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UN invites Yemen government and rebels to talks on Sept. 6

The United Nations envoy for Yemen has invited the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels to talks aimed at ending a three-year conflict that has killed over 10,000 people. The office of U.N. envoy Martin Griffiths said Friday that formal invitations were sent to both parties for talks on Sept....

Bahrain government rejects U.N. criticism over jailing of campaigner

Bahrain's detention of activist Nabeel Rajab is unlawful and violates his right to freedom of expression, U.N. human rights experts have found, calling on the kingdom to release him immediately with compensation. The government on Thursday rejected the findings of the U.N. Working Group...

UN panel calls on Bahrain to release activist Nabeel Rajab

A special United Nations panel is urging Bahrain to immediately release imprisoned activist Nabeel Rajab, describing him as the victim of government-sponsored "persecution" for his political views in the island kingdom. The statement by the U.N.'s Working Group on Arbitrary Detention comes...

US official says UAE paid Yemen tribes to push al-Qaeda out

A senior U.S. official says the United Arab Emirates paid money to tribal leaders in Yemen to rout al-Qaeda from its strongholds. Wednesday's remarks followed an Associated Press investigation outlining how Emirati forces cut secret deals with the militants to get them to abandon...

Fighting in Yemen kills 18 civilians

Yemeni officials and witnesses say heavy fighting between pro-government forces and Iran-backed Houthi rebels in the north and around the Red Sea port of Hudaida has killed at least 18 civilians. They said Wednesday that forces backed by a Saudi-led coalition have been trying to seize the...

UN envoy says Yemen talks to focus on transition, disarmament-newspaper

Talks between Yemen's warring parties next month will focus on a transitional governance deal and disarmament, the U.N. special envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths, said in remarks published Saturday. Griffiths is trying to negotiate an end to the three-year conflict that has killed more...

UN to meet on Arab coalition hit on Yemen childrens' bus

The UN Security Council prepared Friday to discuss an air strike by an Arab coalition that killed at least 29 children, whose remains and clothing were left strewn across a market in northern Yemen. The coalition itself, following calls from the UN and United States, announced an...

At least 29 children killed in Yemen bus attack: Red Cross

At least 29 children were killed Thursday in an attack on a bus in rebel-held northern Yemen, where a Saudi-led military coalition said it carried out a strike, the Red Cross said. "A hospital supported by our team in Yemen received the bodies of 29 children under the age of 15 and 48...

Houthi missile launched into Saudi Arabia kills one

Fragments from a missile launched into Saudi Arabia from Yemen by Houthi forces killed one civilian and wounded 11, Saudi state media said on Thursday. The Houthis, an Iran-allied group that controls much of Yemen including the capital Sanaa, said it fired a missile at the Jizan...

Yemen's Houthis launch missile at Jizan Industrial City in Saudi Arabia

Yemen's Houthi militia said via its al-Masirah TV on Wednesday that it fired a missile at the Jizan Industrial City in southern Saudi Arabia. Saudi state news channel al-Ekhbariya reported that the kingdom's air defense forces intercepted the missile. There were no immediate reports of damage...

Saudi MDs get brief grace period to remain in Canada

Canadian health authorities said Wednesday that hundreds of Saudi doctors and residents who make up the largest segment of foreign medical trainees in the country will remain in Canada until the end of the month, giving hospitals a few weeks to cope with the sudden staffing loss caused by a...

Aid groups protest ongoing bombing of Sanaa airport

Aid groups said the international airport in Yemen's capital has been hit with an average of one bomb every two weeks since a Saudi-led coalition closed it to all commercial traffic two years ago. The Norwegian Refugee Council and CARE International said the coalition has carried out 56...

Saudi expels Canadian ambassador in row over jailed activists

Saudi Arabia said Monday it was expelling the Canadian ambassador and had recalled its envoy while freezing all new trade, in protest at Ottawa's vigorous calls for the release of jailed activists. The kingdom gave the Canadian ambassador 24 hours to leave the country, in an abrupt rupture...

Heavy fighting near Yemen's Hodeida kills 80: officials

Yemeni officials and witnesses say recent heavy fighting between pro-government forces and rebels in the port province of Hodeida has killed at least 80 people on both sides. They said Sunday that forces backed by an Arab-led coalition have been trying to seize the rebel-held district...

Saudi Arabia to admit Iranian diplomat: IRNA

Saudi Arabia has agreed to admit an Iranian diplomat to head an office representing Iranian interests in the kingdom, the official Iranian news agency IRNA reported Sunday, in a rare move after the rivals broke off relations in 2016. "An informed diplomatic source said Sunday that Saudi...

Yemen rebels say willing to attend UN talks

A member of the political wing of Yemen's Huthi rebels said Saturday the insurgents were willing to attend UN-brokered talks, although they had low expectations of a positive outcome. Salim Meghles said the Ansarullah (Supporters of God) political wing is "not opposed to such...

Yemen government says ready to attend UN talks

Yemen's internationally recognized government is ready to attend U.N.-brokered talks next month in Geneva but is "not optimistic," a government official said on Friday. "We will go but we are not optimistic," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity. He said there remained "huge...

At least 28 dead in strikes on Yemen's Hudaida: medics

At least 28 people were killed Thursday in an air strike outside a hospital and the bombardment of a fish market in Yemen's rebel-held port city Hudaida, medics and witnesses said. Yemeni government forces backed by a Saudi-led coalition have been conducting an offensive to capture Hudaida...