The UN has denied reports that the head of the UN mission monitoring a ceasefire in Yemen's port city of Hodeidah had resigned.
Retired Dutch general Patrick Cammaert and his team arrived in Hodeidah last month to oversee the ceasefire agreed upon by Yemen’s government and the Houthi rebels at talks in Sweden earlier in December. He is the UN-designated chair of a Redeployment Coordination Committee, comprised of government and rebel representatives, set up to monitor its implementation.
Reports of Mr Cammaert's resignation emerged on Tuesday after weeks of tension over the rebels' refusal to honour the terms of the truce. Yemeni government officials also told The National that differences between Mr Cammaert and the UN special envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths, over dealings with the rebels had pushed him to resign.
“The various obstacles faced by General Cammaert, and the lack of co-operation by Mr Griffiths has created differences between the two officials, prompting General Cammaert to resign from his mission in Yemen,” the officials said.
However, a statement issued on the UN spokesperson's Twitter account on Wednesday refuted the reports and said Mr Cammaert was “continuing his work, contrary to media reports”.
Mr Cammaert attended talks in Riyadh on Thursday between Mr Griffiths and members of President Abdrabu Mansur Hadi's government as the UN envoy tries to shore up the Hodeidah agreement.
The truce went into effect on December 18 and was to be followed by a rebel pullout from Hodeidah's ports and the withdrawal of all armed forces from the city and surrounding areas. However, the government and the Arab Coalition supporting it have reported repeated rebel violations of the ceasefire.
The rebel withdrawal from Hodeidah's ports has also been contentious, with accusations that the Houthis handed over control to their own forces rather than local forces as stipulated in the agreement.
Mr Cammaert "objected to the Houthis' false redeployment from Hodeidah", the Yemeni government officials told The National.
“The general wanted to take a firmer approach with the Houthis to ensure they completely withdraw from the city and its three ports,” they said.
The Houthis have boycotted meetings with Mr Cammaert in recent weeks and have also threatened to carry out drone strikes against government forces.
Mohammed Abdelsalam, who led the Houthi negotiating team in Sweden, said earlier this month his delegation boycotted the meetings because Mr Cammaert had steered “from the course of the agreement by implementing other agendas”.
A vehicle in Mr Cammaert's convoy was shot at last week but no one was injured.
The UN confirmed the attack but did not say who was behind it, while government officials placed the blame on the rebels.
The Houthi minister of youth, Hassan Zaid, this month called for Mr Cammaert to be barred from Hodeidah and its ports.
Mr Zaid said in a post on Facebook that “General Cammaert was trying to hand over Hodeidah to the Arab Coalition”.
President Hadi warned the international community on Thursday that the rebels were failing to respect the truce.
"The legitimate government remains committed to the Sweden accords," Mr Hadi said, according remarks reported by the state-run Saba news agency.
Mr Griffiths' talks with Mr Hadi on Thursday followed meetings with the Houthis in the rebel-held Yemeni capital earlier in the week. It is the second time he has travelled to Sanaa and Riyadh this month.
Dark Souls: Remastered
Developer: From Software (remaster by QLOC)
Publisher: Namco Bandai
Price: Dh199
THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
Christopher Robin
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Haley Atwell, Jim Cummings, Peter Capaldi
Three stars
The specs: 2018 Jaguar F-Type Convertible
Price, base / as tested: Dh283,080 / Dh318,465
Engine: 2.0-litre inline four-cylinder
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 295hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 400Nm @ 1,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7.2L / 100km
Fixtures:
Wed Aug 29 – Malaysia v Hong Kong, Nepal v Oman, UAE v Singapore
Thu Aug 30 - UAE v Nepal, Hong Kong v Singapore, Malaysia v Oman
Sat Sep 1 - UAE v Hong Kong, Oman v Singapore, Malaysia v Nepal
Sun Sep 2 – Hong Kong v Oman, Malaysia v UAE, Nepal v Singapore
Tue Sep 4 - Malaysia v Singapore, UAE v Oman, Nepal v Hong Kong
Thu Sep 6 – Final
JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH
Directed by: Shaka King
Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Lakeith Stanfield, Jesse Plemons
Four stars
Ads on social media can 'normalise' drugs
A UK report on youth social media habits commissioned by advocacy group Volteface found a quarter of young people were exposed to illegal drug dealers on social media.
The poll of 2,006 people aged 16-24 assessed their exposure to drug dealers online in a nationally representative survey.
Of those admitting to seeing drugs for sale online, 56 per cent saw them advertised on Snapchat, 55 per cent on Instagram and 47 per cent on Facebook.
Cannabis was the drug most pushed by online dealers, with 63 per cent of survey respondents claiming to have seen adverts on social media for the drug, followed by cocaine (26 per cent) and MDMA/ecstasy, with 24 per cent of people.
How it works
Each player begins with one of the great empires of history, from Julius Caesar's Rome to Ramses of Egypt, spread over Europe and the Middle East.
Round by round, the player expands their empire. The more land they have, the more money they can take from their coffers for each go.
As unruled land and soldiers are acquired, players must feed them. When a player comes up against land held by another army, they can choose to battle for supremacy.
A dice-based battle system is used and players can get the edge on their enemy with by deploying a renowned hero on the battlefield.
Players that lose battles and land will find their coffers dwindle and troops go hungry. The end goal? Global domination of course.
TOURNAMENT INFO
Opening fixtures:
Friday, Oct 5
8pm: Kabul Zwanan v Paktia Panthers
Saturday, Oct 6
4pm: Nangarhar Leopards v Kandahar Knights
8pm: Kabul Zwanan v Balkh Legends
Tickets
Tickets can be bought online at https://www.q-tickets.com/apl/eventlist and at the ticket office at the stadium.
TV info
The tournament will be broadcast live in the UAE on OSN Sports.
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
About RuPay
A homegrown card payment scheme launched by the National Payments Corporation of India and backed by the Reserve Bank of India, the country’s central bank
RuPay process payments between banks and merchants for purchases made with credit or debit cards
It has grown rapidly in India and competes with global payment network firms like MasterCard and Visa.
In India, it can be used at ATMs, for online payments and variations of the card can be used to pay for bus, metro charges, road toll payments
The name blends two words rupee and payment
Some advantages of the network include lower processing fees and transaction costs
Brief scoreline:
Wales 1
James 5'
Slovakia 0
Man of the Match: Dan James (Wales)
Company%C2%A0profile
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Bugatti Chiron Super Sport - the specs:
Engine: 8.0-litre quad-turbo W16
Transmission: 7-speed DSG auto
Power: 1,600hp
Torque: 1,600Nm
0-100kph in 2.4seconds
0-200kph in 5.8 seconds
0-300kph in 12.1 seconds
Top speed: 440kph
Price: Dh13,200,000
Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport - the specs:
Engine: 8.0-litre quad-turbo W16
Transmission: 7-speed DSG auto
Power: 1,500hp
Torque: 1,600Nm
0-100kph in 2.3 seconds
0-200kph in 5.5 seconds
0-300kph in 11.8 seconds
Top speed: 350kph
Price: Dh13,600,000
Defending champions
World Series: South Africa
Women’s World Series: Australia
Gulf Men’s League: Dubai Exiles
Gulf Men’s Social: Mediclinic Barrelhouse Warriors
Gulf Vets: Jebel Ali Dragons Veterans
Gulf Women: Dubai Sports City Eagles
Gulf Under 19: British School Al Khubairat
Gulf Under 19 Girls: Dubai Exiles
UAE National Schools: Al Safa School
International Invitational: Speranza 22
International Vets: Joining Jack
ABU%20DHABI%20CARD
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THE BIO: Mohammed Ashiq Ali
Proudest achievement: “I came to a new country and started this shop”
Favourite TV programme: the news
Favourite place in Dubai: Al Fahidi. “They started the metro in 2009 and I didn’t take it yet.”
Family: six sons in Dubai and a daughter in Faisalabad
Last 10 winners of African Footballer of the Year
2006: Didier Drogba (Chelsea and Ivory Coast)
2007: Frederic Kanoute (Sevilla and Mali)
2008: Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal and Togo)
2009: Didier Drogba (Chelsea and Ivory Coast)
2010: Samuel Eto’o (Inter Milan and Cameroon)
2011: Yaya Toure (Manchester City and Ivory Coast)
2012: Yaya Toure (Manchester City and Ivory Coast)
2013: Yaya Toure (Manchester City and Ivory Coast)
2014: Yaya Toure (Manchester City and Ivory Coast)
2015: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund and Gabon)
2016: Riyad Mahrez (Leicester City and Algeria)
Company Profile
Founders: Tamara Hachem and Yazid Erman
Based: Dubai
Launched: September 2019
Sector: health technology
Stage: seed
Investors: Oman Technology Fund, angel investor and grants from Sharjah's Sheraa and Ma'an Abu Dhabi
