Prince Albert II of Monaco opened the 65th edition of the Monte-Carlo Television Festival on Friday and presented the Crystal Nymph Award to Kristin Scott Thomas, in recognition of her “outstanding contribution to television and screen storytelling.”

The evening culminated in the international premiere of the first two episodes of Season 3 of AMC Studios’ “The Walking Dead: Dead City,” in the presence of actors Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Lauren Cohan, together with showrunner Seth Hoffman.

The International Golden Nymph for Most Promising Talent was awarded to Spanish actress Ester Expósito, who broke through with the hit series “Elite.” The festival also paid tribute to French TV journalist and host Michel Drucker, who received the Honorary Nymph Award in recognition of “an extraordinary career and his exceptional contribution to television history.”

The opening ceremony was joined by the jury members.

The fiction jury is chaired by British actress Lesley Manville, who serves alongside British actor Kevin McKidd, U.S. showrunner Greg Daniels, French actress Frédérique Bel, South Korean producer Hojin Kwon and British actress Yasmin Finney.

The feature reports and news jury is chaired by American filmmaker Joshua Seftel and includes Mouhssine Ennaimi, Emmy-winning French documentary filmmaker and investigative journalist, French TV producer and journalist Hélène Mannarino and Dutch investigative journalist Margo Smit.

The digital jury is chaired by American media executive Susanne Daniels, former global head of original content at YouTube, alongside British writer, producer and director Luke Hyams, and French actor and content creator Morgan Niquet. It is the first time that the award for an innovative original digital format has been included.

Prince Albert II of Monaco stated: “Sixty-five years later, the ambition of the festival remains more relevant than ever. It continues to promote an industry in perpetual transformation, while remaining faithful to its essence: celebrating stories and outstanding individuals capable of moving, questioning, enlightening and informing.”

Laurent Puons, general manager of the Monte-Carlo Television Festival, commented: “As we celebrate the 65th anniversary of the festival, we are proud to continue bringing together the very best of international television in Monaco. This milestone edition reflects both the heritage of the festival and the extraordinary dynamism of today’s audiovisual industry.”

Cécile Menoni, executive director of the festival, added: “This opening sets the tone for an exceptional anniversary edition celebrating both the festival’s remarkable legacy and the future of audiovisual creation. The presence of Dame Kristin Scott Thomas, Michel Drucker, Ester Expósito and the team behind ‘The Walking Dead: Dead City’ perfectly reflects the diversity, international reach and creative excellence that define the festival.”

The U.S. has hit back against threats to now block another Middle East waterway by Iranian terror proxy, the Houthis.

Earlier this week, the group declared a complete ban on Israeli-owned ships using the Red Sea, declaring them to be “legitimate targets.”

The Red Sea and the waterway through its narrow Bab-el Mandeb Strait has become the main route for oil to ship out of the Middle East to Asia since the Strait of Hormuz has effectively stopped functioning as the main route of navigation for shipping.

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Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree posted on Monday, “We declare a complete and total ban on Israeli maritime navigation in the Red Sea, and we consider all enemy movements to be legitimate targets.”

In a statement to Fox News Digital, a State Department spokesperson struck back: “The escalatory actions of Iran and their Houthi proxies are unacceptable. These dangerous actions only serve to further enflame tensions and further disrupt global supply chains. We will continue to work with our partners to ensure freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz.” 

Edmund Fitton-Brown, a senior fellow at The Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital, “The Houthis have indeed risen to the challenge, at least verbally. In common with much ‘Axis of Resistance’ rhetoric at present, the intention appears to be to leverage U.S. political nervousness and market volatility, and to drive a wedge between the Americans and the Israelis.”

Fitton-Brown, a former U.K. ambassador to Yemen, added, “Provided the allies keep talking to each other, the Israelis respond proportionately, as they have done, and the Iranians continue to provoke President Trump with actions like the downing of the helicopter, these tactics are unlikely to achieve significant success.”

“It will be interesting if the Houthis do go all in, and resume their campaign against Red Sea shipping with full intensity,” Fitton-Brown said, adding, “This will draw international anger and likely result in Israeli and U.S. strikes on Sana’a and Hodeida. There is potential for a general escalation if this happens, albeit one in which the allies have a clear military advantage.”

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Landlocked Ethiopia acts as regional anti-terrorism buffer

Such actions come as reports emerge that Ethiopia, the Red Sea region’s most populous country, is stepping up as a major U.S. ally against Islamic terrorism.

While landlocked, Ethiopia has a population of some 130 million, making it the largest nation in the Horn of Africa. Located near parts of the Red Sea corridor, the country is roughly 60% Christian, according to a recent report by the Association of Religion Data Archives.

And despite it being landlocked, Ethiopian researcher Blen M. Diriba told Fox News Digital that the country acts as a strategic roadblock or “a keystone state” on the Islamist expansionist “highway” that has formed all the way from Iran to Sudan.

Diriba, executive director of the Horn Review — an Addis Ababa-based research and publication think tank — told Fox News Digital that “Ethiopia, long a frontline U.S. security partner, now sits at the center of an expanding pressure zone where maritime disruption, insurgent violence, terrorist threats, and proxy competition converge.”

Diriba added. “Iran’s Bab el-Mandeb threat transforms the Horn of Africa into a militarized frontline, placing Ethiopia at the center of a choke point crisis. With Iranian influence radiating through conflict ecosystems in Sudan, Eritrea and Somalia, the region is beginning to resemble a continuous arc of instability stretching from the Arabian Peninsula into East Africa.”

“Ethiopia sits at the center of one of the world’s most combustible security corridors,” Diriba continued. “And in strategic terms, its relevance to the United States is amplified, not diminished, by that reality: From the Red Sea disruptions driven by the Houthis to the persistent insurgency threat of al-Shabab in Somalia, Ethiopia functions as a massive inland security buffer whose stability directly shapes whether these threats expand or are contained.”

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But in addition to being pro-U.S., Ethiopia also has relations with Iran.

Fitton-Brown believes to some extent Ethiopia can be accused of playing both sides, as he said Tehran “has helped Ethiopia with its internal conflicts, giving drone support and military aid to the Ethiopian government during the recent Tigray War.”

He added, “There is a new memorandum of understanding built upon that basis, with Iran gaining influence in Ethiopia, while Ethiopia receives military, police and intelligence support to counter its domestic ethnic insurgencies.”

 However, Diriba said, “Ethiopia’s engagement with Iran is neither affinity nor alignment, it’s strategic awareness: keeping channels open to engage where necessary, cooperate selectively, and strategically manage its relations with a complex regional actor, while firmly anchoring its core partnerships with its emerging and long-standing partners — the United States being on the top of that list.”

“Ethiopia has pursued a flexible multi-alignment strategy, Diriba said, “prioritizing its entrenched security partnership with Washington while keeping open channels with Tehran to preserve diplomatic room to maneuver in an increasingly fragmented Horn of Africa–Red Sea order.”

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Fitton-Brown said relations between the U.S. and Ethiopia “are good, especially in the field of counterterrorism. Both countries use Somaliland to their advantage without having gone so far as to recognize it as an independent state.”

Fox News Digital reached out to both the Department of War and the Ethiopian government for comment, but received no response by the time of publication.

The Israeli military has ordered residents of 20 Lebanese towns and villages to leave their homes immediately.

Israeli air raids across southern Lebanon have killed one person as attacks continue despite a United States-brokered “ceasefire”.

Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported that the person was killed in an Israeli air raid in the municipality of Maarakeh, in the Tyre district of southern Lebanon.

Al Jazeera’s Heidi Pett, reporting from Beirut, said that over the course of Friday and into the evening, there were continued Israeli air attacks on towns and villages that are well north of what the Israelis call the “Yellow Line” – the part of southern Lebanon that they have been seeking to control and to occupy.

The attacks come after an announcement by Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday that the United States and Iran have agreed on the wording of an agreement aimed at ending their war, and that mediators were working with both sides to finalise a deal.

Iranian media report the initial agreement would declare an end to the war “on all fronts, including Lebanon”.

This has led to fears that Israel’s actions in Lebanon could scupper a deal, since Israel is not a party to the negotiations between the US and Iran, and its leaders have said they do not plan to withdraw from Lebanon.

The attacks also come amid a supposed ceasefire, agreed between Israeli and Lebanese officials earlier this month, that would require a “complete cessation” of fire by Hezbollah, yet the fighting continues.

The next round of talks between the two countries is expected on June 22, with a view towards reaching a comprehensive agreement.

Israel issues forced displacement orders, demolishes homes

Israeli attacks at dawn have demolished homes and government buildings in southern Lebanon’s Bint Jbeil, the country’s NNA reports.

The Israeli military also ordered residents of 20 Lebanese towns and villages to leave their homes immediately and move “north of the Zahrani River”.

The forced displacement orders apply to Deir al-Zahrani, al-Namirieh, al-Sharquieh, al-Dewayr, Harouf, Habboush, Kfarjoz, Zibdine (Nabatieh), Nabatieh al-Tahta, Nabatieh al-Fawqa, Kfar Rouman, Al-Mahmoudieh, Sajed (Jezzine), Reihan, Aaramta, Kfarchouba, Mlki, Al-Lawiza (Jezzine), Jarjouh and Arab Salim.

On Saturday, the Israeli military said an air raid alert had been activated in the northern town of Metula due to the “infiltration of a hostile aircraft” from Lebanon, but did not name the armed group Hezbollah.