Yemen ceasefire: new UN resolution seeks to save agreement

Fresh resolution will increase UN monitors overseeing Hodeidah deal

The UN has tried to prevent the collapse of the ceasefire agreement in Yemen by endorsing a fresh security council resolution urgently increasing the number of monitors overseeing the deal in Hodeidah, the strategic port that lies at the heart of the three-year civil war.

The resolution, drafted by the UK, extends the UN monitoring role for a further six months and increases the number of monitors to as many as 75 people. UN personnel are likely to be transferred from Djibouti to Hodeidah.

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Afghanistan bucks global trend with sharp rise in civilian casualties

Number of innocent people killed or maimed in Afghan war rises 36% despite overall fall in casualties worldwide

Civilian deaths and injuries in Afghanistan from explosive weapons rose by more than a third last year, against a downward trend globally, according to a survey seen by the Guardian.

Most of the 4,260 civilians killed or injured in explosions in the country in 2018 – up from 3,119 in 2017 – were victims of suicide attacks, found a report by Action on Armed Violence (AOAV).

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Yemen: Houthi rebels’ food aid theft only tip of iceberg, officials say

Questions over relief effort multiply as it emerges aid officials knew for months of armed groups diverting food

The theft of food aid in Yemen by Houthi rebels might be only the tip of the iceberg, officials believe, as questions multiply over international relief efforts in the famine-ravaged country.

It has emerged that aid officials have been aware for months that armed groups – most prominently Houthi rebels in the capital, Sana’a – have been diverting food aid into the key areas they control, including by manipulating data in malnutrition surveys used by the UN.

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Outrage after Netflix pulls comedy show criticising Saudi Arabia

Standup Hasan Minhaj had mocked official accounts about fate of Jamal Khashoggi

Netflix has taken down an episode of a satirical comedy show critical of Saudi Arabia in the country after officials from the kingdom complained, sparking criticism from Human Rights Watch, which said the act undermined the streaming service’s “claim to support artistic freedom”.

It comes three months after the brutal killing of the Saudi dissident and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi – which US senators have blamed on the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman – and as the war in Yemen continues to devastate the country.

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Beyond Syria: the Arab Spring’s aftermath

The outlook is bleak for key countries including Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and Libya

Just over eight years ago, Tunisian fruit vendor Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in a bitter one-man protest outside a government office against the government. Within hours, demonstrators took to the streets of his small town, Sidi Bouzid. By the time he died in hospital just overtwo weeks later, protests had spread across the country, would soon topple the president and spill beyond Tunisia, in a regional convulsion dubbed the Arab Spring.

Related: Syria: Assad has decisively won his brutal battle

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U.S. needs a different role in Yemen

In other parts of the globe, like the Republic of Yemen, lethal forces are stalking victims whom Americans cannot always picture in complicated political scenarios we may not quickly grasp. So the average American blinks, and in that blink opportunists make deals with undemocratic, unprincipled bullies.

Saudis & Allies Renew Bombing of Yemen Port City, Sparking Famine Fears

The Saudi-led coalition launched heavy air strikes on Yemen's main port city of Hodeidah on Friday, in an apparent resumption of military operations on the city after the Iranian-aligned Houthi movement attacked two Saudi oil tankers, residents said. The coalition on July 1 halted an attack on the Houthi-held city to aid UN efforts at a political solution that would avert an all-out assault on the Red Sea port, which the United Nations fears could trigger a famine throughout the country.

Saudi Arabia’s Yemen Campaign escalates into War of Missiles

As Mohammed Bin Salman's global tour continues in a bid to stabilise Riyadh's economy, his foreign policy needs revising to ensure political and security risks aren't deepening. After three years fighting in Yemen's civil war, the Houthis have stepped-up their strategy and are going after Saudi Arabia's economic enterprises.

Houthi rebels claim capture of U.S. underwater drone off Yemeni coast

Iranian-backed Houthi rebels claim to have seized an U.S. underwater surveillance drone operating off the Yemeni coastline, posting video on Tuesday of rebel fighters pulling the unmanned system from the Gulf of Aden. Rebel forces detected and seized the REMUS 600 autonomous mini-submarine, designed to carry out anti-mine operations and conduct long-range maritime surveillance, on Monday according to reports on Houthi-controlled media outlets in Yemen.

UN: Coalition airstrikes kill 136 in Yemen in 11 days

President Donald Trump's administration is publicly blaming North Korea for a ransomware attack that infected hundreds of thousands of computers worldwide in May and crippled parts of Britain's National Health... President Donald Trump's administration is publicly blaming North Korea for a ransomware attack that infected hundreds of thousands of computers worldwide in May and crippled parts of Britain's National Health Service. China's government has criticized President Donald Trump's decision to label Beijing a rival and called on Washington to accept the rise of a more powerful China.

Yemen’s Hadi sees only a military solution to crisis – Arabiya TV

A solution in Yemen's two and-a-half year-old civil war will likely come through military rather than political means, the country's Saudi-backed president said, blaming the Iran-aligned Houthis of obstructing chances of peace. Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi Mansour, President of the Republic of Yemen, waits to address the 72nd United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S., September 21, 2017.

Human rights concerns prove no obstacle in Trump-Saudi ties

On his first overseas visit, President Donald Trump presided over a nearly $110 billion sale of military equipment to Saudi Arabia that made clear his administration did not see the kingdom's human rights record or its devastating war in Yemen as an obstacle to restoring ties that had been strained under his predecessor. The military agreement with Saudi Arabia, effective immediately, could expand up to $350 billion over 10 years.

Watchdog Says Yemen Rebel Land Mines Killed, Maimed Hundreds

An international rights group on Thursday decried the use of land mines by Yemen's Shiite rebels in the impoverished Arab country at war, saying they have killed and maimed hundreds of civilians and prevented many of the displaced from returning to their homes. Human Rights Watch said in a new report that the rebels known as Houthis, who are allied with the forces of the country's former president, have used land-mines in at least six provinces since March 2015, when a Saudi-led coalition launched its military campaign against them.