The US is leading strikes against the Houthis
The US said yesterday it had destroyed an anti-ship cruise missile belonging to the Houthis in Yemen. It was the third day in a row that the US and its Western allies had targeted Iranian-backed armed groups in the region.
The Houthis have vowed to respond to Western strikes. On Saturday, the US, Britain and some allies said they struck 36 Houthi targets in 13 locations in Yemen – the latest effort to prevent the Houthis from attacking ships in the Red Sea.
The US also bombed seven sites in Syria and Iraq linked to militias with close ties to Iran, a major escalation in the use of force. The retaliation targeted Iranian forces and the militias they support, and came after a drone strike in Jordan that killed three US soldiers late last month. Yesterday, top US national security officials said President Biden had ordered further retaliatory raids.
Analysis: The US has avoided attacking Iran itself, which analysts say is intended to avoid a wider war. Iran has also signaled that it wants to lower the temperature in the region.
In Gaza: A photojournalist spent weeks with five Palestinians whose lives had been torn apart by war. Look at the pictures.
Ukraine is fighting a relentless enemy
Ukrainian troops are outgunned, outgunned and dug in as they battle Russian troops in the hot spots on the eastern front line. Russia is trying to crush the Ukrainians with a massive mass at a time when US military support to Ukraine has stopped.
“They are coming in waves,” said a Ukrainian lieutenant. “And they don’t stop.”
Because they have a huge shortage of ammunition, Ukrainian troops cannot afford to shoot only one or two advancing enemy soldiers. So the Russians are now advancing in small numbers, trying to muster enough troops to storm a Ukrainian trench.
But Russia has only marginal gains, despite pouring huge resources into the fight. More than 13,000 Russian soldiers were killed or wounded in just two months of operations aimed at capturing the ruined city of Avdiivka.
In Russia: A cat that died after being thrown from a train has become an outlet for public grief in a country where people are increasingly spreading negative news. It is also a useful distraction for the Kremlin.
The arsenal has been a long-term goal of Xi Jinping. It has doubled in size to around 500 heads, with more to come. The weapons could also shape Taiwan’s future – if China gained confidence that it could use their presence to limit Western intervention in any conflict.
THE LATEST NEWS
Asia Pacific
Young Chinese are flocking to the mountain city of Dali, sometimes known as “Dalifornia”. It has become an oasis for the disaffected, the drifters and the curious trying to escape the relentless competition and suffocating political environment of China’s megacities.
How Modi dominates Indian TV
The inauguration of the dazzling Ram Temple in Ayodhya, India featured Bollywood and entertainment personalities, gurus and influencers, laser lights and rocking beats. About a dozen national television channels tried to outdo each other in what for most has become a guiding mission: to throw a favorable spotlight on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s every move.
India’s broadcast media, which receives ample government advertising money, has enlisted in an image-making machine that glorifies the prime minister as an infallible, god-like leader. News of setbacks — Chinese encroachment on India’s border, deadly ethnic clashes in a northeastern region, uneven economic growth that doesn’t generate enough jobs — is rarely discussed on television.
On display for the millions who tuned in during Modi’s speech at the temple was the full range of his skills as a communicator. But asking questions of a prime minister is a thing of the past. Modi has not held a proper press conference in the decade since he took office.
