SANAA // The United Nations is urging the world to provide US$274 million (Dh1bn) in aid to help save lives and protect some 7.5 million people affected by the escalating conflict in Yemen.
In a statement released on Friday, the UN said that along with its partners in Yemen it needs the funds to purchase medical supplies, safe drinking water, food assistance, emergency shelter and provide logistical support.
It came after UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon called for an immediate ceasefire in Yemen and began the hunt for a new peace envoy to the war-torn country.
Fighting between Shiite Houthi rebels and forces loyal to Yemen’s exiled president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi intensified in March and three weeks of Saudi-led airstrikes have so far failed to stop the rebels’ advance.
Yemen’s Al Qaeda branch seized heavy weaponry in the country’s south-east on Friday as they overran a key camp in eastern Mukalla, the capital of Hadramawt province, an official said. The gain consolidated the militants’ grip on the city.
Residents confirmed that the camp, belonging to the 27th Mechanised Brigade, had been seized “without resistance”.
Until Friday, the camp had remained loyal to Mr Hadi and was the only military site in the city not taken over by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
In Geneva on Friday, the UN’s humanitarian agency, OCHA, said that about 150,000 people had been displaced by the airstrikes and ground fighting – 50 per cent more than the previous UN estimate. Health facilities had reported 767 deaths from March 19 to April 13, almost certainly an underestimate, it said.
In addition, public water services were on the verge of collapse while many schools, hospitals and mosques had been damaged or destroyed.
Speaking in Washington on Thursday, Mr Ban said Yemen was “in flames”.
His remarks followed the resignation of his envoy to Yemen, Jamal Benomar, a Moroccan-born career diplomat who lost the confidence of Saudi Arabia and its allies. They accused him of being duped by the rebels.
Mr Ban said he was in the process of finding a new envoy “who can be immediately deployed” to seek a political solution.
“The Saudis have assured me that they understand there must be a political process,” he said. “I call on all Yemenis to participate, and in good faith.”
Saudi Arabia’s regional rival, Iran, renewed its calls for dialogue on Friday and said its foreign minister had spoken to the UN chief overnight.
Meanwhile, Yemen’s former president Ali Abdullah Saleh said on Friday he would not leave the country, dismissing media reports that he was seeking a safe exit as Saudi Arabian warplanes bomb troops loyal to him and their Houthi militia allies.
The Iran-allied Houthis have formed an alliance of convenience with Mr Saleh, who is widely believed to be plotting behind the scenes to make a comeback on Yemen’s tumultuous political scene.
However, military sources say that some army units previously loyal to Mr Saleh have defected and now support Mr Hadi.
Saudi-owned Arabiya TV, citing a Gulf official, said representatives of Mr Saleh had visited Arab capitals and floated an initiative for him and his family to leave safely.
But on Friday, Mr Saleh scoffed at the report.
“I’m not the type who goes looking for a place to live in Jeddah, Paris or Europe. My country is my birthplace. The person who can say to Ali Abdullah Saleh ‘leave your country’ has not been and will not be born,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
On the ground in Yemen, military units protecting the Masila oilfields – the country’s largest – withdrew on Friday and handed over security to armed local tribes, the tribesmen and oil company employees said.
Saudi-led airstrikes also intensified, with bombings in the capital, Sanaa, and the city of Taez reaching their most intense levels since the campaign started last month, Yemeni security officials said.
Thick plumes of smoke rose high above Sanaa as weapons stores in the mountains overlooking the city exploded and burnt, while local residents continued to flee the violence, said the officials.
In Taez, Houthi fighters clashed with army units loyal to Mr Hadi, with tanks and heavy machine guns firing throughout the day and airstrikes hitting a military base of the Houthi-allied Republican Guard.
Airstrikes also continued in Saada, the Houthis’ northern stronghold, and Aden, the southern port city that the rebels have been trying to take for weeks in cooperation with forces loyal to Mr Saleh.
* Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
hall of shame
SUNDERLAND 2002-03
No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.
SUNDERLAND 2005-06
Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.
HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19
Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.
ASTON VILLA 2015-16
Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.
FULHAM 2018-19
Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.
LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.
BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66
Company profile
Date started: December 24, 2018
Founders: Omer Gurel, chief executive and co-founder and Edebali Sener, co-founder and chief technology officer
Based: Dubai Media City
Number of employees: 42 (34 in Dubai and a tech team of eight in Ankara, Turkey)
Sector: ConsumerTech and FinTech
Cashflow: Almost $1 million a year
Funding: Series A funding of $2.5m with Series B plans for May 2020
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
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The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
The story of Edge
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, established Edge in 2019.
It brought together 25 state-owned and independent companies specialising in weapons systems, cyber protection and electronic warfare.
Edge has an annual revenue of $5 billion and employs more than 12,000 people.
Some of the companies include Nimr, a maker of armoured vehicles, Caracal, which manufactures guns and ammunitions company, Lahab
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Frankenstein in Baghdad
Ahmed Saadawi
Penguin Press
The National selections
Al Ain
5pm: Bolereau
5.30pm: Rich And Famous
6pm: Duc De Faust
6.30pm: Al Thoura
7pm: AF Arrab
7.30pm: Al Jazi
8pm: Futoon
Jebel Ali
1.45pm: AF Kal Noor
2.15pm: Galaxy Road
2.45pm: Dark Thunder
3.15pm: Inverleigh
3.45pm: Bawaasil
4.15pm: Initial
4.45pm: Tafaakhor
