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Brazil vows to match US tariffs after Trump threatens 50% levy

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has said he is ready to match any tariffs imposed on Brazil by the United States.

Lula was responding to Wednesday’s threat by his US counterpart, Donald Trump, to impose a 50% import tax on Brazilian goods from 1 August.

In a letter, Trump cited Brazil’s treatment of former President Jair Bolsonaro as a trigger for tariff-hike.

Bolsonaro is currently on trial for allegedly attempting to stage a coup against Lula after being defeated by him in the 2022 election.

Trump referred to Bolsonaro as “a highly respected leader throughout the world”. “This Trial should not be taking place,” he wrote, calling on Brazil to immediately end the “witch hunt” against the former president.

Trump’s support for Bolsonaro does not come as a surprise as the two men have long been considered allies.

The US president had already slammed Brazil for its treatment of Bolsonaro on Monday, comparing it to the legal cases he himself had faced in US courts.

The 50% tariff threat was met with a robust and lengthy response by President Lula.

In a post on X, he stressed that Brazil was “a sovereign country with independent institutions and will not accept any tutelage”.

The Brazilian leader also announced that “any unilateral tariff increases” would be met with reciprocal tariffs imposed on US goods.

The US is Brazil’s second-largest trade partner after China, so the hike from a tariff rate of 10% to an eye-watering 50% – if it comes into force – would hit the South American nation hard.

But Lula also made a point of challenging Trump’s assertion that the US had a trade deficit with Brazil, calling it “inaccurate”.

Lula’s rebuttal is backed up by US government data, which suggests the US had a goods trade surplus with Brazil of $7.4bn (£5.4bn) in 2024.

Brazil is the US’s 15th largest trading partner and among its main imports from the US are mineral fuels, aircraft and machinery.

For its part, the US imports gas and petroleum, iron, and coffee from Brazil.

Brazil was not the only country Trump threatened with higher tariffs on Wednesday.

Japan, South Korea and Sri Lanka were among 22 nations which received letters warning of higher levies.

But the letter Trump sent to his Brazilian counterpart was the only one focussing matters beyond alleged trade deficits.

As well as denouncing the treatment of ex-President Bolsonaro, Trump slammed what he said were “secret and unlawful censorship orders to US social media platforms” which he said Brazil had imposed.

Trump Media, which operates the US president’s Truth Social platform and is majority-owned by him, is among the US tech companies fighting Brazilian court rulings over orders suspending social media accounts.

Lula fought back on that front too, justifying the rulings by arguing that “Brazilian society rejects hateful content, racism, child pornography, scams, fraud, and speeches against human rights and democratic freedom”.

Rafael Cortez, a political scientist with Brazilian consulting firm Tendências Consultoria, told BBC News Brasil that rather than hurt him, the overly political tone of Trump’s letter could end up benefitting Lula.

“Those confronting Trump win at home when Trump and other conservative leaders speak out on issues pertaining to their countries. That happened, to a certain degree, in Mexico, and the elections in Canada and Australia,” Mr Cortez says of other leaders who have challenged Trump and reaped the rewards in the form of rising popularity levels.

Creomar de Souza of the political risk consultancy Dharma Politics told BBC News Mundo’s Mariana Schreiber that it would depend on the Lula government coming up with organised and united response if it is to “score a goal” against Trump.

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July 10, 2025
Laparoscopic Management of a Rare Lesser Sac Internal Hernia Involving the Terminal Ileum and Entire Right Colon: A Diagnostic and Surgical Challenge

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July 10, 2025
Researchers create map of how body parts interact under stress, can help diagnose illness earlier

The study encourages a “whole-body” view of physiology, instead of focusing on isolated measurements such as heart or breathing rate |Image used for representational purpose only
| Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

A new study has mapped how different body parts communicate with each other under physiological stress, such as during exercise or sleep deprivation, which researchers say could one day help diagnose an illness earlier. Researchers at the University of Portsmouth and University College London, UK, said the study encourages a “whole-body” view of physiology, instead of focusing on isolated measurements such as heart or breathing rate.

Using ‘transfer entropy’ — a method of monitoring body signals — a complex network of maps was created showing which body parts act as ‘information hubs’ under different stress conditions, the team explained.

For example, during exercise, the heart — which is working hard to pump blood to muscles — receives the most input from other systems and therefore, “takes the lead” in helping the body adapt, the researchers said.

Described in a study published in the Journal of Physiology, the maps “show that our body isn’t just reacting to one thing at a time,” said author Alireza Mani, associate professor and head of the network physiology lab at University College London.

“It’s responding in an integrated, intelligent way. And by mapping this, we’re learning what normal patterns look like, so we can start spotting when things go wrong,” Mani said.

Organ systems are known to work together to help one adapt and function under conditions that produce stress in the body.

The study looked at 22 healthy volunteers who were monitored using wearable sensors during exposure to three stressed environments — low oxygen (hypoxia), sleep deprivation and physical moderate intensity exercise (cycling).

A face mask measured the participants’ breathing gases, while a pulse oximeter tracked blood oxygen levels.

The researchers analysed the signals recorded — heart and respiratory rate, blood oxygen levels, and concentration of oxygen and carbon dioxide in exhaled breath — and tracked how information was being transferred between the organ systems.

In a low oxygen environment, blood oxygen becomes the “central player”, working closely with breathing to adjust to the lack of air, the researchers said. They explained that when sleep deprivation is added, the changes are more subtle, with information shifting between organ systems — if low oxygen is also involved, breathing rate suddenly steps up and takes the lead.

The maps indicate early, hidden signs of stress that would not be obvious from heart rate or oxygen levels alone, meaning that the findings could one day help spot health problems before symptoms appear, the team said.

“This matters in healthcare because early signs of deterioration, especially in intensive care units or during the onset of complex conditions like sepsis or COVID-19, often show up not in the average numbers but in the way those numbers relate to each other,” Mani said. The authors wrote, “During exercise, heart rate emerged as the primary recipient of information, whereas (blood oxygen) served as the main disseminator. Hypoxia led to the engagement of (blood oxygen) as a hub in the network.”

“Sleep deprivation was associated with a shift in the flow of information between the nodes during hypoxia,” they wrote.

Published – July 10, 2025 04:54 pm IST

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July 10, 2025
Lipoprotein Exposure Before 40 Predicts Future Heart Risk
TOPLINE:

For adults younger than 40 years, higher cumulative exposure to atherogenic lipoprotein particles — apolipoprotein B, low-density lipoprotein particles, and triglyceride-rich lipoprotein particles — was associated with a significant increase in the risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) after 40 years of age.

METHODOLOGY:

Researchers analyzed prospective data from a population-based cohort study of US adults (n = 5115; 55% women) to examine whether exposure to atherogenic lipoprotein particles during early adulthood was linked to ASCVD in midlife.

They evaluated the levels of atherogenic lipoprotein particles — apolipoprotein B, low-density lipoprotein particles, and triglyceride-rich lipoprotein particles — in 4366 participants aged 18-40 years to calculate the cumulative exposure over 22 years.

ASCVD events — fatal and nonfatal myocardial infarction and stroke — occurring after age 40 were tracked over a mean follow-up of 19.3 years.

TAKEAWAY:

Each SD increase in cumulative exposure to atherogenic lipoprotein particles was associated with a 28%-30% higher risk for ASCVD after age 40; adjusted hazard ratios were 1.30 (95% CI, 1.15-1.46) for apolipoprotein B, 1.28 (95% CI, 1.13-1.44) for low-density lipoprotein particles, and 1.28 (95% CI, 1.13-1.45) for triglyceride-rich lipoprotein particles.

The risk for ASCVD increased notably when usual exposure exceeded 75 mg/dL/y for apolipoprotein B, 1000 nmol/L/y for low-density lipoprotein particles, and 135 nmol/L/y for triglyceride-rich lipoprotein particles.

The risk for ASCVD after age 40 was generally linear when each atherogenic lipoprotein particle was examined separately.

IN PRACTICE:

“Data presented from the current analysis from one US-based cohort study of young adults offer potential clinical thresholds, rather than definitive cutoff values for clinical practice,” the researchers of the study noted.

“While clinical validation is needed, these values could serve as reasonable targets for untreated young adults, and achieving them may require both individual-level interventions — such as lifestyle modification and pharmacotherapy — as well as policy-level strategies, including subsidies for nutritious foods and public health initiatives to promote physical activity,” they added.

SOURCE:

This study was led by Alexander R. Zheutlin, MD, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago. It was published online on July 4, 2025, in the European Heart Journal.

LIMITATIONS:

Many clinical practices lacked the ability to measure specific subfractions of lipoprotein particles. Children were not included in this study, despite evidence of childhood exposure to lipid particles predicting heart disease risk in adult life. This study was not sufficiently powered to stratify risks based on race and gender.

DISCLOSURES:

The original cohort study was supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute in collaboration with the University of Alabama, Northwestern University, University of Minnesota, and Kaiser Foundation Research Institute. One author reported receiving funding from the National Institutes of Health and personal fees from 3M.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.
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July 10, 2025
Portable Ultrasound Helmet Scans Brain While You Walk

The skull is so effective at protecting the brain that it has impeded the progress of neuroscience.

In particular: A nice, thick skull poses challenges for imaging the brain in natural environments or while a person is moving.

Meanwhile, with the recent advent of ultrafast ultrasound, the possibility of studying and monitoring real-time microvascular brain activity poses a novel opportunity for neuroscientists, from better understanding dementia to increased accuracy during neurosurgery to revolutionizing treatment for comatose patients.

Now, a team of Dutch researchers has shown that a mobile ultrafast ultrasound scanner — functional ultrasound imaging (fUSi) — affixed inside a three-dimensional printed helmet can image brain activity in a patient pushing a cart while walking and performing everyday tasks in an everyday environment (it was not wireless — they used a 100-m-long extension cord).

“We’ve basically shown that functional ultrasound imaging is a technique that can be a high-resolution mobile brain scanner for the research side, and if you’re looking from a medical side, I would say that now the brain is not a black box anymore,” said Sadaf Soloukey, MD, PhD, neurosurgical resident at Erasmus MC in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and lead author of the paper published recently in Science Advances. “We now with ultrasound have the possibility to see directly in real time inside the brain.”

How They Made It Work

The study involved two patients with artificial skull implants and included sensory, motor, and multitasking experiments generating reproducible data over 21 months. One of the patients died partway through the study due to tumor regrowth, despite being tumor progression-free for multiple years. Both patients had PEEK implants; the second patient’s implant was placed following a high-velocity trauma.

The skull implants are key for the acoustic requirements of ultrasound. That’s less limiting than one may think because these are the patients researchers want to study anyway, said Charles Liu, MD, PhD, a professor of neurological surgery and director of the University of Southern California Neurorestoration Center in Los Angeles.

“They’re a natural patient population,” said Liu, who wasn’t involved in the study but published a 2024 paper in Science Translational Medicine that also used fUSi to visualize brain activity during video game and guitar playing by an individual with a skull implant.

Liu recalled that when the researcher Mickael Tanter, PhD, and his team in France first published on the topic of ultrafast ultrasound, people were skeptical.

The potential for fUSi is apparent “when another group publishes something that essentially corroborates what you said in relatively short order in another big journal,” Liu said.

Why Ultrafast Ultrasound Is so Promising

One reason: Ultrafast ultrasound can record 10,000 frames per second.

“That allows you to separate the tiny blood flow in the brain from the motion of the brain,” explained Pieter Kruizinga, PhD, an imaging physicist and co-author of the Science Advances paper. “The tiny blood flow in the small vessels is responsible for neurovascular coupling, so you really need this ultrasound on steroids. It’s the workhorse in our lab to look at brain perfusion, basically. And the frequencies we use, they don’t penetrate through the skull. Why you see a child in a womb so nicely is because you have this water, and then it hits the skull, and you get all these nice signals from it. But to penetrate through the skull is very difficult.”

Pieter Kruizinga, PhD

Liu noted that there is some early research examining ways to overcome the skull challenge, such as some coming out of the French lab led by Tanter using nanobubbles as a contrast agent. New fUSi technology would also be ideal for working with people who have implanted neuromodulation devices such as deep brain stimulators, Liu said. His own upcoming research involves imaging the spinal cord during the filling and emptying of the human bladder.

Charles Liu, MD, PhD

Brain surgery applications of fUSi are also on the horizon. Presurgical functional MRI (fMRI) is usually used as a map by neurosurgeons heading into surgery, and once underway, they move to relying on cortical stimulation to make decisions.

During surgery, the fMRI map is often “no longer relevant because things shift; the brain can swell out or drop in, and even as your surgery is progressing, things can move. Sometimes when I’m taking out a tumor, different parts might collapse,” said Richard G. Everson, MD, an assistant professor of neurosurgery at UCLA. “Having a portable, repeatable system that we can operate in a handheld manner like an ultrasound would be a really great instrument to have. I think the writing is on the wall that this will and can work, but it’s certainly not at any sort of level of being clinically ready.”

Richard G. Everson, MD

Everson’s team has already been using fUSi outside of the operating room to evaluate patients who have had surgery to remove part of the skull for a variety of reasons.

Also Needed: More Processing Speed

The next key steps for fUSi to come to the operating room are for data processing technology to allow for real-time information and benchmarking, he said, because “if it takes an hour to analyze the data, that’s no good because the surgery’s already over.”

Following brain surgery, there are limited techniques to monitor what’s happening in the brain.

“So we have, unfortunately, a lot of patients in the ICU after trauma that are waiting often to show whether or not they will wake up,” Soloukey said, and many of them have had a hemicraniectomy like the main patient in her team’s study.

Sadaf Soloukey, MD, PhD

In 2020, her team published a paper demonstrating the use of fUSi during awake brain surgery.

Future research could examine “If there are some functional networks that are, let’s say, a good signature of someone waking up with a coma, then it might be easier not only to monitor their progress but to predict how they might wake up,” Soloukey said. “And this is, of course, something that’s very, very difficult. It’s a sensitive topic. I know that the US and Europe also think differently about these subjects. But I think it starts with understanding what happens in a coma and trying to make good tools that can predict a patient’s outcome. Functional ultrasound is a great bedside tool for that in the ICU context — because it could be bedside.”

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July 10, 2025
Early promise, home heartbreak and multiple comebacks – Nico Hulkenberg’s F1 journey to his first podium

Nico Hulkenberg achieved a fairytale result in the British Grand Prix by finally clinching his debut F1 podium, an accolade that had eluded him during his previous 238 race starts. It was perhaps made all the sweeter by the fact that the journey to this milestone has been far from straightforward for the German driver, whose path has been filled with highs and lows since his debut some 15 years ago…

From Williams debut to return with Force India

After an impressive rise through the junior ranks – culminating in winning the GP2 title in 2009 – Hulkenberg was promoted to Formula 1 in 2010, making his debut for Williams at the age of 22. Amid mixed fortunes throughout the campaign, the highlight for Hulkenberg came when he grabbed a surprise pole position at the penultimate round in Brazil.

Despite this, the rookie was replaced by Pastor Maldonado in 2011. Left without a seat on the grid, Hulkenberg became a test driver for Force India before making his full-time return with the team in 2012.

After a one-year stint with Sauber in 2013, Hulkenberg rejoined Force India one year later and continued to race for the outfit through to the end of 2016. Throughout it all, his best result was a P4 finish achieved on three occasions.

But the German racer gave motorsport fans an additional reminder of his talent by winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Porsche during a weekend off from F1 in 2015, making him one of a select number of Formula 1 drivers to triumph in the iconic endurance race.

Switch to Renault and second exit from F1

In 2017 Hulkenberg made the switch to Renault, at a time when the Enstone-based squad looked to be on an upward trajectory. The 2018 campaign started to deliver on that promise, with the outfit climbing to fourth in the Teams’ Championship while Hulkenberg finished a career-best P7 in the Drivers’.

The 2019 season proved to be a tougher one. A maiden podium looked to potentially be on the cards for Hulkenberg in front of his home fans at the German Grand Prix – the Renault driver having at one stage been running in P2 – but, amid mixed conditions, he crashed out of fourth place, an incident that he admitted was “hard to swallow” at the time.

At the end of the year, Hulkenberg faced his second exit from F1 after being replaced at the team by Esteban Ocon – but, once again, the man from Emmerich am Rhein would find a way back onto the grid…

‘Hulkenback’ leads to full-time comeback

Whilst on the sidelines in 2020 – during a shortened Formula 1 season owing to the COVID-19 pandemic – Hulkenberg was called upon to replace Sergio Perez at Racing Point for the British Grand Prix due to the Mexican testing positive for the virus.

After a solid Qualifying, Hulkenberg was unable to start the race owing to a technical problem on the car – but one week later at the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix, the German driver impressively put the Racing Point machine in third on the grid and then scored points with a P7 finish.

He took home more points after substituting for an unwell Lance Stroll later in the season at the Nurburgring – and, while his services were not required in 2021, there were two more ‘Hulkenback’ appearances in 2022, this time to replace a COVID-positive Sebastian Vettel for two races at Aston Martin.

All of this was enough to earn Hulkenberg a third full-time stint in F1 as he signed to Haas for 2023. Partnered with foe-turned-friend Kevin Magnussen, the veteran driver’s experience and consistency helped the American outfit to take steps forward, with a P7 in the 2024 Teams’ Championship being their strongest finish since 2018.

Podium dream realised with Kick Sauber

Hulkenberg’s performance at Haas again caught the eye of others in the paddock – including Kick Sauber, who agreed a deal with the German for 2025 ahead of the team’s transition into Audi in 2026.

It was not the easiest start to the campaign for the squad – with a long point-less run between Rounds 2 and 8 – but Hulkenberg again displayed his consistency by embarking on a string of top-10 finishes from Round 9 in Spain onwards.

There was joy for the team when both Hulkenberg and rookie team mate Gabriel Bortoleto scored in Austria – but just one week later at Silverstone, the prospects of achieving this again seemed slim when a tough Qualifying saw Bortoleto start in P16 while Hulkenberg was down in P19.

However, that all changed in dramatic fashion on race day. Amid changing weather conditions, Hulkenberg made his way through the field and managed to fend off a chasing Lewis Hamilton to hold onto P3, finally clinching his first F1 podium on his 239th start.

The 37-year-old has now well and truly ridded himself of that infamous statistic of being the most experienced driver to have never stood on the rostrum – that dubious honour now falling to his fellow German Adrian Sutil, on 128 Grand Prix starts.

Speaking after the race, Hulkenberg summed up his journey to this point as he reflected with a smile on his face: “It’s been a long time coming, hasn’t it? I always knew we have it in us, and I have it in me somewhere.”

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July 10, 2025
King Charles schedules ‘secret high-level’ talks on Archie, Lilibet future

King Charles schedules ‘secret high-level’ talks on Archie, Lilibet future

King Charles is set to make an important decision about his grandchildren, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, as the monarch calls for a high-level meeting.

The monarch, who is well-aware of the training his heir Prince William and Kate Middleton are getting for their destined role, wants to make sure that he is involved in one of the most crucial decision about the future of the monarchy.

While the doting grandfather has not yet met the children of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle since their exit in 2020, the King still yearns to have a relationship with them. However, the doting grandfather will be putting aside his emotions for the upcoming meeting to finally decide a direction for the future.

Senior members of the royal family are expected to gather for the annual Balmoral summit at to mark the end of the summer. According to sources cited by Closer Magazine, a major royal meeting is scheduled for August.

Insiders revealed that it will “feature secret high-level talks about the future of the monarchy” and especially the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

Meghan’s new lifestyle brand, As Ever, has seemed to cause quite a stir behind Palace walls as especially with her brother-in-law, William. The Prince of Wales is not happy how freely the Sussexes are using their royal titles despite having an agreement at the Sandringham Summit in 2020 about not using them.

“Harry and Meghan will be the main focal point of discussion at the summit, and Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet’s future will be looked at,” the source added.

“The future of the Wales children will also be on the agenda, as well as Kate’s position – and even Princess Eugenie and Beatrice’s ever-developing roles.”

Despite the ongoing royal rift, reports recently surfaced that the King has featured the Sussexes “at the heart” of his funeral plans. It also indicated that Archie and Lilibet would be having key roles.

This was reportedly a final attempt at reconciliation with his estranged son. However, it remains to be seen if those plans will see any change.

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July 10, 2025
Lunar Astronauts Could Eat “Moon Rice”

Astronauts on future missions won’t be surviving on freeze-dried meals and protein bars. Instead, they might be harvesting fresh rice from compact plants just 10 centimetres tall, engineered specifically for life beyond Earth. The revolutionary ‘Moon Rice’ project is developing the perfect crop for sustained space habitation, combining cutting edge genetics with the practical needs of deep space exploration.

The challenge is enormous. Current space exploration relies heavily on pre-prepared, expensive meals shipped from Earth that are nutritionally limited and psychologically unsatisfying. As we prepare for permanent bases on the Moon and Mars, astronauts will need fresh food rich in vitamins, antioxidants, and fibre to counteract the negative health effects of the space environment.

“Living in space is all about recycling resources and living sustainably, we are trying to solve the same problems that we face here on Earth.” – Marta Del Bianco, a plant biologist at the Italian Space Agency leading the project.

The four-year collaborative effort involves three Italian universities, each contributing specialised expertise to create an entirely new type of crop. Their biggest obstacle though is size. Even dwarf varieties of rice grown on Earth are too large for space habitats where every cubic centimetre matters. Traditional dwarf crops achieve their compact size by manipulating gibberellin, a plant hormone that reduces height but creates problems with seed germination and productivity.

The University of Milan is tackling this challenge by isolating mutant rice varieties that grow to just 10 centimetres high, roughly the height of a typical smartphone. Meanwhile, researchers at the University of Rome are identifying genes that alter plant architecture to maximise production efficiency in minimal space. The University of Naples contributes expertise in space crop production, building on decades of research into growing plants in controlled environments.

Astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor harvests red Russian kale and dragoon lettuce on board the International Space Station where food growing experiments have been a key activity for astronauts during their stay. (Credit : NASA/ESA/Alexander Gerst)

Since meat production will be impractical in resource limited space habitats, the team is also engineering the rice to be more nutritionally complete. They’re increasing the protein content by boosting the ratio of protein rich embryo to starch, potentially making this tiny rice a more complete food source for astronauts.

The team are focussing their attention to try and resolve one of space’s most unique challenges: plant growth in microgravity. On Earth, plants use gravity to orient themselves, knowing which way is up and down. In space, this natural compass disappears. To enable their research, the team simulate microgravity by continuously rotating the plants. Gravity then pulls equally in all directions so that each side gets activated continuously and it doesn’t know where up and down is.

The psychological benefits of fresh food extend far beyond nutrition. Many humans get a great psychological benefit in watching and guiding plants to grow. The pre-cooked, often mushy food presented to astronauts can be fine for short periods but it could become a serious concern for longer duration missions. The stress-reducing effects of gardening and fresh food could be crucial for maintaining astronaut mental health during years-long missions to Mars.

Astronauts on trips to Mars will need more nutritional and psychologically satisfying food. (Credit : Kavin Gill)

Nine months into the project, preliminary results are promising. The researchers are successfully creating rice varieties that could transform how we think about food production in extreme environments. Whether feeding astronauts on Mars or communities in Earth’s harshest regions, these super dwarf, nutrient rich crops represent a future where fresh food isn’t limited by location, even if that location is another planet.

Source : Lunar Astronauts Could Eat “Moon Rice”

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July 10, 2025
Dolf and Webb start, Roos moves closer to the action

De Bruin opted to move both Byrhandrѐ Dolf and Eloise Webb from the bench into the starting team, with Dolf, who hails from Uitenhage, starting at fullback and Webb, a Nelson Mandela University alumnus from East London, running out at flyhalf for the clash.

Two more players familiar with the roads around Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium – Aseza Hele, from Kwadwesi Extension, and Sanelisiwe Charlie, who was schooled at Ndzondelelo High School in Zwide – were retained in the starting team that lost 50-20 in Pretoria last Saturday.

Meanwhile, Nadine Roos has been moved from fullback to scrumhalf in a move that will see her much closer to the action.

Libbie Janse van Rensburg, who started at flyhalf in Pretoria, will slot in at inside centre, with Chumisa Qawe dropping to the bench.

De Bruin and his coaching staff also swopped Catha Jacobs and Sinazo Mcatshulwa, with Jacobs starting at flanker and Mcatshulwa finishing this time around.

The tight five remains the same, but on the bench, Azisa Mkiva will get some game time ahead of Nombuyekezo Mdliki, and scrumhalf Unam Tose will get an opportunity off the bench, with Tayla Kinsey missing out.

Eloise Webb will pull the strings at flyhalf for the Bok Women in the second Test against Canada.

“We are still looking at combinations, managing game time and keeping the players honest with these changes,” De Bruin explained.

“These two Test matches against Canada and the two encounters against the Black Ferns XV at the end of the month were requested to provide high calibre opposition and for our squad to experience the pressures of playing the top players in the world.

“We got good pictures out of the first Test and this weekend here in Gqeberha, we know we will learn more. The focus is solely on us and trying out new combinations this weekend is all part of the broader picture.

“Ten of our players have Eastern Cape roots, which also tells you about the love for women’s rugby in this region and we hope that our performances on Saturday will give the local support something to cheer about. We had a good week and are looking forward to this second match against Canada, who will even be better than last weekend.”

Webb and Roos will run out for their first Test appearances in their respective positions, but De Bruin said there is no risk in starting with a new halfback combination.

“They are both excellent players and I am expecting that axis to work well for us,” he said.

“We have this opportunity now to try new things, so want to use those before the Rugby World Cup starts. We have also tweaked some tactical plays, and I can honestly say that I am very, very excited about the weekend.”

The Test kicks off at 13h30 on Saturday and will be broadcast live on SuperSport.

Springbok Women team to face Canada in Gqeberha:

15 Byrhandré Dolf (Bulls Daisies) – 21 caps, 37 points (7 tries, 1 conversion)
14 Jakkie Cilliers (Bulls Daisies) – 18 caps, 71 points (4 tries, 21 conversions, 3 penalty goals)
13 Zintle Mpupha (Bulls Daisies) – 25 caps, 106 points (20 tries, 3 conversions)
12 Libbie Janse van Rensburg (Bulls Daisies) – 26 caps, 209 points (12 tries, 55 conversions, 12 penalties, 1 drop goal)
11 Ayanda Malinga (Bulls Daisies) – 12 caps, 60 points (12 tries)
10 Eloise Webb (Border Ladies) – 16 caps, 30 points (6 tries)
9 Nadine Roos (Springbok Women’s Sevens) – 17 caps, 35 points (5 tries, 5 conversions)

8 Aseza Hele (Sanlam Boland Dames) – 27 caps, 65 points (13 tries)
7 Catha Jacobs (unattached) – 21 caps, 5 points (1 try)
6 Sizophila Solontsi (Bulls Daisies)- 27 caps, 45 points (9 tries)
5 Danelle Lochner (Harlequins Women) – 18 caps, 10 points (2 tries)
4 Nolusindiso Booi (captain, DHL Western Province) – 51 caps, 5 points (1 try)
3 Babalwa Latsha (unattached) – 35 caps, 30 points (6 tries)
2 Micke Gunter (Bulls Daisies) – 12 caps, 5 points (1 try)
1 Sanelisiwe Charlie (Bulls Daisies) – 25 caps, 10 points (2 tries)

Replacements:

16 Luchell Hanekom (DHL Western Province) – 8 caps, 0 points
17 Yonela Ngxingolo (Bulls Daisies) – 34 caps, 15 points (3 tries)
18 Azisa Mkiva (DHL Western Province) – 13 caps, 0 points
19 Nomsa Mokwai (DHL Western Province) –12 caps, 0 points
20 Sinazo Mcatshulwa (unattached) – 37 caps, 55 points (11 tries)
21 Lerato Makua (Bulls Daisies) – 14 caps, 15 points (3 tries)
22 Unam Tose (Bulls Daisies)- 26 caps, 12 points (2 tries, 1 conversion)
23 Chumisa Qawe (Bulls Daisies) – 21 caps, 20 points (4 tries)

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July 10, 2025
Gaza doctors cram babies into incubators as fuel shortage threatens hospitals

What to know as Yemen’s Houthi rebels launch new, more violent attacks on ships in the Red Sea

DUBAI: In just days, Yemen’s Houthi rebels have begun a new, more violent campaign of attacks targeting ships in the Red Sea, sinking two of them and killing some of their crew.

The assaults represent the latest chapter of the rebels’ campaign against shipping over the Israel-Hamas war. They also come as Yemen’s nearly decadelong war drags on in the Arab world’s poorest country, without any sign of stopping.

Here’s what to know about the Houthis, Yemen and their ongoing attacks.

Rebels involved in years of fighting

The Houthis are members of Islam’s minority Shiite Zaydi sect, which ruled Yemen for 1,000 years until 1962. They battled Yemen’s central government for years before sweeping down from their northern stronghold in Yemen and seizing the capital, Sanaa, in 2014. That launched a grinding war still technically being waged in the country today. A Saudi-led coalition intervened in 2015 to try to restore Yemen’s exiled, internationally recognized government to power.

Years of bloody, inconclusive fighting against the Saudi-led coalition settled into a stalemated proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, causing widespread hunger and misery in Yemen, the Arab world’s poorest country. The war has killed more than 150,000 people, including fighters and civilians, and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters, killing tens of thousands more.

A ceasefire that technically ended in October 2022 is still largely being honored. Saudi Arabia and the rebels have done some prisoner swaps, and a Houthi delegation was invited to high-level peace talks in Riyadh in September 2023 as part of a wider détente the kingdom has reached with Iran. While they reported “positive results,” there is still no permanent peace.

Houthis supported by Tehran while raising own profile

Iran long has backed the Houthis. Tehran routinely denies arming the rebels, despite physical evidence, numerous seizures and experts tying the weapons back to Iran. That’s likely because Tehran wants to avoid sanctions for violating a United Nations arms embargo on the Houthis.

The Houthis now form the strongest group within Iran’s self-described “Axis of Resistance.” Others like Lebanon’s Hezbollah and the Palestinian militant group Hamas have been decimated by Israel after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas that sparked Israel’s war of attrition in the Gaza Strip.

Iran also is reeling after Israel launched a 12-day war against the country and the US struck Iranian nuclear sites.

The Houthis also have seen their regional profile raise as they have attacked Israel, as many in the Arab world remain incensed by the suffering Palestinians in the Gaza Strip face.

Houthis attack ships over Israel-Hamas war

The Houthis have been launching missile and drone attacks against commercial and military ships in the region in what the group’s leadership has described as an effort to end Israel’s offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Between November 2023 and December 2024, the Houthis targeted more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two and killing four sailors. Their campaign has greatly reduced the flow of trade through the Red Sea corridor, which typically sees $1 trillion of goods move through it annually.

The last Houthi attack, targeting US warships escorting commercial ships, happened in early December. A ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war began in January and held until March. The US then launched a broad assault against the rebels that ended weeks later when Trump said the rebels pledged to stop attacking ships.

Since then, the Houthis have continued occasional missile attacks targeting Israel, but they hadn’t attacked ships until this past weekend. Shipping through the Red Sea, while still lower than normal, had increased in recent weeks.

New attacks raise level of violence and complexity

The attacks on the two ships, the Magic Seas and the Eternity C, represent a new level of violence being employed by the Houthis.

Experts have referred to the assaults as being complex in nature, involving armed rebels first racing out to the vessels in the Red Sea, firing small arms and rocket-propelled grenades. They then have used anti-ship missiles and both aerial and sea drones loaded with explosives to attack the ships.

This coordinated attack sank two vessels in just a matter of days, doubling the number of ships they have sunk. There also is a growing fear the attack on the Eternity C may have been the rebels’ deadliest at sea as crew members remain missing.

The attacks also signal that Israeli and American airstrikes have not stripped the rebels of their ability to launch attacks.

Commercial ships have few defense options

For the Houthis, attacking commercial ships remains far easier than targeting warships as those vessels don’t have air defense systems. Instead, some carry a few armed guards able to shoot at attackers or approaching drones. Downing a drone remains difficult and shooting down a missile is impossible with their weaponry.

Armed guards also typically are more trained for dealing with piracy and will spray fire hoses at approaching small boats or ring a bridge with cyclone wire to stop attackers from climbing aboard. The Houthis, however, have experience doing helicopter-borne assaults and likely could overwhelm a private security detail, which often is just a three-member team aboard a commercial vessel.

Resumed attacks have international and domestic motives

To hear it from the Houthis, the new attack campaign “represents a qualitative shift in the course of the open battle in support of Gaza.” Their SABA news agency said Israel commits “daily massacres against civilians in Gaza and relies on sea lanes to finance its aggression and maintain its siege.”

“This stance, which is not content with condemnation or statements, is also advancing with direct military action, in a clear effort to support the Palestinians on various fronts,” the rebels said.

However, the rebels stopped their attacks in late December as Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire. The Houthis formally suspended their attacks, though they said ships or companies calling on Israeli ports would remain possible targets.

The rebels also may have reconstituted their forces following the grinding American airstrikes that targeted them. They have not acknowledged their materiel losses from the attacks, though the US has said it dropped more than 2,000 munitions on more than 1,000 targets.

There likely is an international and domestic consideration, as well. Abroad, a new possible ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war — as well as the future of talks between the US and Iran over Tehran’s battered nuclear program — remain in the balance. The Houthis in the past have been a cudgel used by Tehran, though experts debate just how much influence Tehran wields in picking targets for the rebels.

At home, the Houthis have faced growing discontent over their rule as Yemen’s economy is in tatters and they have waged a campaign of detaining of UN officials and aid workers. Resuming their attacks can provide the Houthis something to show those at home to bolster their control.

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July 10, 2025