U.K. military launches airstrikes with U.S. targeting Yemen's Houthi rebels
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.
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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.
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Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4s took part in the raid, dropping Paveway IV guided bombs, the ministry added.
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'The strike was conducted after dark, when the likelihood of any civilians being in the area was reduced yet further,' the ministry said.
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The British offered no information on the damage done in the strike, nor whether they believed anyone had been killed.
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'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.'
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The Houthis reported several strikes around Yemen's capital, Sanaa, which the group has held since 2014. Other strikes hit around Saada.
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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.
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Winnipeg Free Press
13 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
FACT FOCUS: Trump says he has ended seven wars. The reality isn't so clear cut
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Winnipeg Free Press
16 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
DC unemployment rate is the highest in the US for the third straight month
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Toronto Sun
20 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
Despite a flurry of meetings on Russia's war in Ukraine, major obstacles to peace remain
Published Aug 19, 2025 • 4 minute read President Donald Trump, centre, walks in the Cross Hall with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, followed by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, at the White House, Monday, Aug. 18, 2025, in Washington. Photo by Alex Brandon / AP Photo The second Oval Office meeting in six months between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy went off smoothly Monday, in sharp contrast to their disastrous encounter in February. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account European leaders joined the discussions in a show of transatlantic unity and both they and Zelenskyy repeatedly thanked Trump for his efforts to end Russia's three-year war on Ukraine. 'I don't want to hide the fact that I wasn't sure it would go this way,' German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in Washington. 'But my expectations were not just met, they were exceeded.' But despite the guarded optimism and friendly banter among the leaders, there was little concrete progress on the main obstacles to ending the war — and that deadlock likely favours Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose forces continue to make steady, if slow progress on the ground in Ukraine. 'Putin cannot get enough champagne or whatever he's drinking,' Gabrielius Landsbergis, a former foreign minister of Lithuania, said of Monday's meeting. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. As NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte told Fox News: 'All the details have to be hammered out.' Here is a look at the issues that need to be resolved: Security guarantees for Ukraine To agree to a peace deal with Russia, Ukraine wants assurances that it can deter any future attacks by the Kremlin's forces. That means, Zelenskyy says, a strong Ukrainian army that is provided with weapons and training by Western partners. It could potentially also mean offering Ukraine a guarantee resembling NATO's collective defence mandate, which sees an attack on one member of the alliance as an attack on all. How that would work is not clear. Additionally, Kyiv's European allies are looking to set up a force that could backstop any peace agreement in Ukraine. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. A coalition of 30 countries, including European nations, Japan and Australia, have signed up to support the initiative, although the role that the U.S. might play in such a force is unclear. European leaders, fearing Moscow's territorial ambitions won't stop in Ukraine, are keen to lock America's military might into the plan. Trump said he'll help provide protection but stopped short of committing American troops to the effort, instead promising U.S. 'coordination.' Russia has repeatedly rejected the idea of such a force, saying that it will not accept NATO troops in Ukraine. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron co-chaired an online meeting Tuesday of the coalition countries. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Once officials have discussed proposals in more detail, Rutte said, a virtual meeting will take place with Trump and European leaders. Agreeing on a ceasefire Ukraine and its European supporters have repeatedly called for a ceasefire while peace talks are held. Putin has balked at that prospect. With his forces inching forward in Ukraine, he has little incentive to freeze their movement. Ahead of his meeting with the Russian leader last week, Trump threatened Russia with 'severe consequences' if it didn't accept a ceasefire. Afterward, he dropped that demand and said it was best to focus on a comprehensive peace deal — as Putin has pushed for. Trump said in Monday's Oval Office meeting with Zelenskyy that a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine was 'unnecessary.' But after his closed-door meeting with European leaders and Zelenskyy, Trump told reporters that 'all of us would obviously prefer the immediate ceasefire while we work on a lasting peace.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Where Trump ultimately falls on that issue is important because it could affect how much Ukrainian land Russia has seized by the time the two sides get around to hammering out how much it could keep. Occupied Ukrainian territory Zelenskyy and European leaders said that Putin has demanded that Ukraine give up the Donbas, an industrial region in eastern Ukraine that has seen some of the most intense fighting but that Russian forces have failed to capture completely. Moscow's forces also hold Crimea as well as parts of six other regions — all adding up to about one-fifth of Ukraine. Zelenskyy has long noted the Ukrainian Constitution prohibits breaking up his country. He has also suggested the demand for territory would serve as a springboard for future invasion. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Rutte said the possibility of Ukraine ceding occupied territory to Russia in return for peace wasn't discussed in Monday's talks. That is an issue for Zelenskyy and Putin to consider together, he said to Fox News. A Putin-Zelenskyy meeting Zelenskyy has repeatedly suggested sitting down with Putin, even challenging the Russian leader to meet him as part of direct peace talks between the two sides in Turkey in May. Putin snubbed that offer, saying that significant progress on an agreement would have to be made before the pair met in person. On Monday, Trump appeared to back Zelenskyy's plan. 'I called President Putin, and began the arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between President Putin and President Zelenskyy,' Trump said in a social media post. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. He said he would join the two leaders afterward. But when discussing a phone call held after the meeting between Trump and the Russian leader, Putin's foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov gave no indication that either a bilateral or a trilateral meeting with Ukraine had been agreed. European leaders know that Putin doesn't want to meet Zelenskyy and that he won't allow Western troops in Ukraine — but they're expressing optimism that these things could happen in the hopes of forcing Putin to be the one to say no to Trump, according to Janis Kluge of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. 'Europeans hype up expectations to create a reality in which Putin disappoints,' he wrote on X. — Associated Press writers Sam McNeil in Brussels and Emma Burrows in London contributed. Read More Toronto Blue Jays Canada Sunshine Girls World Columnists
