Our daily voyage around the world

💥🚢 US and UK warships shot down one of the largest airstrikes from Houthi rebels in Yemen. A US official said yesterday’s barrage from Houthi rebels, who fired into a key Red Sea shipping lane, will likely elicit retaliatory airstrikes in the coming days. Many major international shipping companies have begun rerouting their ships away from the Red Sea passage – which facilitates ~15% of all global seaborne trade – in response to nearly two dozen Houthi attacks in the region since mid-November, when the militant group pledged to support Hamas against Israel.

🇳🇴 Norway became the first country to allow commercial-scale deep-sea mining. The decision, approved by 80% of parliament, opens up 108,000 square miles of Norwegian waters for the deep-sea mining of lithium, scandium, cobalt, and other materials critical to developing EV batteries and similar green technologies. The decision came after 120 EU lawmakers wrote an open letter in November calling on the Norwegian parliament to reject the project due to concerns about environmental damage.

🇪🇨 Violence has broken out across Ecuador after two gang leaders escaped from prison on Monday. Following the escape, the country has experienced prison riots, domestic terrorism, and police kidnappings, in addition to a news station being temporarily seized by gunmen on Tuesday. In response, President Daniel Noboa declared a two-month state of emergency that imposes an overnight curfew, and allows the military to take over prisons and patrol the streets to crack down on gang violence.