The US strikes on the Houthi-controlled oil port of Ras Isa on Friday morning, which it said were intended to cut the group off from a main source of revenue, will affect ordinary Yemenis rather then the rebels themselves, experts say.
Friday's attacks killed at least 74 people and wounded 171 others, Houthi authorities reported. The death toll could rise, with some workers at the port still unaccounted for.
"We have endured a difficult night and looked for him among charred bodies, but we couldn't find anything," the aunt of one worker, Abdulfattah, 26, told The National. She said he went missing on the night of the attack along with two colleagues.
The US military's Central Command said the attack on Ras Isa aimed to cut off fuel supplies that the Houthis use "to sustain their military operations, as weapon of control, and to benefit economically from embezzling the profits from the import".
While it is true that Ras Isa is a terminus for a pipeline that delivers oil from Yemen's Marib province, and is primarily used to bring in fuel to Houthi-controlled territories, research by Basha Report, a US-based risk advisory firm, has found that the group has enough fuel stores to last them three months.
"Since the Israeli air strikes began in July 2024, the group has decentralised its fuel storage network," Mohammad Al Basha, the firm's founder, told The National.
The Houthi fuel stocks are distributed among public and privately owned petrol stations, tanks and mobile fuel tankers, he said. The group has taken this approach to pre-empt damage to their revenue and supplies from attacks like the one on Friday.
This means that the immediate impact of the strikes of Ras Isa will be felt by civilians, who are already struggling with the dire humanitarian crisis in the country.
Abdulghani Al Iryani is a senior researcher at the Sanaa Centre for Strategic Studies and worked with United Nations Development Programme’s mission in Hodeidah province, where the Ras Isa port is located.
He said efforts to cut the Houthis off from one of their primary sources of revenue had already been tried.
Whenever this had been done on a significant scale, it had left hospitals unable to run their generators and water projects unable to pump water – which meant farmers could not irrigate their fields. This had affected agricultural production for a population already on the edge of famine, he said.
"It was a hardship that the population had to endure while the people in power did not feel anything."
The US began launching strikes on the Houthis to stop the group's launching missiles and drones at ships in the Red Sea and towards Israel, in what the rebels say is a response to the Israeli military offensive in Gaza that has killed more than 51,000 people since October 7, 2023.
Under the Biden administration, the US strikes targeted Houthi weapons depots, the rebel-controlled port of Hodeidah, and other strategic sites. The attacks have intensified under President Donald Trump, who assumed office in January, and aimed to target the Houthi leadership and the group's infrastructure.
The nearly daily US strikes since March 15 have hit Sanaa's international airport, power stations and residential buildings, killing dozens of Yemenis and wounding hundreds others, according to the Houthis, although the exact death toll remains unclear.
"The Houthis have deliberately embedded their infrastructure within densely populated civilian areas, making it exceedingly challenging to degrade their capabilities without harming civilians," said Joe Truzman, senior researcher at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies think tank.
"It is a calculated and morally troubling strategy to ensure the group's continued survival."
Company name: Play:Date
Launched: March 2017 on UAE Mother’s Day
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Based: Dubai with operations in the UAE and US
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Size: 20 employees
Stage of funding: Seed
Investors: Three founders (two silent co-founders) and one venture capital fund
Dunbar
Edward St Aubyn
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The biog
Siblings: five brothers and one sister
Education: Bachelors in Political Science at the University of Minnesota
Interests: Swimming, tennis and the gym
Favourite place: UAE
Favourite packet food on the trip: pasta primavera
What he did to pass the time during the trip: listen to audio books
The Brutalist
Director: Brady Corbet
Stars: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn
Rating: 3.5/5
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
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The biog
Fast facts on Neil Armstrong’s personal life:
- Armstrong was born on August 5, 1930, in Wapakoneta, Ohio
- He earned his private pilot’s license when he was 16 – he could fly before he could drive
- There was tragedy in his married life: Neil and Janet Armstrong’s daughter Karen died at the age of two in 1962 after suffering a brain tumour. She was the couple’s only daughter. Their two sons, Rick and Mark, consulted on the film
- After Armstrong departed Nasa, he bought a farm in the town of Lebanon, Ohio, in 1971 – its airstrip allowed him to tap back into his love of flying
- In 1994, Janet divorced Neil after 38 years of marriage. Two years earlier, Neil met Carol Knight, who became his second wife in 1994
SPAIN SQUAD
Goalkeepers Simon (Athletic Bilbao), De Gea (Manchester United), Sanchez (Brighton)
Defenders Gaya (Valencia), Alba (Barcelona), P Torres (Villarreal), Laporte (Manchester City), Garcia (Manchester City), D Llorente (Leeds), Azpilicueta (Chelsea)
Midfielders Busquets (Barcelona), Rodri (Manchester City), Pedri (Barcelona), Thiago (Liverpool), Koke (Atletico Madrid), Ruiz (Napoli), M Llorente (Atletico Madrid)
Forwards: Olmo (RB Leipzig), Oyarzabal (Real Sociedad), Morata (Juventus), Moreno (Villarreal), F Torres (Manchester City), Traore (Wolves), Sarabia (PSG)
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
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Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
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
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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More on Coronavirus in France
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Three tips from La Perle's performers
1 The kind of water athletes drink is important. Gwilym Hooson, a 28-year-old British performer who is currently recovering from knee surgery, found that out when the company was still in Studio City, training for 12 hours a day. “The physio team was like: ‘Why is everyone getting cramps?’ And then they realised we had to add salt and sugar to the water,” he says.
2 A little chocolate is a good thing. “It’s emergency energy,” says Craig Paul Smith, La Perle’s head coach and former Cirque du Soleil performer, gesturing to an almost-empty open box of mini chocolate bars on his desk backstage.
3 Take chances, says Young, who has worked all over the world, including most recently at Dragone’s show in China. “Every time we go out of our comfort zone, we learn a lot about ourselves,” she says.
Asia Cup 2018 final
Who: India v Bangladesh
When: Friday, 3.30pm, Dubai International Stadium
Watch: Live on OSN Cricket HD
Awar Qalb
Director: Jamal Salem
Starring: Abdulla Zaid, Joma Ali, Neven Madi and Khadija Sleiman
Two stars
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
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Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
What's in the deal?
Agreement aims to boost trade by £25.5bn a year in the long run, compared with a total of £42.6bn in 2024
India will slash levies on medical devices, machinery, cosmetics, soft drinks and lamb.
India will also cut automotive tariffs to 10% under a quota from over 100% currently.
Indian employees in the UK will receive three years exemption from social security payments
India expects 99% of exports to benefit from zero duty, raising opportunities for textiles, marine products, footwear and jewellery
Draw:
Group A: Egypt, DR Congo, Uganda, Zimbabwe
Group B: Nigeria, Guinea, Madagascar, Burundi
Group C: Senegal, Algeria, Kenya, Tanzania
Group D: Morocco, Ivory Coast, South Africa, Namibia
Group E: Tunisia, Mali, Mauritania, Angola
Group F: Cameroon, Ghana, Benin, Guinea-Bissau
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
SCORES
Yorkshire Vikings 144-1 in 12.5 overs
(Tom Kohler 72 not out, Harry Broook 42 not out)
bt Hobart Hurricanes 140-7 in 20 overs
(Caleb Jewell 38, Sean Willis 35, Karl Carver 2-29, Josh Shaw 2-39)
