Welcome to World Brief. It looks at Washington's military campaign against Yemen's Houtsis, the US threat to abandon peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, and the European Central Bank's cut interest rates.
The US targets Houthi oil facilities
US airstrikes struck Yemen's Hooty-controlled Las Isa oil port along the Red Sea late Thursday, killing at least 74 people and injuring 171 people. The incident marks the most deadly and known US attacks against Houthi's rebels as US President Donald Trump accelerated a military campaign against the group on March 15th.
Welcome to World Brief. It looks at Washington's military campaign against Yemen's Houtsis, the US threat to abandon peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, and the European Central Bank's cut interest rates.
The US targets Houthi oil facilities
US airstrikes struck Yemen's Hooty-controlled Las Isa oil port along the Red Sea late Thursday, killing at least 74 people and injuring 171 people. The incident marks the most deadly and known US attacks against Houthi's rebels as US President Donald Trump accelerated a military campaign against the group on March 15th.
This was the first time a US strike has targeted Yemeni oil facilities since Trump's latest attacks began. Ras Isa's storage capacity is 3 million barrels, many of which are used to produce gasoline, diesel and liquefied petroleum for Houthi extremists. Satellite images obtained by the Associated Press on Friday appeared to show some of the oil in the port leaking into the Red Sea.
Yemen's Houthis-led government said Friday that the US attacks constituted a “war crime” and claimed the terminal was a private facility. And Iran's Foreign Ministry, which supports extremist groups, denounced the operation as a “wild bar.” However, the US Central Command said it was necessary to “eliminate this fuel source for Iran-backed Hooty terrorists and rob the illegal revenue that has funded Hooty's efforts to terrorize the entire region for over a decade.”
“This strike was not intended to harm the people of Yemen. Yemen wants to abandon the yoke of Hooti's conquest and live peacefully,” added Centcom. No casualties or damages from the attack were found. The Trump administration designated the Houches as a foreign terrorist organization in March, and on April 9, the US State Department warned that it would not tolerate any country or commercial institution that would provide support, including the form of oil shipments.
The US attacks have not stopped the Houtis from continuing its war with Israel. Following Hamas' attack on October 7, 2023, Yemeni rebel groups vowed to target Israel and their allies in solidarity with Hamas, another Iranian proxy group. This has attacked a Houthi attack on commercial transport in the Red Sea and a strike targeting Israeli territory. Following Thursday's oil port attack, Israeli officials accused Houthi militants of launching missiles in Israel that caused siren warnings in Tel Aviv.
The US attack comes just days before Washington is scheduled to negotiate a second round with Iran over Tehran's advanced nuclear program. However, local experts are not optimistic. “Let's first be clear: when we negotiate with Iran on nuclear issues, there is no great deal, no good option or Hollywood ending,” Aaron David Miller and Lauren Morganbesser are both Carnegie contributions that have been advocated in foreign policy.
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“It's not our war.” The US Secretary of State said following his meetings with European and Ukrainian officials in Paris, the US Secretary of State could “move ahead” from trying to secure the Russian-Flaine peace agreement in the coming days. “We've now reached the point where we need to decide whether this is possible or not. If not, I think we'll just move on.”
The Trump administration has made several separate calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Voldimi Zelensky, working on negotiations on a permanent ceasefire deal with the US president making several separate calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Voldimi Zelensky, and with the US president making several calls to negotiate a 30-day suspension of energy infrastructure. However, efforts to expand the ceasefire contract have failed.
Rubio's comments represent a change in the Trump team's priorities. Before taking office, Trump repeatedly insisted that he would resolve the Russian-Ukraine war within 24 hours. But a series of diplomatic failures, the Kremlin-talked-about Trump's parrot parrot, and Washington's growing hostility towards Europe, have exacerbated the administration's efforts ever since. And now, the White House appears to want to set further responsibility for ending the conflicts of its NATO allies in Europe.
“It's not our war,” Rubio added Friday. “We have other priorities to focus on.”
Speaking at the oval office on Friday, Trump declined a deadline to reach the deal, but said he wanted to “quickly.” “If for some reason one of the two parties is very difficult, I'm going to say, 'You're stupid, you're stupid, you're a scary person,'” Trump said.
Financial difficulties. The European Central Bank cut interest rates through Thursday quarter to tackle Trump's drastic tariffs on the European Union. This was the seventh consecutive drop in the bloc since June, as the EU aims to deal with high cost of living and stock market turmoil.
Over the past few weeks, Trump has been under a sudden obligation on European automobile imports, steel and aluminum. The US “mutual tariff” is set at 10%, but the White House is using a 90-day suspension at even higher tariffs to negotiate new trade deals. On Thursday, Trump met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and began talks to reduce EU trade surplus, and on Friday, US Vice President JD Vance continued negotiations in Rome.
But economists are still worried that financial fallout could be serious. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned on Thursday that a surge in U.S. tariffs will weaken the global economy, slow international growth and increase inflation. However, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva added that, as he had previously feared, drastic obligations would not cause a global recession.
Abrego Garcia's status. Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen met on Thursday with U.S. resident Kilmer Armando Abrego Garcia, who admitted that the Trump administration accidentally deported him to El Salvador last month, but later refused to help him revive. Democrat Van Hollen was initially denied entry to the San Salvador terrorist confinement centre before being allowed to meet Abrego Garcia outside the Mega prison.
“Our purpose today was very simple,” Van Hollen said Thursday. “To see if Kilmer Abrego Garcia is OK, it was that he had never heard anything about his condition since he was illegally accused by the US.”
Last week, the US Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration must “promote” the return of Abrego Garcia. And on Thursday, the US Court of Appeals accused the White House of asserting the right to hide the nation's residents from foreign prisons, without the similarity of the legitimate processes that underlie our constitutional order.
However, Trump and Salvador President Naive Buquere opposed efforts to bring Abrego Garcia back to his Maryland home. “Now he has been confirmed to be healthy, so he has the honor of staying custody in El Salvador,” Bukere wrote to X after Van Hollen's visit.
What in the world?
Gabon's military coup leader won the presidential election on Saturday with more than 90% of votes. When was the last election held in Gabon?
A. 2023
B. 2016
C. 2004
D. 1998
Odds and the end
Four smugglers appeared in a Kenyan court on Tuesday, trying to transport thousands of live ants from Kenya to exotic pet markets in Europe and Asia. The two 19-year-old suspects from Belgium told the magistrate they had gathered insects for fun and didn't know that their actions were illegal. All four, including one from Kenya and one from Vietnam, plead guilty to illegal possession of living wildlife and human trafficking. “We didn't come here to break the law,” said one Belgian smuggler. But “We did so by chance and stupidity.”
And the answer is…
A. 2023
Brice Oligui Nguema's landslide victory is unlikely to bring about major changes due to Gabon's recently abdicated ruling family, FP Nosmot Gbadamosi reports in an African brief.
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