Washington imposes sanctions on two Houthi commanders in Yemen

The US on Thursday announced sanctions against two senior leaders of the Houthi rebel group in Yemen, saying its continuing offensive in Marib is exacerbating the humanitarian situation and paralysing diplomatic talks.

Supported and armed by Iran, the Houthis launched an assault on Marib in February and are now a few kilometres from the government-held city, the site of the only oil refinery in the north and a gateway to nearby oilfields.

The sanctions have been placed on Abd Al Karim Al Ghamari and Yusuf Al Madani, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said.

Mr Al Ghamari is being sanctioned “for his role in orchestrating attacks by Houthi forces impacting Yemeni civilians", Mr Blinken said.

“He most recently took charge of the large-scale Houthi offensive against Yemeni government-held territory in Marib governorate, as well as attacks against Saudi Arabia and neighbouring states.”

US special envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking first announced the sanctions in an earlier call with reporters.

“Marib is not going to fall any time in the foreseeable future. [The Houthis] are putting the lives of one million at risk,” Mr Lenderking said.

He said Washington was pushing for a ceasefire that would allow humanitarian relief into the country.

“If the Houthis continue to obstruct [this], it will be clear for the international community which party is not in favour of peace in Yemen.”

Mr Lenderking said Washington was “disappointed” by the Houthis’ latest actions, which include declining a meeting with the US negotiating team in Oman this month.

“We have gone out of our way by undesignating the organisation,” Mr Lenderking said, referring to the Biden administration’s decision to remove the group from the list of foreign terrorist organisations in February.

But despite this move and the US limiting support to Saudi Arabia in the conflict, the Houthis have continued to backtrack on their commitments, he said.

The US, Mr Lenderking said, “has levers to press” and Thursday’s sanctions fell into that category.

Mr Lenderking, who has so far made five trips to the region, said Washington is especially concerned about the Houthi offensive on Marib.

He said the indirect US-Iran nuclear talks taking place in Vienna were “the beginning of our work with Iran” to return to compliance with the nuclear deal signed in 2015.

But Mr Lenderking said he hoped that other destabilising behaviour by Iran would be addressed later.

“If Iran wants to show it can be [reasonable], this is a good time," he said.

THE SIXTH SENSE

Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Rating: 5/5

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RESULT

Al Hilal 4 Persepolis 0
Khribin (31', 54', 89'), Al Shahrani 40'
Red card: Otayf (Al Hilal, 49')

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MOST%20POLLUTED%20COUNTRIES%20IN%20THE%20WORLD

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Earth under attack: Cosmic impacts throughout history

- 4.5 billion years ago: Mars-sized object smashes into the newly-formed Earth, creating debris that coalesces to form the Moon

- 66 million years ago: 10km-wide asteroid crashes into the Gulf of Mexico, wiping out over 70 per cent of living species – including the dinosaurs.

- 50,000 years ago: 50m-wide iron meteor crashes in Arizona with the violence of 10 megatonne hydrogen bomb, creating the famous 1.2km-wide Barringer Crater

- 1490: Meteor storm over Shansi Province, north-east China when large stones “fell like rain”, reportedly leading to thousands of deaths.

- 1908: 100-metre meteor from the Taurid Complex explodes near the Tunguska river in Siberia with the force of 1,000 Hiroshima-type bombs, devastating 2,000 square kilometres of forest.

- 1998: Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 breaks apart and crashes into Jupiter in series of impacts that would have annihilated life on Earth.

-2013: 10,000-tonne meteor burns up over the southern Urals region of Russia, releasing a pressure blast and flash that left over 1600 people injured.

Our family matters legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

MATCH INFO

Juventus 1 (Dybala 45')

Lazio 3 (Alberto 16', Lulic 73', Cataldi 90 4')

Red card: Rodrigo Bentancur (Juventus)

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SRI LANKA SQUAD

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What it means to be a conservationist

Who is Enric Sala?

Enric Sala is an expert on marine conservation and is currently the National Geographic Society's Explorer-in-Residence. His love of the sea started with his childhood in Spain, inspired by the example of the legendary diver Jacques Cousteau. He has been a university professor of Oceanography in the US, as well as working at the Spanish National Council for Scientific Research and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Biodiversity and the Bio-Economy. He has dedicated his life to protecting life in the oceans. Enric describes himself as a flexitarian who only eats meat occasionally.

What is biodiversity?

According to the United Nations Environment Programme, all life on earth – including in its forests and oceans – forms a “rich tapestry of interconnecting and interdependent forces”. Biodiversity on earth today is the product of four billion years of evolution and consists of many millions of distinct biological species. The term ‘biodiversity’ is relatively new, popularised since the 1980s and coinciding with an understanding of the growing threats to the natural world including habitat loss, pollution and climate change. The loss of biodiversity itself is dangerous because it contributes to clean, consistent water flows, food security, protection from floods and storms and a stable climate. The natural world can be an ally in combating global climate change but to do so it must be protected. Nations are working to achieve this, including setting targets to be reached by 2020 for the protection of the natural state of 17 per cent of the land and 10 per cent of the oceans. However, these are well short of what is needed, according to experts, with half the land needed to be in a natural state to help avert disaster.

U19 WORLD CUP, WEST INDIES

UAE group fixtures (all in St Kitts)
Saturday 15 January: v Canada
Thursday 20 January: v England
Saturday 22 January: v Bangladesh

UAE squad
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