Officers cordoned off the embassy as they combed through the surrounding areas following the report of the late afternoon blast. Israel's foreign ministry in a statement reported "an explosion" near the embassy.

The Houthis welcomed Spain's stance, with deputy foreign minister Hussein al-Ezzi saying "we highly appreciate Spain's refusal to be drawn into American and British lies on the issue of maritime navigation". The Iran-backed Houthis have carried out several strikes on Red Sea shipping in what they say is in support...

It was the first time the Pentagon has accused Iran of directly targeting ships since the start of Israel's war on the fighters group Hamas. The attack came amid a flurry of new drone and missile attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels on the vital Red Sea shipping lane since the...

UN special envoy Hans Grundberg's announcement marks the latest step to end the nine-year war that has killed hundreds of thousands of people and triggered one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. It follows recent meetings by Grundberg with head of Yemen's Saudi-backed presidential council and the chief negotiator of...

The Iran-backed Houthis have repeatedly targeted vessels in the vital shipping lane with strikes they say are in support of Palestinians in Gaza, where Israel is battling Hamas. The deaths of 20.000 people in Gaza have provoked widespread anger in the Middle East and provided an impetus for attacks by...

The task force announced by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Monday initially included Britain, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain. The Iran-backed Houthis say their missile and drone strikes on passing container ships are in support of Palestinians in the Gaza war raging between Israel...

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement that countries seeking to defend "the foundational principle of freedom of navigation must come together to tackle the challenge posed by this non-state actor." Yemen's Houthi rebels have ramped up attacks on tankers, cargo ships and other vessels in the Red...

Oil prices shot up three percent as more companies suspended shipping through the Red Sea following attacks on vessels by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels. US stocks sought to continue last week's rally on expectations the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next year, though it appears to have lost steam...

Dubai, UAE - A "possible explosion" struck a key shipping lane off Yemen on Monday, two maritime agencies said, the latest incident in the vital waterway threatened by Houthi rebel attacks. The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations issued a warning of a potential explosion striking near a vessel passing through...

The operation took place as Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin headed to the Middle East, where he would meet with Bahrain on "US efforts to convene multilateral coalitions to respond to aggression at sea that threatens shipping. Houthis have threatened to attack any vessels heading to Israeli ports unless food and...

London, UK - A UK destroyer has brought down a suspected attack drone in the Red Sea, defense minister Grant Shapps said on Saturday, amid rising maritime tensions in the region. Britain announced last month that it was sending HMS Diamond, one of its most advanced naval vessels, to the Gulf to...

A US official earlier said "we have indications that a missile was fired at the Maersk Gibraltar from a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen, and that it hit the water and missed the ship". The official was speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to make the statement...

US warships patrolling the Red Sea have shot down Houthi missiles and drones several times since the militants began the attacks in a show of support for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The Houthis captured a commercial car carrier, the Galaxy Leader, on November 19 and forced it to the...

The latest warning comes amid heightened tensions in the Red Sea and surrounding waters following a series of maritime attacks by Houthi rebels since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7. In a statement posted on social media, the Houthis said they "will prevent the passage of ships...

An Israeli-owned cargo ship was damaged in a suspected drone attack by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the Indian Ocean, a US defense official said. "We are aware of reports that there was a suspected IRGC-initiated Shahed-136 UAV (that) struck a civilian motor vessel in the Indian Ocean," the...

The warning comes after the Huthis on Sunday seized an Israel-linked cargo vessel, opening a new dimension in the Gaza war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas. Helicopter-borne troops seized the Galaxy Leader and its 25 international crew days after the Huthis threatened to target Israeli shipping because...

The Huthis have declared themselves part of the "axis of resistance" of Iran's allies and proxies and have launched a series of drones and missiles towards Israel after the start of the war in Gaza. The Huthis have also threatened to target Israeli shipping over the country's war with Hamas,...

A Yemeni maritime source said the Huthis had "seized a commercial vessel" and took it to the port of Salif in the coastal city of Hodeida, which the rebels control. The source did not specify the ship's nationality. Israel's military, writing on X, said "the hijacking of a cargo ship...

Washington, United States - US military forces in the Middle East have faced multiple threats from drone attacks in Middle East, Washington Post reported today. A US Navy destroyer in the Red Sea successfully intercepted a salvo of cruise missiles and drones launched toward Israel from Yemen. These actions come...

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia - The Red Sea International Film Festival (RSIFF) unveiled Monday the lineup of international short films participating in the event. The films include "Titanic", "Primetime Mother", "The Late Wind", "The Wait", "Solatia", "Dusk", "Suitcase", "Terra Mater - Motherland", "Eid Mubarak" and "The In Between". The third edition...

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Abu Dhabi, UAE--The UAE has applauded the UN for the successful unloading of oil from the deteriorating tanker, FSO Safer, situated off Yemen's coast in the Red Sea. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) lauded the collective efforts of the United Nations, its Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the Coalition to Restore...

Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, failing in its attempt to take Kyiv but seizing swathes of territory that Western-backed Ukrainian troops are fighting to recapture. Beijing, which says it is a neutral party in the conflict but has been criticised by Western capitals for refusing to condemn Moscow,...

The Safer, a floating storage and offloading facility, has been moored around 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the port of Hodeida since the 1980s. It has not been serviced since war broke out eight years ago between rebels, who control the capital Sanaa and the waters where the Safer is...

Dr Faqeeha commends the G20's support for the global platform CORDAP (Collaborative Action on Coral Reefs and People), which was launched during the Kingdom's G20 presidency. CORDAP aims to accelerate research and development for coral reefs globally and strengthen preservation and restoration efforts.

"The United Nations has begun an operation to defuse what might be the world's largest ticking time bomb," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement. "A complex maritime salvage effort is now underway in the Red Sea off the coast of war-torn Yemen to transfer one million barrels of...

Aboard Nautica , Yemen - The United Nations on Monday handed over a vessel that will take on board oil from a decaying tanker in the Red Sea off war-torn Yemen, an operation aimed at averting an environmental catastrophe. The handover ceremony took place aboard the Nautica, which is being renamed...

New tourism framework has been enacted, refining regulations and systems to lure investors, boost competitiveness, and elevate service quality in the sector across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The mediators of the talks in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah have acknowledged repeated violations of the truce by both sides but have so far held off imposing any sanctions in the hope of keeping the warring parties at the negotiating table. The army walked out "because the rebels...

In an unprecedented salvage plan, the UN has purchased a super-tanker to remove the oil from the vessel in the Red Sea. The actual pumping will start in about 10 days to two weeks, said Gressly. The 47-year-old Safer has not been serviced since Yemen's civil war broke out in...

To prevent a damaging oil spill in the Red Sea, the UN Development Programme in March took the unprecedented step of purchasing its own supertanker to remove more than a million barrels of oil from the beleaguered FSO Safer. The 47-year-old ship has not been serviced since Yemen's civil war...

On Wednesday, after a harrowing overland journey and overnight boat trip across the Red Sea, Sudan evacuees who have fled to Saudi Arabia, grateful to have survived but wracked with guilt and worry for those the left behind. The fighting in Sudan pits forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah...

The first flight of the day took off from the southern Saudi city of Abha before 9:00 am (0600 GMT), headed for Yemen's Houthi-held capital Sanaa with 120 Houthi rebel prisoners, ICRC public affairs and media adviser Jessica Moussan said. It was followed by a flight from Sanaa to Riyadh...

The Gulf kingdom is pursuing ambitious aviation goals as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's wide-ranging "Vision 2030" reform agenda, including more than tripling annual traffic to 330 million passengers by the end of the decade. It also wants to move up to five million tons of cargo each...

Jordanian state broadcaster Al-Mamlaka said the meeting, which kicked off in the Red Sea resort of Aqaba, was "the first of its kind in years between Palestinians and Israelis with regional and international participation" and would address "the situation in the Palestinian territories". Palestinian intelligence chief Majed Faraj and the...

Jordan will host a "political-security" meeting between Israel and the Palestinians to try and restore calm to the occupied Palestinian territories after deadly violence, a Jordanian government official said. The meeting to be held in the Red Sea resort of Aqaba will also be attended by United States and Egyptian...

Ismailia, Egypt--A ship on Wednesday became stuck in Egypt's Suez Canal but traffic through the vital waterway was unaffected, a source from the authority managing the canal said. Connecting the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, the Suez Canal accounts for roughly 10 percent of global maritime trade and the majority of...

The Frenchman, who has just won the 2022 edition of the Extreme E, has a tough battle in front of him if he is to improve on his three podium finishes and chalk up that first win. Notably, he will need to unseat defending champion Nasser Al-Attiyah (Toyota), a quadruple...

Sudan signed an initial US$6 billion deal led by United Arab Emirates' AD Ports Group and Invictus Investment to build a vast new Red Sea port and economic zone. "The massive project will give a strong boost to the national economy and will bring countless benefits for the country," said...

Saudi Arabia announced plans for a new airport in Riyadh while advancing the kingdom's ambitious aviation goals. The airport, set to accommodate 120 million travelers by 2030 and 185 million travelers by 2050, will be named after 86-year-old King Salman and was announced by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA - Saudi Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture, Engineer Abdul Rahman bin Abdul Mohsen Al-Fadhli inaugurated Sunday the Aquatic Animal Diseases Network in the Middle East in the Kingdom. The inauguration took place in the presence of the Director General of the World Organization for Animal Health...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia---Heavy rains in the Saudi coastal city of Jeddah on Thursday delayed flights, forced school suspensions and closed the road to Makkah, Islam's holiest city, state media reported. Jeddah, a city of roughly four million people positioned on the Red Sea, is often referred to as the "gateway...

Humanity is in "the fight of our lives" as climate change intensifies droughts, floods and heatwaves, UN chief Antonio Guterres warns world leaders in Egypt.

Three days after it seized a US military drone vessel in the Gulf, the Iranian navy took control of two American drone vessels in the Red Sea before releasing them. Iranian state media aired footage on Friday purporting to show the two US vessels being released by Iranian forces on...

A futuristic Saudi megacity is to feature two skyscrapers extending across a swathe of desert and mountain terrain, according to the latest disclosures on the project by the kingdom's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The parallel structures of mirror-encased skyscrapers extending over 170 kilometres (more than 100 miles), known collectively...

As US President Joe Biden visits the Middle East this week, one issue on the table will be the status of two small Red Sea islands that are uninhabited but of key strategic value. Resolving the tricky status that stems from their location and turbulent history would help build trust between...

Two women, one Austrian and the other Romanian, were killed in a shark attack this week off the coast of Egypt, Egypt's environment ministry and the tourists' respective foreign ministries said Sunday. "Two women were attacked by a shark while swimming" in the Sahl Hasheesh area south of Hurghada on...

Saudi Arabia on Sunday pledged $10 million to help prevent an ageing Yemeni oil tanker from unleashing a potentially catastrophic spill in the Red Sea bordering its waters.

An overladen ship crammed with thousands of sheep capsized Sunday off Sudan's Red Sea coast drowning the animals on board but with all crew surviving, port officials said.

The kingdom eyes over 70 million visitors this year as the country jumps from 43rd to 33rd spot on the global tourism ranking, says Saudi Arabia's assistant tourism minister.