Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the US special envoy for Yemen, Timothy Lenderking, discussed the situation in the war-torn country during a meeting in the Red Sea city of Neom.
Prince Mohammed and Mr Lenderking reviewed the latest developments in the civil war in Yemen and joint efforts to reach a political solution to the conflict, the state Saudi Press Agency said.
The meeting was attended by the Saudi Deputy Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman; the Saudi Ambassador to the US Princess Reema bint Bandar; Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan; Saudi Ambassador to Yemen Mohammed Al Jaber; US Ambassador to Yemen Christopher Henzel; and the Charge d'Affaires of the US embassy in Riyadh, Martina Strong.
The US State Department said Mr Lenderking was visiting Saudi Arabia and Oman to discuss efforts to end the civil war and ease the flow of aid to the ravaged country.
The envoy's discussions "will focus on ensuring the regular and unimpeded delivery of commodities and humanitarian assistance throughout Yemen, promoting a lasting ceasefire, and transitioning the parties to a political process", it said.
The civil war has created what the United Nations calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with about 80 per cent of the country's population of 29 million requiring aid and 13 million facing starvation.
The war started in 2015 when the Iran-backed Houthi rebels took control of the capital, ousting the internationally recognised government. A Saudi-led military coalition intervened at the government’s request.
US President Joe Biden appointed Mr Lenderking to help revive stalled UN efforts to end the conflict, but a Houthi military offensive in Yemen's gas-rich Marib region is complicating efforts to reach a ceasefire.
The State Department said Mr Lenderking would seek to "build on the international consensus to halt the Houthi offensive on Marib, which only worsens the humanitarian crisis threatening the Yemeni people".
Last week, Mr Lenderking called the battle for the Marib region the single biggest threat to peace efforts. He said Iran's support for the Houthi movement was "quite significant and it's lethal".
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Multitasking pays off for money goals
Tackling money goals one at a time cost financial literacy expert Barbara O'Neill at least $1 million.
That's how much Ms O'Neill, a distinguished professor at Rutgers University in the US, figures she lost by starting saving for retirement only after she had created an emergency fund, bought a car with cash and purchased a home.
"I tell students that eventually, 30 years later, I hit the million-dollar mark, but I could've had $2 million," Ms O'Neill says.
Too often, financial experts say, people want to attack their money goals one at a time: "As soon as I pay off my credit card debt, then I'll start saving for a home," or, "As soon as I pay off my student loan debt, then I'll start saving for retirement"."
People do not realise how costly the words "as soon as" can be. Paying off debt is a worthy goal, but it should not come at the expense of other goals, particularly saving for retirement. The sooner money is contributed, the longer it can benefit from compounded returns. Compounded returns are when your investment gains earn their own gains, which can dramatically increase your balances over time.
"By putting off saving for the future, you are really inhibiting yourself from benefiting from that wonderful magic," says Kimberly Zimmerman Rand , an accredited financial counsellor and principal at Dragonfly Financial Solutions in Boston. "If you can start saving today ... you are going to have a lot more five years from now than if you decide to pay off debt for three years and start saving in year four."
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