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...With the guidance of former Nazi German munitions experts, Nasser expanded Egypt's chemical weapons program to include the production of mustard gas, chlorine, phosgene, and according to several intelligence estimates, even advanced nerve agents. A short four years later, Egypt deployed this new class of weapons in January 1967 on the small northern Yemeni village of Kitaf, located within the vicinity of the Yemeni tribal opposition's cave headquarters.International media, whose attention had already been drawn to South Arabia by the continuation of hostilities, wasted little time in shining the spotlight and launching full-scale journalistic inquiry into Egypt's use of chemical...

Thousands gathered across Australia and New Zealand on Friday for Anzac Day, a public holiday commemorating military service members who fought and died during wartime. Anzac Day originally marked the nations' role in an ultimately unsuccessful campaign to capture the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey during World War One, which resulted in 130,000 deaths on both sides of the conflict. In a key episode on April 25, 1915, thousands of troops from the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) took part in an ill-fated amphibious invasion by British Empire forces on the area's narrow beaches. "It is now a century...

Vice President JD Vance criticized the judgment of his boss, President Donald Trump, in a leaked group chat in which Vance and several other senior Trump administration officials discussed the possibility of American military strikes against Houthi rebel targets in Yemen. On Monday, The Atlantic‘s Jeffrey Goldberg revealed that he had accidentally been added to a Signal group chat in which the Principals Committee – the heads of the top American national security agencies — debated how and whether to strike the Houthis earlier this month. At one point, after National Security Advisor Mike Waltz informed the group that they...

Over the weekend President Trump ordered a massive military operation against the small country of Yemen. Was Yemen in the process of attacking the United States? No. Did the President in that case go to Congress and seek a declaration of war against the country? No. The fact is, Yemen hadn’t even threatened the United States before the bombs started falling. Last year, candidate Trump strongly criticized the Biden Administration’s obsession with foreign interventionism to the detriment of our problems at home. In an interview at the Libertarian National Convention, he criticized Biden’s warmongering to podcaster Tim Pool, saying, “You...

The US Naval Forces have released photos showing the extent of the damage sustained on the US Navy aircraft carrier after it collided with a merchant ship last week. The warship, named USS Harry S. Truman, has docked at a US naval facility in Souda Bay, Greece, while it undergoes repairs following the incident near the entrance to the Suez Canal. The ship had collided with the Besiktas-M - a 617-foot-long, 53,000-ton bulk carrier registered in Panama. Both of the ships were traveling in the Mediterranean Sea when they collided. The photos show extensive damage to the exterior starboard quarter...

Each country—while referencing “sovereignty” and “de-escalation”—chooses to avoid condemning Israel outright, instead placing emphasis on the broader threats to regional stability. In a region where alliances are as complicated as ever, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt have responded to Israel’s latest military strike on an Iranian base with words that speak volumes – not for what they say, but for what they leave unsaid. This wasn’t the usual wave of condemnations aimed squarely at Israel; instead, these responses were notably measured, almost neutral, hinting that a quiet shift may be underway among these regional powers. Each country...

In a stunning turn of events, Yemen’s Houthi forces have reportedly surrendered within hours of Donald Trump’s historic election victory. The swift surrender has sparked worldwide speculation about the potential for peace in long-standing conflicts, with some now wondering if this could also signal a shift in the Ukraine war. Arab Defense on X (formerly Twitter) posted a statement from the Houthis: “Our operations in international waters were purely defensive, and we announce their final cessation.”

DARIEN GAP, Panama—The grind of heavy machinery breaks the silence of the Darién jungle, where the Pan American Highway ends at Yaviza in Panama. Construction workers have cleared towering trees to make way for a steel and concrete bridge mighty enough to withstand flooding from the Chucunaque River. An onsite worker for the construction company Cusa told The Epoch Times the construction project will cut 4 miles into the Darién jungle at a cost of $42 million and includes a second bridge crossing the Tuira River. That would leave some 55 miles to finish the Pan American Highway, also known...

What is the sphere of influence – that is, the region in which the United States has a legitimate right to assert itself on the world scene, and demand respect for our borders, our shores, our people and our goods? When our nation was in the process of being founded in the 1770s and 1780s, our Founding Fathers would have identified our thirteen colonies, and stopped there. We weren’t interested in other nations’ petty squabbles and they had no business being involved in ours, so we believed. That position was soon to change. We hadn’t realized that our global shipping...

“And I would say that really, it’s the Houthis that have failed to deter the United States and the international community from continuing to operate in the Red Sea. You know, they’ve conducted over 190 attacks, the vast majority of which have been knocked down, thanks to U. S. and international efforts to help safeguard shipping and the lives of mariners through operations like Operation Prosperity Guardian,” Ryder said.“The United States has continued to destroy Houthi offensive capabilities in Yemen, but the terror group continues to have sufficient means to threaten shipping. This offers insights regarding the size of the...

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Demand for transporting goods from Asia to Europe by rail via Russia has increased by an average of 30% since the start of the Red Sea crisis, the Financial Times newspaper reported, citing logistics companies and rail operators. German shipping company DHL said that requests to transport goods on Russian railways have increased by 40% since container ships began traveling along alternative routes following the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, the report said on Sunday. At the same time, Netherlands-based Rail Bridge Cargo said that rail freight traffic via Russia was 31% higher this year compared...

The Biden administration’s legal justification for its attacks on Houthi militants in Yemen is “laughable,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said at a Senate Foreign Relations committee hearing Tuesday on United States actions in the Red Sea. Speaking to defense officials, Kaine said though “Houthi behavior is abhorrent,” he has “grave skepticism” about the administration’s interpretation of presidential military powers under Article 2 of the Constitution. “A narrow mission to defend U.S. shipping, both military and commercial — that is Article 2 self-defense,” Kaine said. “Article 2 self-defense means you can defend U.S. personnel, you can defend U.S. military assets, you...

Suez traffic is down 28% in the past 10 days. Also, the commercial Suez Canal traffic reportedly downed almost 60% since the Houthi attacks began in response to the Israeli war on Gaza. Short-term rates for container shipping between Asia, Europe, and the US are climbing on reduced capacity caused by the ongoing threats to cargo vessels in the Red Sea. The spot rate for shipping goods in a 40-foot container from Asia to northern Europe now tops $4,000, a 173% jump from just before the diversions started in mid-December, Freightos.com, a cargo booking and payment platform, said late Wednesday....

If all traffic in the Suez Canal stopped, Egypt would lose about $13 million daily, disrupting its main foreign currency income. In light of the constant Houthi attacks on commercial vessels sailing near Yemen’s coasts, several shipping companies have announced in recent days that they will halt their ship flow through the Suez Canal until sailing in the Red Sea is safe again. If this domino-like trend continues, Egypt could face massive foreign currency income losses and devaluation of its currency. Furthermore, if the situation continues for long enough, alternative trade routes could become more frequented. Since the beginning of...

Joe Biden's economy is a disaster, but that doesn't mean it can't get worse. A couple of little publicized commerce/transport events make new problems, specifically, shortages of consumer goods, all but certain. Start with what's going on around the Saudi Arabian peninsula, where Houthi rebel rocket and drone attacks on ten commercial ships has reached crisis levels, and major shipping lines, such as Maersk, have opted to go around the horn of Africa the way Magellan had to do, in order to deliver their cargo loads to Europe and beyond.According to the trade publication Insurance Journal:Shipping in the Red Sea...

Why Ethiopia is Preparing to Invade Eritrea Next | 49:54 | RealLifeLore | 7.22M subscribers | 1,321,742 views | November 28, 2023

An Israeli ship named “Galaxy Leader” has reportedly been hijacked by Yemen’s Houthi militia in the Red Sea. The ship had 22 people on board, according to reports. Israeli sources said that the Houthis seized a vessel partially owned by Israel in the Red Sea. No Israeli nationals were on board the ship, according to the sources. Earlier on Sunday, Yahya Sarea, a spokesman for the Iran-backed Houthis, said that the group would target all ships owned or operated by Israeli companies or carrying the Israeli flag, according to the group’s Telegram channel.

Israel Is Planning an ‘Inland Suez Canal’ Across Its Desert. At What Cost? Israel's planned high-speed train to Eilat: dream or potential environmental train wreck? In theory, it sounds amazing: a high-speed train to Eilat, the country’s southernmost city on the shores of the Red Sea. This was attested to by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his recent Knesset speech enumerating the new government’s goals, in which he described it as a major national project: “The mission is to develop the country’s infrastructures, including developing a high-speed rail that will travel hundreds of kilometers per hour and connect the country...

A large liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier Grace Emilia ran aground in Egypt’s Suez Canal on Wednesday. Local media reports the shipping traffic is unaffected as the incident took place in a southern section of the canal where a second channel allows for ships to bypass the blockage. AIS data from Vesselfinder (below) showed four tugboats working to move the 293-m-long vessel. Equasis lists the 2021-built 174,000 cu m ship, which entered the canal early Wednesday morning, as owned by Japan’s NYK. The latest incident comes just three weeks after the bulker Glory bound for China carrying 66,000 mt of...

Al Arabiya English Benjamin Netanyahu is preparing to become the Prime Minister of Israel for the third time. He has until December 21 to form a government before taking office. In a wide-ranging interview with a group of print and television journalists at Al Arabiya, Mr. Netanyahu discussed Israel’s relations with Arab states, the US alliance structure in the Middle East, unrest in Iran, Israel’s new hard-right government, the future of the US-brokered maritime border agreement with Lebanon, and the Russia-Ukraine war. Mr. Netanyahu reiterated the paramount importance of normalization with Saudi Arabia, which would be a “quantum leap” toward...