The US is set for a major escalation in the Red Sea against the Houthis with the expected deployment of a second nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, which the US Naval Institute says will be the USS Carl Vinson.
The Vinson, with nine squadrons of aircraft, about 60 in total – mostly combat aircraft – is redeploying from the Pacific region where it has been carrying out military exercises. It will join the USS Harry S Truman, another Nimitz class aircraft carrier in the Red Sea, which has been launching aircraft strike missions against the Iran-backed movement for more than week, since President Donald Trump said the US would “annihilate” the “barbarian” group.
The Houthis say they will resume attacks on Israel-linked ships in the waterway, which carries about 12 per cent of global maritime trade. At times during the war in Gaza, this has expanded to include attacks on US and UK-linked vessels, as well as ships from across the world, characterised as a general blockade, to involve mistaken targets such as a China-linked oil tanker carrying fuel to Russia last May.
Both US aircraft carriers weight about 100,000 tonnes at full load and are in a years-long process of being phased out and replaced with modern Ford class carriers, currently under construction.
The US has often stationed two nuclear-powered carriers in the Middle East in times of heightened tension. At the start of the crisis in the Red Sea in October 2023, the US deployed the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, a Nimitz class carrier, and the USS Bataan, an amphibious assault ship with a displacement of about 40,000 tonnes.
Technically, the two vessels would represent a deployment of two aircraft carriers, although the Bataan, which can carry helicopters, F-35B fighters and Harrier II jets, is primarily a military task force vessel and is dwarfed by the nuclear-powered carriers.
The joint strike power of two nuclear-powered carriers operating in the same body of water will be significant and has not been seen in the region since March 2020, when the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and USS Harry S. Truman were deployed to the Arabian Sea, three months after the US and Iran came close to full-scale war. That followed the US assassination of Iran's Maj Gen Qassem Soleimani, senior commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, in Iraq, and the Iranian ballistic missile retaliation on a US base, in which 100 soldiers were injured.
The last time the US has deployed two nuclear-powered carriers to support the same air campaign was during the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Combined, the presence of two US aircraft carriers could result in about 250 air missions in a single day, with each hitting up to six targets.
Such an onslaught is more likely in full-scale war with a major adversary such as Iran. But the Eisenhower, which fought in the Red Sea for eight months after the crisis began, managed peaks of 140 sorties, according to the commander of its Air Wing 3, Marvin Scott.
Many of those missions would have involved patrolling for drone and cruise-missile attacks, a practice also known as “force protection”, as well as conducting waves of strikes on Houthi targets, which began sporadically in January 2024.
US Navy Rear Admiral Marc Miguez said the USS Eisenhower flew seven “deliberate strikes” on the Houthis. The attacks, he told defence analyst Ward Carroll, were based on “pretty good intelligence, where we knew where they were keeping things”, and were aimed at “degrading” the rebel movement's military capability.
Whether Mr Trump intends two carrier groups to turn their full force against the Houthis, or their combined deployment will reduce the strain on the Truman, has not yet been established. Some experts believe the US lacks intelligence detailed enough for such a large campaign.
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MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
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Tips to stay safe during hot weather
- Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of fluids, especially water. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which can increase dehydration.
- Seek cool environments: Use air conditioning, fans, or visit community spaces with climate control.
- Limit outdoor activities: Avoid strenuous activity during peak heat. If outside, seek shade and wear a wide-brimmed hat.
- Dress appropriately: Wear lightweight, loose and light-coloured clothing to facilitate heat loss.
- Check on vulnerable people: Regularly check in on elderly neighbours, young children and those with health conditions.
- Home adaptations: Use blinds or curtains to block sunlight, avoid using ovens or stoves, and ventilate living spaces during cooler hours.
- Recognise heat illness: Learn the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke (dizziness, confusion, rapid pulse, nausea), and seek medical attention if symptoms occur.
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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The lowdown
Badla
Rating: 2.5/5
Produced by: Red Chillies, Azure Entertainment
Director: Sujoy Ghosh
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Amrita Singh, Tony Luke
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