Yemen's Houthi rebels target a Liberian-flagged ship in Red Sea with missiles, authorities say
Dubai (AP/PTI): Yemen's Houthi rebels targeted a Liberian-flagged container ship in the Red Sea with missiles on Monday, producing an explosion near the vessel but causing no damage, authorities said.
The master of the vessel reported the explosion and said no one was hurt, the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said. The UKMTO later identified the vessel as the Pinocchio, managed by a Singaporean firm.
The Houthis used two anti-ship ballistic missiles in the attack, the U.S. military's Central Command said.
Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree claimed the attack early Tuesday in a prerecorded statement, claiming the Pinocchio was an American ship without offering evidence to support the assertion.
He said the Houthis would continue their attacks, aimed at pressuring an end to the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. However, the Houthi attacks targeting vessel since November have increasingly had little or no connection to Israel, the United States or other nations involved in the war.
Monday's attack comes after a Houthi missile struck a commercial ship in the Gulf of Aden last week, killing three of its crew members and forcing survivors to abandon the vessel.
It was the first fatal strike in a campaign of assaults by the Iranian-backed group over Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The Houthis say the attacks are intended to pressure Israel into stopping the war, but their targets increasingly have little or nothing to do with the conflict.
Other recent Houthi actions include an attack last month on a cargo ship carrying fertilizer, the Rubymar, which later sank after drifting for several days, and the downing of an American drone worth tens of millions of dollars.
The U.S. has lead a series of airstrikes targeting the Houthis since January, but they have yet to stop the rebels' attacks on shipping, which have disrupted trade through the Red Sea, a crucial waterway for energy and cargo shipments between Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
On Monday, U.S. forces carried out six strikes destroying an underwater Houthi drone and 18 anti-ship missiles, Central Command said. The Houthi's Al-Masirah satellite news channel reported U.S. strikes in Yemen's Houthi-held Hodeidah and Saada provinces.
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Two succumb to sunstroke as Kerala swelters in severe heat
Kannur/Palakkad/Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 28: Two persons--a man in his 50s and an elderly woman--have succumbed to sunstroke in Kerala as the southern state grapples with severe heat conditions, disrupting daily life, officials said on Sunday.
Heat-related fatalities were reported in the north Kerala districts of Kannur and Palakkad.
As Kerala battles severe heat, the meteorological department has issued a maximum temperature warning for 12 districts for the upcoming five days.
In response to the escalating temperatures affecting everyday life, the Women and Child Development Department has opted to suspend preschool activities in anganwadis in the state for a week.
A Palakkad district health official stated that the 90-year-old woman was found dead in a canal in Elappully village on Sunday.
The woman, a dementia patient, had suffered a sunstroke after venturing out of her home.
Her post-mortem revealed burn injuries on her body which confirmed the sunstroke, the health official said.
Last week, a man was found dead with burn injuries in the district, the official added, advising people not to step out of their homes between 11 am and 3 pm.
A health official in Kannur district said a 53-year-old man who was being treated at a private hospital for sunstroke died in the early hours of Sunday.
The man, originally from nearby Mahe, had suffered from sunstroke while involved in digging a well in the Pallur area near Chokli on April 26, the official said.
He had symptoms of breathlessness and was immediately taken to a primary health center and later shifted to another hospital in Kannur.
His condition worsened on Sunday morning and he died. Although there were no burn injuries on his body, he had other symptoms of sunstroke.
The official confirmed that the case is being treated as a sunstroke-related incident.
According to the IMD and the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority, there's a possibility of a heatwave in certain areas in Kollam, Palakkad, and Thrissur districts.
"Maximum temperatures are very likely to be around 41°C in the Palakkad district, around 40°C in Kollam & Thrissur districts, around 38°C in Kottayam, Pathanamthitta, Kozhikode & Kannur districts, and around 37°C in Alappuzha, Ernakulam, Malappuram & Kasaragod districts, and around 36°C in Thiruvananthapuram district (3 to 5°C above normal) during April 28th to May 2nd, 2024," the weather agencies said.
These districts are expected to experience hot and humid weather conditions, excluding hilly areas, from April 28th to May 2nd, due to elevated temperatures and humidity levels, they added.
Additionally, there is a likelihood of heatwave conditions occurring in one or two locations within Kollam, Palakkad, and Thrissur districts specifically on April 28th and 29th, the agencies added.
