LONDON: The Iran-backed Houthi militia must stop blocking much-needed aid and UN access to the Safer tanker, Yemen’s president said on Thursday.
The abandoned tanker has been stranded off Yemen’s Red Sea oil terminal of Ras Issa for more than five years and risks causing massive environmental damage.
Speaking at the 75th UN General Assembly, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi said that the Houthis have taken state institutions hostage, “smothered liberty, blown up schools and places of faith, persecuted citizens and transformed Sanaa into a prison.”
He added: “We are trying to save our country and establish a just and lasting peace. The objective is to stop the blood-letting in Yemen.”
Efforts made by the Arab coalition and the UN to establish peace have fallen “face down” because of the Houthis and “their sponsors the Iranian regime,” the president said.
He condemned the Houthis for targeting civilians and residential infrastructure in both Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
The president urged the international community to exert active and determined pressure on the Houthis so that they respect UN Security Council resolutions.
Hadi also thanked all donor countries and organizations for their aid and support.
President urges end to ‘blood-letting in Yemen’
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President urges end to ‘blood-letting in Yemen’
- Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi said that the Houthis have taken state institutions hostage
- “We are trying to save our country and establish a just and lasting peace. The objective is to stop the blood-letting in Yemen,” he said
Bahrain elected to Arab seat at UN Security Council for 2026-2027, succeeding Algeria
NEW YORK CITY: The United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday elected Bahrain, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Latvia, and Liberia to the 15-member UN Security Council for two-year terms starting on Jan. 1, 2026.
The Security Council is the only UN body that can make legally binding decisions such as imposing sanctions and authorizing use of force. It has five permanent veto-wielding members: Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.
The remaining 10 members are elected, with five new members joining every year. Bahrain, Colombia, the DRC, Latvia, and Liberia — who were all elected in uncontested slates — will replace Algeria, Sierra Leone, South Korea, Guyana and Slovenia.
To ensure geographical representation, seats are allocated to regional groups. But even if candidates are running unopposed in their group, they still need to win the support of more than two-thirds of the General Assembly.
Bahrain received 186 votes, DRC 183 votes, Liberia 181 votes, Colombia 180 votes and Latvia 178 votes.
The General Assembly on Monday elected former German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock as president of the 193-member body for its 80th session, which begins in September.
UAE’s foreign minister, Australian counterpart reaffirm friendship
- Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, Penny Wong review issues 50 years on from establishing diplomatic relations
LONDON: Foreign ministers of the UAE and Australia have reaffirmed the friendship of their countries, some 50 years on from establishing diplomatic relations.
Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and Penny Wong stressed in a phone call their mutual commitment to strengthening areas of cooperation in support of both countries’ development goals, the Emirates News Agency reported.
The parties also reviewed regional and international issues of mutual interest and expressed their commitment to continue cooperating to achieve growth.
Abu Dhabi and Canberra are celebrating 50 years since establishing diplomatic relations in March 1975.
Jordan condemns Israeli settler incursion into Al-Aqsa, reaffirms responsibility for mosque
- Hundreds of Israeli settlers entered Al-Aqsa compound in the Old City, which is part of occupied East Jerusalem
- Jordanian Foreign Ministry said settler incursion would not be possible without protection, facilitation of Israeli police
LONDON: The Jordanian Ministry of Foreign and Expatriate Affairs condemned the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque by extremist Israeli settlers, describing the action as provocative.
On Monday and Tuesday, hundreds of Israeli settlers entered the compound in the Old City, which is part of occupied East Jerusalem. The ministry described the setters’ behavior as “inflammatory acts that aim to impose new temporal and spatial divisions at the mosque.”
Settlers regularly tour the site under the protection of Israeli police and are often accompanied by government officials and far-right ministers.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sufian Qudah said that the settlers’ incursion “would not be possible without the protection and facilitation of the Israeli police,” demanding that the Israeli authorities “halt their irresponsible and dangerous practices.”
On Tuesday, some settlers performed Talmudic rituals in Al-Aqsa compound known as “epic prostration,” in which the worshipper bows low to the ground in a display of humility and reverence, the Petra news agency reported.
Qudah emphasized that the 144-dunam area of Al-Aqsa Mosque is a place of worship exclusively for Muslims. He highlighted that the Jerusalem Endowments Council, which operates under Jordan’s Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs, is the only legal authority responsible for managing and regulating Al-Aqsa’s affairs, Petra added.
Palestinian appeals for blood donations unanswered in Gaza due to widespread hunger, malnutrition
- Nearly 2 million Palestinians face imminent risk of widespread hunger as Israel has mostly restricted access to sufficient humanitarian aid
- Hospitals across Gaza are experiencing a critical shortage of essential medications, surgical supplies, and diagnostic imaging equipment
LONDON: Palestinian medics are facing challenging conditions while treating patients and the injured in the Gaza Strip amid ongoing Israeli attacks in the coastal enclave.
Health and medical staff have reported to the Wafa news agency that their appeals for community blood donations have gone largely unanswered due to widespread hunger and malnutrition, while life-saving resources are rapidly depleting in many hospitals.
Nearly 2 million Palestinians face an imminent risk of widespread hunger as Israel has mostly restricted access to sufficient humanitarian aid since it resumed its military actions in March.
Hospitals across Gaza are experiencing a critical shortage of essential medications, surgical supplies, and diagnostic imaging equipment, hindering doctors from carrying out emergency procedures necessary to save lives, Wafa added.
Operating rooms, intensive care units, and emergency departments are struggling under the pressure of a growing number of critically injured patients, and fuel is running out to generate power.
On Monday, Palestinian medical sources in Gaza revealed that 41 percent of kidney failure patients have died since October 2023 amid ongoing Israeli attacks and restrictions on humanitarian and medical aid.
Israeli forces destroyed the Noura Al-Kaabi Dialysis Center in northern Gaza over the weekend, one of the few specialized facilities providing kidney dialysis to 160 patients.
UN chief urges Yemen’s Houthis to release aid workers
- “I renew my call for their immediate and unconditional release,” Guterres said
- “The UN and its humanitarian partners should never be targeted, arrested or detained while carrying out their mandates”
DUBAI: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday demanded Yemen’s Houthi militants release dozens of aid workers, including UN staff, a year after their arrest.
The Iran-backed militants, who control much of the war-torn country, detained 13 UN personnel and more than 50 employees of aid groups last June.
“I renew my call for their immediate and unconditional release,” Guterres said in a statement issued by the office of his special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg.
“The UN and its humanitarian partners should never be targeted, arrested or detained while carrying out their mandates for the benefit of the people they serve,” he added.
A decade of civil war has plunged Yemen into one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with more than half of the population relying on aid.
The arrests prompted the United Nations to limit its deployments and suspend activities in some regions of the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest country.
The Houthis at the time claimed an “American-Israeli spy cell” was operating under the cover of aid groups — an accusation firmly rejected by the UN.
Guterres also lamented the “deplorable tragedy” of the death in detention of a World Food Programme staffer in February.
The Houthis have kidnapped, arbitrarily detained and tortured hundreds of civilians, including aid workers, during their war against a Saudi-led coalition supporting the beleaguered internationally recognized government.
