Two U.S. Navy pilots were shot down Sunday over the Red Sea in what appeared to be “friendly fire”, the U.S. military said.

The pilots were found alive after they ejected from their aircraft, with one suffering minor injuries.

The incident demonstrates the pervasive dangers in the Red Sea corridor amid ongoing attacks on shipping by the Iranian-backed Houthis, even as U.S. and European military coalitions patrol the area.

The U.S. military had conducted airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels at the time, but U.S. Central Command did not elaborate on what their mission was.

US NAVY SHIPS REPEL ATTACK FROM HOUTHIS IN GULF OF ADEN

The military said the aircraft shot down was a two-seat F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet assigned to the “Red Rippers” of Strike Fighter Squadron 11 out of Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia.

The F/A-18 shot down had just flown off the deck of the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier, according to Central Command. On Dec. 15, Central Command said the Truman had entered the Mideast, but did not specify that the carrier and its battle group were in the Red Sea.

“The guided missile cruiser USS Gettysburg, which is part of the USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group, mistakenly fired on and hit the F/A-18,” Central Command said in a statement.

It is unclear how the Gettysburg had mistaked an F/A-18 for an enemy aircraft or missile, particularly since ships in a battle group are linked by radar and radio communication.

US MILITARY CONDUCTS SUCCESSFUL AIRSTRIKES ON HOUTHI REBEL FORCES IN YEMEN

The Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg (CG 64) steams in the Mediterranean Sea, Dec. 15, 2024. (AP)

Central Command said that warships and aircraft earlier shot down multiple Houthi drones and an anti-ship cruise missile launched by the rebels. Fire from the Houthis has previously forced sailors to make decisions in seconds.

The U.S., since the Truman arrived, has ramped up its airstrikes targeting the Houthis and their missile fire into the Red Sea and the surrounding area. But an American warship group in the region may lead to additional attacks from the rebels.

On Saturday night and into Sunday, U.S. warplanes conducted airstrikes that shook Yemen’s capital of Sanaa, which the Houthis have held for a decade. Central Command said the strikes targeted a “missile storage facility” and a “command-and-control facility.”

Houthi-controlled media reported strikes in both Sanaa and around the port city of Hodeida, but did not disclose details on any casualties or damage.

Aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman is moored near Split, Croatia, Feb. 14, 2022. (AP)

The Houthis later acknowledged the aircraft being shot down in the Red Sea.

Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October of last year, the Houthis have targeted about 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones.

The rebels say that they target ships linked to Israel, the U.S. or the U.K. to force an end to Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, which began after Hamas’ surprise attack against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, although many of the ships the rebels have attacked have little or no connection to the ongoing war, including some headed for Iran.

The Houthis also have increasingly targeted Israel with drones and missiles, leading to retaliatory airstrikes from Israeli forces.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

German far-right political party Alternative for Germany (AfD) is calling for a major rally following the attack at a Christmas market in Magdeburg which left several people dead and hundreds injured.

At a memorial site for the victims, AfD co-leader Tino Chrupalla called on Interior Minister Nancy Faeser to take stronger action to ensure the safety of the German public.

“I am now demanding answers from the interior minister: What is actually going on here in this country? What is actually happening in this country? We put up with it week after week, we put up with attacks, we put up with murders of our own people. This has to be cleared up now, and these phrases from politicians that things can’t go on like this, which I’ve heard again today, are actually upsetting,” Chrupalla told the press at the site.

Experts are now raising concerns that far-right groups could exploit the tragedy to fuel their anti-immigration rhetoric after police identified the assailant as a doctor from Saudi Arabia.

“Magdeburg is in eastern Germany where the support for the AfD is quite high. So, in elections usually, they have in the region more than one-third of the votes. So about 30% of the votes in the city, not as much as in the rural areas around,” says Matthias Quent, Professor of Sociology at Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences.

“The region in general, eastern Germany, is a hotspot of far-right mobilisations. And we are facing election campaigns until the federal elections in February. And so this is not just a critical time because of Christmas and the trust that gets destroyed by such an attack but, also, regarding questions of disinformation and polarisation and the spread of hate that will and could happen over these kinds of attacks now,” he added.

Leading right-wing figures in Europe have also weighed in, criticising the German authorities for failing to take stronger preventative action.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán drew a direct link between immigration and Friday’s deadly attack in Germany, telling a news conference on Saturday, “These phenomena have only existed in Europe since the start of the migration crisis. So there is no doubt that there is a link between the changed world in Western Europe, the migration that flows there, especially illegal migration and terrorist acts.”

However, Quent explains that this particular case becomes more complex as further details emerge on the background of the attacker.

Investigators have found that the perpetrator had tried to build connections to far-right organisations in Germany and the UK, including Germany’s far-right AfD party as well as Tommy Robinson, the founder of the far-right English Defence League.

“So it’s a very complicated case we are facing here. And it’s not an Islamist attack. It’s quite sure, a kind of anti-Islam. More like far-right attacks than any other, if you want to search a kind of context on the political radar,” Quent says.

Identified by local media as 50-year-old Taleb A., a psychiatry and psychotherapy specialist, authorities said he had been living in Germany for two decades.

Taleb’s alleged X account is filled with tweets and retweets focusing on anti-Islam themes and criticism of the religion while sharing congratulatory notes to Muslims who left the faith.

He also described himself as a former Muslim.

He was critical of German authorities, saying they had failed to do enough to combat the “Islamism of Europe.”

For several years, the final “Saturday Night Live” episode of the year includes a segment of “Weekend Update” in which co-anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che write jokes that the other must read for the first time on the air. For Jost, this typically has meant Che forces him to say a litany of jokes about race and racism that are horrifically tone deaf and over-the-top — and, in context, often quite funny.

This year, however, Che found a new way to torture Jost: Making him say outrageous things about his wife, Scarlett Johansson — while a camera captured Johansson’s live reactions in the hallway outside of the studio. The actor appeared during the episode’s cold open to welcome host Martin Short into the Five Timers Club, and Che apparently could not resist the chance to have some fun at the couple’s expense.

The bit started with Jost reading that this year, he was going to “read all the jokes in ‘Black voice’ so I don’t get in trouble,” which led into Jost reading a joke about Kamala Harris saying she still supports the idea of slavery reparations. 

“Well, damn girl, me too,” Jost said, barely able to get the words out through his exasperated laughter. “Because white people deserve our money back for all those slaves that ran away.”

That was a mere appetizer for what Jost was required to say about his wife. Just the sight of her face in an image over Jost’s shoulder was enough to have some people in the audience screaming in anticipation of what was to come.

“I want to dedicate this next joke to my boo, Scarlett Johansson,” Jost said, and then a camera cut to a nervous Johansson, clutching a drink as she watched Jost from a monitor above her.

“No! No!” Jost said, as he realized what was happening. “Oh my gosh, she’s so genuinely worried!”

Then he got to the business of reading, for the first time, the jokes Che had written for him.

“Y’all know Scarlett just celebrated her 40th birthday, which means I’m about to get up out of there!” Jost said, again exploding in guffaws before he could even finish the line. After he regained his composure — and Che reminded him that there was more to the joke — Jost continued. “Shiz! Nah, nah. I’m just playin’,” he said. “We just had a kid together, and y’all ain’t see no pictures of him yet, because he’s Black as hell!” — at which point, a Photoshopped image of Jost and Johansson holding a Black baby appeared over Jost’s shoulder.

Che certainly had his fair share of comedic humiliation, forced to make jokes about “Moana 2” and Jeffrey Epstein, Jay-Z, and his promise to Diddy that “I will help get you off.” But then the spotlight turned back to Jost, who ended the segment with a joke involving his wife that is so R-rated that it genuinely startled Johansson. Warning: This is not for the faint of heart!

“Costco has removed their roast beef sandwich from its menu, but I ain’t tripping,” Jost said. “I be eating roast beef every night since my wife had the kid!” After the audience, Jost and Che all stopped laughing, Jost read the final lines. “Nah, nah, I just playin’ baby. You know I don’t go downtown! Shiz! That’s gay as hell!”

Martin Short hosted the episode with Hozier as musical guest. You can watch the full segment below: