A closure of the Hodeida port would “bring disaster to Yemen,” which is already on the brink of famine, the new head of the UN’s World Food Programme warned Wednesday. There are rising fears that a Saudi-led military coalition fighting rebels in Yemen could attack the Hodeida port, through which most of the country’s food … Read more
Yemen’s commercial food imports are at a record low, driving up the cost of staples in what is now the world’s largest food security crisis, the Norwegian Refugee Council said Wednesday. International concern for the lives of tens of millions of Yemenis is rising amid fears of a military attack on Hodeida, a vital Red … Read more
A powerful Saudi royal said Tuesday that there could be no rapprochement between his country and Iran, which he said wants to dominate the Muslim world. In a television interview, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman also said that his kingdom could withstand a long war in Yemen, where Saudi Arabia fights in support of … Read more
Gulf Arab states pledged Thursday to fight “terrorism” and “foreign interference” across the region. In a joint statement following a summit in Riyadh, interior ministers of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council said they were determined to prevent “harm to their national unity, the provoking of sectarian tensions and support for terrorist groups.” The GCC states … Read more
Two Saudi soldiers were killed Thursday in a rocket attack near the border with war-torn Yemen, the interior ministry said. They died in a simultaneous landmine explosion and rocket attack while on duty patrolling the border around Jazan, the ministry said in a statement carried by the official SPA news agency. Saudi Arabia leads a … Read more
The Saudi coast guard fired on an unmanned boat rigged with explosives, thwarting an attack on one of the kingdom’s oil terminals that authorities on Wednesday blamed on Yemeni Huthi rebels. The boat, sent from a small island off the Yemeni coast, was targeting a petroleum products distribution terminal run by Saudi oil giant Aramco … Read more
Countries around the world Tuesday pledged more than one billion dollars to help prevent a looming famine in war-torn Yemen at a conference UN chief Antonio Guterres called a “remarkable success.” Yet the $1.1 billion (1.0 billion euros) promised fell far short of the $2.1 billion the United Nations has estimated is needed this year … Read more
Yemeni protestors reached the Red Sea city of Hodeida Tuesday, ending a weeklong march from the capital to demand the rebel-held port be declared a humanitarian zone. Some 25 protestors made the 225-kilometre (140-mile) walk, dubbed the “march for bread”, to call for unrestricted aid deliveries to Yemen, where Iran-backed Huthi rebels have battled government … Read more
A local photographer who works with AFP was seriously wounded in a missile strike on Sunday in southwest Yemen, his colleagues said. Saleh al-Obeidi was in an armoured car with a pro-government officer when their vehicle was struck by a heat-guided missile near the government-held Red Sea town of Mokha, a journalist said. The two … Read more
The United Nations called Thursday on the Saudi-led coalition intervening in Yemen not to bomb the rebel-held port of Hodeida, a key entry point for aid to the war-torn country. Jamie McGoldrick, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, said Hodeida on the Red Sea, which is under the control of Iran-backed Huthi rebels, is a … Read more
US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis warned Wednesday of Iranian efforts to create a Yemeni militia “in the image” of Lebanon’s Hezbollah, after talks with officials in Saudi Arabia. The kingdom leads an Arab coalition which for two years has been fighting in support of Yemen’s government against rebels backed by Iran. Saudi officials have accused … Read more
A group of Yemeni protestors set out from rebel-held capital Sanaa Wednesday on a 225-kilometre (140-mile) march to call for unrestricted aid deliveries to the war-torn country. The “protest for bread” marchers will head for the Red Sea port city of Hodeida — also controlled by Iran-backed Huthi insurgents — which is the main entry … Read more
US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is in Saudi Arabia Wednesday to reinvigorate the Riyadh-Washington alliance, with both seeing a common adversary in Iran and its “destabilising” activities. The United States and Saudi Arabia have a decades-old relationship based on the exchange of American security for Saudi oil. But ties between Riyadh and Washington became increasingly … Read more
Twelve Saudi soldiers, including four officers, were killed on Tuesday when their helicopter went down in Yemen, the Arab coalition fighting Yemeni rebels said in a statement. The Saudi Black Hawk “fell during operations in the province of Marib” east of Sanaa, the coalition said in a statement carried by SPA state news agency, without … Read more
At least 25 soldiers and rebels have died in clashes around a key military base near Yemen’s west coast, military and medical sources said Saturday. Loyalist forces backed by a Saudi-led coalition launched an assault to seize the Khaled Ibn Al-Walid base from Shiite Huthi rebels and their allies who had controlled it for over … Read more
Reporters Without Borders said Friday it was “appalled” at a death sentence handed to a veteran journalist by a court in Yemen’s rebel-held capital. The court in Sanaa, which is controlled by Iran-backed Huthi insurgents, on Thursday found Yahya al-Jubaihi guilty of spying for neighbouring Saudi Arabia. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said it was the … Read more
Reporters Without Borders said Friday it was “appalled” at a death sentence handed to a veteran journalist by a court in Yemen’s rebel-held capital. The court in Sanaa, which is controlled by Iran-backed Huthi insurgents, on Thursday found Yahya al-Jubaihi guilty of spying for neighbouring Saudi Arabia. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said it was the … Read more
British Prime Minister Theresa May heads to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday hoping to tap the oil-rich kingdom’s “immense potential” as she looks to secure post-Brexit investment and trade. Facing criticism at home and calls to raise rights issues with Saudi leaders, May insisted she had no problem talking about “hard issues” on foreign visits. But, … Read more
US aircraft have conducted about 20 additional air strikes on Al-Qaeda in Yemen in recent days, the Pentagon said Monday, as it continues its stepped-up campaign against the jihadists. The strikes occurred over the weekend, Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said without providing details of where or how they were conducted. The new attacks … Read more
Britain has apologised after an egg was thrown at a Saudi military official during a visit to London, Saudi state media said Sunday. An anti-war activist last week attempted a citizen’s arrest of General Ahmed Assiri, spokesman for the Saudi-led Gulf coalition fighting rebels in Yemen, before another threw an egg that hit Assiri in … Read more