Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Red Sea began to form during the Eocene epoch when tectonic forces started splitting the Arabian Peninsula from the Horn of Africa. This geological process accelerated significantly in the Oligocene period and continues today.
Sholan Island appeared in December 2011 followed by Jadid in September 2013 within the Zubair Archipelago owned by Yemen. Jabal al-Tair island erupted violently in 2007 within the Bab el Mandeb strait before these new formations occurred.
Darius the Great of the Achaemenid Empire sent reconnaissance missions and commissioned the construction of a canal linking the Nile River to the northern end of the Red Sea at Suez in the 6th century BC. Inscriptions on stone monuments called stelae documented the completion of this project which facilitated trade and solidified Persian control over Egypt.
Over 1,200 fish species have been recorded here with 10% being endemic to the area. Hawksbill sea turtles and spinner dolphins frequent these waters alongside many species of nudibranch while fourteen species of sharks roam the depths including the great hammerhead and oceanic whitetip shark.
In January 2024 Red Sea shipping volumes dropped to 30 percent of normal levels due to Houthi attacks against commercial and naval vessels near the Bab al-Mandeb strait. One ship was hijacked and taken back to Yemen during the Gaza war causing significant disruption to maritime traffic.
The modern Suez Canal opened in November 1869 as a successor to an ancient canal commissioned by Darius the Great. The Suez Canal handles 12 percent of global trade including 30 percent of global container traffic while shortening the path between Asia and Europe by almost half compared to traveling around Africa via the Atlantic Ocean.