Agency said on 18 July. 'Four days, like four years' Abdullah Rezaee, whose name has also been changed, has a similar story to Ali the detention centre where he was held, about 15 Iranian officers physically harmed him and other deportees, Abdullah told the BBC at Islam Qala."Iranian police tore up my visa and passport and beat me severely. They accused me of being a spy." Abdullah says he'd only been in Iran two months before being detained, despite having a visa."They beat us with plastic batons and said: 'You're a spy, you're ruining our country'."The four days he was detained "felt like four years". He describes constant mistreatment, physical abuse and lack of online allegations of collaboration between Afghans and Israeli secret services started early in the 13 June, the day Israel attacked Iranian nuclear and military facilities, the government issued statements to the population, asking citizens to report suspicious activities such as unusual movements of vans, which might be transporting Israeli operatives' Telegram channels with large followings posted warning messages using similar wording to the government's. But they added that the population should be vigilant of "alien citizens" – an expression mostly used to describe Afghans in Iran – driving vans in big following day, a series of detentions of people allegedly connected to the Israeli attacks, including some Afghans, were 16 June, news channels broadcast a video of Afghans being detained claiming that they had been carrying drones with them. It went viral. But the video was old, and portrayed migrants detained due to their undocumented 18 June, a Telegram group attributed to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps posted that 18 Afghans had been arrested in the city of Mashhad for building drones for Israel, according to the independent monitoring group Afghan following day, the provincial deputy security chief was quoted saying the arrest had "no connection to drone-making" or co-operation with Israel. "They were arrested solely for being in Iran illegally."But posts connecting the arrests to espionage had spread widely on social media platforms. A hashtag saying the "expulsion of Afghans is a national demand" was shared more than 200,000 times on X in the space of a month, peaking at more than 20,000 mentions on 2 sentiment on Iranian social media is not new, but the difference this time is "the misinformation is not just coming from social media users but from Iranian-affiliated media", according to an independent researcher at Afghan Witness. From 'serial killers' to 'spies' More than 1.5 million Afghans have left Iran since January, according to the UN Refugee Agency. A spokesperson from the Taliban's Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation told the BBC that more than 918,000 Afghans entered Afghanistan from Iran between 22 June - 22 had been in Iran for of Afghans have fled to Iran and Pakistan since the 1970s, with major waves during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and more recently in 2021, when the Taliban returned to warn Afghanistan lacks the capacity to absorb the growing number of nationals forcibly returned to a country under Taliban rule. The country is already struggling with a large influx of returnees from Pakistan, which is also forcing hundreds of thousands of Afghans to first, Afghans were welcomed in Iran, says Dr Khadija Abbasi, who specialises in forced displacement at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London. But anti-Afghan sentiment increased gradually, with state media portraying Afghan refugees as an "economic burden" to society, she narratives about Afghan migrants in Iran followed suit. In the 1990s, a series of rapes and murders in Tehran was widely assumed, without evidence, to be the work of an Afghan, which led to a rise in hate crimes. It was later revealed that the killer was an estimated two million Afghans migrated to Iran in the post-2021 wave, exaggerated posts on social media claimed more than 10 million Afghans were living in the country. Iran had been the only neighbour to allow refugees and migrants to enter at scale during that of Afghans from Iran, says Dr Abbasi, "might be one of the very rare topics that most Iranians" are in agreement with the government – although in July more than 1,300 Iranian and Afghan activists signed an open letter calling for an end to "inhumane" treatment of Afghan citizens in anti-Afghan sentiment is widespread. "It has become very dangerous," she says, "so people will just try to stay at home."For huge numbers that is no longer an option. The border continues to swell with Abdullah the deportation has destroyed his plans."I lost everything," he Babrak Ehsas, Yasin Rasouli, Rowan Ings, and Sucheera Maguire, with additional reporting by Soroush Pakzad