World

Yemen’s Houthis seized UN rights office in Sanaa, UN official says

Published

2 hours ago

August 14, 2024

Yemen’s Houthis seized UN rights office in Sanaa, UN official says

Yemen’s Houthi rebels stormed the headquarters of the United Nations’ Human Rights Office in the capital, Sanaa, seizing documents, furniture and vehicles, a senior U.N. official said Tuesday.

The seizure was the latest move in a crackdown by the Houthis on people working with the U.N., aid agencies and foreign embassies. The crackdown comes as the Iranian-backed rebels have been targeting shipping throughout the Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

YEMEN’S HOUTHI REBELS USE MISSILES, DRONES TO ATTACK 2 MORE SHIPS IN RED SEA

The rebels took over the U.N. Human Rights Office’s premises in Sanaa on Aug. 3, after forcing U.N. Yemeni workers to hand over belongings, including documents, furniture and vehicles, U.N. Human Rights Chief Volker Türk said in a statement.

“Ansar Allah forces must leave the premises and return all assets and belongings immediately,” Türk said, using the official name of the Houthis.

A spokesman for the Houthis didn’t return phone calls and messages requesting comment.

The U.N.’s Human Rights Office said it had suspended the office’s operations in Sanaa and other Yemeni areas controlled by the Houthis following the June crackdown campaign. But it still operates in the parts of Yemen controlled by the internationally recognized government.

Houthi rebel fighters march during a rally of support for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and against the U.S. strikes on Yemen outside Sanaa on Jan. 22, 2024. (AP Photo)

In June, the Houthis detained more than 60 people working with the U.N. and other NGOs, according to the U.N. Human Rights Office. Among the detainees were six workers with the Human Rights Office, who joined two of their colleagues detained by the Houthis in November 2021 and August 2023, it said.

Days after the arrest campaign, the rebels said they had arrested members of what they called an “American-Israeli spy network.”

The Houthis issued what they purported to be videotaped confessions by 10 Yemenis, several of whom said they were recruited by the U.S. Embassy in Yemen. The U.N. Human Rights Office said one of its staffers who was detained earlier appeared in a video in which he was forced to confess to allegations, including of espionage, the office said.

The Houthis’ claims could not be independently verified.

The Houthis have been engaged in a civil war with Yemen’s internationally recognized government, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, since 2014, when they took control of Sanaa and most of the north.

The war in Yemen has killed more than 150,000 people, including fighters and civilians, and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters, killing tens of thousands more.

The rebels have imprisoned thousands of people during the war. And in recent months they intensified their crackdown on dissent at home, including recently sentencing 44 people to death.

World

FBI Told Harris Campaign It Was Target of 'Foreign Actor Influence Operation,' NBC News Reports

Published

2 hours ago

August 14, 2024

Press Room

FBI Told Harris Campaign It Was Target of 'Foreign Actor Influence Operation,' NBC News Reports

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign said it was notified by the FBI last month that it was “targeted by a foreign actor influence operation,” a NBC News reporter said on Tuesday. “We have robust cybersecurity measures in place, and are not aware of any security …

World

Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 901

Published

3 hours ago

August 13, 2024

Press Room

Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 901

As the war enters its 901st day, these are the main developments.

Here is the situation on Wednesday, August 14, 2024.

Kursk incursion

The commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrskii, said Kyiv’s troops had taken control of 74 settlements in Russia’s Kursk region and were still advancing, gaining control over 40sq km (15sq miles) of territory in the past 24 hours.
In Russia, special forces commander Major General Apti Alaudinov said Ukraine’s troops had been halted. The Ministry of Defence said Russian troops had repelled attacks in villages about 26 to 28km (16 to 17 miles) from the border. Kursk regional Governor Alexei Smirnov called on residents to show patience and character, warning that “the crisis has not yet been overcome”.
United States President Joe Biden said Ukraine’s military incursion into Russia had “created a real dilemma” for Russian President Vladimir Putin. In his first substantive comments since Kyiv launched its surprise attack on August 6, Biden said he had been briefed on developments every four to five hours. Officials stressed the US had no role in planning or preparation for the attack.
Lithuanian Minister of Defence Laurynas Kasciunas said Russia was moving troops from its Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad to Kursk.
Russia convened an informal gathering of the UN Security Council and criticised Ukraine’s allies for not condemning Kyiv’s incursion. “We will not recognise the aggressor as the victim,” said senior Slovenian diplomat Klemen Ponikvar, one of several members to accuse Russia of hypocrisy, double standards and wasting the council’s time. Moscow began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and currently occupies about one-fifth of Ukraine’s internationally-recognised territory.

Russia has been evacuating thousands of residents from the Kursk region [Ministry of Emergency Situations Press Service via AP Photo]

Fighting in Ukraine

At least one person was killed and two injured in Russian shelling of Ukraine’s Sumy region, bordering Kursk. Sumy’s regional military administration said it had recorded 45 Russian attacks on Tuesday, including guided bomb strikes, drone explosions and shelling.
Ukraine’s general staff said it was restricting the movement of civilians within a 20km (12 mile) border zone in Sumy due to an “increase in the intensity of hostilities” and the activation of Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups in the area.
Two people were killed and 30 injured after a bus was struck by Ukrainian shelling in the Russian-occupied city of Lysychansk in eastern Ukraine, the TASS news agency reported, quoting Russian-appointed local officials.
The Ukrainian military said Russian forces stepped up their attacks on the Pokrovsk front in eastern Ukraine. The General Staff said there had been 52 battles in the area over the previous 24 hours, more than a third of all battles reported along the war’s 1,000km (621-mile) front line.
Russia launched 38 attack drones and two Iskander-M ballistic missiles at Ukraine overnight, Ukraine’s Air Force said. Thirty of the drones were destroyed over eight Ukrainian regions, it added. It was not clear what happened to the weapons that were not destroyed.

Politics and diplomacy

Andriy Yermak, Ukraine’s president’s chief of staff, said Ukraine plans to hold a follow-up conference this month to June’s peace summit in Switzerland. The meeting will take place online and focus on energy security, he said.