| | | | | | | Hello. We have updates on the volcanic eruption in Iceland - with an awe-inspiring picture gallery - and explain why attacks on cargo ships in the Red Sea might affect you. In Kyiv, Jessica Parker finds the Ukrainian president in defiant mood, despite flagging support from his Western allies. And scroll down for both a red-hot review of The Color Purple and details of a very different sort of film: featuring a cat… transmitted from deep space. |
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| | | | | | Questions Answered | | Red Sea assaults and the impact on trade |  | | Several large shipping companies, including MSC and Maersk, as well as oil giant BP are avoiding the Red Sea route. Credit: Reuters |
| | The increasing number of attacks by Houthi rebels in Yemen on commercial ships, since the start of the Israel-Gaza war, has prompted many companies to avoid one of the world's busiest shipping lanes. The Houthis are backing Hamas and say they are targeting vessels bound for Israel. |  | | Michael Race, business reporter |
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| | What has happened? | | The Houthi group, which is backed by Iran, has been using drones and rockets against foreign-owned vessels transporting goods through the strait of Bab al-Mandab - a 20-mile wide channel that splits Eritrea and Djibouti, on the African side, and Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula. | | Why is this shipping route so important? | | Any ship passing through the Suez Canal to or from the Indian Ocean has to come via the strait of Bab al-Mandab and the Red Sea. About 17,000 ships and 10-12% of global trade pass through the Suez Canal every year. It is the quickest sea route between Asia and Europe and is particularly important in the transportation of oil and liquefied natural gas. But container ships carry all sorts of consumer goods, including TVs, clothes, trainers and sports equipment. | | What is the impact on consumers? | | Delays to products reaching shops can be expected, with container ship journeys expected to take at least 10 days longer due to the Cape of Good Hope route adding about 3,500 nautical miles. The extra distance will also cost companies more. Shipping rates have risen 4% in the past week and those costs could be passed on by businesses to customers. However, rates remain far below the peaks seen in 2021. | | | | | | |
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AT THE SCENE |  Kyiv, Ukraine | | Embattled Zelensky reflects Ukraine’s defiance |  | | Mr Zelensky appeared tetchy and tense during parts of the two-hour press conference. Credit: EPA | | With Ukraine’s Western allies stalling on providing further aid packages, President Volodymyr Zelensky told his end-of-year press conference he was confident they would not let Kyiv down. He said Ukraine would produce a million drones next year and was considering conscripting 500,000 more soldiers. | | | President Zelensky’s answer to my question – could Ukraine be on the cusp of starting to lose the war – was firm. No, he said. It’s the answer you would expect, but he’s not alone in expressing this kind of determination. Many people I meet will not countenance anything other than beating back their Russian invaders. On a range of topics, Mr Zelensky sought to strike a confident tone – even on big, but stalled, packages of Western aid. He is defiant.
He isn’t just having to deal with political headwinds abroad amid flagging Western support. He also has challenges at home. As months of war have dragged on – and following a disappointing counter-offensive – there are signs of a more fractious atmosphere emerging. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko recently accused President Zelensky of becoming an "autocrat”... There are also reported tensions between the president and his commander-in-chief Valerii Zaluzhny. One senior official I spoke to dismissed the rumours, but there are suspicions that Mr Zaluzhny – who appears to be popular with the public – harbours political ambitions of his own. |
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| | The big picture | | The cat beamed from deep space |  | | The transmission was said to have been faster than most broadband internet connections. Credit: Nasa/JPL-Caltech |
| | The cat in the picture above is called Taters, and he's purring at you from space. Well, okay, not quite. But an ultra high-definition video of the tabby has been on quite the odyssey. It spent two months aboard a spacecraft, before being streamed back to Earth from 19 million miles away via laser. | | | | |
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| | | For your downtime | | ‘Big, brash and bold’ | | But is the musical version of The Color Purple a joy to watch? | | |
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| | And finally... | | Some of you who celebrate Christmas might want to keep resolutions made at the start of the year and party sober. Whatever the reason, here are a few tips on how to go alcohol-free at Christmas. |
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| | | | | | | | Tech Decoded Newsletter | | Decode the biggest developments in global technology with a twice-weekly email. | | |
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