JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian rescuers searched for eight people who went missing at sea while heading the island of Anak Krakatau to report on a volcanic eruption, officials said Wednesday.
A speedboat carrying five photojournalists, two crew members and a route guide lost contact after leaving Carita, a coastal town in Banten province, for the volcanic island in the Sunda Strait, said Al Amrad, Banten province's Search and Rescue Office chief.
He said the last message from the boat was received by relatives of a journalist on board at 6:13 p.m. Monday, saying the group had arrived in the waters around Anak Krakatau. They have not been heard from since.
The five Indonesian journalists work for Indonesia's state news agency Antara, Turkey's Anadolu Agency, Indonesia's Merkada and iNews, while the fifth is a freelance photographer.
Their last known location was about 18.5 kilometers (11.5 miles) from shore. Rescuers, who have been deployed since Tuesday, “still unable to establish contact with the group or determine their whereabouts,” Amrad said.
The initial eruption of Anak Krakatau ended Sunday, but it has continued to erupt intermittently with explosions ejecting lava, ash and incandescent volcanic material from the crater.
The eruption caused airport closures Sunday and Monday that disrupted nearly 2,961 flights, including 622 international services, and affected about 341,000 passengers.
The government also authorized schools in areas affected by volcanic ash to shift temporarily to online learning to reduce students’ exposure to ash.
Anak Krakatau, whose name means “child of Krakatau,” emerged from the remains of Krakatau, whose massive 1883 eruption largely destroyed the volcano and triggered a period of global cooling.
An eruption of Anak Krakatau in 2018 caused a tsunami that killed at least 430 people in Sumatra and Java. The volcano has been at Indonesia’s second-highest alert level since July, and authorities have advised residents, tourists and fishermen to stay at least 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) from the active crater.
Indonesia has more than 120 active volcanoes and frequently experiences eruptions due to its location along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a series of seismic faults around the Pacific Ocean where most global seismic activity occurs.
Associated Press journalists Fadlan Syam in Jakarta and Edna Tarigan in Surabaya, contributed to this report.
In this photo released by the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS), rescuers sit in a rubber boat during the search for journalists missing while covering the eruption of Mount Anak Krakatau, in the waters off Anyer, Indonesia, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. (BASARNAS via AP)
The Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen said Wednesday that Saudi-backed forces had launched dozens of airstrikes overnight across four Yemeni provinces after rebel attacks on Saudi Arabia ignited fires at several oil facilities and wounded dozens of people.
Separately, Iranian state media said Iranian forces struck several tankers and two U.S. ships in retaliation for U.S. strikes on Iranian ships on Tuesday.
Elsewhere, an Israeli official said the British Consulate in Jerusalem would close within 30 days in response to the U.K.’s decision to ban trade with settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Here’s a look at the latest news in the Middle East. Full coverage can be found here.
According to Iran's state media IRIB, the country's forces had struck eight oil tankers and two U.S. vessels in retaliation for U.S. strikes on five Iranian tankers on Tuesday, and that it had also targeted another 10 ships attempting to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center, which reports maritime incidents, said it had received a report “involving several merchant vessels” in the northern part of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.
Reports indicated the ships “were subject to disabling fire as part of ongoing military activity in the region,” but the UKMTO could not confirm whether there were any casualties.
The U.S. Central Command said in a social media post on Tuesday that it destroyed five Iranian crude oil tankers after Tehran fired missiles at a U.S. warship twice over two days.
U.S. President Donald Trump has taken a dual economic and military approach as he struggles to bring an end to the war.
Houthi spokesman Nasruddin Amer said on X on Wednesday morning that Saudi-backed forces had launched 32 airstrikes overnight across Yemen’s provinces of Taiz, Hodeida, Jawf and Marib. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
Saudi authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The strikes come a day after Houthi attacks on several oil facilities and utilities in Saudi Arabia wounded 73 people, in a major escalation in the renewed conflict between an important U.S. ally and the Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen. They follow weeks of intensifying clashes between the Houthis and Saudi-backed government forces in Yemen, which shattered a four-year truce in the country’s civil war.
The flare-up brings further instability to the region and threatens to squeeze shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb strait, a critical trade route that has helped cushion the blow from Iran’s chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, the critical waterway between Iran and Oman through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil passed before the war.
The U.S. Embassy in Yemen said Tuesday that the country’s “legitimate” government, apparently referring to the internationally recognized government, has the right to defend its people and “end the Houthis’ ability to inflict terror.” The embassy also said Saudi Arabia has the right to defend itself.
“The Houthis started this conflict and must bear the consequences of their aggression,” the embassy posted on social media.
U.N. Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg said the missile and drone attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Saudi Arabia “threaten to widen the conflict, put civilians at grave risk and undermine efforts toward a political solution.”
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry, in a statement issued late Tuesday, called on the Iran-backed group “to put an end to their aggressive actions immediately.”
Last month, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed a defense agreement that would treat an attack on one as an attack on all three, solidifying cooperation between them at a time of growing regional security concerns.
“We reiterate our support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Saudi Arabia,” the ministry said.
Israel plans to shutter the British Consulate in Jerusalem within a month, an Israeli official told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The consulate will be closed within 30 days, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss information from closed-door meetings.
The clock started Tuesday because that’s when Israel’s government announced it would take a series of measures — from closing the consulate to banning certain British officials from the country — in response to the U.K.’s decision to ban trade with settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The British Consulate did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
-By Julia Frankel
Dozens of protesters rallied in South Korea ’s capital on Wednesday calling on the government to reject any U.S. demand to deploy military assets to the Strait of Hormuz as Seoul faces U.S. calls to help secure the crucial waterway.
Holding signs and letter cards that read “Oppose the deployment” and “Do not join a war of aggression,” the protesters chanted slogans accusing the Trump administration of pressuring Seoul to provide military assistance.
The government of South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has said it sent a team of military investigators to the Middle East to assess the security situation amid the U.S. and Israeli war against Iran, but has stressed that it has not made any decision on whether to deploy military assets to the region.
Trump has openly demanded that South Korea help secure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, telling a Fox News interview last week that Seoul was unwilling to help despite a U.S. military presence there to provide security.
Iran has warned of “serious consequences” if South Korea participates in U.S. operations around the waterway.
People march near the U.S. Embassy during a rally to oppose the possible deployment of South Korean troops to the Strait of Hormuz and rejecting a U.S. demand for the deployment, in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. The letters read, ''Oppose troop deployment.'' (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
FILE - Members of the Yemeni al-Houthi Shiite rebel group burn an effigy of a U.S. aircraft and a Saudi flag during a demonstration against U.S. and Saudi interference in Yemen, after Friday prayer in Sanaa, Yemen, on April 12, 2013. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed), File
