NEW DELHI: Four Indian nationals were reported to have died on Sunday in an attack on a commercial vessel – MV Golden Leo – while it was departing the port of Odesa in Ukraine. At the time of the incident, there were 17 crew members on board, including 5 Indian nationals, according to the Indian govt.India condemned the attack, reiterating that targeting commercial shipping and endangering the lives of civilian crew members, or otherwise impeding freedom of navigation and commerce, is deplorable and must be avoided.Houthis declare naval blockade on Saudi… emen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said on Monday they were imposing a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, a move that opens a new front against the US in its war on Iran and widens the threat to global energy supplies and trade beyond the Gulf. The Houthis did not say how they planned to impose the embargo.Iran had pressed the Houthis to close the Bab el-Mandeb gateway to the Red Sea if the US continued to attack Iranian power infrastructure.In their statement, the Houthis’ armed forces said they were declaring “a maritime embargo against the criminal Saudi enemy, based on the equation of ‘an eye for an eye’, effective immediately…” They said the decision was in response to what they called “an unjust and oppressive siege” imposed on Yemen by the Saudis.There was no immediate response from Saudi Arabia.The full closure of the Bab el-Mandeb strait would reduce global oil supply by 7% as it would leave most of Saudi oil exports unable to leave the region. The disruption would add to the massive cut to global oil flows from the war in the Gulf, which has already reduced shipments by 10% of global supply.“The question now is whether they will begin targeting vessels heading to Saudi ports. At this stage, there’s no clear answer,” said Mohammed Albasha, a Yemeni analyst and founder of Basha Report, a Washington-based risk advisory firm. “Even if no ships are attacked, the announcement alone is likely to disrupt shipping and create uncertainty for Saudi ports. Whether the Houthis move from threats to direct action remains the critical issue,” he said.Saudi Arabia and the Houthis traded fire last week for the first time in years, threatening a 2022 truce that has held despite expiring. The exchange of fire was set off when an Iranian plane arriving from Tehran attempted to land in Sanaa, challenging Saudi Arabia’s hegemony over Yemeni skies.The Houthis have previously tried to cut off shipping through the Red Sea. They previously launched drone and missile attacks on ships transiting the strategic waterway beginning in Nov 2023 during the Gaza war, forcing vessels to take lengthy detours around Africa instead of travelling directly from Europe. Yemen shares a border and coastline with Saudi Arabia, whose Red Sea port of Yanbu has been crucial for exporting oil, bypassing Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz during. agencies