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Cyclone hitting Yemen leaving 'extensive damage': UN

The United Nations says strong winds and heavy rain from cyclone Luban have injured 33 people and affected 2,000 families in war-ravaged Yemen. The U.N. released statements on social media on Tuesday, along with photos of flooded streets. It says that the cyclone had caused extensive...

Saudi stock index falls nearly 4 percent in opening minutes

Saudi Arabia's stock market fell early Tuesday amid concern that international outrage over the disappearance of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi will hurt foreign investment. After half an hour, the Saudi index was down 3.0 percent, partly reversing its 4.1 percent rebound Monday....

UAE to try British student on spying charges: reports

The United Arab Emirates is to try a British PhD student detained in May on charges of spying, local media reported Monday, after London raised concern over his case. Matthew Hedges, a 31-year-old who was researching the UAE's foreign and internal security policies after the 2011 Arab...

One dead as storm slams Oman and Yemen

At least one person was killed when tropical storm Luban slammed into the southern coasts of Oman and neighbouring Yemen, Omani civil defence said Monday. The man was found dead late Sunday in a valley in the province of Dhofar, which borders eastern Yemen, the sultanate's civil defence...

Top Yemen Bahai figure disappears amid Houthi crackdown

Friends of the spokesman for Yemen's Bahai religious minority say he has been detained by Houthi militias who control the country's north. Two friends of Abdullah Yahia al-Ayolofi said Friday that unidentified men snatched al-Ayolofi from a market in a district called al-Jarraf in Sanaa...

Saudi Arabia’s embarrassing bid to join the Francophonie family

For the past two years, Saudi Arabia has been trying to join the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF). But some member countries believe Riyadh's bid is at odds with the democratic ideals promoted by the grouping. The 2018 summit of the Organisation Internationale de la...

UN agency resumes cash aid to 9 million Yemenis

The U.N. children's agency says it has resumed emergency cash transfers to 9 million Yemenis after it was allowed to operate a call center to help monitor aid distribution. UNICEF spokeswoman Juliette Touma says the cash transfer program resumed Sunday, providing vital aid to some of...

Airstrike kills 4 civilians in Yemen's Hudaida

Yemeni security officials say an airstrike by the Arab coalition has killed four civilians working at a bee farm in the Red Sea city of Hodeida. They say the airstrike Monday was carried out as fighting raged on the ground between an array of militias backed by the United Arab Emirates...

Yemen rebels detain dozens of student protesters: activists

Yemeni rebels on Saturday detained dozens of students protesting in the capital Sanaa against poverty in the war-torn country, activists and witnesses said. Local activists, asking not to be named, told AFP that the Shiite Houthi movement detained at least 55 students, including 18...

Saudis insist missing Post contributor left Turkey consulate

Saudi Arabia's Consulate in Istanbul is insisting a missing Saudi contributor to The Washington Post left its building before disappearing, directly contradicting comments by Turkish officials who say they believe he is still there. The statement by the consulate released early Thursday...

Trump: Saudi Arabia would not last 2 weeks without US

U.S. President Donald Trump warned Saudi Arabia would be unlikely to last a fortnight without military assistance from Washington. "We protect Saudi Arabia. Would you say they're rich? And I love the king, King Salman. But I said, 'King, we're protecting you. You might not be there for...

Friends fear for safety of prominent Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi

Friends and relatives of Jamal Khashoggi, a veteran journalist from Saudi Arabia who has recently become a vocal critic of the kingdom’s leadership, said they were worried about his safety on Tuesday after losing contact with him during his visit to the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul....

WHO launches second cholera vaccine drive in Yemen as cases surge

The World Health Organization said Tuesday it was helping Yemeni authorities with a second round of vaccination against cholera in three hard-hit districts, as cases surged across the war-ravaged country. More than 2,500 people have died of the waterborne infection since the worst...

Saudi Arabia embraces yoga in pivot towards 'moderation'

In a sparse, wood-floored studio, Saudi women squat, lunge and do headstands. Even a year ago, teaching these yoga postures could have rendered them outlaws in the conservative Islamic kingdom. Widely perceived as a Hindu spiritual practice, yoga was not officially permitted for decades...

Yemen doctors despair as babies starve in 'orphaned province'

At Nasr Hospital's emergency room in the Yemeni city of Daleh, a little boy struggles to breathe. He is too tired, or too hungry, to cry. Born with a degenerative neurological disease, his muscles have atrophied to nothing, his tiny joints visible through his pale skin, his stomach...

Saudi Arabia plans to build 'Riviera of the Middle East'

Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) announced plans Wednesday for a luxury tourism destination on its northwestern coast, the latest in a series of mega projects as the oil-reliant kingdom seeks to diversify. The project called "Amaala" would be "a natural extension of the...

HRW accuses Yemen rebels of hostage-taking, torture

Human Rights Watch on Tuesday accused Yemen's Huthi rebels of hostage-taking, torture and other serious abuses against people in their custody. The New York-based watchdog said it had documented 16 cases of illegal imprisonment by the Iran-backed Shiite insurgents, "in large part to...

Yemen’s central bank raises interest rates to shore up riyal

The central bank of war-torn Yemen has raised interest rates on deposits to an all-time high of 27 percent in a bid to stabilize the plunging riyal that caused food prices to soar. The bank also raised interest rates on government bonds to 17 percent from 12 percent and banned taking out of...