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Irish mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor, who has been found liable of sexual assault, met Donald Trump during a Saint Patrick’s Day visit on Monday during which he lashed out at illegal immigration in Ireland.”Ireland is at the cusp of potentially losing its Irishness,” said McGregor during an appearance in the White House briefing room alongside the president’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt.”The illegal immigration racket is running ravage on the country,” added the fighter, wearing a green business suit to mark Saint Patrick’s Day, the centuries-old celebration of his homeland.Trump later hosted the 36-year-old former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) star — whom he said last week was his favorite Irishman — in the Oval Office.McGregor posed for a picture with his arm around Trump’s shoulder as the president sat at his desk, and for another with tech tycoon and powerful Trump advisor Elon Musk. Tesla billionaire Musk previously backed McGregor when he spoke in the past about a possible presidential bid in Ireland. Musk has recently spoken out in support of a number of anti-immigration parties in Europe.”Your work ethic is inspiring,” McGregor told Trump, according to footage posted by an aide to the US president. “Yours is too, you’re fantastic,” replied Trump.Mc Gregor had earlier said he would be “listening” to Trump on immigration — one of the US president’s main focus areas as he seeks to ramp up deportations of people without proper documentation.”We couldn’t think of a better guest to have with us on Saint Patrick’s Day,” Leavitt said.McGregor’s comments earned swift pushback from Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin, who met with Trump last week in the White House and received a dressing down over trade.”Conor McGregor’s remarks are wrong, and do not reflect the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day, or the views of the people of Ireland,” the premier posted on X.Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a sport that combines various combat techniques, and can be extremely violent.It has been gaining popularity, particularly as Trump campaigned in 2024 with stars and promoters of the UFC series that is popular with many male voters.Nicknamed “The Notorious,” McGregor is one of the biggest stars in UFC, the most famous and lucrative MMA league. He is known for his aggressive, provocative temperament — and noted for occasional anti-immigration outbursts.In November 2024 the fighter was ordered by an Irish court to pay damages to a woman who claimed that McGregor “brutally raped and battered” her in a hotel in Dublin in 2018. McGregor claimed they had consensual sex.More recently, the Irishman was sued in a US court in January, accused of sexual assault at an NBA game in Miami in 2023.Trump was meanwhile ordered by a New York jury in a civil trial in 2023 to pay $5 million for sexually abusing and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll.Trump denied the allegations and appealed the verdict, which was upheld in December 2024.

Huthi media said fresh US strikes hit Yemen on Monday, after huge crowds gathered in the conflict-torn country to protest earlier bombings targeting the Iran-backed rebel group.Tens of thousands of demonstrators, many waving assault rifles, daggers or Korans, chanted “Death to America, death to Israel!” in the capital Sanaa.There were also large crowds in Saada, birthplace of the Huthi movement, and demonstrations in Dhamar, Hodeida and Amran, footage from the rebels’ Al-Masirah TV station showed.”Yemen will never back down — we defy the Americans, we defy the Zionists,” said a man shouting slogans to the Sanaa crowd, who chanted back: “We are the men of the Prophet.”The protests came after the first US strikes on Yemen under President Donald Trump, aimed at ending the Huthis’ Red Sea harassment campaign.The strikes killed 53 people and wounded 98 on Saturday.The rebels’ Al-Masirah channel and Saba press agency on Monday evening reported new US strikes in the Hodeida and Al-Salif regions.The Huthis launched scores of attacks on ships in the vital route during the Gaza war, claiming solidarity with the Palestinians.Earlier on Monday they said they had attacked the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier group twice within 24 hours. There was no comment from the United States.Washington has vowed to keep hitting Yemen until the rebels stop attacking shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, with Trump warning he would use “overwhelming lethal force”.- Heavy strikes -In the capital Sanaa, controlled by the Huthis since 2014, giant Yemeni and Palestinian flags punctuated a sea of demonstrators at Al-Sabeen Square, which has hosted large-scale demonstrations on a weekly basis throughout the Gaza war.Just two days ago the Huthi-controlled capital was hit by heavy strikes, including in northern districts frequented by the rebels’ leadership.They were the first US strikes since Trump came to office in January despite a pause in the Huthis’ attacks coinciding with a ceasefire in the Gaza war.On Sunday, US officials vowed further bombardments until the rebels ended their campaign, while also threatening action against the group’s sponsor Iran.Huthi media reported more explosions late on Sunday, accusing the Americans of targeting a cotton facility in the Hodeida region and the Galaxy Leader, a cargo ship hijacked in November 2023.- ‘Hell will rain down’ -The United Nations urged both sides to “cease all military activity”, while expressing concern over Huthi threats to resume the Red Sea attacks.Beijing called for “dialogue and negotiation” and a de-escalation of tensions.”China opposes any action that escalates the situation in the Red Sea,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told a regular briefing.Before this weekend’s targeting of the US carrier group, the Huthis had not claimed any attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since January 19, when the ceasefire in Gaza began.However, the group had threatened to resume its campaign over Israel’s blocking of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territory. It said it would “move to additional escalatory options” if the “American aggression” continued.US National Security Advisor Michael Waltz told ABC News that Saturday’s strikes “targeted multiple Huthi leaders and took them out”. The Huthis have not responded to Waltz’s claim.Trump, meanwhile, has warned the Yemeni group that “hell will rain down upon you” if it did not stop its attacks.On Monday, he broadened the warning to include Iran, saying he would hold Tehran responsible for “every shot fired” by the Huthis and that it would “suffer the consequences”.Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi earlier condemned the US strikes and said Washington had “no authority” to dictate Tehran’s foreign policy.- Costly detour -A database set up by ACLED, a non-profit monitor, shows 136 Huthi attacks against warships, commercial vessels, and Israeli and other targets since October 19, 2023.While the Red Sea trade route normally carries around 12 percent of world shipping traffic, Huthi attacks have forced many companies into costly detours around southern Africa.The United States had already launched several rounds of strikes on Huthi targets under former president Joe Biden.Israel has also struck Yemen, most recently in December, after Huthi missile fire towards Israeli territory.The rebels control large swathes of Yemen, including most of its population centres, after ousting the internationally recognised government from Sanaa.They have been at war with a Saudi-led coalition backing the government since 2015, a conflict that has triggered a major humanitarian crisis.Fighting has largely been on hold since a UN-brokered ceasefire in 2022, but the peace process has stalled following the Huthi attacks over Gaza.burs/th/dcp/ami

US President Donald Trump invoked a little-known, centuries-old wartime power, the Alien Enemies Act, to send more than 200 alleged members of a Venezuelan gang to El Salvador over the weekend, where they have been imprisoned.AFP explores what the law is and how it has been used in the past:- 220+ years old -In 1798, in the early days of the United States, second US president John Adams passed the Alien Enemies Act as part of a larger package of laws called the Alien and Sedition Acts.The laws came into force with the United States on the brink of war with France and were meant to tighten requirements for citizenship, authorize the president to deport foreigners, and allow their imprisonment during wartime.While the other rules in the package were eventually repealed or expired, the Alien Enemies Act remained.The wartime law states that “subjects of the hostile nation or government” can be “apprehended, restrained, secured and removed, as alien enemies.”- The World Wars -While the law was enacted to prevent foreign espionage and sabotage in wartime, according to the Brennan Center for Justice “it can be — and has been — wielded against immigrants who have done nothing wrong.”It has been invoked only three times — during the War of 1812 against British nationals, during World War I against nationals from enemy nations and, most notoriously, during World War II for the internment of more than 100,000 Japanese citizens and Japanese Americans.The president can invoke the act if Congress has declared war. However, he can circumvent Congress if he is acting to repel an “invasion” or “predatory incursion.”- An invasion? -Trump, who has promised an aggressive drive to deport thousands of undocumented migrants, says he is using the law against members of Venezuelan drug gang Tren de Aragua.In a proclamation published on Saturday, the White House declared that the transnational criminal organization is closely linked to the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.”The result is a hybrid criminal state that is perpetrating an invasion of and predatory incursion into the United States,” the presidential statement said.Trump maintained that the gang is “conducting irregular warfare against the territory of the United States both directly and at the direction, clandestine or otherwise, of the Maduro regime.”- What do experts say? -Experts doubt that the law allows for the mass expulsions of immigrants.Even if the courts accept Trump’s argument that Tren de Aragua’s presence constitutes an “invasion” or “predatory incursion” by a foreign nation or government, the United States “still bears the burden of persuading courts that individual detainees are members of Tren de Aragua,” judicial expert Steve Vladeck of Just Security said.”That’s going to require case-by-case judicial review,” Vladeck added, explaining that “the government is going to lose many of those cases.”- Judicial block -A US federal judge granted a temporary suspension of the expulsions order — apparently as planes of Venezuelan immigrants were headed to El Salvador — raising questions over whether the Trump administration deliberately defied the court decision.The government has meanwhile appealed the decision and asked that it be suspended until the matter is resolved.A hearing on the case’s merits is scheduled for Friday, but the matter may well end up in the Supreme Court.

The legal basis for his argument appears uncertain, but Donald Trump has sought to drum up outrage over his predecessor Joe Biden’s supposed use of autopen to sign presidential pardons and other documents.Trump’s attack on auto-signatures ignores that they have been used by previous presidents — and that there is no evidence Biden even used the technology for signing pardons, which gave immunity to a string of Trump political opponents.However, the narrative taps into Trump’s longtime theory that a senile Biden was not in charge as president, while a mysterious “deep state” pulled the strings.The eye-catching autopen issue also serves to soak up attention as Trump is accused of a brazen push to expand his own powers.The Justice Department is clear on the legal situation.In 2005, it said the president does not need to sign a bill by hand and can direct an official “to affix the president’s signature to such a bill, for example by autopen.”Such rulings do little to curb Trump, or the Heritage Foundation — the right-wing think-tank that has pushed the autopen as an attack line.”The whole subject of autopen, did (Biden) know what he was doing?” Trump asked reporters.”Did he authorize it? Or is there somebody in an office, maybe a radical left lunatic, just signing whatever that person wants?”To sign pardons and all of the things that he signed with an autopen is disgraceful.”Trump’s claims of Biden using an autopen are unproven.Some US media have reported the Heritage Foundation’s evidence of auto-signing is based on digitized copies, not on original documents — which Biden was in some cases photographed signing personally.The autopen process is common across US government and business for routine letters, photographs and promotional material, and has been used for presidential pardons in the past.”Trump cannot void a prior president’s pardons,” Frank Bowman, of the University of Missouri’s School of Law, who has written about the presidential pardon, told AFP.”A president does not have to personally sign a pardon to make it valid,” he added.In 2011, The New York Times reported that Barack Obama had become the first president to sign a bill by autopen while in Europe. Paper versions are still sometimes flown to the president for signing.In his last days in office, Biden, now 82, issued pardons for people targeted by Trump — including Biden’s own son, lawmakers who probed Trump, a military general who had criticized Trump and the country’s top Covid expert.”I am not afraid of Trump’s latest midnight rant that has no basis in reality,” Bennie Thompson, one lawmaker pardoned by Biden, said in a statement to Axios news.

Conan O’Brien will return to host a second consecutive Oscars, the Academy said Monday, after this month’s well-reviewed gala drew almost 20 million viewers in a slight ratings uptick.The late-night comedian will return for the 98th Academy Awards on March 15, 2026, Academy CEO Bill Kramer and President Janet Yang said in a press release.The confirmation of next year’s host comes unusually early, with Kramer and Yang praising O’Brien for “skillfully guiding us through” this month’s Oscars, where indie sex-worker romp “Anora” won best picture.Among the other prizes, best actor-winner Adrien Brody (“The Brutalist”) set a new record for the longest-ever Oscars acceptance speech, spending five minutes and 40 seconds on stage.”The only reason I’m hosting the Oscars next year is that I want to hear Adrien Brody finish his speech,” quipped O’Brien, in Monday’s press release.The show’s producers, Raj Kapoor and Katy Mullan, will also return next year.With 19.69 million viewers, the Oscars telecast increased its audience figure for a fifth straight year. This was in part due to the show streaming live for the first time, on Hulu.The combined figure was slightly up from last year’s early ratings of 19.5 million, for a gala dominated by smash-hit films “Oppenheimer” and “Barbie.”During the Covid-19 pandemic, Oscars ratings sank as low as 10.4 million. The Academy Awards telecast regularly topped 40 million just a decade ago.O’Brien’s first Oscars stint, which included a lively opening monologue, a quirky musical number and a surreal pre-taped riff on satirical body-horror flick “The Substance,” earned wide praise.Variety said the comedian “absolutely rocked his debut at host, walking the perfect line between acid and affection.”

Conor McGregor, the Irish mixed martial arts fighter accused of sexual assault in multiple countries including the United States, lashed out at illegal immigration Monday during a St. Patrick’s Day visit to Washington to meet President Donald Trump.”The illegal immigration racket is running ravage on the country,” McGregor said of his homeland, speaking in the White House briefing room alongside the president’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt.Dressed in a green business suit to mark St. Patrick’s Day, the centuries-old commemoration of all things Irish, McGregor was at the White House at Trump’s invitation and participated in an impromptu Q&A session with reporters.”There are rural towns in Ireland that have been overrun in one swoop,” he said, adding: “Ireland is at the cusp of potentially losing its Irishness.”The 36-year-old former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) star said he is “here to raise the issue and highlight it,” and that he would be “listening” to Trump on immigration — one of the president’s main focus areas as he seeks to ramp up deportations of people in the United States without proper documentation.The apparently off-the-cuff comments earned swift pushback from Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin, who met with Trump last week in the White House.”Conor McGregor’s remarks are wrong, and do not reflect the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day, or the views of the people of Ireland,” the premier posted on X.Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a sport that combines various combat techniques, and can be extremely violent.It has been gaining popularity, particularly as Trump campaigned in 2024 with stars and promoters of the UFC series that is popular with many male voters.Last week in the White House, during a traditional visit by Ireland’s prime minister to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, the 78-year-old Trump said he admires McGregor — and also gave Martin a dressing down over trade.Nicknamed “The Notorious,” McGregor is one of the biggest stars in UFC, the most famous and lucrative MMA league. He is known for his aggressive, provocative temperament — and noted for occasional anti-immigration outbursts.In November 2024 the fighter was ordered by an Irish court to pay damages to a woman who claimed that McGregor “brutally raped and battered” her in a hotel in Dublin in 2018. McGregor claimed they had consensual sex.More recently, the Irishman was sued in a US court in January, accused of sexual assault at an NBA game in Miami in 2023.At the end of that year, the champion fighter and entrepreneur had spoken on social media about a potential presidential bid in Ireland.At the time he received the backing of billionaire Tesla boss Elon Musk, who is now one of Trump’s most powerful advisors.

The legal basis for his argument appears uncertain, but Donald Trump has sought to drum up outrage over his predecessor Joe Biden’s supposed use of autopen to sign presidential pardons and other documents.Trump’s attack on auto-signatures ignores that they have been used by previous presidents — and that there is no evidence Biden even used the technology for signing pardons, which gave immunity to a string of Trump political opponents.However, the narrative taps into Trump’s longtime theory that a senile Biden was not in charge as president, while a mysterious “deep state” pulled the strings.The eye-catching autopen issue also serves to soak up attention as Trump is accused of a brazen push to expand his own powers.The Justice Department is clear that autopens can be used to sign laws.In 2005, it said the president does not need to sign a bill by hand and can instead direct “a subordinate to affix the president’s signature to such a bill, for example by autopen.”Such rulings do little to curb Trump, or Project 2025 — the right-wing think-tank group that has pushed the autopen as an attack line.Trump said on social media on Monday that Biden’s pardons are void because Biden “did not sign them but, more importantly, he did not know anything about them!”That followed up on last week when Trump said Biden “was grossly incompetent. All you have to do is look — he signs by autopen.”These are major documents you’re signing. You’re proud to sign them. You have your signature on something — in 300 years, they say ‘Oh, look.'”The autopen process reproduces signatures and is common across US government and business for routine letters, photographs and promotional material.Autopen signatures have been used for presidential pardons in the past, and a hand-written autograph is not needed legally, experts say.In 2011, the New York Times reported that Barack Obama had become the first president to sign a bill by autopen while in Europe. Paper versions are still sometimes flown to the president for signing.In his last days in office, Biden, now 82, issued a series of notable pardons for people targeted by Trump — including Biden’s own son, lawmakers who probed Trump, a military general who had criticized Trump and the country’s top Covid expert.”I am not afraid of Trump’s latest midnight rant that has no basis in reality,” Bennie Thompson, one lawmaker pardoned by Biden, said in a statement to Axios news.

Washington has questioned UN agencies, nonprofits and charities that received US funds on whether they have “communist” links or support “gender ideology”, and other topics targeted by US President Donald Trump, a dozen groups told AFP.A list of 36 questions was sent to small and large organisations alike as part of Washington’s ongoing review of its vast foreign aid spending.”I don’t think we have ever received anything like this,” said a staff member at a large humanitarian organisation, speaking on condition of anonymity.While the questionnaire, obtained by AFP, included typical donor queries about things like “cost-effectiveness” strategies, others seemed crafted to determine if grantees conform with the politics of President Donald Trump’s administration.One question asked if organisations had “received ANY funding from (China), Russia, Cuba or Iran”, and for confirmation that there are no “DEI elements of the project”, referring to diversity, equity and inclusion, Trump’s bogeyman.They were also asked to confirm that “this is not a climate or ‘environmental justice’ project”, and that it takes “appropriate measures to protect women and to defend against gender ideology”.And organisations were asked if they worked “with entities associated with communist, socialist, or totalitarian parties, or any party that espouses anti-American beliefs”.- ‘Authoritarian’ -“Authoritarian or anti-American regimes… ironically is a pretty accurate description of the Trump Administration,” Phil Lynch, head of the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR), told AFP.He said his organisation had “declined to respond” to the questionnaire, adding: “Our grants from the US government have been terminated.” ISHR was among a long line of organisations, ranging from NGOs to UN agencies, the Red Cross and other large international humanitarian actors, that told AFP they had received the questionnaire.Many voiced shock at the tone of the queries, sent out following Trump’s decision immediately upon his return to power in January to freeze virtually all US foreign aid pending the review.The sudden about-face by the country that traditionally has given most has sent the entire humanitarian community into a tailspin.”It is fair to send out a questionnaire to people you give money to,… but (this questionnaire) doesn’t seem to be adapted to the humanitarian sector,” said a high-level official within a large international aid organisation, speaking on condition of anonymity.”What we find very problematic is that there are a lot of questions around certain political objectives.”Lucica Ditiu, head of STOP TB which also received the questionnaire, stressed that donor country had the prerogative to “look at the way their funding is being used”.She said her organisation, which has traditionally received around half of its funding from the United States, had responded, confirming among other things that no US funds would go to “work related to DEI”.She meanwhile voiced hope that funds from other donors would allow such work to continue.- ‘Unclear’ -Other organisations said they had debated whether or not to respond, as they felt drawn between the threat of losing vital funding and fear they could be construed as sacrificing their principles.”Whatever the financial implications, ISHR will not resile from its principled commitment to human rights and the rule of law, as well as to values such as diversity, equality and justice,” Lynch said.A large international aid organisation said it had opted to respond but not without reservations.”If we are seen as a tool for American foreign policy, it will further jeopardise our work,” the high-level official there said.”It can create security risks for our staff, it can create a lack of acceptance in communities… (The) potential negative repercussions are quite far-reaching.”UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters that “a number of UN entities have received questionnaires from the US government”, and would “respond in accordance with their respective rules”.A spokesperson with UNAIDS, which has counted on the US for half of its budget, confirmed it had received “several different questionnaires from the United States since the new administration arrived”.”We answer each time.”The deadlines for responding appear to differ.One large aid organisation said its deadline fell on the same day as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the completion of the US review.”If the review is already done, it is unclear to us how they will actually use this information,” an aid agency official said.The staff member at another large aid organisation agreed.”Unclear is the keyword of 2025.”

Donald Trump declared Monday he was annulling pardons issued by Joe Biden to shield Trump critics from retribution, claiming that they were invalid because his Democratic predecessor had supposedly used an autopen for his signature.It was unclear what, if any, authority Trump has to void presidential pardons issued by his predecessor.It is extremely rare for pardons to be revoked in US history, and doing so in this case could see Trump again testing the limits of executive power as he takes aim at his political enemies.Trump claimed that Biden’s signature on the documents had been carried out with an autopen, a commonly used device, and therefore was not valid.The pardons “are hereby declared void, vacant, and of no further force or effect, because of the fact they were done by Autopen,” Trump posted on his social media account Truth Social.However, he provided no evidence either for the use of an autopen or his contention that it would invalidate the signature.US presidents have long used autopens, including to sign bills into law. But Trump and his supporters, such as those linked to the right-wing policy document Project 2025, have sought to turn the issue into a way to delegitimize Biden’s presidency.Biden issued pardons to former senior Republican lawmaker Liz Cheney and other members of the congressional committee that had investigated the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol by Trump’s supporters and multiple attempts by Trump to overturn the 2020 election in which he lost.The Biden pardons, issued at the end of his presidency, were effectively a blanket immunity to shield the lawmakers from Trump’s repeated promises that he would take revenge against them if he won the 2024 election.Trump appeared to acknowledge that his action entered disputed legal territory. Asked by reporters early Monday whether everything Biden signed with an autopen should be voided, Trump said “I think so. It’s not my decision, that’ll be up to a court.”But he said on Truth Social that the committee members “should fully understand that they are subject to investigation at the highest level.”Experts who spoke to Axios media outlet pointed out that even if Trump were to lose a court challenge over the move, the damage would already have been done, with those he targets being dragged into stressful legal battles.Biden also issued preemptive pardons to former Covid pandemic advisor Anthony Fauci, retired general Mark Milley, and — perhaps most controversially — to close family members including his son Hunter. All of them had become public targets of the incoming Republican president.Trump has repeatedly promised “retribution” against his political opponents and threatened some with criminal prosecution, and Biden said at the time that he could not “in good conscience do nothing.”On taking office this January, Trump immediately issued multiple pardons to supporters, including to about 1,500 people convicted in the storming of the Capitol building in an attempt to block certification of Biden’s election victory on January 6, 2021.

Huge crowds joined protests in rebel-controlled Yemen on Monday after deadly US strikes killed dozens and sparked fears of a new cycle of violence in the conflict-torn country.Tens of thousands of demonstrators, many waving assault rifles, daggers or Korans, chanted “Death to America, death to Israel!” in the capital Sanaa.There were also large crowds in Saada, birthplace of the Iran-backed Huthi movement, and demonstrations in Dhamar, Hodeida and Amran, footage from the rebels’ Al-Masirah TV station showed.”Yemen will never back down — we defy the Americans, we defy the Zionists,” said a man shouting slogans to the Sanaa crowd, who chanted back: “We are the men of the Prophet.”The protests came after the first US strikes on Yemen under President Donald Trump, aimed at ending the Huthis’ Red Sea harassment campaign, which killed 53 people and wounded 98 on Saturday.The rebels, at war with a Saudi-led coalition for a decade, launched scores of attacks on ships in the vital route during the Gaza war, claiming solidarity with the Palestinians.  Earlier on Monday they said they had attacked the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier group twice within 24 hours. There was no comment from the United States.Washington has vowed to keep hitting Yemen until the rebels stop attacking Red Sea shipping, with Trump warning he would use “overwhelming lethal force”.Monday’s rallies were called by Huthi leader Abdulmalik al-Huthi to coincide with the anniversary of the Battle of Badr — a celebrated military victory by the Prophet Mohammed.- Heavy strikes -In the capital Sanaa, controlled by the Huthis since 2014, giant Yemeni and Palestinian flags punctuated a sea of demonstrators at Al-Sabeen Square, which has hosted large-scale demonstrations on a weekly basis throughout the Gaza war.Just two days ago the Huthi-controlled capital was hit by heavy strikes, including in northern districts frequented by the rebels’ leadership.They were the first US strikes since Trump came to office in January despite a pause in the Huthis’ attacks coinciding with a ceasefire in the Gaza war.On Sunday, US officials vowed further bombardments until the rebels ended their campaign against Red Sea shipping, while also threatening action against the group’s sponsor Iran.Huthi media reported more explosions late on Sunday, accusing the Americans of targeting a cotton facility in the Hodeida region and the Galaxy Leader, a cargo ship hijacked in November 2023.- ‘Hell will rain down’ -The United Nations urged both sides to “cease all military activity”, while expressing concern over Huthi threats to resume the Red Sea attacks.Beijing called for “dialogue and negotiation” and a de-escalation of tensions.”China opposes any action that escalates the situation in the Red Sea,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told a regular briefing.Before this weekend’s targeting of the US carrier group, the Huthis had not claimed any attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since January 19, when the ceasefire in Gaza began.However, the group had threatened to resume its campaign over Israel’s blocking of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territory. It said it would “move to additional escalatory options” if the “American aggression” continued.US National Security Advisor Michael Waltz told ABC News that Saturday’s strikes “targeted multiple Huthi leaders and took them out”. The Huthis have not responded to Waltz’s claim.Trump, meanwhile, has warned the Yemeni group that “hell will rain down upon you” if it did not stop its attacks. In a social media post he also addressed Iran, demanding it stop supporting “Huthi terrorists”.Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi condemned the US strikes and said Washington had “no authority” to dictate Tehran’s foreign policy.- Costly detour -A database set up by ACLED, a non-profit monitor, shows 136 Huthi attacks against warships, commercial vessels, and Israeli and other targets since October 19, 2023.While the Red Sea trade route normally carries around 12 percent of world shipping traffic, Huthi attacks have forced many companies into costly detours around southern Africa.The United States had already launched several rounds of strikes on Huthi targets under former president Joe Biden.Israel has also struck Yemen, most recently in December, after Huthi missile fire towards Israeli territory.The rebels control large swathes of Yemen, including most of its population centres, after ousting the internationally recognised government from Sanaa.They have been at war with a Saudi-led coalition backing the government since 2015, a conflict that has triggered a major humanitarian crisis.Fighting has largely been on hold since a UN-brokered ceasefire in 2022, but the peace process has stalled following the Huthi attacks over Gaza.burs/th/dcp