SANAA: The United Nations envoy for Yemen arrived in Sanaa on Monday for another round of talks aimed at finding a solution to fighting in the key rebel-held port city of Hodeida.
Martin Griffiths is set to meet with Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who control the capital along with the Red Sea city of Hodeida, home to the country’s most valuable port.
He did not make a statement upon his arrival at the Yemeni capital’s international airport.
Two weeks of UN-brokered talks have not yet found a solution to the government offensive on Hodeida, backed by the United Arab Emirates and its allies in a Saudi-led regional coalition supporting President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.
The Hodeida offensive has raised fears of for civilians in a country already devastated by years of war between the Iran-backed Houthis and Hadi’s Gulf-backed government.
The United Arab Emirates said Sunday it had halted the offensive to give a chance to UN diplomatic efforts.
Hodeida port is the entry port for some 70 percent of imports to Yemen, where eight million people face imminent famine.
Both the UAE and the Hadi government have held firm to their rejection of anything short of a full Houthi withdrawal.
Griffiths has said a proposal to grant the UN a major role in managing the port was being studied.
The UN envoy met with Hadi in the southern city of Aden on Wednesday and is reported to be pushing for the Houthis to cede control of Hodeida to the United Nations.
He was also in Oman on Thursday, where he met top rebel negotiator Mohammed Abdulsalam, UN radio reported.
The Houthis have controlled Hodeida and its port since 2014, when they also drove the Hadi government out of the capital and seized large swathes of northern Yemen.
That sparked a Saudi-led intervention to prop up Hadi’s government, since which some 10,000 people have died.
The fight for Hodeida has claimed 429 lives, according to military and medical sources.
There are no confirmations of civilian casualties, although the UN has documented thousands of residents fleeing combat zones.
The United Nations has called Yemen the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.
UN envoy visits Yemen for talks on key port city
UN envoy visits Yemen for talks on key port city
- Martin Griffiths is set to meet with Yemen’s Houthi militias
- He did not make a statement upon his arrival at the Yemeni capital’s international airport
Monstrous wildfires blanket Southern California with smoky air, threatening the health of millions. Celebrities among those who lost homes
- Tens of thousands of people have been told to evacuate after three major fires broke out Tuesday amid dangerously high winds
- At least five people had been killed and more than 1,000 structures destroyed so far, including the homes of celebrities
LOS ANGELES: Massive wildfires burning in the Los Angeles area have filled the air with a thick cloud of smoke and ash, prompting air quality adviseries across a vast stretch of Southern California.
Three major fires broke out Tuesday amid dangerously high winds, killing at least five people and destroying more than 1,000 structures. Tens of thousands of people have been told to evacuate, many in harrowing conditions.
Fires have burned several celebrities’ homes and force stars including Mark Hamill, Mandy Moore and James Woods, to evacuate.
In Altadena where one of the major fires raged, the smoke was so thick a person used a flashlight to see down the street. A dark cloud hovered over downtown Los Angeles and smoky air and ash drifted well beyond the city to communities to the east and south.
Wildfire smoke increases tiny particles in the air known as particulate matter that can be harmful to people’s health. Children, the elderly and people with conditions such as heart and lung disease are more sensitive to the effects.
Dr. Puneet Gupta, the assistant medical director for the Los Angeles County Fire Department, said wildfire smoke is known to cause heart attacks and worsen asthma, and that burning homes can also release cyanide and carbon dioxide. He said sickened patients are showing up in emergency rooms when hospitals already are full because of flu season, and some hospitals could also face evacuations due to the fires.
“We have a number of hospitals that are threatened, and if they have to be evacuated, it could become a crisis,” said Gupta, also a spokesperson for the American College of Emergency Physicians. “So that is one of the things that we have to consider.”
US Health Secretary Xavier Becerra raised concerns Wednesday about the smoke’s impact on people’s health in the aftermath of fires that have charred massive amounts of vegetation and buildings.
“That air that’s being spewed is no longer just the kind of smoke that we used to see from wildfires, where it was natural vegetation that was burning,” said Becerra, a former California Attorney General. “Now you got a whole bunch of toxic materials that are getting burned and put into the air.”
What areas are affected?
About 17 million people living across Southern California are covered by smoke and dust adviseries issued for the three wildfires, according to the South Coast Air Quality Management District.
The smoke advisory was expected to last until late Thursday. A dust advisory was also in effect until late Wednesday as gusty winds could kick up ash and dust from prior fires and further worsen air conditions, the district said.
The worst conditions were in the vicinity of the fires with some areas covered in thick, gray smoke. In East Los Angeles, the air quality index hit an unhealthy 173. Good air quality is considered to be 50 or less.
But dozens of miles away, air quality also was deemed unhealthy for sensitive groups including the elderly and young children. Officials in the city of Long Beach about 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of Los Angeles warned residents to take precautions due to the smoky air, and in coastal Rancho Palos Verdes the air quality index measured 108, which is considered unhealthy for those sensitive to pollution.
Winds from the northwest were expected late Wednesday and Thursday to push air from the regions where fires were still burning toward the south across Los Angeles and Orange counties and east toward San Bernardino County.
People living in areas affected by wildfire smoke should try to stay indoors and keep windows and doors shut to limit their exposure.
They should avoid vigorous physical activity and run air conditioning or an air purifier, and should not use house fans that draw in outside air.
For those who must be outside, a respirator mask can offer some protection, according to air quality regulators.
Stars who lost homes in the wildfires
Cary Elwes and Paris Hilton are among the stars who said Wedesday they had lost homes in the Palisade fire.
The Pacific Palisades neighborhood is a hillside area along the coast dotted with celebrity residences and memorialized by the Beach Boys in their 1960s hit “Surfin’ USA.” In the frantic haste to get to safety, roadways became impassable when scores of people abandoned their vehicles and fled on foot, some toting suitcases.
“Evacuated Malibu so last minute,” wrote Hamill in an Instagram post Tuesday night. “Small fires on both sides of the road as we approached (the Pacific Coast Highway).”
Less than 72 hours before, Hollywood’s highest-wattage stars had convened to walk the Golden Globes’ red carpet, the first major event of the exuberant and, for many, triumphant awards season. The revelry of awards season had quickly been snuffed out, too: Premieres of contenders like “Better Man” and “The Last Showgirl” were canceled, the Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations were announced via press release instead of at a live event and weekend events like the AFI Awards were preemptively scrubbed.
The Oscar nominations are also being delayed two days to Jan. 19 and the film academy has extended the voting window to accommodate members affected by the fires.
Elwes, the star of “The Princess Bride” and numerous other films, wrote on Instagram Wednesday that his family was safe but their home had burned in the coastal Palisades fire. “Sadly we did lose our home but we are grateful to have survived this truly devastating fire,” Elwes wrote.
Hilton posted a news video clip on Instagram and said it included footage of her destroyed home in Malibu. “This home was where we built so many precious memories. It’s where Phoenix took his first steps and where we dreamed of building a lifetime of memories with London,” she said, referencing her young children.
“The devastation is unimaginable. To know so many are waking up today without the place they called home is truly heartbreaking,” she wrote.
Jamie Lee Curtis said Wednesday on Instagram that her family is safe, but she suggested her neighborhood and possibly her home is on fire. She said many of her friends lost their homes.
“It’s a terrifying situation and I’m grateful to the firefighters and all of the good Samaritans who are helping people get out of the way of the blaze.”
Other stars who have homes in the area include Adam Sandler, Ben Affleck, Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg.
Many are awaiting word on whether their homes survived the flames.
Mandy Moore said her family evacuated too and has since tried to shield her kids from the “immense sadness and worry” that she currently feels.
“So gutted for the destruction and loss,” she posted in her Instagram story. “Don’t know if our place made it.”
Woods posted footage Tuesday of flames burning through bushes and past palm trees on a hill near his home. The towering orange flames billowed among the landscaped yards between the homes.
“Standing in my driveway, getting ready to evacuate,” Woods said in the short video on X. Later, he confirmed he had evacuated and added: “It tests your soul, losing everything at once, I must say.”
Israeli military tightens media rules over war crimes prosecution concern
- Under the new rules, media interviewing soldiers of the rank of colonel and under will not be able to display their full names or faces, similar to the rules that already exist for pilots, an Israeli military spokesperson says
JERUSALEM: The Israeli military placed new restrictions on media coverage of soldiers on active combat duty amid growing concern at the risk of legal action against reservists traveling abroad over allegations of involvement in war crimes in Gaza.
The move came after an Israeli reservist vacationing in Brazil left the country abruptly when a Brazilian judge ordered federal police to open an investigation following allegations from a pro-Palestinian group that he had committed war crimes while serving in Gaza.
Under the new rules, media interviewing soldiers of the rank of colonel and under will not be able to display their full names or faces, similar to the rules that already exist for pilots and members of special forces units, Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli military spokesperson told reporters.
The interviewees must not be linked to a specific combat event they participated in.
“This is our new guideline to protect our soldiers and to make sure they are safe from these types of incident hosted by anti-Israel activists around the world,” Shoshani said.
He said that under existing military rules, soldiers were already not supposed to post videos and other images from war zones on social media “even though that’s never perfect and we have a large army.” There were also long-standing rules and guidelines for soldiers traveling abroad, he said.
Shoshani said activist groups, such as the Belgium-based Hind Rajab Foundation, which pushed for the action in Brazil, were “connecting the dots” between soldiers who posted material from Gaza and then posted other photos and videos of themselves while on holiday abroad.
Last year, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as a Hamas leader, Ibrahim Al-Masri, over alleged war crimes in Gaza, drawing outrage in Israel.
Shoshani said there had been “a handful” of cases where reservists traveling abroad had been targeted, in addition to the case in Brazil, all of which had been started by activist groups pushing authorities for an investigation.
“They didn’t open an investigation, they didn’t press charges or anything like that,” he said.
NATO membership only credible security guarantee for Ukraine, Finnish foreign minister says
- Ukrainian officials including President Volodymyr Zelensky have called for strong security guarantees from partners that would prevent Russia from rearming for a new attack
KYIV: Membership in NATO is the only credible long-term security guarantee Ukraine can receive against future Russian aggression, Finland’s top diplomat said on Wednesday.
Donald Trump’s return to the White House on Jan. 20 has sparked hope of a diplomatic resolution to end Moscow’s invasion but also fears in Kyiv that a quick peace could come at a high price.
Ukrainian officials including President Volodymyr Zelensky have called for strong security guarantees from partners that would prevent Russia from rearming for a new attack.
“I think in the long term the only credible security guarantee is Article 5 of the Washington Treaty — so NATO membership essentially,” Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen told Reuters in Kyiv, referring to the alliance’s collective defense clause.
“And we are supporting Ukraine’s NATO membership further down the line and hopefully not in (the) too-distant future.”
Ukraine’s leaders have aggressively pushed for an invitation to join the 32-member alliance but have met resistance from key members as the war lurches toward its three-year mark and Ukrainian troops struggle to beat back Russian advances.
Trump, who has criticized US aid to Ukraine, said on Tuesday he sympathizes with Russia’s position that Ukraine should not be part of NATO. His aides and allies see Ukrainian membership as an unnecessary provocation toward Moscow.
He also blamed outgoing Democratic President Joe Biden for allegedly changing the US position on NATO membership for Ukraine.
Valtonen, who was in Kyiv days after Finland assumed the chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, said a Trump administration would not necessarily spell the end for Ukraine’s NATO ambitions.
“Three years ago nobody thought that Finland would be joining NATO, or Sweden for that matter,” she said. “So here we are, you never know.”
Finland, which shares a 830-mile (1,336 km) border with Russia, joined the alliance in 2023 after the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of its smaller neighbor. Sweden joined earlier this year.
‘SAME PAGE’
Trump, who has long been critical of NATO, also called on Tuesday for European members to boost spending on alliance defense from 2 percent of their gross domestic product to 5 percent.
Valtonen, who described Finland as “very much carrying its own weight so far,” said such rhetoric could help spur European efforts to strengthen collective defense.
“We are very much on the same page with Trump on that, because I think we should do more, we can do more,” she said.
“Certainly Europe has improved massively over the course of the past years, and will continue doing so.”
President-elect Donald Trump visits Jimmy Carter’s casket in Capitol Rotunda after criticizing him
- “I liked him as a man. I disagreed with his policies. He thought giving away the Panama Canal was a good thing,” Trump said on Tuesday
- House Speaker Mike Johnson eulogized: "In the face of conflict, he brokered peace. In the face of discrimination, he reminded us that we are all made in the image of God."
WASHINGTON: President-elect Donald Trump, who has alternated among praising, criticizing and even mocking Jimmy Carter, came Wednesday to the Capitol Rotunda to pay his respects as the 39th president lay in state ahead of his funeral Thursday in the nation’s capital.
Carter was often the target of Trump’s derision during his 2024 campaign, and the president-elect has renewed his critique of the Georgia Democrat this week amid his state funeral rites for ceding control of the Panama Canal to its home country when he was president more than four decades ago.
Trump, who plans to attend Carter’s funeral Thursday at Washington National Cathedral, played it straight on Capitol Hill, walking somberly into the rotunda with his wife, Melania, and pausing in front of Carter’s flag-draped casket, which is resting atop the Lincoln catafalque and stands surrounded by a military honor guard.
But on the campaign trail, Trump lampooned President Joe Biden and Carter together, playing up Republican caricatures of Carter as an incompetent steward of an inflationary economy and directing the same indictment at Biden’s administration.
“Jimmy Carter is happy because he had a brilliant presidency compared to Biden,” Trump would say, even using some version of the attack when former first lady Rosalynn Carter was on her deathbed in 2023 and on Carter’s 100th birthday on Oct. 1, 2024. On Tuesday, the day Carter’s remains arrived in Washington, Trump added of Carter, “I liked him as a man. I disagreed with his policies. He thought giving away the Panama Canal was a good thing.”
Members of Congress, Hill staffers and former Speaker Kevin McCarthy were among the steady stream of mourners in addition to the Trumps. Lynda Robb and Luci Baines Johnson, the daughters of President Lyndon Johnson, paid their respects, as well. Luci Baines Johnson blew a kiss toward the casket as she walked away.
Carter, the longest-lived US president, died Dec. 29 at the age of 100.
A US Naval Academy graduate, submarine officer and peanut farmer before entering politics, Carter won the White House in 1976 as an outsider in the wake of the Vietnam War and Watergate. He endured a rocky four years of economic unrest and international crises that ended with his defeat to Republican Ronald Reagan. But he also lived long enough to see historians reassess his presidency more charitably than voters did in 1980, and the national rites of a state funeral afford him a notable counter to the often testy relationship he had with Washington during his four years in the Oval Office.
“President Carter was the governor of the great state of Georgia when I was born,” said Lyn Leverett, among the people who waited in below-freezing weather Wednesday. “So he’s been around my, you know, my whole entire being. And I just want to pay my respects to a decent person.”
Some visitors fondly recalled personal connections to Carter’s 1976 campaign, when his family, close friends and other supporters from Georgia formed the “Peanut Brigade” to fan out across Iowa, New Hampshire and other key primary states and help Carter surprise the Washington establishment by winning the Democratic nomination.
“I’m originally from Nashua, New Hampshire, and when I was a child, Jimmy Carter slept at my house,” said Susan Prolman. “He had just won the Iowa caucuses and he was in New Hampshire campaigning for the first-in-the-nation New Hampshire presidential primary. And I created this little poster for him, and he very kindly signed it.”
Margaret Fitzpatrick, of Kensington, Maryland, recalled a family friend who had attended the Naval Academy with Carter in the 1940s and later hosted him as a presidential candidate. But she and others said what most drew them to the Capitol was what they remember of Carter once he left office — and the distinctions they see between Carter and Trump.
“The contrast is amazing,” Fitzpatrick said, as she noted the juxtaposition of Carter’s funeral with the obvious preparations around Washington for Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration. “I’m here to respect somebody who has built a reputation on honesty, character and integrity. President Carter was a decent, kind, genuine and gentle person.”
Kim James, also a Maryland resident, said she had yet to start grade school when Carter was elected and thinks of him more as the white-haired former president who fought disease and advocated for democracy in the developing world and built homes for Habitat for Humanity in the US and abroad.
“He cared about other people,” she said, adding that political leaders today should work harder to replicate that example. “That selflessness — it always stood out.”
Official ceremonies this week also have remembered Carter’s religious convictions, long public service and decades of humanitarian work beyond what he accomplished in politics. Vice President Kamala Harris, House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune eulogized Carter a day earlier at the Capitol, when his remains first arrived in the rotunda.
Said Johnson in his tribute: “In the face of illness, President Jimmy Carter brought lifesaving medicine. In the face of conflict, he brokered peace. In the face of discrimination, he reminded us that we are all made in the image of God. And if you were to ask him why he did it all, he would likely point to his faith.”
Carter will remain at the Capitol until Thursday morning, when he is transported to Washington National Cathedral for a state funeral. President Joe Biden, a longtime Carter ally, will deliver a eulogy. Other living former presidents, including Trump, are expected to attend.
After the funeral, the Boeing 747 that is Air Force One when a sitting president is aboard will carry Carter and his family back to Georgia. An invitation-only funeral will be held at Maranatha Baptist Church in tiny Plains, Georgia, where Carter taught Sunday School for decades after leaving office.
Carter will be buried next to his wife, former first lady Rosalynn Carter, in a plot near the home they built before his first state Senate campaign in 1962 and where they lived out their lives with the exception of four years in the Georgia Governor’s Mansion and four years in the White House.
Barcelona defeat Bilbao without Olmo to reach Spanish Super Cup final
- Gavi put Barcelona ahead from close range after 17 minutes and teenage winger Yamal netted the second early after the break
JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia: Young starlets Gavi and Lamine Yamal fired Barcelona, without Dani Olmo after his license to play was revoked, into the Spanish Super Cup final with a 2-0 win against Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday.
Spanish playmaker Olmo was cleared to play again on a temporary basis before the game but the decision came too late for him or Pau Victor, in the same position, to feature against Copa del Rey winners Athletic.
Gavi put Barcelona ahead from close range after 17 minutes and teenage winger Yamal netted the second early after the break.
Spanish and European champions Real Madrid face cup runners-up Mallorca on Thursday in the second semifinal in Saudi Arabia, where the competition has been held for the past few years.
“Athletic are a very physical team that make you run a lot, we suffered above all toward the end, but we were able to play well and we’re very happy,” Yamal told Movistar.
The winger said Olmo and Victor were pleased to be allowed to play once more.
“In the end you’re nervous when you can’t play and when you get news like that, you’re very happy,” added Yamal.
Barca coach Hansi Flick hailed the decision from Spain’s national sports council regarding Olmo and Victor.
“The whole club is very happy for this right decision,” said Flick, hoping to win his first silverware at the helm of Barca.
“We wanted to show we are a team and we win also for them.”
Barcelona, who qualified as La Liga runners-up, started brightly and Raphinha volleyed over from a fine Jules Kounde cross and forced Unai Simon into a good save with a free-kick.
It was no surprise when the Catalans broke the deadlock with Alejandro Balde cutting the ball back for Gavi, playing in Olmo’s attacking midfield role, to turn home for his first goal since suffering a severe knee injury last season.
The 20-year-old pointed at an imaginary watch in his celebration, a nod to Olmo who regularly produces the same gesture after scoring.
At the other end Inaki Williams dallied on the ball too long as Athletic’s best attacking move of the first half broke down.
Yamal, returning after an ankle problem, should have added Barcelona’s second after Raphinha’s shot was saved but the 17-year-old miscued an attempted lob.
Wojciech Szczesny, on his second start in goal for Barcelona, made a good save to keep Inaki Williams at bay before the break.
Barcelona doubled their lead early in the second half when Gavi slipped in Yamal who finished with aplomb.
Veteran Polish forward Robert Lewandowski spurned a fine chance to add the third, firing off-target when well placed.
Athletic coach Ernesto Valverde, who was sacked as Barcelona boss after a defeat at the same stadium in 2020, brought on Nico Williams to try and turn the game around.
The Spain international, heavily linked with Barcelona in the summer, was not fit enough to start, but made a positive impact from the bench.
The winger set up Oscar de Marcos to strike but the Athletic defender had strayed just offside and the goal was ruled out.
Inaki Williams also had a goal ruled out for offside after Frenkie De Jong’s poor back-pass took a slight deflection off Alvaro Djalo on its way to the Ghana international.
“It’s a shame given all the effort... but we have good things ahead of us and we have to continue,” said Inaki Williams.
Barcelona were able to book their place in Sunday’s final, in which Olmo will be allowed to feature.
“We don’t care (who we face in the final), it will be hard and we want to win it, which is the important thing, and go back home with the trophy,” said Yamal.
