Countries sending ambassadors included Austria, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Jamaica, Kosovo, Lithuania, Luxembourg and Thailand.

In a messaging group that mistakenly disclosed plans by the U.S. to attack Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis to a journalist, senior Trump administration officials including persons identified as Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth accused Europe of "free-loading" and questioned whether the U.

U.S. officials seek to curb the militants’ attacks on ships in the Red Sea, but the group was not deterred by strikes in the Biden era and won’t be beaten by air power alone, experts say.

US airstrikes on Yemen continued on Wednesday as Houthi rebels escalate attacks on vessels in the Red Sea and on Israel

Restoring access to the Red Sea is a burning ambition for Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who told parliament in 2023: “Ethiopia is a nation whose existence is tied to the Red Sea” (archived here ).

The companies that operate large container ships say they plan to keep going around Africa as violence flares in the region.

Crude oil prices jumped following the US military strikes on the Iran-backed Houthi militants, in response to the Yemen-based group’s commercial vessel attacks in the Red Sea. However, a deteriorating economic outlook is expected to continue pressuring oil prices.

The Yemeni Armed Forces have announced a complete ban on Israeli ships passing through key waterways, including the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandab Strait, the Gulf of Aden, and the Arabian Sea. This decision was officially declared late on March 11 and is now in full effect.