Former US Senator Joe Lieberman Dies At 82

According to Al-Masirah TV, the mouthpiece of the Houthi group, the airstrikes targeted the Qatinat area in Sa'dah's Baqim District.

Sa'dah, located in northern Yemen, is recognized as a stronghold of the Houthi rebels and shares a border with Saudi Arabia.

The Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, in solidarity with Palestinian islamists Hamas in Gaza, have disrupted global shipping routes, compelling shipping firms to take longer and more costly detours around southern Africa.

The attacks intensified following a call by Iran's Supreme Leader for Muslims to blockade Israel, with the Houthis receiving support from Iran in terms of weapons supplies.

In response to the threats to maritime security, the United States and its allies have deployed warships to the Red Sea to safeguard commercial vessels.

Additionally, the US and Britain have conducted airstrikes targeting Houthi sites within Yemen, citing defensive measures aimed at degrading the group's capabilities.

While the airstrikes appeared to have temporarily halted Houthi attacks for a period in February, recent weeks have seen a resurgence in Houthi activity, with attacks resuming and intensifying, posing challenges to regional stability and global shipping operations.

Parastoo Bakhshi, a 34-year-old specialist in cardiovascular diseases, took her own life at her residence in Noorabad Delfan Hospital in Lorestan Province, the latest in a string of mystery deaths.

The confirmation came from an official statement by the Medical Council Of Iran, citing "excessive pressure in the workplace" as a contributing factor.

Bakhshi's body was discovered by staff members in the hospital's dormitory last Saturday night, sparking shock and grief among her colleagues and the medical community at large.

Ali Salahshour, head of the Public Relations and International Affairs Department of the Medical Council of Iran, took to Instagram to highlight the additional burden Bakhshi faced after the loss of both her parents in the past four years.

Farhad Teimourzadeh, a physician and university professor, also echoed the sentiments on social media, condemning those in positions of power who exert pressure on medical residents.

Suicide among medical students, particularly in Iran, has become a growing concern, with several reports documenting the issue in recent years. According to a study conducted by a psychiatric association last year, the suicide rate within the medical community has seen a significant rise, ranging from 3.1 to 5 times higher than previous years.

In February, the head of the Iranian Psychiatric Scientific Association disclosed the news of 16 medical residents who had taken their own lives in the past year alone.

Syrian state news agency SANA blamed "US occupation aggression" for the attack while Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh categorically stated the US "did not carry out airstrikes in Syria last night," addressing reporters in Washington.

Syrian state media said a civilian was also killed and at least 19 other soldiers and 13 civilians were wounded in strikes on residential areas and military sites in Deir al Zor province, with significant damage to public and private properties.

Iranian state media said a Revolutionary Guards adviser was killed in the airstrikes, without giving his rank.

Syria's Foreign Ministry condemned the strikes, alleging US actions mirrored Israeli aggression and aimed to destabilize the region.

Syria is a hub for Iranian militias which have a strong presence in Syria's eastern province of Deir el-Zour near the Iraqi border where Tehran has expanded its military presence. Iranian-backed forces in eastern Syria have also carried out numerous attacks on US facilities in the remote area.

Last month, US retaliatory strikes killed 29 pro-Iran fighters in the Deir el-Zour and Mayadeen areas after a deadly drone strike resulted in the death of three US troops in Jordan.

Iran claims its officers operate in Syria in an advisory capacity, having been invited by Damascus to aid President Bashar al-Assad in countering both internal and external threats. The support extends to the decade-long civil war, during which opposition forces unsuccessfully sought to overthrow Assad.

Israel too has conducted strikes against Iranian positions in the country in addition to the likes of ports and airports in a bid to stop the flow of weapons into the country from Iran, smuggling into proxies around the region.

With Iran's longstanding support, the Houthis have fortified their position in Yemen's decade-long civil conflict, seizing control over vast territories with extensive financial and military backing.

Most recently the group has imposed a blockade on one of the world’s primary sea trade and logistics routes. Multiple attacks have been carried out on global shipping including multiple deaths of seamen earlier this month.

The latest sanctions, imposed on six entities, one individual, and two tankers spanning Liberia, India, Vietnam, Lebanon, and Kuwait, aim to disrupt illicit commodity shipments and financial transactions, according to the US Treasury Department.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said, "We will continue to use the tools at our disposal to target those who ship illicit cargo to benefit terrorist groups."

However, as Iran’s proxy activity continues, many in Washington say sanctions are failing, not least in deterring Iran’s nuclear program which has continued to grow beyond peaceful limits.

In a parallel move, the Treasury Department sanctioned 11 individuals and entities accused of bolstering Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad's regime through illicit financial transfers and drug trafficking.

Iran's extensive backing extends beyond the Houthis, encompassing several other designated terrorist organizations in the region including Hamas in Gaza which waged war on Israel in October 7.

After years of debate, the new study said the human species, who emerged in Africa more than 300,000 years ago and migrated out of the continent 60,000 to 70,000 years ago, have lingered for thousands of years in a geographic hub that spanned Iran, southeast Iraq and northeast Saudi Arabia. These bands of hunter-gatherers then went on to settle all of Asia and Europe starting roughly 45,000 years ago.

Their findings were based on genomic datasets drawn from ancient DNA and modern gene pools, combined with palaeoecological evidence that showed that this region would have represented an ideal habitat, because of its capacity to support a larger population compared to surrounding areas in West Asia.

"Our results provide the first full picture of the whereabouts of the ancestors of all present-day non-Africans in the early phases on the colonization of Eurasia," said molecular anthropologist Luca Pagani of the University of Padova in Italy, senior author of the study published in the journal Nature Communications, opens new tab.

Anthropologist and study co-author Michael Petraglia, director of the Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution at Griffith University, said the study "is a story about us and our history - our goal was to unravel some of the mystery about our evolution and our worldwide dispersal." "The combination of genetic and paleoecological models allowed us to predict the location where early human populations first resided as soon as they exited Africa," Petraglia added.