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Britain and US to carry out airstrikes against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen

The US and the UK are set to carry out airstrikes against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen as early as tonight. 

This comes after both countries warned there could be consequences if ships are continually targeted in the Red Sea.

On Tuesday, US and British forces shot down 18 drones and three missiles launched by the Houthis, in what was described as their biggest attack so far in solidarity with Palestinians in Hamas-ruled Gaza.

Antony Blinken warned of ‘consequences’ if the Houthi do not stop attacking ships in the Red Sea, and called on Iran to end their support for the rebels.

Sources inside London’s Whitehall have confirmed that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is ready to sign off military reprisals against the Houthis, who have repeatedly attacked merchant shipping in the Red Sea.

The plans were finalised today following meetings of the Prime Minister’s National Security Council and the emergency committee Cobra.

The rebels say their assaults are aimed at stopping Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. But their targets are increasingly random, raising the risk of a US retaliatory strike on Yemen.

The US has set up a multinational naval task force to protect shipping from the attacks, which Blinken on Wednesday said were ‘aided and abetted’ by Iran.
Pentagon spokesperson Brig Gen Pat Ryder said at a news conference in Washington DC: ‘I’m not going to telegraph, forecast or speculate on any potential future operations.

‘And I think that statement from multiple nations when it comes to the fact that there will be consequences – should the attacks not stop – speaks for itself.

‘And I’ll just leave it at that.’

Asked about potential US strikes against the Houthis in Yemen, the national security spokesperson, John Kirby, said: ‘I’m not going to telegraph our punches one way or another here.

We’re gonna do what we have to do, to counter and defeat these threats that the Houthis keep throwing up on commercial shipping in the Red Sea.’ 

On Wednesday, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate end to the Houthi attacks.

Secretary of State Blinken was in Bahrain on Wednesday as part of his week-long tour aimed at working on the Middle East crisis.

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International

Wreckage of plane missing in Alaska found on sea ice; all aboard dead

The wreckage of a plane matching the description of one that went missing Thursday afternoon was found on sea ice in Alaska on Friday, Feb. 7, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

All 10 aboard – nine passengers and the pilot flying the single-engine turboprop plane – did not survive the apparent crash, the Coast Guard told the Anchorage Daily News.

“Our thoughts are with those affected by this tragic incident,” the Coast Guard said in a statement.

Initially, a Coast Guard spokesperson told the Associated Press that crews had not been able to fully open what they believe to be Bering Air Flight 445, which had been traveling from Unalakleet to Nome.

“Right now we just know that there’s three,” Cameron Snell told the Associated Press about the people believed to be inside the single-engine turboprop plane.

Unalakleet and Nome are about 150 miles apart, separated by the Norton Sound, south of the Arctic Circle.

In a Thursday post on social media, the Coast Guard said the plane had been about 12 miles offshore when its position was lost.

The Nome Volunteer Fire Department said in a Facebook post early Friday, Feb. 7, that search and rescue teams as well as the Coast Guard, National Guard and U.S. Air Force had expanded their search for the missing aircraft.

The fire department said it was conducting a ground search inland and along the coast, while the National Guard and Coast Guard were conducting grid searches of ice-covered seas by air.

The FBI agents were also assisting in the search, using cellphone tracking data of the passengers to help locate the plane.

At a press briefing Friday afternoon, Benjamin McIntyre-Coble, assistant incident management chief with the U.S. Coast Guard District 17, said that “an item of interest” had been located, and that search crews were headed to the location of the item. He would not speculate about what might have been found.

David Olson, Bering Air’s director of operations, told the Associated Press that the plane left Unalakleet at 2:37 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 6, and lost radio contact about 38 minutes later.

McIntyre-Coble said radar forensic data showed that at approximately 3:18 p.m., the plane “experienced some kind of event that caused a rapid loss of elevation and rapid loss of speed.”

The fire department said that the pilot of the missing plane had told Anchorage air traffic control that “he intended to enter a holding pattern while waiting for the runway to be cleared.”

According to the National Weather Service, there was light snow, freezing drizzle and mist around Nome Airport on Thursday evening.

Danielle Tessen, a spokeswoman for Alaska’s Transportation Department, told the New York Times that the runway at Nome Airport that the plane had been approaching had been open throughout the day, and that de-icing operations took place “when no aircraft were on approach or near the airport.”

According to the flight-tracking site Flightradar24, the plane’s last position was received at 3:16 p.m. local time, roughly 10 minutes before it was scheduled to arrive in Nome

The Alaska Department of Public Safety said in a statement that state troopers were contacted by the U.S. Coast Guard about “an overdue aircraft” at 4 p.m. local time Thursday, and that search and rescue crews were working to determine the plane’s last known coordinates.

The identities of those on board have not been released, but all of their families have been notified, the Coast Guard said Friday.

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International

ICC condemns U.S. sanctions against its officials

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has strongly condemned an executive order signed by U.S. President Donald Trump imposing punitive sanctions on its officials, calling it an attack on the court’s independence and impartiality.

The executive order, issued on Thursday, threatens “tangible and significant consequences” for ICC officials involved in investigations deemed a risk to U.S. national security or its allies, including Israel.

It follows the ICC’s November decision to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes in Gaza, alongside a warrant for former Hamas commander Mohammed Deif.

The U.S. and Israel do not recognise the ICC’s jurisdiction, though 125 countries are parties to the Rome Statute, which established the court in 2002.

The U.S. order warns that ICC actions against Israel and preliminary probes into U.S. personnel “set a dangerous precedent” and could endanger American and allied officials.

Potential sanctions include asset freezes, property seizures, and entry bans for ICC officials and their families.

A similar effort to impose sanctions against the ICC in January stalled in the U.S. Senate.

In a statement, the ICC denounced the move, vowing to stand by its personnel and continue delivering justice to victims of atrocities worldwide.

It urged international partners, civil society, and member states to unite in defense of justice and fundamental human rights. (NAN)

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International

(video)Immigrants must live in UK for 15 years to qualify for citizenship — Kemi Badenoch

British PM: Kemi Badenoch Of Nigerian Heritage Joins Race, Gets Endorsements
file photo of Kemi Badenoch

Kemi Badenoch, leader of the UK’s Conservative Party, has announced a significant shift in the party’s immigration policy, stating that immigrants must live in the UK for at least 15 years before they can apply for British citizenship.

In her first major policy declaration as party leader, Badenoch proposed extending the period before immigrants can apply for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) from five to ten years.

Once granted ILR, she stated that they would then have to wait an additional five years before becoming eligible for a British passport, arguing that the current system allows people to settle too quickly, placing a strain on public services.

“I want to reduce immigration and make living here actually mean something. We need to change the way our immigration system works,” she said in a video posted on X, formerly Twitter.

The UK Conservative Party leader also emphasised that only those who are net contributors, earn a high enough salary, and have no criminal records should be allowed to stay permanently.

Badenoch further stated that those who enter the UK illegally or overstay their visas would be permanently banned from obtaining legal status or citizenship.

The Conservative Party is pushing to apply these changes retroactively to 2021 through amendments to the upcoming Border Security, Asylum, and Immigration Bill, which will be debated in Parliament next week.

While many immigrants on work visas, asylum seekers, and those in the UK illegally are already restricted from claiming state benefits under the “no recourse to public funds” rule, Badenoch’s proposal aims to tighten access further.

She believed the system must ensure that only those who have a genuine connection to the UK and contribute to the economy can settle permanently.

“We need to make sure that people coming here have a real, meaningful connection to the UK ,no criminal records, they should be net contributors to the economy, not relying on benefits but people who care about our country and our communities,” Badenoch told the BBC.

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