Terror Inc.
NEED TO KNOW
Terror Inc.
YEMEN
When the ceasefire took effect on Jan. 19 between Israel and Hamas, the Houthi rebels in Yemen announced they would now limit their attacks on merchant vessels sailing the Red Sea to those linked to Israel.
They would now stop, the “sanctions,” they said, against other ships but would resume if Yemen was attacked or if the Gaza war restarted.
And a few days later, the Iran-backed Houthis who are allied with Hamas, released the 25-member crew of the Bahamian-flagged Galaxy Leader, which they stormed in November 2023 because of its links to an Israeli billionaire.
It was actually the capture of the Galaxy Leader that marked the start of their campaign to disrupt shipping in the Red Sea corridor, which has also resulted in the deaths of four sailors, the sinking of two ships, and attacks on more than 100 other vessels.
This campaign has upended one of the world’s most important maritime trade routes, which traverses the southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden via the narrow Bab al-Mandeb Strait to connect Europe to Asia. It handles 12 percent of all global trade, worth $1 trillion.
Since the Houthi attacks started, shipping has dropped by 50 percent through the Suez Canal, with international cargo volumes falling by two-thirds as some ships choose a much longer and more expensive route around the southern tip of Africa.
Now, in spite of the Houthis’ pledge to halt most attacks, many of those ships aren’t likely to return, and in part because of the ceasefire’s fragility, wrote Reuters.
“There is no way I’m putting any of my merchandise on a boat that’s going to go through the Red Sea for some time to come,” Jay Foreman, CEO of Basic Fun, which supplies toys to major American retailers like Walmart, told Reuters. “I’ll spend the extra money, and I’ll send everything around the tip of Africa … It’s just not worth taking a chance.”
Analysts say it’s not likely the Houthis will stop: Terrorizing ships has become a very lucrative business model, one “built to last.”
“The Houthis are holding Red Sea shipping to ransom, notionally in solidarity with the Palestinians, but in reality to extract income from the industry and exert influence over the region,” the Economist wrote, estimating that the costs to the global economy amounted to around $200 billion in 2024. “The Houthis are surprisingly sophisticated, are exploring new weapons technology – and are in it for the long run.”
This maritime protection racket is bringing in more than $2 billion a year, the United Nations estimates, by shaking down shipowners, many of whom are paying to be left alone.
Meanwhile, as they rake in the money, the country the Houthis now dominate is in economic shambles. Yemen continues to maintain an uneasy truce since a UN-mediated ceasefire in 2022 ended the decade-long civil war, a war that killed more than 377,000 people and displaced 4.5 million, but the truce hasn’t resolved the country’s underlying issues. “The current dynamic is a stark reminder that the threat of a return to full-scale war remains ever-present,” a UN official said.
Now, the resulting humanitarian crisis from the war is getting worse, added the UN, with 10 million people currently facing starvation.
The Houthi, officially known as Ansar Allah, have come a long way since they were “holed up in caves” in the mountains of northern Yemen 21 years ago, trying to survive under a blistering bombardment from Yemeni government forces, noted Vox.
Then, they began an insurgency when a dissident cleric from the minority Zaidi Shiite sect launched an uprising against the Yemeni government, at the time headed by longtime Yemeni strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh, because of grievances against the majority Sunni population.
In the years following 2011, when Saleh was ousted after more than 30 years in power by a popular revolution, Yemen became carved up between various factions backed by external players such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. In 2014, allied with the ousted Saleh, the Houthis took over the capital.
The Saudis and their allies began a war to dislodge the Houthis in 2015 because they worried about encroaching Iranian influence and wanted to reinstate the UN-backed, internationally recognized government. However, the 2022 truce left the Houthis as the dominant force in the country, with a steady supply of weapons including missiles and drones being supplied by Iran, a claim that Iran denies.
They have used those missiles to fire at Israel over the past year, with serious consequences for Israel’s economy in spite of most of those missiles being intercepted.
Meanwhile, those attacks widened their appeal to many Yemenis, say analysts.
“By opposing what many in the population of northern Yemen perceive as foreign forces, including the US, United Kingdom, and the Saudi-led coalition, and directly confronting Israel in support of Gaza, the Houthis have gained popularity,” Middle East analyst Mohammed al-Basha of the Navanti consultancy told the BBC.
He doesn’t see a motivation for them to stop the attacks, he told Vox, as the strikes in the Red Sea allow the Houthis to “disrupt economic activity, extract political concessions, and bolster their standing as defenders of Palestinians and Yemenis. These motivations would likely persist regardless of ceasefires elsewhere.”
At the same time, the Houthis are arming al Qaeda, giving the militants a safe haven and other resources to attack and weaken the Yemeni government and increase their own power, according to a UN report. They are also receiving help from Russia and expanding ties to other terrorist organizations such as al Shaabab to “emerge as an increasingly serious threat to regional and global security,” wrote the Soufan Center.
As a result, some analysts believe that now may be the time to act against the Houthis and resolve the standoff in the Red Sea. But few can agree on how. The US, the UK, Israel, and the Saudis have already tried with bombs and missiles over the past few years.
Proponents of action say the “axis of resistance,” a network of Iranian proxies fighting the West, is collapsing due to the decline of influence of Hamas, Hezbollah, and Syria, which really means the decline of influence of Iran. Also, some say that Iran, which along with Russia has supplied the Houthis with targeting intelligence and arms, is losing interest in the Houthis.
Still, last week, the vice-president of the UN-backed Yemeni government said the West should strike at the Houthis now, while it still can, and before their power grows even further. “(The Iranians) have one remaining domain and that is Yemen,” Aidarus al-Zoubaidi told the Guardian. “Now is the time to counter the Houthis and push them back.”
THE WORLD, BRIEFLY
Back in the Limelight
ITALY
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is under investigation for allegedly aiding and abetting a Libyan warlord wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to escape prosecution, part of a growing scandal in the country that has put her far-right government under increasing scrutiny, the Associated Press reported.
In a video posted Tuesday on her Instagram account, Meloni said that prosecutors are now investigating her, Justice Minister Carlo Nordio, Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, and the cabinet undersecretary for intelligence matters, Alfredo Mantovano, the BBC said.
Meloni said there were political motives behind the investigation, pointing out that the lawyer who filed the complaint is a former left-wing politician, while the prosecutor leading this investigation had been involved in the investigation of Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini in a long-running trial over his refusal to let a migrant rescue boat dock in Italy in 2019.
She said she cannot be “blackmailed” and “intimidated.”
Earlier this month, Italy arrested Ossama Anjiem – also known as Ossama al-Masri – on an ICC warrant for war crimes and crimes against humanity, only to unexpectedly release him a few days later on a technicality.
Anjiem’s controversial release has been criticized by the Italian opposition, human rights groups, and the ICC, with critics pointing out how Italy needs Libya’s cooperation to keep migrant flows under control. Migrants from Africa and elsewhere heading to Europe often cross the Mediterranean Sea in boats originating from Libya.
The Italian prime minister is the leader of an anti-migrant party known as Brothers of Italy and she has pledged to stop illegal immigration and human trafficking.
Similar to her predecessors, Meloni has made controversial deals with Libyan authorities and militias to end illegal immigration.
Judicial Lottery
MEXICO
Mexico’s Senate will use a draw to select candidates to run in June’s elections for judicial positions across the country, increasing tensions in the country over last year’s divisive effort to overhaul the country’s judiciary, Reuters reported.
In September, lawmakers approved a constitutional amendment reforming the judiciary that would require voters to elect all judges, including Supreme Court justices, by popular vote this summer and again in 2027.
The overhaul is supported by the ruling Morena party and President Claudia Sheinbaum, who has hailed the change as necessary to combat corruption, nepotism, and inefficiency, Agence France-Presse wrote.
A five-member Judicial Evaluation Committee was initially charged with vetting the candidates that would run in the election.
But the Judicial Branch of the Federation (TEPJF) undermined the committee by announcing the candidates would be selected via a draw by the upper house of the legislature, the Senate.
As a result, all the members of the Judicial Evaluation Committee resigned, saying it was “legally impossible” to continue with their brief.
Senate President Gerardo Fernandez said the drawing will be held Friday to randomly select candidates that will appear in the June elections. The list of candidates will then go to the Supreme Court.
More than 18,000 people registered as candidates for the 881 judgeships in November, the Associated Press noted.
The opposition party Citizen Movement criticized the TEPJF’s ruling to hold a lottery for the candidates for deepening Mexico’s constitutional crisis, adding that it “expands the chain of illegalities surrounding the implementation of the reform that subjects judges to popular election.”
Identity Theft
ROMANIA
The Romanian government said it would pull out all stops to retrieve priceless national treasures central to the country’s cultural identity that were stolen last weekend while on loan to a Dutch museum, a brazen heist that shocked the art world and Romanians, Politico reported.
On Saturday, a group of thieves blew up a side door at the Drents Museum in the eastern city of Assen and stole four ancient Romanian artifacts worth in total more than $6 million. Three people are known to have been involved but the investigation so far has not identified them.
Among the stolen art was the Helmet of Cotofenesti, a 2,500-year-old gold ceremonial helmet with carvings dating back to the Dacia civilization and considered one of Romania’s most revered national treasures, according to the Art Newspaper.
The artifacts had been on loan to the Dutch museum from the National History Museum of Romania in Bucharest. The helmet was just about to be returned home after a six-month stint on loan when the thieves took it.
The Dutch museum said this was the biggest, and the worst, incident that ever occurred in the 170-year history of the institution, which reported no security problems during the time of the theft.
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis lamented that the artifacts have “a strong emotional and symbolic impact on society,” with Justice Minister Radu Marinescu describing the theft as “a crime against our state,” the Associated Press reported.
Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said that the government is cooperating with Dutch officials and police to swiftly retrieve the missing pieces.
The helmet’s fame and recognizable appearance make it unlikely to be sold, raising fears that the thieves intend to melt the artifact and sell the gold. It would not only drastically reduce the treasure’s historical and cultural value, but it would also be a crime against humanity because it is a piece of world heritage, officials said.
DISCOVERIES
Mambo Gets the Blues
Loneliness is not only bad for humans, it’s true for other forms of life, including amphibians.
Recently, staff workers at an aquarium in southwestern Japan discovered that their sunfish was feeling blue because of the lack of company.
The fish – nicknamed Mambo – first arrived at the Kaikyokan aquarium in Shimonoseki in February and immediately became a sensation among the locals.
“It’s curious and would swim up to visitors when they approached the tank,” staff member Mai Kato told the Japanese newspaper Mainichi Shimbun.
But last month, the aquarium was closed for renovations and workers noticed that the 60-pound fish was not happy – it appeared low on energy, didn’t eat its jellyfish, and began rubbing against the tank’s walls.
The aquarists worried that it was experiencing digestive issues or stress from construction vibrations, but one keeper suggested an unconventional theory – loneliness.
“We were skeptical but decided to do anything we could,” aquarist Moe Miyazawa told the Associated Press.
Miyazawa and his colleagues then taped smiling photos of human faces to the tank and hung their uniforms nearby to mimic the presence of visitors.
And to their surprise, Mambo’s appetite returned the next day.
“I knew (the sunfish) was looking at us when we were placing them, but I never thought it would start eating the next day,” Miyazawa said, adding that staff are now trying to visit the giant fish more often.
Still, Mambo’s blues are at odds with the species’ character because sunfish are considered solitary creatures and are typically spotted alone, according to Smithsonian Magazine. They can weigh up to 5,000 pounds and are known for basking in the sun near the surface of the water.
That behavior has led to the fish facing threats to its survival, such as getting caught in nets and choking on sea trash – which they mistake for jellyfish, National Geographic noted.
Now that they know the problem, the aquarium’s staff members say they will make sure the fish gets company.
“When the renovation work is finished, I’d like visitors to wave to it in front of the tank,” Kato told the Mainichi Shimbun.
The aquarium is expected to open in the summer, but you can watch Mambo getting its groove back here.