Truce brokered by UN between pro-government forces and Houthi rebels set for December 18, Houthi official says. The UN has scheduled the start of a ceasefire between Yemen’s pro-government forces and Houthi rebels in the city of Hodeidah for December 18, a spokesperson for the Houthi leadership told Al Jazeera. Hodeidah has seen sporadic clashes […]

Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa says Australia’s Jerusalem decision does not affect legitimate Palestinian demands. Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa has defended Australia’s decision to recognise West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, saying the move would not affect the establishment of a future Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on […]

Yemeni pro-government forces backed by a Saudi-led multinational coalition have launched an assault on the Red Sea city of Hudaydah, which is home to 600,000 people and is controlled by the rebel Houthi movement. Aid agencies have said the battle may exacerbate an already catastrophic humanitarian situation in a country devastated by three years of […]

Fighting has resumed on the fringes of Yemen’s port city of Hudaydah, according to residents, raising fears for a newly agreed truce. The ceasefire for the port was only agreed between the government and rebels at talks in Sweden on Thursday. It is hoped Hudaydah, occupied by Houthi rebels, can be used to bring in […]

Special Envoy Griffiths called for a robust truce monitoring system to oversee compliance with the ceasefire in Hodeidah The UN envoy for Yemen called for the urgent deployment of UN monitors to observe the implementation of a ceasefire agreement in the strategic port city of Hodeidah and the withdrawal of rival forces.  Martin Griffiths told […]

Hundreds of unidentified bodies which seem to have been tortured have been found in a former Islamic State group stronghold, Syrian state media says. Seven mass graves near Albu Kamal in eastern Syria have been unearthed, the official Sana news agency reports, with more than 100 bodies recovered so far. Most seem to “have been […]

Warring parties in Yemen have agreed to a ceasefire for the port city of Hudaydah, principal lifeline for two-thirds of the country. They reached agreement at talks in Sweden brokered by the United Nations. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he hoped this would be the starting point to bring nearly four years of civil […]

Nine people were killed and nearly 50 injured after a high-speed train crashed into a locomotive in the Turkish capital Ankara yesterday. Transport Minister Cahit Turhan said three of those killed were operators of the train. One of the victims died in hospital, he added. Mr Turhan added 47 people were injured and were in […]

Iran became an Islamic republic in 1979, when the monarchy was overthrown and clerics assumed political control under supreme leader Ayatollah Khomeini. The Iranian revolution put an end to the rule of the Shah, who had alienated powerful religious, political and popular forces with a programme of modernisation and Westernisation, coupled with heavy repression of […]

The ongoing UN-sponsored peace talks are seen as a key moment in the search for an end to the war in Yemen. They also bring a glimmer of hope that the desperate situation inside the country can be alleviated. Images of severely malnourished children, outbreaks of cholera and warnings of whole communities on the brink […]