UN urges evacuation of Gaza children at 'imminent risk' of death. Trump insists again Egypt, Jordan will take Gaza's Palestinians. Al-Sharaa vows to preserve 'civil peace' in Syria during speech. What is Israel's strategy in south Lebanon? Syria Insight: The long road ahead to a new post-Assad future.
How Hamas is leveraging captive exchanges as a show of strength. To save Lebanon, Israel must withdraw and Hezbollah must concede. Hannah Arendt, Gaza, and personal responsibility under genocide. How Syrians in the Netherlands are navigating deportation fears. How Beirut's Sudanese Club became a refuge for the displaced. No Other Land: The Oscar-nominated film's call to end occupation. Secretary General of the International Maritime Organisation IMO , Arsenio Dominquez, plans to visit Egypt next week to discuss a wide range of issues, as worries grow about Houthi attacks in the Red Sea and disruptions to the international maritime movement.
So far, the attacks have caused a drop of approximately 70 percent in freight traffic in the Suez Canal, the fastest route between Europe and Asia and Egypt 's main source of foreign currency, as vessels have to divert to the longer Cape of Good Hope route. The use of the same longer route is also causing a whopping increase of 70 percent in emissions, according to the IMO. Attacks by the Iran-backed militia in Yemen , which was in solidarity with Gaza and sought to pressure Israel to accept a ceasefire, are also pushing the expected rise in shipping costs to 0.
The attacks and their aforementioned ramifications are among the issues the IMO chief will discuss during his visit to Egypt with the Arab country's officials. Dominquez told reporters in London on 15 December that he would also discuss the fate of 25 seafarers who were on board of the car carrier, Galaxy Leader , when the ship was hijacked by the Houthis in November as it tried to transition to the Red Sea.
While in Egypt, Dominquez is also expected to open his organisation's new office in the northern coastal city of Alexandria.
