Shipping firms are responding to strikes by UK and US aircraft on Houthi positions.

A spokesperson for the German company Hapag Lloyd says they "welcome measures that make the passage through the Red Sea safe again", according to Reuters.

Danish shipping giant Maersk says it hopes increased security will lead to maritime commerce to transit through the Red Sea again, quoted by Reuters.

Earlier, Maersk told the BBC that "significant disruption" to global trade was already being felt "down to the end consumer".

Prior to the military strikes, Maersk chief executive Vincent Clerc had called for a "stronger mobilisation" to repel the attacks, which he said would lead to higher prices for customers.

Image source, .

The Houthis say five of their members were killed and six others injured in the US-UK military action.

Military spokesman Yahya Saree says there were 73 US-UK strikes in total.

Speaking in a TV broadcast, he labelled the overnight attacks a "blatant act of aggression".

Image source, EPA

James Landale
BBC diplomatic correspondent with the Prime Minister in Ukraine

Rishi Sunak may be travelling in Ukraine but he is accompanied by his most senior military and diplomatic advisers and is being kept closely informed about the events in the Middle East.

With him is Gwyn Jenkins, Vice Chief of the Defence Staff, the UK’s second most senior military officer.

Also travelling with him is Sir Tim Barrow, the National Security Adviser, and other foreign policy officials.

The Prime Minister consulted his Cabinet ministers about the strikes last night while he began his journey to Ukraine.

And throughout the trip the team with him have been receiving regular assessments of the impact of attacks on the Houthi targets in Yemen and the resulting global reaction.

Even with modern communications, it can be risky for leaders to conduct military action while on overseas trips.

But the Prime Minister judged it was worth taking the risk of continuing the visit to Ukraine.

Correction: A video published in this page at 01:20 GMT with the headline 'Strikes on Yemen cities aired on Houthi TV channel' has been removed. The footage, broadcast on Al-Masirah TV channel, purported to show the US and UK strikes overnight on Houthi targets in Yemen.

BBC Verify investigations have found this to be incorrect. The video shows an event in Yemen in September last year.

7 Oct - Hamas launches a series of attacks on Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking an estimated 240 others hostage. Israel retaliates by starting an offensive in Gaza, which Hamas-run authorities say has now killed more than 23,400 Palestinians

Oct - Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen declare their support for Hamas and say they will target any ship travelling to Israel.

19 Nov - the Houthis seize what they say is an Israeli cargo ship. Israel says the ship is not Israeli, and no Israelis are among its crew

More attacks on commercial vessels follow - with 26 ships targeted to date.

16 Dec - The world's largest shipping group Mediterranean Shipping Company announce they are stopping Red Sea routes due to the Houthi attacks, which continue through the month

9 Jan - UK warship HMS Diamond, along with US warships, successfully repels the largest attack from the Houthis in the Red Sea to date

10 Jan - UN Security Council passes a resolution demanding an immediate end to the Houthi attacks, and endorses the right of member states to defend their vessels

11 Jan - US and UK launch airstrikes against Houthi targets. The Houthis' deputy foreign minister warns US and UK will "pay a heavy price" for this "blatant aggression"

Image source, .

Sameer Hashmi
Middle East business correspondent, reporting from Dubai

Oil prices have jumped by more than 2% after the United States-led alliance launched strikes on the Houthis.

Brent, the benchmark for two-thirds of the world’s oil, was up by as much as 2.5%, inching towards the $80 mark, on fears that the conflict could expand into a broader regional conflagration.

The strikes came hours after Iran seized a tanker that was heading to Turkey off the coast of Oman on Thursday, further inflaming the situation.

The Gulf of Oman, where the tanker was seized, is very close to the Strait of Hormuz, which is one of the most important shipping routes for oil supplies.

More than 20 million barrels of oil moves through this narrow passage daily, which is equivalent to around a fifth of global consumption.

The attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis on ships in the Red Sea have disrupted trade and the flow of fuel in recent weeks.

The biggest risk for oil prices is if Iran is drawn directly into the conflict, which could threaten output and flows in a region that produces a third of the world’s crude.

Image source, .

Image source, EPA

Saudi Arabia, which has led an aerial bombing campaign against the Houthis since 2015, has called for "restraint and avoiding escalation" following the US and UK strikes.

The official Saudi Press Agency says the kingdom is watching the operation with "great concern".

The Saudis formed a coalition of Arab states to remove the Houthis and restore the Saudi-allied Yemeni government, which the Houthis had overthrown.

The Saudi-led bombing campaign has killed around 20,000 people, about half of them children, according to the UN.

Saudi Arabia is a key ally of the US and UK, who are the two biggest suppliers of arms to the kingdom.

Asked on BBC Breakfast about the justification for the strikes, UK Armed Forces Minister James Heappey insists they were "legitimate" and in self-defence.

"Whatever you think of the Houthis’ cause and their justification… we cannot allow them to seek to choke off global trade as a ransom to achieve whatever their political and diplomatic aims are," he says.

He says the need to defend supply chains is particularly important at a time when disruption from the pandemic and the war in Ukraine have caused inflation around the world.

Yolande Knell
Middle East correspondent, in Jerusalem

The Houthis, who control northern Yemen, have long chanted slogans calling for the destruction of Israel at their mass rallies, but in recent weeks they have directly confronted the country for the first time.

Soon after Israel’s military offensive in Gaza began, the Houthis began launching missiles and drones towards its Red Sea resort of Eilat.

Some were shot down by Israeli war planes and others by the Arrow missile-defence system.

This can intercept missiles out of the Earth’s atmosphere and was used operationally for the first time.

A Houthi spokesman also announced that any ship destined for Israel or with Israeli links was a “legitimate target”.

However, many commercial vessels that have been targeted appear to have no such connection.

Region braces for next steppublished at 08:27 Greenwich Mean Time 12 January

08:27 GMT 12 January

Frank Gardner
BBC security correspondent

Arab governments around the Middle East, many of them western allies, are watching closely to see what happens next following the US-led airstrikes.

Most dislike the Iranian-backed Houthis but they find themselves in an awkward position since the Houthis’ support for Hamas and professed defiance of Israel is proving popular with Arab populations.

One important country keeping its head down is Saudi Arabia. The Saudis entered into a disastrous civil war against the Houthis in Yemen in 2015, hoping to bomb them into submission and reverse their illegal takeover of much of the country.

It didn’t work and the Houthis’ resilience in the face of years of devastating airstrikes has encouraged them to defy western warnings and continue their attacks on Red Sea shipping.

Ideally, what nearly everyone wants now is for that to be the end of it, for no more attacks on shipping and no more need for airstrikes. But the Houthis have vowed to carry out more attacks and to ‘deal a painful blow’ against the US and UK in retaliation for last night.

Image source, .

Jonathan Beale
BBC defence correspondent

Image source, MOD/Crown Copyright/PA

The Four RAF Typhoons left their base at Akrotiri on Cyprus last night at around 19.30 local time. They were carrying Paveway IV, 500 lbs, guided bombs. The round trip of several thousand miles required refuelling from an RAF Voyager tanker – which accompanied them.

The jets reached their targets over Yemen at approximately 23.30 local time.

The Ministry of Defence says the Typhoons hit two separate locations being used by the Houthis to launch drones and missiles. A UK defence source described the mission as a success.

The four jets landed back at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus around 3.30 local time this morning – a mission which took them around 8 hours.

Neither of the two Royal Navy warships currently in the Red Sea were directly involved in the strikes – the air defence destroyer HMS Diamond and the frigate HMS Lancaster.

Unlike US warships in the region – which did take part in the strikes - the UK ships do not carry or fire land attack cruise missiles.

Iain Watson
Political correspondent

The Liberal Democrats, the SNP and Plaid Cymru have demanded that parliament is recalled to debate the air strikes in Yemen.

Leading figures on the Labour Left agree.

The former shadow Chancellor John McDonnell has warned that the UK and US action could set 'the region alight'.

But those MPs who want a vote are likely to be disappointed.

As the action has concluded, this is unlikely - though the Prime Minister is expected to give a statement to Parliament on Monday and will seek to reassure MPs that UK involvement was proportionate and legal.

UK Armed Forces Minister James Heappey tells BBC Breakfast that UK jets launched strikes on two Houthi targets in Yemen overnight, while US jets targeted a further 12.

He says the operation was "limited, proportionate and necessary" to defend war ships and shipping vessels in the Red Sea. He says no further strikes are currently planned.

"As ever, our nation’s armed forces and civil servants who work alongside them have excelled themselves in planning this mission," he says.

"There was plenty of risk in it and we should all be very proud of what they did last night."

Chris Mason
Political editor

Heading to one conflict, while briefing his cabinet about another.

Rishi Sunak was en route to Ukraine last night as he held a cabinet conference call to set out the UK’s imminent involvement in air strikes against the Houthis.

The UK’s involvement strategically, militarily and economically in these two global flashpoints is a reminder of the country’s capacity to project a sense of being a significant international player.

A reminder too of the choices prime ministers wrestle with.

Ongoing, expensive support for Kyiv in a slog of a war with profound geopolitical implications – and immediate economic consequences.

Direct involvement, alongside America, in airstrikes in Yemen is in itself a landmark moment in Rishi Sunak’s premiership – committing the UK to military action, with some opposition political voices demanding greater consultation.

There are risks associated with action. And risks associated with doing nothing.

Regional escalation of conflict? A further shrivelling of shipping traffic -- already shrivelled -- through the Red Sea, a vital artery of world trade?

More uncertainty beckons; unknown consequences abound.

Image source, PA Media

The Labour leader tells the BBC that he supports the decision to use UK forces to strike Houthi targets in Yemen.

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, Keir Starmer says given the scale of attacks on shipping, the warnings given and subsequent attacks, including one on a British naval vessel, he backs the action.

Starmer says: "I do think there needs to be a statement in parliament... at the first opportunity to set out the justification, limits and scope of the operation. I also want to see a summary of the Government's legal position."

Nadia Ragozhina
Live reporter

Good morning if you are just joining us or want a quick recap. Here's what we know so far of the US-led air strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen:

• US and UK forces bombed more than a dozen sites used by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen late on Thursday, in response to Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea
• Strikes were reported in the capital Sanaa, the Houthi Red Sea port of Hudaydah, Dhamar and north-western Houthi stronghold of Saada
• A Houthi leader has warned that the US and UK will soon realise the strikes were "the greatest folly in their history"
• Iran - which backs the Houthis - said the strikes were a clear violation of Yemen's territorial integrity
• Iraq's prime minister's office says the West is expanding the conflict between Israel and Hamas into the region
• The Saudi foreign ministry has asked Washington and its allies to avoid escalation
• US President Joe Biden warned of possible further measures to "protect our people and the free flow of international commerce"
• UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the strikes were "necessary and proportionate"

A former head of the British Army tells the BBC that it's a "delicate calculation" whether taking military action against the Houthis is going to run the risk of escalation in the region.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Lord Dannatt says Iran "has got its hand all over this" in its backing for not only the Houthis but Hezbollah and Hamas, both considered terrorist groups by the US and UK.

He suggests any successful operation will be dependent on the quality of intelligence the US and UK have managed to garner, suggesting other countries would have contributed to gathering information.

Lord Dannatt adds: "I think one has to hope that this is calculated, based on intelligence and will be sufficiently surgical and swift to eradicate the problem in the Red Sea and therefore the emphasis can go back to keeping the Israel-Gaza conflict as contained as possible.

"The danger is that this will linger and this will become another zone of conflict across the world."

President Biden's decision to launch air strikes on the Houthis has won him some praise from Republicans in Congress, but also criticism from some fellow Democrats.

US Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said: "I welcome the US and coalition operations against the Iran-backed Houthi terrorists responsible for violently disrupting international commerce in the Red Sea and attacking American vessels. President Biden’s decision to use military force against these Iranian proxies is overdue."

Roger Wicker, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said "this strike was two months overdue, but it is a good first step toward restoring deterrence in the Red Sea".

On the Democrat side, California representative Ro Khanna said: "The President needs to come to Congress before launching a strike against the Houthis in Yemen and involving us in another Middle East conflict. That is Article 1 of the Constitution. I will stand up for that regardless of whether a Democrat or Republican is in the White House."

That criticism was echoed by Democrat representative Mark Pocan from Wisconsin, who said: "The United States cannot risk getting entangled into another decades-long conflict without Congressional authorization. The White House must work with Congress before continuing these air strikes in Yemen".

Image source, EPA

The Houthis are an armed group from a sub-sect of Yemen's Shia Muslim minority, the Zaidis. They declare themselves to be part of the Iranian-led "axis of resistance" - along with the Hamas and Hezbollah groups - against Israel, the US and the wider West.

Hamas and Hezbollah are proscribed terrorist organisations in the UK, the US and elsewhere.

Most of the Yemeni population lives in areas under Houthi control. As well as Sanaa and the north of Yemen, the Houthi rebels control the Red Sea coastline.

The Houthis started attacking ships in the Red Sea headed for Israel aftter the Israel-Hamas war on 7 October. The Houthi threat along this major trade route has become so great that major shipping companies have ceased sailing in the region and insurance costs have risen 10-fold since early December.

These have now prompted US and UK-led forces to stage air strikes on targets in the region.

Here's more on the Houthis and their recent attacks.

Jonathan Beale
BBC defence correspondent

The strikes were led and coordinated by the US. The Pentagon said they were intended to disrupt and degrade the Houthis' military capabilities – specifically drone and missiles sites which they’ve been using in Yemen to target international shipping in the Red Sea.

In the early hours of the morning, jets from a US aircraft carrier already in the region - backed up by a tomahawk fired from US warships hit more than 12 sites - including in the capital Sanaa and the port of Hudaydah.

The US said support for the strikes was provided by Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands. The UK took part.

Four Typhoon jets flew from RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus - a round trip of several thousand miles - which required refuelling. They used paveway bombs to hit 2 targets – a site said to be used for launching drones and an airfield from where the Houthis have fired missiles.

In a statement soon after the strikes, Rishi Sunak said Britain would always stand up for the freedom of navigation and the free flow of trade.

President Biden defended the action saying the strikes were in direct response to unprecedented Houthi attacks against international shipping.

The Houthis were defiant before the threat of airstrikes – and also now after. One of its officials posted “the battle will be bigger and beyond the imagination and expectation of the Americans and British”.

The Iranian backed rebels have endured and survived years of airstrikes by Saudi Arabia recently and show no sign yet of backing down.