World
EU states try to 'strike the right balance' on US operation in Red Sea
European Union allies have been reluctant to back a United States-led naval operation to safeguard ships from attacks by Houthi militants in the Red Sea.
Operation Prosperity Guardian (OPG), launched by the US in December, aims to protect international commercial ships from a recent raft of drone and rocket attacks by the Houthis, an Iran-backed rebel group that controls a part of Yemen’s territory.
The Houthi-led attacks, which started after the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, threaten to severely disrupt trade flows to Europe and have forced major shipping firms to avoid the area.
The Houthis have declared support for Hamas and have vowed to target Israel-bound ships in the Red Sea, where 12% of global trade, including 30% of global container traffic, passes.
Over the weekend, Houthi rebels attempted to sabotage a ship operated by Danish firm Maersk, prompting the US Navy to respond by sinking the Houthis’ small boats and killing ten militants.
Maersk is expected to decide on Tuesday whether to resume sending its ships through the Suez Canal via the Red Sea after it temporarily halted journeys for fears of further attacks.
The alternative detour, all the way around the south of Africa, can add as much as a month of journey time, threatening to upend world trade with delays and added costs.
Iran deployed its Alborz warship to the Red Sea on Monday, according to the country’s Tasnim news agency. The secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), Ali Akbar Ahmadian, met with Houthi spokesperson Mohammed Abdulsalam on the same day.
Europe has found itself torn between backing US-led efforts to protect freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and safeguarding European commercial interests, whilst at the same time avoiding contributing to a sharpening of tensions in the Middle East.
According to Farea Al-Muslimi, a research fellow for the Middle East and North Africa programme at Chatham House, Europe faces the challenge of “striking the right balance of optics and decisions.”
“Europe is trying as much as possible to avoid further spillover in the region following the Gaza war, and hence the last thing you want is a new active frontline,” Al-Muslimi explains.
“At the same time, how do you not let the Houthis get away with this? Because that could also inspire other militia groups in the Horn of Africa.”
Some EU nations hesitant
Whilst the US-led operation originally enlisted support from six European countries, some countries have since distanced themselves from the effort amid concerns it could sharpen tensions and lead to an escalation in conflict in the Middle East.
France’s defence ministry said that it salutes initiatives to reinforce the freedom of navigation in the Red Sea such as OPG but also emphasised that its warships in the region would remain under French command.
Italy said that whilst it was committing a naval frigate to patrol the area, this would “take place as part of an existing operation authorised by parliament and not Operation Prosperity Guardian.”
Spain’s Defence Ministry said the country would not participate in the operation. Madrid has denied reports that it vetoed a decision on diverting the EU’s anti-piracy naval operation ‘Atalanta’, which is headquartered in Spain, to safeguard Red Sea vessels from Houthi attacks.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has called for the creation of a bespoke European mission to patrol the area and protect European commercial interests.
A spokesperson on behalf of the German foreign ministry also said last week that Germany was working with its EU allies.
Some experts believe the EU must react to the Houthi attacks.
ADVERTISEMENT“Europeans should step up their naval presence in the Red Sea and reinforce intra-European coordination,” Camille Lons, visiting fellow at the European Centre for Foreign Relations wrote in December, naming the project Atalanta as one of the existing mechanisms that could be re-purposed.
But according to Al-Muslimi, Western policymakers are facing a “zero-sum game” imposed by the Houthis, whose attacks have triggered a major humanitarian crisis for Yemenis.
“The Yemenis will pay the highest price,” he explained, “because it’s going to increase the food prices and the imports of goods to the country in a country that’s already torn by nine years of war, the Covid-19 pandemic and the repercussions of the war in Ukraine.”
Which European nations have intervened?
Denmark has reacted to the most recent attack on its Maersk-operated vessel with a vow to send a warship to the region to “ward off similar attacks”
The Maersk attack “underlines the severe situation in the Red Sea,” the country’s foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said Tuesday.
ADVERTISEMENTGreece has also said it is contributing to the US-led effort with a naval frigate, while the Netherlands has said it will contribute naval officers.
But despite these three relatively small coastal countries’ support, the reluctance of major EU nations to explicitly back the US is undoubtedly a blow to the operation.
The United Kingdom has thrown its weight behind the US operation, with defence secretary Grant Shapps vowing that the British government could take “direct action” against the Houthi rebels.
Shapps said the government would not hesitate to take “direct action” to prevent further attacks amid reports the UK and US are preparing a joint statement to issue a final warning to the Yemeni group.
The US and UK are reportedly preparing a joint statement to warn the Houthis from orchestrating further attacks, although it is not clear whether the European Union or any of its member states would also sign such a statement.
ADVERTISEMENTAn EU official was not available to comment on the measures under consideration as part of the bloc’s response to the attacks.
Al-Muslimi believes that the highly unpredictable nature of Houthi militant activity means any calls of warning from Western policymakers could prove fruitless.
“The Houthis are the most unpredictable group that probably exists right now in the Middle East,” he said.
“A lot of Arab countries are also suffering from the Houthi attacks more than Western countries, but there is very little they can do,” he added.
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The European Commission has announced it is looking into cases of sexually suggestive and explicit images of young girls generated by Grok, the AI chatbot integrated into social media platform X, following the introduction of a paid feature known as “Spicy Mode” last summer.
“I can confirm from this podium that the Commission is also very seriously looking into this matter,” a Commission spokesperson told journalists in Brussels on Monday.
“This is not ‘spicy’. This is illegal. This is appalling. This is disgusting. This has no place in Europe.”
On Sunday, in response to growing anger and alarm at the images, the social media platform said the images had been removed from the platform and that the users involved had been banned.
“We take action against illegal content on X, including Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), by removing it, permanently suspending accounts, and working with local governments and law enforcement as necessary,” the X Safety account posted.
Similar investigations have been opened in France, Malaysia and India.
The European Commission also referenced an episode last November in which Grok generated Holocaust denial content. The Commission said it had sent a request for information under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), and that it is now analysing the response.
In December, X was fined €120 million under the DSA over its handling of account verification check marks and its advertising policy.
“I think X is very well aware that we are very serious about DSA enforcement. They will remember the fine that they have received from us,” said the EU Commission spokesperson.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Sure, Nvidia, AMD and Intel all had important chip and AI platform announcements on the first day of CES 2026, but all audiences wanted to see more of was Star Wars and Jensen Huang’s little robot buddies.
CES is a huge opportunity annually for companies both large and small to parade products they plan to put on shelves this year. And, as predicted, artificial intelligence was anchored in nearly everything as tech firms continue to look for AI products that will attract customers.
AP has been on the ground looking at booths and covering big announcements, here is a roundup of the highlights we saw on the first day of CES.
Nvidia gets physical
The biggest buzzword in the air at CES is “physical AI,” Nvidia’s term for AI models that are trained in a virtual environment using computer generated, “synthetic” data, then deployed as physical machines once they’ve mastered their purpose.
CEO Jensen Huang showed off Cosmos, an AI foundation model trained on massive datasets, capable of simulating environments governed by actual physics. He also announced Alpamayo, an AI model specifically designed for autonomous driving. Huang revealed that Nvidia’s next generation AI superchip platform, dubbed Vera Rubin, is in full production, and that Nvidia has a new partnership with Siemens. All of this shows Nvidia is going to fight increased competition to retain its reputation as the backbone of the AI industry.
But once Huang called for two little, waddling, chirping robots to join him on stage, that’s all the audience wanted to see more of.
The chips are back in town
AMD CEO Lisa Su announced a new line of its famed Ryzen AI processors as the company continues to expand its footprint in the world of AI-powered personal computers.
For gamers, AMD also showed off the latest version of its gaming-focused processor, the AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D.
Meanwhile, Intel announced its new AI chip for laptops, Panther Lake (also known as the Intel Core Ultra Series 3), and said the company has plans to launch a new platform to address a growing market for handheld video gaming machines.
Intel, a Silicon Valley pioneer that enjoyed decades of growth as its processors powered the personal computer boom, fell into a slump after missing the shift to the mobile computing era unleashed by the iPhone. It fell further behind after the AI boom propelled Nvidia into the spotlight.
President Donald Trump’s administration stepped in recently to secure a 10% stake in the company, making the government one of Intel’s biggest shareholders. Federal officials said they invested in Intel to support U.S. technology and domestic manufacturing.
Uber dives back into the robotaxi game
Uber is giving the public a first look at their robotaxi at this CES this week. Uber, along with luxury electric vehicle manufacturer Lucid Motors and vehicle tech company Nuro, introduced an autonomous vehicle with an Uber-designed in-cabin experience.
Uber calls it the most luxurious robotaxi yet. It features cameras, sensors and radars that provide 360-degree perception and a low-profile roof “halo” with integrated LEDs that will display riders’ initials to help them spot their car and track their ride status. Inside, riders can personalize everything from climate and seat heating to music, while real-time visuals show exactly what the vehicle is seeing on the road and the route it plans to take.
Autonomous on-road testing began last month in San Francisco, led by Nuro, marking a major step toward what the companies said is a planned launch before the end of the year.
Star Wars and Lego announce new a partnership
When Lucasfilm chief creative officer David Filoni brought out an array of X-Wing pilots, Chewbacca, R2D2 and C-3PO, he won the Star Wars fandom for Lego.
Lego announced its Lego Smart Play platform on Monday, which introduces new smart bricks, tags and special minifigs for your collection. The new bricks contain sensors that enable them to sense light and distance, and to provide an array of responses, essentially lights and sounds, when they are used in unison.
Combine this with a newly announced partnership with the Star Wars franchise and now you can create your own interactive space battles and light-saber duels.
LG reveals a new robot to help around the home
File this one under intrigued, for now.
The Korean tech giant gave the media a glimpse Monday of its humanoid robot that is designed to handle household chores such as folding laundry and fetching food. Although many companies have robots on display at CES, LG certainly is one of the biggest tech companies to promise to put a service robot in homes.
It will be on display — and we assume demonstrating some of its purported abilities — beginning Tuesday, so we’ll have more to report soon.
What’s new with lollipops?
Music you can taste was on display Monday at CES: Lollipop Star unveiled a candy that plays music while you eat it. The company says it uses something called “bone induction technology,” which lets you hear songs — like tracks from Ice Spice and Akon — through the lollipop as you lick it or bite it in the back of your mouth, according to spokesperson Cassie Lawrence.
The musical lollipops will go on sale after CES on Lollipop Star’s website for $8.99 each. And if that wasn’t enough star power, Akon was expected to visit the company’s booth Tuesday when CES opens to the public.
Atlas holds up Hyundai’s (manufacturing) world
Hyundai-owned Boston Dynamics publicly demonstrated its humanoid robot Atlas for the first time at the CES tech showcase, ratcheting up a competition with Tesla and other rivals to build robots that look like people and do things that people do.
The company said a version of the robot that will help assemble cars is already in production and will be deployed by 2028 at Hyundai’s electric vehicle manufacturing facility near Savannah, Georgia.
Delta gets spherical
Delta Air Lines is taking entertainment to new heights as the “official airline” of the Sphere in Las Vegas. The airline announced a new multiyear partnership with Sphere Entertainment Co. that it says will deliver premium experiences to the venue, including a Delta SKY360° Club lounge.
The carrier said SkyMiles members can unlock exclusive access to other experiences at the Sphere, starting during the final weekend of the Backstreet Boys’ residency in February with features including private suite seating, food and beverages. The partnership brings Delta branding to the Sphere’s massive exterior LED screen. Delta says more exclusive SkyMiles experiences will roll out in 2026 and beyond.
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Iran’s government has said its citizens will be given a monthly payment equivalent to about $7 to ease economic pressures as protests spread across the country, according to reports.
The announcement was reported to have been made on Monday by the government spokesperson, Fatemeh Mohajerani, on Iranian State TV.
She said the measure was aimed at “preserving households” purchasing power, controlling inflation and ensuring food security,” per The New York Times.
The outlet also said the plan represents a shift away from long-standing import subsidies toward direct assistance for citizens.
IRAN CRACKDOWN RATTLES MIDDLE EAST AS ANALYSTS WEIGH US OPTIONS SHORT OF MILITARY INTERVENTION
A protester faces Iranian security forces during clashes amid nationwide unrest, according to images released by the Iranian opposition group National Council of Resistance of Iran. (NCRI )
Under the proposal, roughly $10 billion that had been spent each year to subsidize certain imports, will now be given directly to the public.
Eligible Iranians will get one million Iranian tomans, which is around $7, and in the form of credit that can be used to buy goods.
The labor minister said the payments would be handed out to about 80 million people, which is the majority of Iran’s population.
PROTESTS SPREAD ACROSS IRAN AS REGIME THREATENS US FORCES AS ‘LEGITIMATE TARGETS’ AFTER TRUMP WARNING
Protesters march in downtown Tehran, Iran, Monday, Dec. 29, 2025. (Fars News Agency via AP)
Iran’s economy has been hit by sanctions and declining oil revenues which have led to protests.
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