World
Houthis claim attack on ship that docked in Israel
![Houthis claim attack on ship that docked in Israel](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/2024-06-20T072054Z_86819553_RC2VE8A7M01F_RTRMADP_3_ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS-YEMEN-SHIPPING-1719076207.jpg?resize=1920%2C1440)
Houthis say the commercial vessel was targeted for using an Israeli port as they step up their campaign in support of Palestinians in Gaza.
The Houthis in Yemen say they launched attacks on a commercial vessel after it used an Israeli port, and on a US aircraft carrier ordered home after months of responding to sea attacks launched because of the war on Gaza.
Yahya Saree, the military spokesman of the Iran-aligned group, said in a televised announcement on Saturday the Liberia-flagged bulk carrier Transworld Navigator was directly hit by ballistic missiles in the Arabian Sea.
“The ship was targeted because the company that owns it violated the ban of entry into the ports of occupied Palestine,” he said, alluding to an earlier threat that all ships docking at Israeli ports would be considered targets.
The attack came after the sinking this week of the ship MV Tutor, which appears to mark a new escalation in the campaign against commercial vessels in vital maritime corridors.
Saree also claimed an attack using ballistic and cruise missiles on the USS Eisenhower, which has led US Navy operations in the region since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza.
Saree said “the operation has achieved its objectives successfully” without elaborating. One unnamed US official told Reuters news agency the claim “is incorrect”.
The Houthis and social media accounts supporting them have repeatedly falsely claimed to hit or even sink the aircraft carrier in the Red Sea.
The announcement came shortly after US officials reportedly ordered the USS Eisenhower to return home after more than eight months of deployment, with another aircraft carrier operating in the Pacific set to replace it.
UKMTO WARNING
INCIDENT 088 – ATTACK – UPDATE 001https://t.co/fX3hWupPWO#MaritimeSecurity #MarSec pic.twitter.com/yDrCzyfawN— United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) (@UK_MTO) June 21, 2024
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported on Friday that a vessel was attacked 126 nautical miles (233km) east of Aden in Yemen. It said the master reported “explosions in the vicinity of the vessel” and the crew is safe.
The Houthis pledged to continue their military operations, which they have said are in support of Palestinians and will only stop when the siege of Gaza is lifted.
The group has launched more than 60 attacks, sunk two commercial ships, seized another, and attacked dozens more since the start of the war.
In March, the Houthis killed three people after one of its antiship ballistic missiles set the Barbados-flagged True Confidence on fire.
The US and United Kingdom militaries have launched air raids across Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen to weaken the group’s military capabilities.
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World
Middle East Crisis: Critically Ill Children Allowed to Leave Gaza for First Time Since May
Sixty-eight people, including sick and injured patients and their escorts, crossed the border to get treatment, the Israeli military said. The evacuation was carried out in coordination with the U.S., Egypt and the international community.
World
Taiwan issues travel advisory after China vows to execute independence supporters
![Taiwan issues travel advisory after China vows to execute independence supporters](https://static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/05/xi_jinping.jpg)
The Taiwanese government warned its citizens not to travel to mainland China on Thursday after Beijing threatened to execute residents who support the island’s independence.
Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council spokesman Liang Wen-chieh issued the warning during a routine press conference. The Chinese government announced a new policy targeting “separatists” last week, and said it would pursue the death penalty for “diehard” supporters of Taiwanese independence.
“I want to stress: Democracy is not a crime; it’s autocracy that is the real evil. China has absolutely no right to sanction Taiwan’s people just because of the positions they hold. What’s more, China has no right to go after Taiwan people’s rights across borders,” Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said Wednesday.
“I also want to call on China to face up to the existence of the Republic of China and have exchanges and dialogue with Taiwan’s democratically elected, legitimate government,” he said, using Taiwan’s formal name. “If this is not done, relations between Taiwan and China will only become more and more estranged.”
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The Taiwanese government warned its citizens not to travel to mainland China on Thursday after Beijing threatened to execute residents who support the island’s independence. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
China has long considered Taiwan to be its territory, and Chinese President Xi Jinping has threatened to take the island by force in recent years.
IRAN CAPABLE OF BUILDING NUCLEAR BOMB IN ONE WEEK, REPORT FINDS AS MIDDLE EAST TENSIONS FLARE
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office clarified on Wednesday that the threat of execution applies only to a small number of Taiwanese independence “diehards’ evil words and actions.”
![Xi Jinping](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/05/1200/675/xi_jinping.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
China has long considered Taiwan to be its territory, and Chinese President Xi Jinping has threatened to take the island by force in recent years. (Szilard Koszticsak/MTI via AP)
The move is the latest escalation of tensions between Taipei and Beijing. Recent months have also seen China conduct extensive military drills surrounding the island. China has used the drills as intimidation, typically following events connecting the U.S. and Taiwan.
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China first conducted live-fire drills in 2022 after then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. D-Calif., traveled to Taiwan. It was the first time a U.S. speaker visited the island in over 25 years.
![Chinese soldier looking through binoculars with a military ship in the background](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2022/08/1200/675/Taiwan-China-Military-Exercises-2.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Recent months have also seen China conduct extensive military drills surrounding the island, typically following events connecting the U.S. and Taiwan. (Lin Jian/Xinhua via AP)
Beijing’s execution threat comes just days after the U.S. approved the sale of $360 million in drones, missiles and other equipment to Taiwan.
Reuters contributed to this report.
World
Serbian police shut down cultural exchange festival with Kosovo
![Serbian police shut down cultural exchange festival with Kosovo](https://static.euronews.com/articles/stories/08/53/59/96/1200x675_cmsv2_0bfb757c-8481-503b-8547-5b03b8feb345-8535996.jpg)
The festival ban comes a day after the EU Foreign Policy chief Josep Borrell said no progress had been made during talks in Brussels towards implementing an EU-backed agreement towards normalising ties between Belgrade and Pristina.
Serbian police have banned a festival that promotes cultural exchange with Kosovo following a rally by far-right protesters outside the venue.
In a statement, Belgrade police cited security concerns as the reasons for stopping the event from going ahead, saying they wanted to prevent ‘danger to the security of people and property and to public peace and order on a larger scale.’
The police statement also said that the anti-festival protest, which saw several dozen right-wing extremists gather outside the festival venue, waving Serbian flags and banners saying ‘No surrender’, had also been banned.
Several Serbian government officials have sharply criticised the festival in recent days, describing it as anti-Serb.
While the festival has been held alternatively in Serbia and Kosovo for the past decade, this year’s ban in Serbia illustrates a general toughening of the government’s stance toward its critics.
The Mirëdita, dobar dan festival, whose name means ‘hello’ in Albanian and Serbian, is organised by youth groups from Serbia and Kosovo and was due to open on Thursday with a theatre show from Kosovo.
According to the festival’s website the event, which was due to run for two days, aims to ‘enrich regional perspectives and foster cooperation and peacebuilding’.
No progress
The festival ban came a day after the EU Foreign Policy chief Josep Borrell said no progress had been made during talks in Brussels towards implementing an agreement between Belgrade and Pristina.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti had met to discuss an EU-backed plan to normalise ties. However, unresolved issues, including Pristina’s demands that Belgrade hands over the suspected organisers of the Banjska attack, blocked further progress.
Speaking after the meetings, Borrell said that the European Union will continue to exert all its efforts and capacity to normalise relations between Belgrade and Pristina.
“Kosovo was not ready for this, Kosovo was not willing to do this trilateral meeting. Serbia was ready to do it, but you need two to dance tango and we need two to sit around the table in order to continue the dialogue,” Borrell added.
Borrell said on Wednesday ahead of the meeting that a new round of dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina would “hopefully send a different message and end in a different note.”
Brussels has warned both Belgrade and Pristina that refusal to compromise jeopardises Serbia and Kosovo’s chances of joining the bloc.
Kosovo, a former Serbian province, declared independence in 2008, a move Belgrade does not recognise.
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