The Latest Breaking News from The Red Sea

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said it was believed merchant shipping in the Red Sea was the intended target,

Two of the world's largest shipping firms, Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, said Friday they were suspending passage through a Red Sea strait vital for global commerce, after Yemeni rebel attacks in the area.

Yemen's Huthi rebels struck a cargo ship in the Red Sea on Friday, causing a fire on deck in the latest of a near-daily series of attacks in the commercially vital waterway.

The incidents further escalate a campaign by Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels

A ballistic missile fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels slammed into a cargo ship Friday in the Red Sea near the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait, following another attack only hours earlier that struck a separate vessel, authorities said.

Iran warns of dire consequences if a U.S.-backed task force is deployed to protect ships in the Red Sea amidst rising tensions in the region.

US and allies in talks to form multinational task force to address attacks by Iran-aligned Houthis on ships in Red Sea.

Yemen's Houthi rebels have been attacking ships in the Red Sea, one of the world's major trade arteries

A US request to send a warship to the Red Sea amid ongoing Middle East conflict and tension is being considered by Australia's government and defence forces.

The spike in attacks claimed by Iran-backed Huthi rebels in the Red Sea is dangerously increasing tensions in a bottleneck for international maritime trade and fuelling fears of an uncontrolled regional spillover of Yemen's longstanding conflict.

In economic and security calcualtions, the world is pragmatically less concerned with war on Gaza than with shipping.