This is News Review from BBC Learning English where we help you understand news headlines in English. I'm Beth.

And I'm Georgie.

Make sure you watch to the end to learn the vocabulary you need to talk about this story.

And remember to subscribe to our channel to learn more English from the headlines.

Now today's story.

The US and UK have launched more airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen.

The Houthis have been attacking ships, they say are linked to Israel and the West as they travel through the Red Sea trade route.

The UK and US said that they were trying to protect the free flow of commerce.

You've been looking at the headlines, what's the vocabulary that people need to understand this story?

We have 'fresh,' 'deal another blow,' and 'send a clear message.'

This is News Review from BBC Learning English.

Let's have a look at our first headline.

This one's from the BBC: US and UK launch fresh strikes on Houthis in Yemen.

This headline tells us that the UK and US have launched strikes which means they have started an attack on the Houthis.

But this isn't their first attack on the Houthis.

So we need to look at the word 'fresh.'

Now, this word always makes me think of food.

So why is it being used here?

Yes, it's true that fresh is usually used to describe food that is recently produced.

So fresh fruit is fruit that has just been picked, fresh bread has just come out of the oven.

Here, though, fresh is another way of saying that the strikes on the houthis are new.

Ok. So the US and UK have sent strikes before, but these ones are new. They are fresh.

Can you give us some other examples of when we can use fresh with this meaning?

Yes, sure.

So you could say that the lawyers brought fresh evidence to the court, which means that they brought new evidence that no one had seen before.

If a company hires someone, they usually want someone with a fresh perspective, someone with new and innovative ideas.

That's right.

Ok. Let's look at that one more time.

Let's have our next headline.

This one's from the Evening Standard: Fresh UK and US air strikes on Houthi targets 'deal another blow' to militants.

This headline gives us a quote from the UK's Defense Secretary Grant Shapps, who says that the strikes deal another blow to the Houthis.

Now, 'deal a blow' is the expression we're looking at.

Georgie, can you break this down for us?

Yes. Well, it's got two parts. We've got deal and blow.

So deal in this sense is another way of saying give out or distribute.

So imagine in a card game, we deal cards to the other players.

Blow in this sense is another word for a big hit or a sudden impact.

Right, so deal a blow in this case sounds very literal because the US and UK have given that's deal, the Houthis a big hit.

And that is the blow because of these airstrikes.

Now, I'm guessing that this has a metaphorical meaning as well.

That's right.

And I think both are relevant here.

So in a metaphorical sense, it can be used when something causes a significant problem or setback.

So in this story, the purpose of the strikes was to cause problems for the Houthis so that they would be weaker and less able to attack ships in the Red Sea.

Can you give us another example?

Yep.

So we can say that the pandemic dealt an enormous blow to the economy, it damaged it.

Notice here how the past form of deal is dealt, which has a different pronunciation.

So we're going from the sound e to the sound eh.

Yes, we have deal and dealt.

OK, let's look at that again.

Let's have our next headline.

This one's from The Guardian: Fresh Us/UK Air strikes 'send clear message' to Houthis, says Cameron.

Now this time we're hearing from the UK's Foreign Secretary David Cameron and we're looking at his phrase 'send a clear message.'

Now, when I hear a clear message, it makes me think about something spoken or written that is really easy to understand like a very clear email or something.

Yes. But in this story, the US and UK governments say they are sending a clear message to the Houthis with airstrikes.

And the message here according to Cameron is that if the UK gives a warning, then it will do what it says.

Now we hear this phrase a lot in a very literal sense.

This morning, I sent a clear message, a text message, to my mum.

But can you give us an example of how it's used in this headline?

Yes. So imagine a company decides to remove all single-use plastic from its packaging.

You might say that this sends a very clear message that it cares about the environment and sustainability.

Yes, that's right.

Ok, let's have a look at that one more time.

We've had fresh -- it's new.

Deal another blow -- cause more harm.

And 'send a clear message' -- communicate something with an action that is easy to understand.

Now, if you want to watch more episodes of News Review, click here.

And don't forget to click here to subscribe to our channel, so you never miss another episode.

Thank you for joining us.

Bye. - Bye.