Angelina Jolie decries 'unimaginable' suffering in Yemen's war


James Reinl
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Actress Angelina Jolie on Tuesday decried the “unimaginable” suffering she has seen during a visit to Yemen and urged donors to dig into their pockets and help the war-ravaged nation at this month's pledging meet.

Jolie, the star and director of numerous films, sounded the alarm about impoverished conditions in Yemen after meeting displaced Yemenis in the south and the rebel-held north of the country.

“The level of human suffering here is unimaginable,” said Jolie, celebrity envoy for the UN refugee agency since 2011.

“For every day that Yemen’s brutal conflict continues, more and more innocent lives are lost, and more people will continue to suffer.”

The actress met families displaced by fighting living in flimsy shelters in southern Yemen's Lahj governorate.

One mother told the actress how she struggles to feed her children and enrol them in school.

In the north, the actress heard similarly tragic stories of death, displacement and suffering amid fighting between rebels, pro-government and foreign coalition forces.

Jolie noted how headlines are dominated by “suffering and horror” but that this can mask “displays of compassion and international solidarity” that she witnessed during her three-day visit, which began on Sunday.

“I hope this compassion and solidarity will be extended to the people of Yemen, who urgently need a swift and peaceful resolution to this conflict,” she said.

Her visit came in the run-up to the annual pledging meeting for Yemen on March 16.

UN aid chiefs worry that donor fatigue will affect the event, as governments shift spending to Ukraine, Afghanistan and other global hotspots.

She said aid appeals were “underfunded globally” and urged donors to give generously, a statement from UNHCR said.

“We urgently need to find solutions that enable conflicts to be addressed and displaced people to be able to return home in dignity and safety,” she said.

Yemen has been mired in chaos since Iran-backed Houthi rebels ousted the internationally recognised government from the capital Sanaa in early 2015, saying they were fighting corruption.

A Saudi Arabia-led military coalition intervened the following year to restore the ousted government.

The war has claimed more than 370,000 lives, directly and indirectly, the UN says, and has caused widespread suffering, with four fifths of Yemen’s 30 million people needing aid.

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The specs

Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel

Power: 579hp

Torque: 859Nm

Transmission: Single-speed automatic

Price: From Dh825,900

On sale: Now

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How to help

Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
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The biog

Name: Abeer Al Bah

Born: 1972

Husband: Emirati lawyer Salem Bin Sahoo, since 1992

Children: Soud, born 1993, lawyer; Obaid, born 1994, deceased; four other boys and one girl, three months old

Education: BA in Elementary Education, worked for five years in a Dubai school

 

The specs
  • Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
  • Power: 640hp
  • Torque: 760nm
  • On sale: 2026
  • Price: Not announced yet
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FIXTURES

Thursday
Dibba v Al Dhafra, Fujairah Stadium (5pm)
Al Wahda v Hatta, Al Nahyan Stadium (8pm)

Friday
Al Nasr v Ajman, Zabeel Stadium (5pm)
Al Jazria v Al Wasl, Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium (8pm)

Saturday
Emirates v Al Ain, Emirates Club Stadium (5pm)
Sharjah v Shabab Al Ahli Dubai, Sharjah Stadium (8pm)

ESSENTIALS

The flights

Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.

The hotels

Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.

The tours

A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages. 

UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

Lexus LX700h specs

Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor

Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm

Transmission: 10-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh590,000

UK-EU trade at a glance

EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years

Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products

Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries

Smoother border management with use of e-gates

Cutting red tape on import and export of food

Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Updated: March 08, 2022, 8:52 PM`