Israeli strikes in Yemen’s capital Sanaa on Sunday killed at least six people, according to the country’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels, who have repeatedly launched missiles and drones at Israel throughout the Gaza war.AFP images showed a large fireball lighting up the skies over the rebel-held capital, leaving behind a column of thick, black smoke.The Huthi-run Saba news agency reported six people killed and 86 wounded in the Israeli raid, with more than 20 in critical condition, citing the health ministry.A Huthi security source told AFP the strikes had targeted a building in central Sanaa. The group’s Al-Masirah TV reported they had also hit an oil company facility and a power station in Sanaa’s south which was already struck last Sunday.The Israeli army said it had hit a military compound where the presidential palace is located, along with two power stations and a fuel depot. The strikes were “in response to repeated attacks by the Huthi terrorist regime against the State of Israel and its civilians”, including “in recent days”, it said.Late Friday, the Huthis fired a missile that Israeli authorities said had “most likely fragmented in mid-air”.Media outlets the Times of Israel and Ynet, citing the Israeli military, reported the missile had carried a cluster warhead, the first of its kind known to have been fired from Yemen.- ‘Heart of the capital’ -The Israeli defence ministry released a photo on Sunday showing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defence Minister Israel Katz and military chief Eyal Zamir following the strikes in Yemen from a command bunker. Netanyahu said the air force had struck “the presidential palace in the heart of the capital Sanaa, the city’s power plant and the fuel tanks that supply it”, according to a statement released by his office.”The terrorist Huthi regime is learning the hard way that it will pay — and has paid already — a very high price for its aggression against the State of Israel,” he said, adding “the whole region” was also learning a lesson in Israeli power.In a statement from their political bureau, the Huthis vowed to respond, saying they would “not deviate from the fight” against Israel and its ally the United States “until the aggression stops and the (Israeli) blockade on Gaza is lifted”.Iran’s foreign ministry on Sunday condemned the Israeli strikes.- ‘Compound interest’ -Since the October 2023 start of the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, the Huthis have repeatedly fired missiles and drones at Israel, claiming to be acting in solidarity with the Palestinians.Most of the Huthi attacks have been intercepted, but they have prompted retaliatory Israeli air strikes on rebel targets in Yemen.On August 17, Israel said it targeted an energy infrastructure site in Sanaa linked to the Huthis, with Al-Masirah reporting at the time the capital’s Haziz power station was hit.The Israeli military said the Haziz facility was also struck on Sunday.Katz said earlier this month that the Huthis would “pay with compound interest for every attempt to fire at Israel”.Beyond attacks on Israel itself, the Huthis have also targeted ships they say are linked to the country in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

The United Nations Security Council will vote Monday on the future of the blue helmet peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon that has faced US and Israeli opposition.The Council will vote on a French-drafted compromise that would keep the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), deployed in 1978 to separate Israel and Lebanon, in place for one more year while it prepares to withdraw.In the latest draft text seen by AFP, the Council would signal “its intention to work on a withdrawal of UNIFIL with the aim of making the Lebanese Government the sole provider of security in southern Lebanon.”Under a truce that ended a recent war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, Beirut’s army has been deploying in south Lebanon and dismantling the militant group’s infrastructure there.Lebanon has been grappling with the thorny issue of disarming Hezbollah, with the cabinet this month tasking the army with developing a plan to do so by the end of the year. The Iran-backed militant group has pushed back.Under the truce, Israel was meant to completely withdraw from Lebanon, though it has kept forces in several areas it deems strategic and continues to conduct strikes across Lebanon. The resolution would extend the force’s mandate until August 31, 2026.It was not clear if Washington, which wields a veto on the Security Council, would accept the compromise language, with a State Department spokesman previously telling AFP it would not comment on Council deliberations.The text also contained language “condemning the incidents that affected United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon premises and forces, injuring several peacekeepers” — a reference to strikes by US ally Israel on UNIFIL positions that have caused injuries and damage. Israel was not specifically named.Ahead of the vote, a senior UN official warned that “to completely eliminate (UNIFIL’s) capacity at this point, or very quickly, would not serve anybody in the region,” calling any abrupt withdrawal risky.The official said UNIFIL had facilitated the deployment of 8,300 Lebanese armed forces troops to 120 locations, assisting with logistics, funds and even fuel as well as training support.UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric last week called the force’s support of Lebanon’s army “critical,” adding “we have always felt and known that UNIFIL is a presence of stability along the blue line.”

For years, Egyptian jasmine picker Wael al-Sayed has collected blossoms by night in the Nile Delta, supplying top global perfume houses. But in recent summers, his basket has felt lighter and the once-rich fragrance is fading.”It’s the heat,” said Sayed, 45, who has spent nearly a decade working the fields in Shubra Balula, a quiet village about 100 kilometres (60 miles) north of Cairo and a key hub for Egypt’s jasmine industry. As temperatures rise, he said, the flowers bloom less and his daily harvest has dropped from six kilograms to just two or three in the past two years.In this fertile pocket of the delta, jasmine has sustained thousands of families like Sayed’s for generations, but rising temperatures, prolonged dry spells and climate-driven pests are putting that legacy at risk.From June to October, families, including children, traditionally head into the fields between midnight and dawn to hand-pick jasmine at peak fragrance.With yields shrinking, some are leaving the trade entirely and those that have stayed now work longer hours. More children are also being pulled in to help and often stay up all night to pick before going to school.Child labour remains widespread in Egypt with 4.2 million children working in agriculture, industry and services, often in unsafe or exploitative conditions, according to a 2023 state study. This year, Sayed has brought two of his children — just nine and 10 years old — to join him and his wife on their 350-square-metre (3,800-square-foot) plot.”We have no other choice,” Sayed said.- Too hot to bloom -According to the country’s largest processor, A Fakhry & Co, Egypt produces nearly half the world’s jasmine concrete, a waxy extract from the plant that provides a vital base for designer fragrances and is a multi-million dollar export.In the 1970s, Egypt produced 11 tonnes of jasmine concrete annually, according to the International Federation of Essential Oils and Aroma Trades.Now, A Fakhry & Co says that’s down to 6.5 tonnes.Ali Emara, 78, who has picked jasmine since the age of 12, said summers used to be hot, “but not like now”.Mohamed Bassiouny, 56, and his four sons have seen their harvest halve from 15 to seven kilograms with pickers now taking over eight hours to fill a basket.The region’s jasmine is highly sensitive to heat and humidity, said Karim Elgendy from Carboun Institute, a Dutch climate and energy think tank.”Higher temperatures can disrupt flowering, weaken oil concentration and introduce stress that reduces yield,” Elgendy told AFP.A 2023 report by the International Energy Agency found Egypt’s temperature rose 0.38C per decade (2000–2020), outpacing the global average.The heat is affecting the strength of the jasmine’s scent, and with it the value of the oil extracted, said Badr Atef, manager of A Fakhry & Co.Meanwhile, pests such as spider mites and leaf worms are thriving in the hotter, drier conditions and compounding the strain.Alexandre Levet, CEO of the French Fragrance House in Grasse, France’s perfume capital, explained that the industry is facing the effects of climate change globally.”We have dozens of natural ingredients that are already suffering from climate change,” he said, explaining that new origins for products have emerged as local climates shift.- Villages at risk -With the Nile Delta also vulnerable to the rising Mediterranean water levels, which affect soil salinity, jasmine farmers are on the front line of a heating planet.The labourers are left “at the mercy of this huge system entirely on their own,” said rural sociologist Saker El Nour, with “no stake” in the industry that depends on their labour.Global brands charge up to $6,000 per kilogram of jasmine absolute, the pure aromatic oil derived from the concrete and used by perfumeries, but Egyptian pickers earn just 105 Egyptian pounds ($2) per kilogram.A tonne of flowers yields only 2–3 kilograms of concrete and less than half that in pure essential oil — enough for around 100 perfume bottles.”What’s 100 pounds worth today? Nothing,” said Sayed.Egypt’s currency has lost more than two-thirds of its value since 2022, causing inflation to skyrocket and leaving families like Sayed’s scraping by.Last June, pickers staged a rare strike, demanding 150 pounds per kilogram. But with prices set by a handful of private processors and little government oversight, they only received an increase of 10 pounds.Every year farmers earn less and less, while a heating planet threatens the community’s entire livelihood.”Villages like this may lose their viability altogether,” Elgendy said.