BBC News Briefing 1 February 2024 Andy McFarlane - US finalises plans to retaliate for the deadly attack on its base in Jordan, How the Houthis have changed tack and more ...

 

View this email online 1 February, 2024 Andy McFarlane Hello. As the US finalises plans to retaliate for the deadly attack on its base in Jordan, analysis by BBC Verify suggests its other military action in the Middle East isn't having the desired effect. From Zambia, Kennedy Gondwe files a moving report on families who have lost loved-ones to cholera, while Guy Hedgecoe reports on the drought in Spain's Catalonia region. And scroll down for the bizarre tale of a toddler who got stuck in a claw machine full of soft toys. GET UP TO SPEED • The US has approved plans for a series of strikes on Iranian targets in Syria and Iraq, officials have told the BBC's US partner CBS News. • Ukrainian forces say they have destroyed a Russian missile boat from the Black Sea Fleet in a special operation off Russian-occupied Crimea. • Scientists have been left in awe by detailed images of 19 spiral galaxies, captured by the James Webb Space Telescope. Take a look. QUESTIONS ANSWERED How the Houthis have changed tack Credit: Indian Navy/X/Reuters Repeated US and UK air strikes against the Houthis in Yemen have failed to slow attacks on ships in the region, BBC Verify has found. Since the US-led strikes began on 11 January, shipping using the vital Red Sea trade route has dropped by 29% - a greater rate of decline than after the start of Houthi attacks in November. Joshua Cheetham, Shruti Menon, Yi Ma, and Paul Myer, BBC Verify What has changed? The Houthis initially said they were attacking ships connected to Israel. In total, 28 vessels have been targeted since November. We've identified seven of these with links to Israeli companies, individuals or destinations. Of the nine ships attacked since the air strikes began, five had American or British links. None had identifiable Israeli links. And how about the Houthis' tactics? In November and December, their attacks were concentrated at the southern end of the Red Sea where ships are forced to sail close to the coast of Houthi-controlled Yemeni territory. In recent weeks they have been mainly striking further to the south, in the Gulf of Aden. Initially they used both missiles and drones carrying explosives, but more recent attacks have used mainly missiles launched from Yemen. How have shipping companies reacted? The number of commercial ships using the Red Sea route has fallen by 50%, according to ship-tracking firm Lloyd's List Intelligence. This is despite a US-led military partnership, involving UK naval vessels, safeguarding commercial shipping.  Some companies have disabled their on-board tracking, making it harder for Houthi forces to locate them. Some have taken to declaring "no link to Israel" on location equipment, or have written "armed guards on board”. See the graphics • More on the Houthis: What you need to know about the Iran-backed rebel group. • Animal ordeal: A ship that abandoned a Red Sea journey, leaving its cargo of 16,000 sheep and cattle stuck on board for weeks, has finally docked.  AT THE SCENE |   Lusaka, Zambia Families grieve for cholera victims The government, which has pledged to wipe out cholera by 2025, is administering 1.6 million vaccinations. Credit: Reuters. Cholera, a bacterial infection caused by contaminated water or food, is wreaking havoc in Zambia. The southern African country has recorded more than 15,000 cases and close to 600 deaths, mostly in the capital Lusaka, since the beginning of the rainy season in October. Kennedy Gondwe, BBC News I met Andrew Kazadi just after his 26-year-old nephew died of cholera at a treatment centre. He looked deeply traumatised. "We have been told to look for a coffin but if we delay, they'll bury him just like that," Mr Kazadi said, in comments reminiscent of some of the restrictions governments imposed during the coronavirus pandemic. The 60,000-seater Heroes Stadium - normally a venue for football matches - has been turned into a treatment centre with about 800 medics attending to patients from across the country. The wailing sirens of ambulances is constant. The cholera hot-spots are poor neighbourhoods, known locally as compounds, where people live in slum-like conditions. Often pit latrines are built too close to shallow wells, from where drinking water is drawn. When it rains, the water level rises, along with the risk of human waste contaminating the water - and poor drainage causes this water to flood homes. To fight the disease, a raft of measures have been introduced by the government, including a ban on the digging of shallow wells, and the selling of food in unhygienic conditions. Read in full • Overcrowding: Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema has previously urged people to relocate from towns to villages to help halt the spread of the disease. • Wider concerns: Southern African leaders are to attend a virtual summit on Friday, with cholera affecting 15 countries in the region.  THE BIG PICTURE Parched reservoirs and worried businesses Reservoirs in Catalonia have fallen to close to 16% of their capacity. Credit: Getty Images The Spanish region of Catalonia has declared a state of emergency, as it faces its worst drought on record. It bans more than six million residents from washing cars and filling up swimming pools. Guy Hedgecoe hears how people's lives have been affected by the dry weather. Read more FOR YOUR DOWNTIME Swede child o’ mine  Swedish dads get side-eyed if they don’t take up parental leave.  Read why And finally... in Australia A toddler probably thought he was realising his lifelong dream when he climbed into a claw machine brimming with colourful plushes. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he was then trapped. Watch how Brisbane police managed to retrieve three-year-old Ethan to safety.   US Election Unspun newsletter Cut through the noise in the race for the White House, every Wednesday to your inbox. Sign up here MORE NEWSLETTERS FROM US • Football Extra: Latest news, insights and gossip from the Premier League, weekdays. Subscribe. • Royal Watch: The full story from royal correspondent Sean Coughlan, every Thursday. Subscribe. • Tech Decoded: Timely, trusted tech news from global correspondents, twice-weekly. Subscribe. Thank you, as ever, for reading. Send us suggestions for topics or areas of the world to cover in this newsletter. 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