Live updates: Follow the latest news on Israel-Gaza
Egyptian officials and importers are growing increasingly concerned over tensions in the Red Sea, following a rise in Houthi attacks on vessels heading to and from the Suez Canal.
The Iran-backed group, which controls the Yemeni capital of Sanaa and is one of Hamas’s allies in the Israel-Gaza war, has stepped up attacks on vessels, particularly those ones owned by or bound for Israel.
It has targeted vessels that enter Bab Al Mandeb, a strait between Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula, Djibouti and Eritrea in the Horn of Africa, on their way to the Suez Canal.
In October, the group threatened to attack Israeli ships in retaliation for its bombardment of Gaza, which has killed about 20,000 Palestinians. This followed attacks by Hamas in Israel that killed about 1,200 people.
In November, the Houthis hijacked a Japanese-operated vessel near the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah.
On Monday, the UK Maritime Trade Operations reported attacks on two vessels near Bab Al Mandeb south of the Yemeni port of Mokha.
On Friday, the Liberian-flagged MSC Palatium III was also attacked by the Houthis, sustaining fire damage before being taken out of service, its operator said in a statement.
The attacks have sent panic through the world’s shipping industry. A sharp rise in inquiries about security have been recorded by Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority, an official at the authority told The National.
A US naval presence in the Red Sea, which has felled multiple Houthi missiles and drones fired at Israel from Yemen, has also added to anxieties among shipping operators that the Suez Canal, the fastest route connecting the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean, should be avoided during the ongoing war in Gaza continued, the canal official said.
Four of the world’s largest shipping companies – MSC, Hapag-Lloyd, Maersk and CMA CGM – have suspended operations in the Red Sea, choosing instead to reroute their vessels around the Cape of Good Hope, on the southern tip of Africa, until the security risks are handled.
On Monday, BP also announced that it was temporarily pausing voyages through the Red Sea “in light of the deteriorating security situation”, the company said in comments carried by Bloomberg.
Multiple navies and coast guards have issued advisories on the heightened need for security on vessels entering the Houthi-blockaded area, according to research from leading shipping analytics firm S&P Global.
The increased need for security has also resulted in a rise in tanker rates in addition to war insurance rates for shipping worldwide, said David Loosley, secretary general of shipping industry group Bimco, on the sidelines of a shipping summit in Dubai on December 10.
For cash-strapped Egypt, where inflation has hit record highs and foreign debt reached 87.2 per cent of GDP in 2022, the Suez Canal remains one of the most vital sources of foreign currency.
In a bid to quieten security concerns about the Suez Canal, the waterway’s chief Admiral Osama Rabie issued a statement on Sunday asserting that traffic through the waterway was stable and that the authority was monitoring the tensions in the Red Sea closely.
While 55 vessels have chosen to take the longer route around the Cape of Good Hope, according to figures released on Sunday by the authority, 2,128 have safely passed through the Suez Canal, it said.
On Thursday, the authority issued discounts ranging from 25 to 75 per cent for some ships crossing the canal to try to persuade shipping companies not to reroute vessels, the canal official said.
However, some importers have already started to feel a rise in their operating fees due to the increases in tanker and insurance rates, Tawfik Mahmoud, a textiles importer, told The National.
“For me, the rise in my operational fees is coming at the worst possible time. Black market rates for dollars are very high at the moment which has made us reduce the amount of raw material we work with,” he said.
“I had to scale back my business by almost half of my original capacity because of high prices. What I am afraid of is that the situation could get worse with the war and my business will fall apart.”
The US military has stationed forces around the Arabian peninsula since the start of the Israel-Gaza war.
It recently moved its Dwight D Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group from the Arabian Gulf into the Gulf of Aden, off the coast of Yemen.
Though it had initially actively avoided opening a new front of the Israel-Gaza war with the Iran-backed Houthis, the US is now considering more seriously launching retaliatory attacks against the group, senior US officials told Politico on Sunday.
The Houthis have been locked in a prolonged civil war with Yemen's official government, backed by Saudi Arabia, since 2014, widely considered a proxy war in a larger Saudi-Iranian struggle for regional supremacy.
Stage 3 results
1 Adam Yates (GBR) Mitchelton-Scott 4:42:33
2 Tadej Pocagar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:03
3 Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ) Astana 0:01:30
4 David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama-FDJ
5 Rafal Majka (POL) Bora-Hansgrohe
6 Diego Ulissi (ITA) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:56
General Classification after Stage 3:
1 Adam Yates (GBR) Mitchelton-Scott 12:30:02
2 Tadej Pocagar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:07
3 Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ) Astana 0:01:35
4 David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:40
5 Rafal Majka (POL) Bora-Hansgrohe
6 Wilco Kelderman (NED) Team Sunweb) 0:02:06
TOUCH RULES
Touch is derived from rugby league. Teams consist of up to 14 players with a maximum of six on the field at any time.
Teams can make as many substitutions as they want during the 40 minute matches.
Similar to rugby league, the attacking team has six attempts - or touches - before possession changes over.
A touch is any contact between the player with the ball and a defender, and must be with minimum force.
After a touch the player performs a “roll-ball” - similar to the play-the-ball in league - stepping over or rolling the ball between the feet.
At the roll-ball, the defenders have to retreat a minimum of five metres.
A touchdown is scored when an attacking player places the ball on or over the score-line.
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
Indoor cricket World Cup:
Insportz, Dubai, September 16-23
UAE fixtures:
Men
Saturday, September 16 – 1.45pm, v New Zealand
Sunday, September 17 – 10.30am, v Australia; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Monday, September 18 – 2pm, v England; 7.15pm, v India
Tuesday, September 19 – 12.15pm, v Singapore; 5.30pm, v Sri Lanka
Thursday, September 21 – 2pm v Malaysia
Friday, September 22 – 3.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 3pm, grand final
Women
Saturday, September 16 – 5.15pm, v Australia
Sunday, September 17 – 2pm, v South Africa; 7.15pm, v New Zealand
Monday, September 18 – 5.30pm, v England
Tuesday, September 19 – 10.30am, v New Zealand; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Thursday, September 21 – 12.15pm, v Australia
Friday, September 22 – 1.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 1pm, grand final
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
Fire and Fury
By Michael Wolff,
Henry Holt
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
Company name: Farmin
Date started: March 2019
Founder: Dr Ali Al Hammadi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: AgriTech
Initial investment: None to date
Partners/Incubators: UAE Space Agency/Krypto Labs
ALRAWABI%20SCHOOL%20FOR%20GIRLS
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'Shakuntala Devi'
Starring: Vidya Balan, Sanya Malhotra
Director: Anu Menon
Rating: Three out of five stars
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Dhadak
Director: Shashank Khaitan
Starring: Janhvi Kapoor, Ishaan Khattar, Ashutosh Rana
Stars: 3
Company%20profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMaly%20Tech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Mo%20Ibrahim%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%20International%20Financial%20Centre%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20FinTech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunds%20raised%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%241.6%20million%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2015%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPre-seed%2C%20planning%20first%20seed%20round%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20GCC-based%20angel%20investors%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
Match info
Who: India v Afghanistan
What: One-off Test match, Bengaluru
When: June 14 to 18
TV: OSN Sports Cricket HD, 8am starts
Online: OSN Play (subscribers only)
Titanium Escrow profile
Started: December 2016
Founder: Ibrahim Kamalmaz
Based: UAE
Sector: Finance / legal
Size: 3 employees, pre-revenue
Stage: Early stage
Investors: Founder's friends and Family
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
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Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
Farasan Boat: 128km Away from Anchorage
Director: Mowaffaq Alobaid
Stars: Abdulaziz Almadhi, Mohammed Al Akkasi, Ali Al Suhaibani
Rating: 4/5
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
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Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
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