US hits Iraq militia sites and anti-ship missiles in Yemen as fight with Iranian proxies intensifies
The U.S. military has hit three facilities in Iraq and two anti-ship missiles in Yemen within hours of each other in its continued effort to keep violence from the Israel-Hamas war from spilling over into a wider conflict.
US calls for urgent UN action on attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels on ships in the Red Sea
The United States is calling on the U.N. Security Council to take urgent action against Yemenโs Houthi rebels for attacking ships in the key Red Sea trade route, and is warning their longtime financier and weapons supplier Iran that it has a choice.
US sanctions money network tied to the Yemen Houthi rebels blamed for shipping vessel attacks
The U.S. is imposing sanctions on a group of money exchange services from Yemen to Turkey alleged to be providing funds to Iranian-backed Houthi rebels who have been launching attacks on commercial shipping vessels in the southern Red Sea.
Pentagon announces new international mission to counter attacks on commercial vessels in Red Sea
The U.S. and a host of other nations are creating a new force to protect ships transiting the Red Sea that have come under attack by drones and ballistic missiles fired from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.
Missiles from rebel-held Yemen miss a ship loaded with jet fuel near the key Bab el-Mandeb Strait
Two missiles fired from territory held by Yemenโs Houthi rebels have missed a commercial tanker carrying jet fuel near the key Bab el-Mandeb Strait, That's according to two U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters.
Rights group says Saudi Arabian border guards fired on and killed hundreds of Ethiopian migrants
A rights group alleges that border guards in Saudi Arabia fired machine guns and launched mortars at Ethiopians trying to cross into the kingdom from Yemen, likely killing hundreds of the unarmed migrants.
F1 in Saudi Arabia shifts from human rights to rebel attacks
Hours after Formula One drivers voiced concerns about a race already dogged by human rights issues, Saudi Arabiaโs war with Yemen landed on F1's doorstep when Houthi rebels attacked an oil depot near the glittering Saudi track where they were racing.
'This is hell': UN food aid chief visits Yemen, fears famine
FILE - In this Nov. 23, 2019 file photo, a woman holds her malnourished boy at a feeding center at the Al-Sabeen Hospital in Sanaa, Yemen. Beasley visited Yemen earlier this week, including the capital of Sanaa which is under the control of Iran-backed Houthi rebels. He said that at a child malnutrition ward in a Sanaa hospital he saw children wasting away from lack of food. A pledging conference last month raised a little more than half from the international community of what was needed to continue food aid services for the next year. AdOne source of funding for Yemen could be a new anonymous aid fund.
Yemen rebels claim Saudi oil facility hit; no damage seen
FILE - This Sept. 15, 2019, file photo, shows storage tanks at the North Jiddah bulk plant, an Aramco oil facility, in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia. A Houthi military spokesman, tweeted that the rebels fired a new Quds-2 cruise missile at the facility. Gen. Yehia Sarie, a Houthi military spokesman, tweeted that the rebels fired a new Quds-2 cruise missile at the facility. A Saudi-led military coalition launched a bombing campaign to dislodge the Houthis and restore the internationally recognized government. Saudi Arabia has faced widespread international criticism for its airstrikes that have killed civilians and hit non-military targets in Yemen.
Saudi TV: Yemen rebel attack on airport sets plane on fire
In this frame grab from video, Saudi state television shows an airplane damaged in an attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels at an airport near Abha, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021. (Saudi state television via AP)DUBAI โ Yemenโs Houthi rebels on Wednesday targeted an airport in southwestern Saudi Arabia with bomb-laden drones, causing a civilian plane on the tarmac to catch fire, the kingdom's state television reported. Photographs later aired by Saudi state television showed the aircraft, a 3-year-old Airbus A320 flown by low-cost carrier FlyADeal. AdU.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with his counterparts in Saudi Arabia after the strike. He repeated U.S. assurances that America intends to help Saudi Arabia increase its ability to defend itself.
Biden ending US support for Saudi-led offensive in Yemen
The reversal of policy also comes as a rebuke to Saudi Arabia. Saudi state media focused on that part of Biden's announcements Thursday. The Houthis have launched multiple drone and missile strikes deep into Saudi Arabia. The weeks-old Biden administration has made clear that shifting its stance toward the Yemen war, and toward Saudi Arabia over the Yemen offensive and other rights abuses, was a priority. A career foreign service member, he has served in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other countries in the Middle East and elsewhere.
For some Muslims, hope, uncertainty after travel ban lifted
Mohammed Al Zabidi holds his canceled U.S. visa at his home in Sanaa, Yemen, on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021. The Trump administrations travel ban that affected several Muslim-majority nations robbed him of his American dream and his chance to escape his war-torn homeland. I won!โ Al Zabidi cheered. So Al Zabidi is left wondering whether he'll ever make it to the States to start working there and repay what he borrowed. Biden has not indicated whether he will lift it, and ending the travel ban will mean little if he doesn't, said Rafael Urena, a California attorney.
'External source' causes oil tanker blast off Saudi Arabia
The apparent attack on the oil tanker marks the fourth assault targeting Saudi energy infrastructure in a month. The attack on the Singapore-flagged BW Rhine, which had been contracted by the trading arm of the kingdom's massive Saudi Arabian Oil Co., marks the fourth assault targeting Saudi energy infrastructure in a month. The explosion comes after a mine exploded and damaged a ship off Saudi Arabia last month. Saudi Arabia recently accused the Houthis of dumping mines into the southern Red Sea, which could be carried toward Jiddah. A stepped-up campaign of drone-boat attacks deeper into the Red Sea likely would do the same.
Yemen rebels' missile strikes Saudi oil facility in Jiddah
DUBAI โ Yemen's Houthi rebels said they struck a Saudi oil facility in the port city of Jiddah early Monday with a new cruise missile, just hours after the kingdom finished hosting its virtual Group of 20 leaders summit. Videos of a small explosion at a Saudi Arabian Oil Co. facility in Jiddah had circulated on social media all day and a satellite photo confirmed damage at the site. Gen. Yehia Sarie, a Houthi military spokesman, tweeted early Monday that the rebels fired a new Quds-2 cruise missile at the facility. He posted a satellite image online that matched Aramco's North Jiddah Bulk Plant, where oil products are stored in tanks. Its stock traded slightly up Monday on Riyadh's Tadawul stock exchange as crude oil prices remained steady above $40 a barrel.
In multiple countries, alarm over hunger crisis rings louder
They cried loudly, twisting as if in pain, not from disease but from the hunger gnawing away at them. Here, U.N. officialsโ increasingly dire warnings that a hunger crisis is growing around the world are becoming reality. U.N. agencies have warned that some 250 million people in 20 countries are threatened with sharply spiking malnutrition or even famine in coming months. The United Nations humanitarian office this week released $100 million in emergency funding to seven countries most at risk of famine โ Yemen, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Congo, and Burkina Faso. But David Beasley, head of the World Food Program, says billions in new aid are needed.
UN chief appeals for cease-fires, warns pandemic wins wars
โBut we still have a number of situations where the spoilers or the mistrust that existed has not allowed the cease-fire to materialize,โ he said. โIn the last two weeks, COVID cases have doubled in Armenia and increased 80 percent in Azerbaijan,โ he said in Wednesdayโs AP interview. We need to stop.โGuterres said the same holds true for the conflicts in Libya, Yemen, Syria, Afghanistan, Africaโs Sahel region and elsewhere. โIโm here to appeal to all of them to understand that thereโs no way to win any war,โ he said. โThe only way is to join efforts for cease-fires, political talks and to defeat COVID.
Watchdog report: Pompeo acted properly in Saudi arms sale
WASHINGTON The State Department's internal watchdog has found that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo did not act improperly last year when he approved billions of dollars in arms sales to Saudi Arabia without the consent of Congress. The State Department Office of Inspector General concluded in a report released Tuesday that Pompeo had the legal authority to declare an emergency and bypass Congress under the Arms Export Control Act. Pompeo cited the threat posed by Iran and its support for rebels in Yemen to justify approving arms sales totaling $8.1 billion to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan. The report concluded that the law grants the secretary the discretion to decide what constitutes an emergency, something three previous administrations have done with respect to arms sales to Saudi Arabia. The official said the big takeaway from the report is that Pompeo and the department acted in accordance with the law" as it sought to aid the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.