_0.jpg)
Lesotho signs $6.2bn hydropower and AI project with aim of becoming power exporter
1 hour ago
Yemen's capital city armed forces have declared a total ban on Israeli shipping in the Red Sea, warning that any Israeli vessel movement will be treated as a military target, state media reported on June 8.
The announcement by the unrecognised Houthi government reopens a maritime front against Israel as the wider regional conflict escalates, with the move tightening pressure on shipping lanes that carry a significant share of global trade. The Ansurallah forces said they had struck a sensitive Israeli target in Jaffa.
Yahya Saree, spokesperson for the Yemeni armed forces, said in a statement that the group regarded any Israeli movement in the Red Sea as a legitimate military target and would respond forcefully to any escalation.
He said operations would intensify in step with the battle and in coordination with what he called the axis of jihad and resistance.
Saree said the group affirmed the right of its people and the wider Islamic nation to confront US and Israeli aggression, and would not stand idle in the face of what he described as an unjust blockade imposed on Yemen and allied nations.
"In line with confronting the American and Zionist aggression against the axis of Jihad and Resistance in Iran, Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen, and in rejection of the Zionist project seeking to establish what is so called "Greater Israel" under the name of the New Middle East, and in our endeavor to break the unjust and oppressive siege imposed by the American enemy on our people," Saba reported.
He said all enemy efforts would fail and that operations would continue as long as the aggression and blockade persisted.
The declaration follows Iran's first direct missile attack on Israel since an April ceasefire, launched on June 7 in response to Israeli air raids on Hezbollah targets in Beirut's southern suburbs. Iran's Revolutionary Guard described those launches as a warning and threatened wider strikes on US and Israeli targets across the region if attacks continued.
Israel said it had intercepted all the missiles fired from Iran, while US President Donald Trump said he would press Israel against retaliation to preserve Pakistan-mediated talks aimed at ending the war that began in February.
In response, Israel struck targets across western and central Iran on the morning of June 8 in response to missile strikes from Iran, defying direct orders from US President Donald Trump to avoid retaliation.
Subsequent Iranian launches triggered five waves of alerts across Jerusalem and central Israel, with a further alert near Be'er Sheba. No casualties were reported, though ambulance service Magen David Adom said it evacuated a man in his 30s in moderate condition. Israel's War Cabinet convened at 11 a.m. local time to assess the situation.
Related Content
News
Lesotho signs $6.2bn hydropower and AI project with aim of becoming power exporter
The agreement Lesotho signed with US-based Convalt Energy to develop a 1,200MW hydropower project and an AI data centre is valued at almost three times Lesotho's GDP.
Israel retaliates against Iranian strikes, defying Trump's orders as US-Iran deal hangs in the balance
The operation followed Iranian missile launches on June 7, in which the Revolutionary Guard deployed long-range solid-fuel missiles at the Ramat David air base in northern Israel.
Vetëvendosje leads Kosovo snap elections as turnout falls to 36%
Albin Kurti's Vetëvendosje secured 43.6% of the vote in Kosovo's third general election since February 2025.
South Korea election victory marred by ongoing ballot crisis
An unprecedented administrative failure by election authorities left thousands of voters without ballots, triggering violent street demonstrations and allegations of systematic electoral fraud.
