9/19
Al Jazeera reports that the UK has made over $8 billion in arms sales to Saudi Arabia, with the government receiving about $40 million in corporate taxes as a result - only a small portion of the profit, most of which is taken by private arms corporations.
9/21
Gulf News reports that the UAE helped restore 4 schools in Yemen’s Shabwa province.
Newsweek interviews Saudi Arabia’s Dr. Abdullah al-Rabeeah, head of Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center and an adviser to the royal court.
Foreign Policy describes the publicity campaign conducted by Saudi Arabia to disseminate a positive image of its relief efforts in Yemen despite allegations of obstruction. Aid organizations, human rights groups, and lawmakers claim Saudi Arabia is obstructing aid efforts, rather than facilitating them.
The UN’s top humanitarian official gave a grim assessment of Yemen’s current situation. “The prescription for the future at the very best is bleak,” said Jamie McGoldrick, the U.N.’s resident humanitarian coordinator in Yemen. “It’s a disaster. I believe I’ll be coming back to [the U.N. General Assembly] next year with bigger numbers, and more desperate a situation … because there's nothing on the horizon that looks like it's going to go anywhere soon.”
9/22
Reuters reports that that the head of the UN World Food Programme has urged the leaders of Gulf states to step up their aid contributions to combat the famine in Yemen. American donations of about $260 million dwarf current Saudi donations of about $12 million. The UAE donated $6 million last year, but none this year, and there are no records of donations from other Gulf states like Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, or Oman.
The UN reports that insufficient funding hampers Yemen rescue and relief efforts. Yemen continues not to receive the international attention it needs to generate the goodwill and funding to adequately address the humanitarian needs within the country, including food aid and medical aid for the cholera epidemic.
Amnesty International reports that a bomb that last month destroyed a residential building in Sanaa, killing 16 and injuring 17, was made in the USA. The Saudi-led coalition that carried out the attack blamed it on a technical error.
9/23
Al Arabiya reports Yemen’s foreign minister, Abdulmalik Al-Mekhlafi, has blamed the international community for indiscriminately assigning blame, thus preventing the naming of responsible parties, thus obstructing a resolution.
The Washington Post reports that the Houthi authorities have pardoned a journalist they had previously sentenced to death. Two other journalists who had also been arrested were released from custody as well.
Kuwait reiterated its support for final peace negotiations for the two sides of Yemen’s Civil War. Kuwait previously hosted the UN-backed peace negotiations last year where talks broke down after three months.
9/24
Middle East Monitor reports Somalia seized a boat loaded with weapons from Yemen. The boat reportedly contained anti-aircraft weapons, machine guns, rifles, and ammunition.
Al Arabiya reports Houthi militias have begun using landmines shaped like rocks, which some Yemenis call “death stones.” Sources from inside Yemen’s army have confirmed that these ‘death stones” have been found mainly in the cities and villages in Yemen’s western coast which were recently liberated from the control of the Houthi-Saleh forces.
9/25
The Guardian describes growing unease in the UK government regarding counterterrorism operations in Yemen. Increased cooperation between the US and UK in drone strike operations have prompted concerns that British involvement may be inconsistent with international human rights norms.
Yemen’s ambassador to the US, Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak, authored an op-ed in The Hill urging a new round of UN-sponsored peace talks. The op-ed does not offer any new suggestions for how a negotiated peace agreement might be reached; instead, it reiterates the government’s position that the Houthi-Saleh forces must capitulate on several key points before negotiations can move forward.
The New York Times reports that Houthi rebels have detained a U.S. citizen in Yemen. The U.S. national--who works for Yemen’s state oil company and has lived in Yemen for decades-- was seized after he took his children to school. The State Department told the Times it is “aware of the situation and monitoring it closely.”
The New York Times reports that President Hadi only sees a military solution to the conflict in Yemen. His statement threatens an already tenuous peace process taking place in the war-torn country.
The Washington Post reports that Saudi Arabia claims to have shot down a ballistic missile that was fired from Yemen. A statement carried early Sunday by the state-run Saudi Press Agency said the missile targeted Khamis Mushait, a city in southwestern Saudi Arabia that’s home to the King Khalid Air Base