New strikes against the Houthis in Yemen and oil spill in the Red Sea. The United States and the United Kingdom bombed eighteen Houthi targets in Yemen, according to a coalition statement cited by the American channel CNN. It is the fourth such attack carried out against the Iran-backed rebel group. This latest series of strikes comes after the Pentagon warned of an “environmental disaster” following an attack by the Yemeni group on a cargo ship on February 18. US Central Command (CENTCOM) said Friday that the Rubymar, a British-registered ship flying the flag of Belize, was “anchored” but “slowly taking on water” and had already left a slick of water. oil of almost 29 kilometers in the Gulf of Aden. It is also transporting more than 41,000 tonnes of fertilizer, which, according to the American army, risks “spilling into the Red Sea and worsening this environmental disaster”. And the threat of further attacks, combined with the state of the water, makes any attempt to tow the cargo ship to port very difficult.
Alexeï Navalny’s body finally handed over to his mother. More than a week after the death of the main Russian opponent, his mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, who is still in Salekhard, the Arctic city where her son was detained, was able to recover his remains. Navalny died on February 16 behind bars at a penal colony, whose administration said he “felt unwell after a walk” and “almost immediately” lost consciousness. Navalny’s family and colleagues immediately blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for his death, and have since sought to locate the body to understand the cause of death. Lyudmila Navalnaya received an ultimatum on Friday, telling her to agree to a secret funeral. On Saturday, Navalny’s relatives had not yet established their funeral plans, according to comments from his spokesperson, Kira Yarmych, reported by the BBC. “We don’t know if the authorities will intervene to make this happen the way the family wants and the way Alexei deserves. We will inform you as soon as there is news,” she added.
ECOWAS lifts a large part of the sanctions taken against Niger after the coup. Niger’s borders and airspace will be reopened, financial transactions between ECOWAS countries and Niger will be authorized again, and Niger state assets will be thawed, “for humanitarian reasons,” the president of Niger said on Saturday. the West African organization, Omar Alieu Touray. “Individual and political sanctions remain in place,” he added without giving further details. The decision was taken following an extraordinary summit in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, which aimed to “address the existential threats facing the region” and “implore the three military-led countries that have left the bloc – Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso – to cancel their decision”, contextualizes the Qatari channel Al-Jazeera.
This article is originally published on courrierinternational.com