Al-Hammadi was convicted of committing an “indecent act” and possessing drugs by a Houthi-run court, a verdict that the actresses’ lawyer says was “marred with irregularities and abuse.”
Yemeni actress and model Intisar al-Hammadi was released from prison on Saturday after Yemen’s Houthis convicted her of committing an “indecent act” and possessing drugs, according to a report by the Associated Press.
A Houthi-run court convicted Al-Hammadi in Yemen’s capital Sanaa in February 2021 and sentenced her to five years in prison. The trial is yet another example of the terror group’s repression of women, said AP‘s report.
Khalid al-Kamal, Al-Hammadi’s lawyer, said on Sunday that the case was “marred with irregularities and abuse,” and announced she would be released after spending almost five years in Sanaa’s Central Prison.
According to AP, dozens of Yemeni public figures welcomed the model’s release and called on the Houthis to provide her with healthcare.
Al-Hammadi was born to a Yemeni father and an Ethiopian mother. She had worked as a model for four years and acted in two soap drama series in 2020, making her the sole breadwinner for her family of four prior to her conviction.
Houthi terrorists stand guard as people detained by the Houthis wait for their release in Sanaa, Yemen January 25, 2025. (credit: KHALED ABDULLAH/REUTERS)
According to UN Special Envoy Hans Grundberg’s office, 53 UN members remain detained by the terrorist organization.
The Houthis, one of Iran’s terror proxies, have ruled Sanaa and most of North Yemen since 2014, according to AP, after forcing the internationally-recognized government into exile. Yemen has been in a civil war for over a decade since the takeover.
Human Rights Watch says that the Houthis have long imposed tight restrictions on women, limiting their movements and barring them from travelling between provinces, and in some cases, abroad, without a male’s permission or company.
A ship caught fire Saturday in the Gulf of Aden off Yemen after being struck by a projectile, the British military said, with one report suggesting its crew was preparing to abandon the vessel.
The incident comes as Yemen’s Houthi rebels have been attacking ships through the Red Sea corridor. However, the rebels did not immediately claim the attack, though it can take them hours or even days to do so.
The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center issued an alert about the vessel, describing the incident as taking place some 210 kilometers (130 miles) east of Aden.
“A vessel has been hit by an unknown projectile, resulting with a fire,” the UKMTO said. “Authorities are investigating.”
The maritime security firm Ambrey described the ship as a Cameroon-flagged tanker that was “en route from Sohar, Oman, to Djibouti.” It said radio traffic suggested the crew was preparing to abandon ship and a search-and-rescue effort was underway.
Details offered about the ship appeared to correspond to the Falcon, a Cameroon-flagged tanker that carries liquefied petroleum gas. The Falcon previously had been identified by United Against Nuclear Iran, a New York-based pressure group, as operating allegedly in an Iranian “ghost fleet” of ships moving their oil products in the high seas despite international sanctions. The ship’s owners and operators, listed as being in India, could not be immediately reached for comment.
The Houthis have gained international prominence during the Israel-Hamas war over their attacks on shipping and Israel, which they said were aimed at forcing Israel to stop fighting. Since the ceasefire began on Oct. 10, no attacks have been claimed by the rebel group.
The Houthi campaign against shipping has killed at least nine mariners and seen four ships sunk. It upended shipping in the Red Sea, through which about $1 trillion of goods passed each year before the war. The rebels’ most recent attack hit the Dutch-flagged cargo ship Minervagracht on Sept. 29, killing one crew member on board and wounding another.
Meanwhile, the Houthis have increasingly threatened Saudi Arabia and taken dozens of workers at United Nations agencies and other aid groups as prisoners, alleging without evidence they were spies — something fiercely denied by the world body and others.
A drone fired by the Houthi militants in Yemen breached Israel’s air defenses on Sunday and slammed into the country’s southern airport, the Israeli military said.
It was one of several drones fired by the Houthis, according to the military, but it said most had been intercepted outside of Israel.
The drone crashed into the passenger terminal at the Ramon International Airport near the resort city of Eilat, the Israeli Airports Authority said, blowing out glass windows and sending smoke plumes billowing.
The Houthis hailed Sunday’s attack on Ramon Airport — some 19 kilometers (12 miles) from Eilat on Israel’s southern tip — as “a unique, qualitative military operation.”
“Enemy airports are unsafe, and foreigners must leave them for their own safety,” Nasruddin Amer, deputy head of the Houthi media office, wrote on social media. “Other sensitive targets are under fire.”
Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency rescue service said it treated a 63-year-old man for light shrapnel wounds. The damage to Ramon Airport appeared limited, and within a couple of hours, it reopened as normal flights resumed.
The attack comes days after Israeli strikes on Yemen’s rebel-held capital of Sanaa killed Houthi Prime Minister Ahmed al-Rahawi and other officials in his cabinet in a major escalation of the nearly 2-year-old conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group in Yemen.
Saying that they were acting in solidarity with the Palestinians, the Houthis began firing missiles and drones into Israel after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack ignited the Israeli military’s devastating campaign in Gaza.
The Houthis have stepped up their aerial attacks on Israel in recent months, including by deploying warheads with cluster munitions. They scatter smaller explosive projectiles over a large area and are harder for Israel’s air defense system to stop, which otherwise intercepts most drones and missiles.
Houthi attacks on Israel, while frequent since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in October 2023, have rarely caused major damage or struck significant targets like airports. But in May, a Houthi missile hit near Israel’s main Ben Gurion Airport, prompting many international airlines to cancel flights to Tel Aviv for months.
Israel pushes forward with Gaza City operation
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday vowed to push forward with Israel’s operation in Gaza City, with no reported progress in restarting negotiations between Israel and Hamas.
“Our effort in Gaza on the last strongholds, actually the last important stronghold, Gaza City, is part of our effort to complete the crushing of the Iranian axis’s chokehold,” Netanyahu said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.
Netanyahu claimed that over 100,000 Palestinians have heeded the military’s calls to evacuate Gaza City ahead of the operation, a figure disputed by international organizations. The United Nations has reported just 41,000 people out of the city’s population of 1 million leaving over the last month.
An Israeli army vehicle moves along the border with the Gaza Strip as seen from a position on the Israeli side of the border on September 7, 2025.
Amir Levy / Getty Images
Meanwhile, attempts to relaunch negotiations between Israel and Hamas are faltering.
Bassem Naim, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, said the militant group won’t lay down its arms until the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. But he said that Hamas is ready for a long-term truce and will release the hostages still being held in Gaza in exchange for a number of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel and the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.
Naim said Hamas is still waiting for Israel to respond to a 60-day ceasefire proposal crafted by Egyptian and Qatari mediators last month.
The Prime Minister’s Office refused to comment on negotiations.
There are 48 hostages still being held in Gaza, around 20 of whom Israel believes are still alive. Militants kidnapped 251 people and killed around 1,200 people in southern Israel during the attack that sparked the war on Oct. 7, 2023.
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said a total of 64,368 people have been killed and 162,776 have been wounded since the start of the war. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants, but says more than half of the casualties were women and children.
Several senior Houthi leaders have reportedly fled Sanaa towards fortified hideouts in Saada, Amran, and other areas under Houthi control due to fears of further Israeli airstrikes.
Defense Minister Israel Katz on Tuesday said that “the remnants of Houthi leadership” are fleeing Sanaa in Yemen.
“Like all the leaders of radical Islamist terror, they look after themselves and abandon residents,” the defense minister stated.
Katz added that this was how Hamas leaders behaved in Gaza and “in the luxury hotels of Qatar,” and “this is how the Houthis act in Yemen.”
“We knew how to hunt them down this time, and we will know how to do so in the future as well.”
Houthi leaders flee Sanaa
Earlier on Tuesday, Saudi-owned, London-based outlet Asharq al-Awsat reported that several senior Houthi leaders have fled Sanaa towards fortified hideouts in Saada, Amran, and other areas under Houthi control.
Defense Minister Israel Katz on a tour in the Gaza Strip, August 5, 2025. (credit: DEFENSE MINISTRY)
High-ranking Houthi officials, including Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a member of the group’s ruling council; Abdul Karim al-Houthi, the terror group’s interior minister; Abu Ali al-Hakim, the newly appointed head of Houthi intelligence; and Ahmed Hamed, another member of the ruling council, have disappeared from Sanaa in recent days, sources confirmed to Asharq al-Awsat.
Buses were seen transporting the families of group leaders towards Amran and Saada, sources told Asharq, saying that the terror group is aware that its leaders are direct targets for Israeli airstrikes.
According to the report, Houthi leaders and commanders were instructed not to use government buildings or gather in public places.
The Iranian-backed Houthis said Saturday an Israeli airstrike killed the prime minister of the rebel-controlled government in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa.Related video above: Indian Navy acts as firefighters on container ship attacked by Houthis in Gulf of Aden (03/06/24)Ahmed al-Rahawi was killed in a Thursday strike in Sanaa along with a number of ministers, the rebels said in a statement.The Israeli military said Thursday that it “precisely struck a Houthi terrorist regime military target in the area of Sanaa in Yemen.”Al-Rahawi, who served as prime minister to the Houthi-led government since August 2024, was targeted along with other members of his Houthi-controlled government during a routine workshop held by the government to evaluate its activities and performance over the past year, the rebels’ statement said.The Houthis have repeatedly launched missiles against Israel throughout Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. The group says the attacks are in solidarity with the Palestinians. Though most of the missiles launched by Yemen are intercepted by Israel or fragment mid-air, this has done little to deter the attacks.Earlier in the week, Israeli strikes hit multiple areas across Sanaa, killing at least 10 people and wounding 102 others, according to the Houthi-run health ministry and government officials.The Houthis have launched missiles and drones toward Israel and targeted ships in the Red Sea throughout Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. The rebels say their attacks are in solidarity with the Palestinians.In response to the Houthi attacks, Israel and a U.S.-led coalition pounded the rebel-held areas in Yemen, including Sanaa and the strategic coastal city of Hodeida. Israeli strikes knocked the Sanaa airport out of service in May.The Trump administration announced a deal with the Houthis to end the airstrikes in return for an end to attacks on shipping in May. The rebels, however, said the agreement did not include halting attacks on targets it believed were aligned with Israel.
The Iranian-backed Houthis said Saturday an Israeli airstrike killed the prime minister of the rebel-controlled government in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa.
Related video above: Indian Navy acts as firefighters on container ship attacked by Houthis in Gulf of Aden (03/06/24)
Ahmed al-Rahawi was killed in a Thursday strike in Sanaa along with a number of ministers, the rebels said in a statement.
The Israeli military said Thursday that it “precisely struck a Houthi terrorist regime military target in the area of Sanaa in Yemen.”
Al-Rahawi, who served as prime minister to the Houthi-led government since August 2024, was targeted along with other members of his Houthi-controlled government during a routine workshop held by the government to evaluate its activities and performance over the past year, the rebels’ statement said.
The Houthis have repeatedly launched missiles against Israel throughout Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. The group says the attacks are in solidarity with the Palestinians. Though most of the missiles launched by Yemen are intercepted by Israel or fragment mid-air, this has done little to deter the attacks.
MOHAMMED HUWAIS
Yemen’s Houthi-led government’s Prime Minister Ahmed al-Rahawi visits the offices of the Palestinian Hamas movement in Sanaa, to offer his condolences over the killing of Yahya Sinwar, the head of the Hamas movement, on Oct. 20, 2024.
Earlier in the week, Israeli strikes hit multiple areas across Sanaa, killing at least 10 people and wounding 102 others, according to the Houthi-run health ministry and government officials.
The Houthis have launched missiles and drones toward Israel and targeted ships in the Red Sea throughout Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. The rebels say their attacks are in solidarity with the Palestinians.
In response to the Houthi attacks, Israel and a U.S.-led coalition pounded the rebel-held areas in Yemen, including Sanaa and the strategic coastal city of Hodeida. Israeli strikes knocked the Sanaa airport out of service in May.
The Trump administration announced a deal with the Houthis to end the airstrikes in return for an end to attacks on shipping in May. The rebels, however, said the agreement did not include halting attacks on targets it believed were aligned with Israel.
Israeli airstrikes hit Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, early on Sunday, just days after the country’s Iran-backed rebels fired cluster munitions toward Israel, according to a local media report.The rebel Houthi-run al-Masirah channel reported the strikes, the first to hit the rebel-held Sanaa since Aug. 17, when Israel said it targeted energy infrastructure it believed was used by the rebels. Israel has not confirmed Sunday’s attack.The Iran-backed Houthis have launched missiles and drones toward Israel and targeted ships in the Red Sea for more than 22 months. They say they are carrying out the attacks in solidarity with Palestinians amid the war in the Gaza Strip.They are usually intercepted before landing in Israel.An Israeli Air Force official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with military regulations, said the projectile fired from Yemen towards Israel on Friday night marked a new threat. The missile was a cluster munition — a projectile that is supposed to detonate into multiple explosives.It was the first time the Houthis had launched a cluster bomb at Israel since the militant group began launching rockets towards Israel in 2023, the official said. The use of cluster bombs makes it harder for Israel to intercept and also represents additional technology provided to the Houthis by Iran, the official said.The Houthi attacks over the past two years have upended shipping in the Red Sea, through which about $1 trillion of goods passes each year.From November 2023 to December 2024, the Houthis targeted more than 100 ships with missiles and drones. The rebels stopped their attacks during a brief ceasefire in the war and later became the target of an intense, weekslong airstrike campaign ordered by U.S. President Donald Trump.In May, the United States announced a deal with the Houthis to end the airstrikes in return for an end to shipping attacks, although the rebel group said the agreement did not include halting attacks on targets it believed were aligned with Israel.
CAIRO —
Israeli airstrikes hit Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, early on Sunday, just days after the country’s Iran-backed rebels fired cluster munitions toward Israel, according to a local media report.
The rebel Houthi-run al-Masirah channel reported the strikes, the first to hit the rebel-held Sanaa since Aug. 17, when Israel said it targeted energy infrastructure it believed was used by the rebels. Israel has not confirmed Sunday’s attack.
The Iran-backed Houthis have launched missiles and drones toward Israel and targeted ships in the Red Sea for more than 22 months. They say they are carrying out the attacks in solidarity with Palestinians amid the war in the Gaza Strip.
They are usually intercepted before landing in Israel.
An Israeli Air Force official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with military regulations, said the projectile fired from Yemen towards Israel on Friday night marked a new threat. The missile was a cluster munition — a projectile that is supposed to detonate into multiple explosives.
It was the first time the Houthis had launched a cluster bomb at Israel since the militant group began launching rockets towards Israel in 2023, the official said. The use of cluster bombs makes it harder for Israel to intercept and also represents additional technology provided to the Houthis by Iran, the official said.
The Houthi attacks over the past two years have upended shipping in the Red Sea, through which about $1 trillion of goods passes each year.
From November 2023 to December 2024, the Houthis targeted more than 100 ships with missiles and drones. The rebels stopped their attacks during a brief ceasefire in the war and later became the target of an intense, weekslong airstrike campaign ordered by U.S. President Donald Trump.
In May, the United States announced a deal with the Houthis to end the airstrikes in return for an end to shipping attacks, although the rebel group said the agreement did not include halting attacks on targets it believed were aligned with Israel.
Experts are speaking out to warn that surging gas prices could lead to even more inflation as the 2024 election year continues.
Surging Gas Prices In Biden’s America
“Increases in the two most-consumed fuels are outpacing those for crude oil in some of the world’s most important markets,” Yahoo News reported. “U.S. gasoline futures have jumped sharply in recent weeks and are now up by more than a fifth so far this year, while diesel in Europe has risen 10%. Refiner profits are also above seasonal norms in many regions, a sign of tightness as the peak summer travel period approaches.”
“Interruptions to fuel production — a combination of scheduled work, unplanned outages and drone attacks on Russian facilities — have been lifting prices,” the publication continued. “They’ve come on top of higher shipping costs caused by Houthi attacks in the Red Sea and drought at the Panama Canal, as well as the supply-chain ructions spurred by Western sanctions on the Kremlin.”
Mukesh Sahdev, head of oil trading and downstream research at Rystad Energy AS, spoke out to warn that premium gasoline prices might reach a multi-year high this year.
“There’s not a lot President Biden can do in time for the election, if this happens” he explained. “Strategic petroleum reserves are low, and there are few levers for the US government to pull to lower gasoline prices.”
During Joe Biden’s 2022 State of the Union address, he promised to cut energy costs by an average of $500.
Here are the results of Biden’s energy policies:
• Gas prices have increased by 40% • Electricity costs have risen by 28.6% • Energy costs have increased by $3,626 pic.twitter.com/dJwr8MaPVZ
In the U.S., the average gasoline pump price is now 60% higher than it was at the start of November of 2020, a fact that could have a major influence over the way that Americans vote. The nation’s stockpiles of both gasoline and diesel-type fuels are also well below seasonal norms, causing less of a supply-cushion than normal.
Nerd Wallet reported that the average regular gas price in the U.S. as of March 7 is $3.397 per gallon, which is about 8 cents higher than last week’s average, and the highest average national price since November. The current gas price is a 25-cent jump from last month’s average of $3.148 per gallon, and the national average has increased 31 cents since the start of 2024.
Last month, Moody’s Analytics found that surging gas prices could be what costs President Joe Biden the election later this year.
“Biden gets a small tailwind from the year-over-year decline in gasoline prices, but the expected late-2024 increase erodes much of the benefit,” Moody’s wrote, according to The Hill. “Having said this, forecasting oil prices is especially difficult, and if prices move up much more than anticipated, the damage to Biden’s re-election bid will quickly mount.”
Moody’s added that the former President Donald Trump will win the election if prices surge to $4 per gallon.
“If you talk to the average American, they think we’re in a recession right now”
“The real inflation that Americans are feeling is much higher”
This all just goes to show what an economic nightmare it is to live in Biden’s America. As the year goes on, it will certainly be interesting to see what impact this has on the presidential election.
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Navy helicopters fired on Iran-backed Houthi gunmen attempting to hijack a cargo ship.
The helicopters returned fire in self-defense, sinking three of the four small boats, and killing the crews.
The small boats originated from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen, said US Central Command.
The conflict in the Red Sea escalated on Sunday when US Navy helicopters fired on and destroyed the boats of Iranian-backed Houthi gunmen attempting to board a cargo ship.
The small boats, originating from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen, attempted to board the Maersk Hangzhou, a Singapore-registered, Danish-owned cargo ship, said US Central Command (Centcom).
Iranian-backed Houthi small boats attack merchant vessel and U.S. Navy helicopters in Southern Red Sea
On Dec. 31 at 6:30am (Sanaa time) the container ship MAERSK HANGZHOU issued a second distress call in less than 24 hours reporting being under attack by four Iranian-backed… pic.twitter.com/pj8NAzjbVF
The container ship was also struck by a missile while transiting the Southern Red Sea, it said. The vessel was reported as seaworthy and there was no injury to crew.
Maersk has paused sailings through the Red Sea for 48 hours in response to the attempted attack.
Yemen’s Houthi loyalists lift their weapons as they take part in an armed parade for more than 20,000 members who have finished a military course, staged to show their willingness to battle any potential attack by the recently created coalition by the U.S., on December 20, 2023 in Amran province, Yemen.Mohammed Hamoud
For weeks now, the Iran-backed Yemen rebel group has been targeting commercial vessels in the Red Sea with drones and ballistic missiles in protest of Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip.
The Houthi assaults on vital shipping lanes have prompted the US to launch Operation Prosperity Guardian — an international Naval coalition aimed at safeguarding shipping in the region.
The Houthis have continued with their attacks despite the US’ response. US Navy Vice Adm. Brad Cooper stated that, since the operation’s launch, 1,200 commercial ships have passed through the Red Sea without incident until Saturday’s missile strike, per the BBC.
