التصنيف: أخبار

Despite an international coalition providing a protective umbrella over the Red Sea – Op Prosperity Guardian – the Houthi attacks against merchant shipping continued.

Shortly before midnight on Thursday, the US and UK launched a wave of attacks on 60 Houthi military targets using over 100 guided munitions, predominantly Tomahawk cruise missiles.

The UK contribution to the strike package was four Typhoon fighter jets.

Although cruise missiles can be launched from hundreds of miles away from their targets, once launched they can take some time to reach them and, while en route, the ground situation can change.

Fighter missions place the pilots in harm’s way, but also enable a much shorter time-of-flight for the weapon, and thus a more dynamic assessment to be made of the threat and potential collateral damage.

So, what is involved in mounting a Typhoon attack mission?

From the moment that the Houthis started attacking Red Sea merchant shipping on 19 November, US and UK forces would have been developing a suitable list of military targets and options.

Satellite imagery and routine intelligence gathering would have identified command and control nodes, radars, weapon storage areas and missile launch sites, plus established “pattern of life” around potential targets to assess the risks of collateral damage.

Diplomatic options ‘exhausted’

Once the two countries’ political leadership had exhausted diplomatic options, they would have outlined what they wanted any military action to achieve, and be briefed on options.

The political objective was to avoid further escalation, demonstrate resolve, and degrade the Houthis’ capability to attack shipping, but limit collateral damage.

The US appears to have identified a window of opportunity to conduct strikes – overnight to limit the number of casualties – and the UK PM approved the military action.

The Typhoon capability already deployed to Cyprus would have received their tasking several hours before launch, prompting an intense period of planning and preparation.

Pilots planning routes, weapons specialists matching weapons to targets – size of bomb, fusing, guidance required – and deciding which pilots would be selected for the mission.

In addition, the whole squadron would have been focused on preparing the four aircraft, refuelling, and arming, servicing and downloading vital software – a team effort.

But Cyprus is a long way from the target area – a round trip of more than 3,000 miles. Two air-to-air refuelling tankers (Voyager) would also be required to refuel the Typhoons both before entering Yemeni airspace, and also to provide the vital top-up to get the jets home again.

Planning these sorties takes time, co-ordination and patience.

Working back from the planned Time on Target – co-ordinated with the US strikes occurring simultaneously – the pilots would identify where the tanker needed to be, and when, and with how much fuel, for both ingress and egress.

The pilots can then work out their departure time from Cyprus, before which they need to conduct pre-flight briefings, get kitted out in flight gear, walk to jets leaving time to race for the spare jet if the primary fails to start – and getting briefed on the recovery plan should the pilot get shot down over Yemen.

Jets ‘bristling with arms’

Walking out to the jets focuses the mind – seeing the Typhoon jet bristling with live missiles and explosive munitions is a stark reminder that this is no training mission.

Finding the refuelling tanker can often be a challenge – especially if the weather is less than fair – but plugging in at over 20,000 ft (6,100m) and seeing the fuel gauge read full again, it’s time to depart the sanctuary of international airspace and plot a course to the target.

Defensive aids on, chaff and flares ready, watching for any signs that enemy radars are tracking you.

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Handheld Houthi missiles and bullets are a threat, but flying above 10,000 ft (3,000m) limits their effectiveness.

Approaching the target, the adrenalin is surging, and pilots must avoid getting distracted by other US munitions impacting their targets.

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A second rendezvous with the tanker to fill up again, and then the long flight back home.

Land, sign in the jet, get out of the immersion suit, g-suit and other flying kit, go to the bathroom, rehydrate, then prepare for an hour-long debrief.

And for the ground crew, armourers, suppliers and support staff, the work starts all over again.

A simple headline like “UK Typhoons strike Houthi targets”, requires an immense effort behind the scenes, and it’s a superb example of British experience, professionalism, and teamwork.

There was pride and patriotism in Taipei on the last day of campaigning in an election that could shake the world.

Before the polls opened on Saturday, thousands gathered at the ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) final rally, waving flags and screaming along to songs.

Some jumped up and down with excitement – one young man with a pride banner openly wept.

Lai Ching-te is the DPP candidate and the person most likely to win.

His party was formed from a protest movement, but now stands squarely behind one key message: standing up to China.

Election season in Taiwan is always about so much more than just domestic policy, it is about people asking themselves who they are, how they identify and how they feel about their powerful neighbour.

In his speech, Mr Lai invoked former instances when China fired missiles at the island.

“I gave up my well-paid job and decided to follow the footsteps of our elders in democracy,” he said.

Indeed, he is framing this whole election as a choice between democracy and autocracy.

That message has clearly landed with the people we spoke to here, most were unequivocal about what their motivations are.

“China wants to take over Taiwan,” one woman told us. “This election is about freedom, democracy and human rights.”

Choice between ‘war and peace’

Of course, China sees DPP supporters as separatists and sees Taiwan as a breakaway province that will soon be reunified, if necessary by force.

That context weighs heavily on voters.

Indeed, cross-strait relations have plummeted in recent years and China has described the vote as a choice between “war and peace”.

The opposition candidate Hou Yu-ih has used a similar framing, he wants greater dialogue with the mainland.

His supporters are equally passionate, albeit with a slightly older average age, many of them want to talk about peace.

“I feel like the DPP has been causing chaos,” one woman told us. “It seems like they want the mainland to attack us.”

But Mr Hou has also been criticised for lacking a long-term strategy, when I asked him directly if he believes the status quo could last forever he evaded the question,

“The current situation under the DPP, is no longer the status quo,” he said.

“It’s gradually shifted, due to the confrontation between the two sides, we are on the brink of war.”

A three-horse race?

There is a third force in this vote, a new party, the TPP, led by a man called Ko Wen-je.

He’s been attracting a lot of younger voters with his focus on domestic issues as hundreds queued round the streets to see him.

His party could yet disrupt things.

Read more:
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Disinformation could prove most destructive

But potentially the most disruptive force this time round is election interference with major concerns about the amount of disinformation flooding Taiwanese social media.

At a small firm called the Doublethink Lab, they are tracking the videos as they appear, trying to detect where they are from and how they are amplifying.

A lot are accusing Lai of things like extramarital affairs. Many of them are AI-generated and have clear signs they are coming from China.

“Foreign actors, they have almost unlimited resources and they have a clear goal to influence our own election. It’s an imbalanced fight,” Doublethink’s chief executive tells us.

It’s unclear how China will react to the vote, it has remained relatively quiet this week.

Taiwan is one of the most progressive places in Asia, but its politics remain some of the most complicated and some of the most high stakes.

An innocent man who spent 35 years in prison after being wrongly convicted of sexually assaulting a school girl has been awarded more than £1m in compensation.

Louis Wright, now 65, was released earlier this month after DNA tests ruled him out as the perpetrator of the 1988 attack on the 11-year-old girl in Albion, Michigan.

Mr Wright became the prime suspect after an off-duty officer said he had seen him in the neighbourhood five hours earlier.

Police claimed he had confessed – but the interview was not recorded and he did not sign a confession, according to the Cooley Law School Innocence Project, which represented Mr Wright.

No identification procedures were conducted by police and the victim was never asked to identify Mr Wright, said the independent, non-profit law school, which has helped to free nine innocent people.

Mr Wright eventually pleaded no-contest to the charges and was jailed for between 25 and 50 years.

A request to withdraw his plea at sentencing was denied.

But he was exonerated after DNA analysis established he was not responsible for the attack on the girl in September.

People who are exonerated based on new evidence are eligible for $50,000 (£39,000) for every year spent in a Michigan prison.

The attorney general’s office sometimes resists making payment – but quickly agreed to compensate Mr Wright.

He was awarded $1.75m (£1.37m) in a deal approved by a judge on Wednesday.

‘Nothing can make up for 35 years in prison’

Mr Wright told the AP news agency that he would probably use some of the money for a house and a vehicle for his sister, Darlene Hall.

His lawyer, Wolf Mueller, said in a statement: “Nothing can make up for 35 years in a Michigan prison for something he did not do.

“This is the first step toward getting Louis’s life back at the age of 65.”

Mr Wright was eligible for parole consideration on several occasions, starting in 2008.

But he refused to take a sex offender therapy class – a key condition for his release – and remained in prison until he was cleared by the DNA evidence.

Mr Mueller added: “[Mr Wright] said, ‘I didn’t do this crime. I’m not taking a therapy class’.

“He cost himself several years, just standing on principle.

“Not a lot of guys would do that.”

Read more:

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But Mr Wright insisted he knew he would be cleared by the DNA evidence.

“I spent the last couple (of) months in prison with a smile on my face. Everyone thought I had something up my sleeve,” he said.

He has since been enjoying spending time with family and simple activities such as playing pool.

The Calhoun County prosecutor has now committed to reopening the investigation in a bid to establish the identity of the person responsible for the attack.