U.K. military launches airstrikes with U.S. targeting Yemen's Houthi rebels
Article content
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The British military launched airstrikes with the United States targeting Yemen's Houthi rebels, officials said early Wednesday, their first attack in Washington's new intense campaign targeting the Iran-backed group.
Article content
The United Kingdom offered a detailed explanation for launching the strike, in a departure from the U.S., which has offered few details about what it says are more than 1,000 targets it has hit since beginning its campaign on March 15.
Article content
Article content
Article content
Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4s took part in the raid, dropping Paveway IV guided bombs, the ministry added.
Article content
'The strike was conducted after dark, when the likelihood of any civilians being in the area was reduced yet further,' the ministry said.
Article content
Article content
The British offered no information on the damage done in the strike, nor whether they believed anyone had been killed.
Article content
'This action was taken in response to a persistent threat from the Houthis to freedom of navigation,' U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey said. 'A 55% drop in shipping through the Red Sea has already cost billions, fueling regional instability and risking economic security for families in the U.K.'
Article content
The Houthis reported several strikes around Yemen's capital, Sanaa, which the group has held since 2014. Other strikes hit around Saada.
Article content
The British have taken part in airstrikes alongside the U.S. since the Biden administration began its campaign of strikes targeting the Houthis back in January 2024. However, this new strike is the first to see the British involved in the campaign under U.S. President Donald Trump.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Global News
3 hours ago
- Global News
U.S. and China to talk trade after Trump, Xi call
High-level delegations from the United States and China are meeting in London on Monday to try and shore up a fragile truce in a trade dispute that has roiled the global economy. A Chinese delegation led by Vice Premier He Lifeng was due to hold talks with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer at a U.K. government building. The talks, which are expected to last at least a day, follow negotiations in Geneva last month that brought a temporary respite in the trade war. The two countries announced May 12 they had agreed to a 90-day suspension of most of the 100%-plus tariffs they had imposed on each other in an escalating trade war that had sparked fears of recession. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy The U.S. and China are the world's biggest and second-biggest economies. Chinese trade data shows that exports to the United States fell 35 per cent in May from a year earlier. Story continues below advertisement 21:48 Global National: June 8 Since the Geneva talks, the U.S. and China have exchanged angry words over advanced semiconductors that power artificial intelligence, ' rare earths ' that are vital to carmakers and other industries, and visas for Chinese students at American universities. President Donald Trump spoke at length with Chinese leader Xi Jinping by phone last Thursday in an attempt to put relations back on track. Trump announced on social media the following day that the trade talks would resume in London. The U.K. government says it is providing the venue and logistics but is not involved in the talks, though British Treasury chief Rachel Reeves met with both Bessent and He on Sunday. 'We are a nation that champions free trade and have always been clear that a trade war is in nobody's interests, so we welcome these talks,' the British government said in a statement.
Winnipeg Free Press
4 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
British government reverses policy that limited home heating subsidies for retirees
LONDON (AP) — The British government on Monday reversed its unpopular plan to end winter home heating subsidies for millions of retirees. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had signaled the u-turn last month after a loud outcry from the public and some members of his Labour Party who thought the relatively modest 1.5 billion-pound ($2 billion) savings were too politically costly. Treasury chief Rachel Reeves, who canceled the payment for home heating on all but the poorest retirees after Labour came to power last summer, said the benefit would be restored to 9 million people, or three-quarters of pensioners, in England and Wales whose incomes are below 35,000 pounds ($47,500). Reeves said the move was necessary last year because the previous Conservative government had left public finances in a dire state. 'Targeting winter fuel payments was a tough decision, but the right decision because of the inheritance we had been left by the previous government,' Reeves said. 'It is also right that we continue to means-test this payment so that it is targeted and fair, rather than restoring eligibility to everyone including the wealthiest.' The payments are worth between 200 and 300 pounds ($271 and $406) a year. The reversal will cost the government 1.25 billion, Reeve said. Canceling the payments for most people last winter was blamed for contributing to Starmer's swift decline in popularity after his party came to power in a landslide. He was blamed for punishing elderly people on limited incomes who struggled to make ends meet during a cost-of-living crisis. Labour fared poorly in local elections in England last month, with many party representatives blaming the removal of the winter fuel payment. Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. Kemi Badenoch, leader of the main opposition Conservative Party, quickly pounced on Starmer's about-face. 'Keir Starmer has scrambled to clear up a mess of his own making,' she said. 'This humiliating u-turn will come as scant comfort to the pensioners forced to choose between heating and eating last winter. The prime minister should now apologize for his terrible judgment.'
National Post
4 hours ago
- National Post
Boat carrying Greta Thunberg to Gaza intercepted by Israeli Navy
Article content Half of the passengers are French. On Monday, Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot confirmed that Paris had warned citizens of the risks involved in joining the protest flotilla and said that the consulate had requested Israel grant consular protection to the detainees. Article content Meanwhile, Madrid summoned the Israeli chargé d'affaires to protest the seizure. One Spanish national was listed as a passenger. Article content The other nationalities represented were one each from Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands and Turkey. Article content The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) called the interception 'a blatant act of international piracy and state terrorism.' Iran also condemned the intervention as 'a form of piracy,' since it happened in international waters. Article content Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered the military to show the activist group a 43-minute video of atrocities committed by Hamas terrorists during the Oct. 7 massacre, which sparked the war in Gaza. Article content 'It's appropriate that Greta the antisemite and her Hamas-supporting friends see exactly who the terror group Hamas is, what atrocious acts they carried out against women, the elderly and children, and who Israel is fighting to defend against,' said Katz. Article content Article content He ordered the video to be screened for the group upon their arrival at the Port of Ashdod, where their boat was towed after Israeli troops boarded the vessel. Article content The British-flagged yacht Madleen, operated by the pro-Palestinian Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), was attempting to deliver a symbolic amount of humanitarian aid to the Gaza population. Article content 'While Greta and others attempted to stage a media provocation whose sole purpose was to gain publicity—and which included less than a single truckload of aid—more than 1,200 aid trucks have entered Gaza from Israel within the past two weeks. In addition, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has distributed close to 11 million meals directly to civilians in Gaza,' said the Foreign Ministry. Article content 'There are ways to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip—they do not involve Instagram selfies. The tiny amount of aid that was on the yacht and not consumed by the 'celebrities' will be transferred to Gaza through real humanitarian channels,' the ministry added. Article content Article content In an earlier post, the ministry emphasized that Israel's blockade of Gaza is legal under international law, and that the Gaza maritime zone is an active conflict area, which Hamas terrorists have previously exploited for attacks, including the Oct. 7 massacre. Article content 'Unauthorized attempts to breach the blockade are dangerous, unlawful, and undermine ongoing humanitarian efforts. We call on all actors to act responsibly and to channel humanitarian aid through legitimate, coordinated mechanisms, not through provocation,' the ministry stated. Article content Israel and Egypt have imposed varying degrees of blockade on Gaza since Hamas seized power from rival Palestinian forces in 2007. Israel says the blockade is needed to prevent Hamas from importing arms, while critics say it amounts to collective punishment of Gaza's Palestinian population. Article content
