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Ship Evacuated After First Civilian Fatalities in Houthis’ Red Sea Attacks
An aerial view of the Barbados-flagged ship True Confidence ablaze following a Houthi missile attack at sea, March 6, 2024, in this handout photo. Photo: DVIDS/Handout via REUTERS
India’s navy evacuated all 20 crew from a stricken vessel in the Red Sea on Thursday, after a Houthi attack killed three seafarers in the first civilian fatalities from the Yemeni group’s campaign against the key shipping route.
The Iran-aligned terrorists fired a missile at the Barbados-flagged, Greek-operated True Confidence on Wednesday about 50 nautical miles off the southern Yemeni port of Aden, setting it ablaze.
In a statement, the owners and manager said all 20 crew and three armed guards on board were taken to the hospital in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa by an Indian warship.
Two of the dead were Filipino nationals, while the third was Vietnamese, the owners and managers said, expressing condolences to families. Two other Filipinos were also severely injured.
Vietnam on Thursday condemned the attack, and said one of the Vietnamese crew died while the remaining three nationals were in good health.
Images released by the Indian Navy showed a helicopter winching crew members from a small life raft in choppy seas and taking them to a naval ship.
Some wounded were shown lying in the bottom of a navy lifeboat sent to assist. They were carried on stretchers onto the ship and were shown later with heavily bandaged limbs as they were evacuated to the Djibouti hospital.
“The vessel is drifting well away from land and salvage arrangements are being made,” the companies said in the statement.
A salvage contract for the vessel has been signed, a spokesperson for the companies told Reuters, declining further details citing security issues.
The Houthis have kept up a relentless campaign of attacks on vessels in one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes since November, in what they say is solidarity with the Palestinians during Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.
“The loss of life and injuries to civilian seafarers is completely unacceptable,” leading global shipping associations said on Thursday.
“The frequency of attacks on merchant shipping highlights the urgent need for all stakeholders to take decisive action to safeguard the lives of innocent civilian seafarers and put an end to such threats.”
The cost of insuring a seven-day voyage through the Red Sea has risen by hundreds of thousands of dollars since November.
War risk insurance rates have already reflected the sinking of the Rubymar cargo ship, days after being hit by a Houthi missile on Feb 18, and the first fatalities from the True Confidence, said Munro Anderson, head of operations at marine war risk and insurance specialist Vessel Protect – part of Pen Underwriting.
“So, the degree to which they create any further upwards pressure is likely to be limited in the short term,” he said.
“This is, however, predicated on how events evolve from this point forward.”
SAILORS’ WELFARE
The Houthis have used an array of sophisticated weapons, including ballistic missiles and “kamikaze drones,” despite retaliatory US and UK-led strikes on their bases in Yemen aimed at crippling their ability to attack.
Stephen Cotton, General Secretary of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), the leading seafarers union, also called for better protection.
“No delivery window is worth the loss of seafarers’ lives,” he said. “We call on the industry to divert ships around the Cape of Good Hope until safe transit through the Red Sea can be guaranteed.”
Around 23,000 ships a year pass through the narrow Bab al-Mandab Strait connecting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the Suez Canal, accounting for around 12 percent of global trade.
Taking the longer route around the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa adds about 10 days to the journey, delaying supply chains and pushing up costs.
The True Confidence was sailing from China to Jeddah and Aqaba with a cargo of steel products and trucks.
The vessel is owned by Liberia-registered True Confidence Shipping SA and operated by Greece-based Third January Maritime. There is no current connection with any US entity, the companies said.
The post Ship Evacuated After First Civilian Fatalities in Houthis’ Red Sea Attacks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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North London Synagogue, Nursery Targeted in Eighth Local Antisemitic Incident in Just Over a Week
Demonstrators against antisemitism in London on Sept. 8, 2025. Photo: Campaign Against Antisemitism
A synagogue and its nursery school in the Golders Green area of north London were targeted in an antisemitic attack on Thursday morning — the eighth such incident locally in just over a week amid a shocking surge of anti-Jewish hate crimes in the area.
The synagogue and Jewish nursery were smeared with excrement in an antisemitic outrage echoing a series of recent incidents targeting the local Jewish community.
“The desecration of another local synagogue and a children’s nursery with excrement is a vile, deliberate, and premeditated act of antisemitism,” Shomrim North West London, a Jewish organization that monitors antisemitism and also serves as a neighborhood watch group, said in a statement.
“This marks the eighth antisemitic incident locally in just over a week, to directly target the local Jewish community,” the statement read. “These repeated attacks have left our community anxious, hurt, and increasingly worried.”
Local law enforcement confirmed they are reviewing CCTV footage and collecting evidence to identify the suspect and bring them to justice.
This latest anti-Jewish hate crime came just days after tens of thousands of people marched through London in a demonstration against antisemitism, amid rising levels of antisemitic incidents across the United Kingdom since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
In just over a week, seven Jewish premises in Barnet, the borough in which Golders Green is located, have been targeted in separate antisemitic incidents.
According to the Metropolitan Police, an investigation has been launched into the targeted attacks, all of which involved the use of bodily fluids.
During the incidents, a substance was smeared on four synagogues and a private residence, while a liquid was thrown at a school and over a car in two other attacks.
As the investigation continues, local police said they believe the same suspect is likely responsible for all seven offenses, which are being treated as religiously motivated criminal damage.
No arrests have been made so far, but law enforcement said it is actively engaging with the local Jewish community to provide reassurance and support.
The Community Security Trust (CST), a nonprofit charity that advises Britain’s Jewish community on security matters, condemned the recent wave of attacks and called on authorities to take immediate action.
“The extreme defilement of several Jewish locations in and around Golders Green is utterly abhorrent and deeply distressing,” CST said in a statement.
“CST is working closely with police and communal partners to support victims and help identify and apprehend the perpetrator,” it continued.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) also denounced the attacks, calling for urgent measures to protect the Jewish community.
“These repeated incidents are leaving British Jews anxious and vulnerable in their own neighborhoods, not to mention disgusted,” CAA said in a statement.
Since the start of the war in Gaza, the United Kingdom has experienced a surge in antisemitic crimes and anti-Israel sentiment.
Last month, CST published a report showing there were 1,521 antisemitic incidents in the UK from January to June of this year. It marks the second-highest total of incidents ever recorded by CST in the first six months of any year, following the first half of 2024 in which 2,019 antisemitic incidents were recorded.
In total last year, CST recorded 3,528 antisemitic incidents for 2024, the country’s second worst year for antisemitism despite being an 18 percent drop from 2023’s record of 4,296.
In previous years, the numbers were significantly lower, with 1,662 incidents in 2022 and 2,261 hate crimes in 2021.
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Germany to Hold Off on Recognizing Palestinian State but Will Back UN Resolution for Two-State Solution
German national flag flutters on top of the Reichstag building, that seats the Germany’s lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany, March 25, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
Germany will support a United Nations resolution for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but does not believe the time has come to recognize a Palestinian state, a government spokesman told Reuters on Thursday.
“Germany will support such a resolution which simply describes the status quo in international law,” the spokesman said, adding that Berlin “has always advocated a two-state solution and is asking for that all the time.”
“The chancellor just mentioned two days ago again that Germany does not see that the time has come for the recognition of the Palestinian state,” the spokesman added.
Britain, France, Canada, Australia, and Belgium have all said they will recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly later this month, although London said it could hold back if Israel were to take steps to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and commit to a long-term peace process.
The United States strongly opposes any move by its European allies to recognize Palestinian independence.
Last week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the US has told other countries that recognition of a Palestinian state will cause more problems.
Those who see recognition as a largely symbolic gesture point to the negligible presence on the ground and limited influence in the conflict of countries such as China, India, Russia, and many Arab states that have recognized Palestinian independence for decades.
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UN Security Council, With US Support, Condemns Strikes on Qatar
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani attends an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, following an Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, Sept. 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
The United Nations Security Council on Thursday condemned recent strikes on Qatar’s capital Doha, but did not mention Israel in the statement agreed to by all 15 members, including Israel‘s ally the United States.
Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with the attack on Tuesday, escalating its military action in what the United States described as a unilateral attack that does not advance US and Israeli interests.
The United States traditionally shields its ally Israel at the United Nations. US backing for the Security Council statement, which could only be approved by consensus, reflects President Donald Trump’s unhappiness with the attack ordered by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Council members underscored the importance of de-escalation and expressed their solidarity with Qatar. They underlined their support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Qatar,” read the statement, drafted by Britain and France.
The Doha operation was especially sensitive because Qatar has been hosting and mediating negotiations aimed at securing a ceasefire in the Gaza war.
“Council members underscored that releasing the hostages, including those killed by Hamas, and ending the war and suffering in Gaza must remain our top priority,” the Security Council statement read.
The Security Council will meet later on Thursday to discuss the Israeli attack at a meeting due to be attended by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani.