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King Salman hosts Iraq's new president

Saudi King Salman welcomed Iraq's new President Barham Saleh Sunday on his first official visit to the kingdom, amid a warming of ties between the Arab neighbors after years of strain. The king hosted a lunch and "discussed regional developments" with Saleh, the official Saudi Press...

UN: Yemeni parties to attend peace talks in Sweden

Warring factions in Yemen have confirmed they will attend peace talks in Sweden, UN Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths said Friday. "This is a crucial moment for Yemen. I have received firm assurances from the leadership of the Yemeni parties," said Griffiths at a UN Security...

Yemen president backs UN peace talks but vows to 'liberate' key port

Yemen's president has backed UN-proposed talks to end fighting in his war-torn country but vowed to "liberate" the battleground rebel-held port city of Hodeida regardless of the peace process. Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi "has issued directives to back all efforts that guarantee the interests...

Arab coalition orders halt in assault on Yemen's Hodeida: sources

The Arab coalition has ordered a halt in its offensive on Yemen's main port city of Hodeida, three sources told Reuters Thursday. "The coalition has instructed forces on the ground to halt fighting inside Hodeida," said one pro-coalition military source. The decision comes as...

Yemen army orders halt to Hodeida offensive: commanders

Yemen's coalition-backed army Wednesday ordered their forces to suspend an offensive on the rebel-held port city of Hodeida, field commanders said. Three military officials told AFP the loyalists had halted their offensive against Houthi rebels in Hodeida until further notice, but...

Port still running in Yemen's Hodeida after airstrikes

Two coalition airstrikes hit the main entrance to the rebel-held port of Hodeida but the docks were still operating normally Tuesday, the port's deputy director told AFP. The vital docks, through which 80 percent of Yemen's commercial imports and nearly all U.N. supervised humanitarian...

At least 61 killed in clashes in Yemen's Hodeida

At least 61 combatants have been killed in clashes in Yemen's flashpoint Hodeida, medics and a military source said Sunday, and dozens of wounded taken to hospitals outside the city. Medics in the Red Sea city reported 43 Houthi rebels and nine loyalists killed in clashes over the past 24...

Yemeni rebel minister flees Sanaa, defects to Saudi Arabia

The information minister of Yemen's internationally recognized government says his counterpart in the rebel administration has fled the country and defected to neighboring Saudi Arabia. Moammar al-Iryani said Saturday that his rebel counterpart, Abdel-Salam Ali Gaber, arrived in Saudi...

Yemen loyalists take Hodeida's main hospital: officials

Pro-government forces fighting Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have taken the main hospital in the strategic Red Sea port city of Hodeida, government military officials said Saturday. The May 22 Hospital lies in the east of the rebel-held city, a key aid conduit that is the target of...

Violence in W. Yemen puts vulnerable people at risk: UN

Ongoing violence in Yemen’s Al-Hudaydah province between the country’s Saudi-backed government and Houthi rebels “puts tens of thousands of already vulnerable people at risk”, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Thursday. “The violence [in Al-Hudaydah] is now in close...

Yemeni rebels halt Arab forces’ advance in Hodeida

Yemen’s rebels claim they halted advances of their adversaries, the U.S.-backed Arab coalition, at a key battlefield around a strategic Red Sea port city. Fighting continued around Hodeida Tuesday despite the statement from the Houthis that a three-pronged coalition assault had been stopped...

Fears for civilians rise as clashes rattle Yemen port city

Government troops and rebels clashed again Tuesday near a Yemeni port city crucial for humanitarian aid, where hundreds of thousands of civilians could be trapped as war closes in. Five days of battles between Iran-backed Houthi rebels and the army, allied with the Arab coalition, have...

Yemen clashes rage as Saudi-led coalition says committed to peace

Battles raged Monday near a Yemeni port crucial for humanitarian aid, but Saudi Arabia and its allies said they were committed to de-escalating hostilities with rebels as calls for a ceasefire mount. The United Nations has appealed for urgent peace talks and warned that an assault on the...

War-torn Yemen 'living hell' for children: UN

Conflict-ravaged Yemen has become a "living hell" for children with thousands dying every year from malnutrition and easily preventable diseases, a top U.N. official said Sunday. Geert Cappelaere, regional director for the Middle East and North Africa at UN children's agency UNICEF,...

Bahrain jails opposition chief for life in Qatar spy case

Bahrain's appeals court sentenced the head of the country's Shiite opposition movement to jail for life Sunday over charges of spying for rival Gulf state Qatar, a judicial source said. Sheikh Ali Salman, who headed the now-outlawed Al-Wefaq movement, had been acquitted by the high...

Indonesian MPs criticize Riyadh over worker’s execution

Indonesian lawmakers have criticized Saudi Arabia for executing a migrant worker without notifying the Indonesian authorities beforehand and said the Kingdom “violated” diplomatic ethics and international custom law such as the 1963 Vienna Convention. "It is the custom of the...

Arab coalition in Yemen attacks Sanaa sites, clashes in Hodeidah

The Arab coalition fighting in Yemen said it attacked Sanaa International Airport and an adjoining airbase being used by Houthi insurgents, as the two warring sides also clashed further west in the country's main port city. The violence broke out days after renewed U.S. calls for a...

Yemen's coalition-backed government to resume oil exports soon: SABA

Yemen's coalition-backed government said it would work on resuming oil production and exports from new fields "in the coming days", without specifying the quantity expected, SABA state news agency reported Thursday. The announcement came after the first cabinet meeting held by the newly...