Addis Ababa — Ethiopia has used the 81st United Nations General Assembly to put a broader strategic question before the international community: can a global system facing profound geopolitical, economic, technological and environmental change remain credible without giving greater weight to Africa and the Global South? For President Taye Atske Selassie, the answer is increasingly…
Addis Ababa — Ethiopia has placed its pursuit of reliable maritime access firmly on the global diplomatic agenda, with President Taye Atske-Selassie telling the United Nations that securing access to the sea is essential to sustaining the country’s economic transformation and deepening its integration into global trade. Addressing the General Debate of the 81st Session…
The African Union (AU) Commission has issued an urgent call for de-escalation in the Red Sea region, expressing grave concern over attacks targeting regional economic infrastructure and ongoing threats to international commercial shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. In a statement released on September 17, the AU Commission condemned attacks launched by Houthi forces against…
The Houthi takeover of parts of the Red Sea gives the armed group a new platform to challenge global shipping. The group has taken over the port of Mocha, the island of Mayyun, and the Zuqar and Hanish archipelago about 160km north of the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. These areas were previously controlled by Yemeni government…
Growing competition for African ports and security partnerships offers new leverage – if countries can avoid deeper geopolitical fragmentation. Ongoing conflict in the Middle East exposes shifting regional geopolitical fault lines that are pulling African states into an emerging macro-conflict system anchored along the Red Sea. This stems from several overlapping crises arising from US…
Yemen’s special envoy to the United Nations called on support from the international community after the Iran-backed Houthi militant group seized control of the Red Sea port city of Mokha. “This renewed war should alarm us all,” Hans Grundberg, the U.N. special envoy for Yemen, warned at an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council…
Laem Chabang, Thailand — The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier docked at a port in eastern Thailand on Wednesday after its grueling deployment in the Middle East that kept the ship at sea for more than 250 days. Associated Press journalists watched the Lincoln, which is carrying about 5,000 service members, as it made its…
From piracy and migrant smuggling to disruptions affecting global shipping routes, countries bordering one of the world’s busiest waterways are seeking closer cooperation to stay ahead of fast-evolving maritime threats. As maritime tensions ripple across parts of the Middle East, security officials from Ethiopia, Yemen, Djibouti and Somalia gathered in Nairobi this week to tackle…
The guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold spent four days without power last month after a problem with its engineering, according to a spokesperson for the Navy’s 7th Fleet. Commander Matthew Comer, the spokesperson, said there were no injuries to the crew. The loss of power impacted plumbing, meals, toilets and air conditioning aboard the ship. The…
Brunswick Corp., a global leader in boat manufacturing and recreation on the water, is counting on advanced technology to help with stalling sales. The parent company of Sea Ray, Boston Whaler and other boat brands, says advanced navigation technology and autonomous docking can take some of the complexity out of maneuvering a vessel around a…
