Region

RIYADH — Yemen is wracked by a war which has killed tens of thousands of people and led to the world's worst humanitarian crisis, according to the United Nations.

The war between Houthi rebels and pro-government forces escalated in 2015 when a Saudi-led military coalition intervened against the rebels who control large parts of Yemen including the capital Sanaa.

Civilians on front line 

Over the past six years, tens of thousands of people — mostly civilians — have been killed in the conflict, according to aid organisations.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees says more than 3.6 million people have been displaced within Yemen, living in camps.

Amnesty International said in December 2019 that some 4.5 million people living with disabilities are faced with growing difficulties in the country.

In the worst cases, the disabled are left behind by their families after being separated while fleeing their homes, it said in a report.

Collapse of 

health system 

Yemen's already ailing health system has collapsed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the end of May, the United Nations appealed for urgent funding for the country.

"We are increasingly alarmed about the situation in Yemen," officials from the UN Humanitarian Affairs Department, the UN children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme and the World Health Organisation (WHO) said in a joint statement.

"We are running out of time".

Yemen is "critically under-equipped" to face the pandemic, Save the Children said in April.

"Only half of Yemen's health facilities are still fully functional."

The country has also been ravaged by cholera, which has killed more than 2,500 people since April 2017.

Around 1.2 million suspected cholera cases have been reported, according to WHO.

Lost generation 

UNICEF said even before the pandemic that two million Yemeni children of school age had gone without education, and another 5 million have since been forced to quit.

More than 12 million children in Yemen are in need of humanitarian aid.

According to Cluster Sante, which groups international NGOs and UN agencies, nearly 1.2 million children have been stricken by cholera, diphtheria or dengue fever over the past three years.

'Worst' humanitarian crisis 

Long the Arab world's poorest nation, Yemen is the scene of "the largest humanitarian crisis in the world", according to the UN.

More than two thirds of the population — 24 million people — require humanitarian assistance.

 'War crimes' 

In September 2019, investigators appointed by the UN Human Rights Council pointed to "war crimes" committed by all sides in the conflict.

"There are no clean hands in the conflict,” said one of the experts, Charles Garraway.

If confirmed by an independent and competent court, many of the violations identified "may result in individuals being held responsible for war crimes", the experts said in a statement.

They listed air strikes and shelling, starvation as a method of warfare, killings, torture and sexual violence as well as recruitment of child soldiers as crimes being committed with impunity.

In February, the Saudi-led coalition said it was launching legal proceedings against soldiers suspected of abuses during attacks in Yemen.

ALGEIRS — Two main figures of Algeria's "Hirak" protest movement will soon be freed at the president's initiative, the leader of an opposition party said on Tuesday.

"President Abdelmadjid Tebboune assured me that he would use his constitutional prerogative to ensure that Karim Tabbou and Samir Benlarbi regain their freedom," Sosiane Djilali told AFP.

"It's solemn commitment on his part," said the Jil Jadid Party leader after a meeting with Tebboune that he had requested to discuss the two cases.

"Mr Tebboune pointed out that he will not interfere directly in what concerns the judiciary," Djilali said.

In the Algerian judicial system, the president has the right to pardon prisoners.

In principle, that right applies only to those whose convictions are final, such as Tabbou, a veteran opposition figure serving a one-year term for an "attack on the integrity of national territory".

As for Benlarbi, he has been held in preventive detention since March 7.

"I think they have paid enough. It's very good for them to regain their freedom and go back home," Djilali said.

Weekly anti-government protests rocked Algeria for more than a year and only came to a halt in March due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, with the authorities banning marches — although the opposition had already suspended its gatherings.

But the Algerian government — wielding carrots and sticks — continues to target opponents, journalists, independent media and internet users.

According to the National Committee for the Release of Detainees, some 60 people are currently detained on charges linked to the protest movement.

After causing the downfall of former president Abdelaziz Bouteflika after 20 years in power last April, the Hirak movement has continued demanding an overhaul of Algeria's governance system, which has been in place since independence from France in 1962.

BAALBAK, Lebanon — The worst of the coronavirus pandemic has passed but declaring victory against the disease would be premature, Lebanon's health minister said on Monday, as the country gradually opened up.

"I think the worst-case scenario has passed and is behind us, but at the same time we need to stay alert and we are taking measures in all regions," Hamad Hassan told AFP.

The country of 6 million has recorded a remarkably low number of cases and the official death toll is around 10 times lower than some countries with roughly the same population such as Israel, Norway or the United Arab Emirates.

According to figures provided by the health ministry, Lebanon has recorded 1,233 COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic and only 27 deaths.

After weeks of lockdown, the government announced on Sunday that restrictions would be eased this week, including a curfew which is pushed back from 7:00pm to midnight.

"It's still early to announce a victory but we have scored points against the virus and we won't relinquish our lead," Hassan said speaking from his home in the city of Baalbek.

The minister, who is backed by the Shiite movement Hizbollah, and the rest of the government have been widely praised for their handling of the crisis despite the general distrust towards the authorities.

The number of deaths has grown very slowly in recent weeks and, while the lockdown was maintained throughout the holy Muslim fasting of Ramadan, Hassan said Lebanon might even afford to send some of its staff to help other countries.

"I am thinking of organising some medical trips to help some countries if necessary," he said.

The lockdown has compounded Lebanon's already dire economic situation and the coming days of opening up will begin to reveal the extent of the damage caused to businesses across the country.

The government of Lebanon, which defaulted on its debt earlier this year, is currently negotiating the terms of possible financial assistance with the International Monetary Fund.

The public health sector itself was in deep crisis even before the pandemic broke out but early confinement measures have so far successfully contained the spread of the virus.

Most of the recent cases were detected among repatriated individuals from Lebanon's vast diaspora.

TEHRAN — Iran's interior minister has suggested that up to 225 people were killed in November protests sparked by a petrol price hike, ISNA news agency reported on Sunday.

Officials in Iran have yet to issue an overall death toll for the unrest, while London-based human rights group Amnesty International has put the number at more than 300.

The protests erupted on November 15 in several cities and rapidly spread to at least 100 cities and towns, with petrol pumps torched, police stations attacked and shops looted, before being put down by security forces amid a near-total Internet blackout.

Officials had repeatedly denied death tolls given by foreign media and human rights groups as "lies", and passed responsibility of reporting on it between different state bodies.

"Sad things happened. About 40 or 45 people, meaning around 20 per cent of those killed, were shot with non-standard issue weapons and martyred," said Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli.

"No armed confrontation with the people happened... but when they attack a police station, they have to be confronted," ISNA quoted him as saying.

His breakdown indicated that, according to the government, between 200 and 225 people were killed in the violence.

According to Amnesty, at least 304 people were killed during the unrest.

A group of independent UN rights experts said in December that based on unconfirmed reports more than 400 people could have been killed in the crackdown.

The experts said at the time that at least 12 of those killed were children.

They pointed to reports and footage apparently showing that security forces "not only fired live ammunition at unarmed protesters, but also aimed at their heads and vital organs".

The United States has claimed that more than 1,000 were killed in the violence.

It has singled out exiled royalists and the People's Mujahedeen of Iran, an exiled former rebel group which it considers a "terrorist cult".

The minister said the petrol price hike had been "just an excuse" for creating chaos as foes had wanted a "civil war" in Iran.

He also defended the internet blackout, saying that the MEK, monarchists, and the Daesh  group were "giving military training through the Internet".

RIYADH — Mask-clad worshippers flocked to Saudi mosques that reopened nationwide on Sunday -- except in the holy city of Mecca –- over two months after congregational prayers were halted under a coronavirus-triggered lockdown.

Complying with stringent social distancing rules, worshippers kept a minimum of two metres apart.

They had been instructed to bring their own prayer mats and to perform the cleansing ritual, or ablution, at home, instead of in mosque grounds.

"Worshippers rushed to the home of God to perform their obligatory duty [prayers]after the reopening of mosques," the Ministry of Islamic affairs said on Twitter.

The ministry posted a video showing a mosque with many worshippers wearing face masks and reaching out for a large bottle of hand sanitiser after prayers.

Authorities have instructed mosques to avoid crowding and the distribution of food, drinks, incense and miswak twigs used to clean teeth, according to the ministry.

Easing curbs 

Saudi Arabia, home to Islam's holiest sites, had shut down mosques nationwide for more than two months to limit the spread of the COVID-19 respiratory disease.

The kingdom, which has reported the highest number of coronavirus cases in the Gulf, is emerging from a full nationwide curfew imposed during Eid Al Fitr, the Muslim holiday that marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.

Domestic air traffic also resumed on Sunday, with state media saying around 100 flights were scheduled.

The interior ministry intends to ease restrictions in a phased manner, with the curfew lifted nationwide –- except in Mecca -- between 6:00am and 8:00pm (03:00 GMT and 17:00 GMT) until June 20.

The kingdom will lift the lockdown entirely from June 21, Mecca aside.

In Mecca the curfew will be lifted between 6:00am and 3:00pm until June 20, and thereafter the curfew will be shortened by a further five hours.

Saudi Arabia has reported more than 85,000 coronavirus infections and 503 deaths from COVID-19.

In March, it suspended the year-round "umrah" pilgrimage over fears of the disease spreading in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.

That suspension will remain in place until further notice, the interior ministry said.

Authorities are yet to announce whether they will proceed with this year's Hajj -- scheduled for late July -- but they have urged Muslims to temporarily defer preparations for the annual pilgrimage.

Last year, some 2.5 million faithful travelled to Saudi Arabia from around the world to participate in the Hajj, which Muslims are obliged to perform at least once during their lifetime.

MOGADISHU — At least 10 people died and 12 were wounded when an explosive device ripped through a minibus outside the Somali capital Mogadishu on Sunday, the government said.

The deadly explosion occurred near Lafole village along the Afgoye-Mogadishu where the passenger bus was travelling early in the day.

“At least 10 civilians were killed in an explosion at Lafole area this morning, those who died were all civilians,” the information ministry said in a statement, adding that the victims were on their way to a funeral.

Witnesses said the minibus was completely destroyed, and described an horrific scene with everyone on board either dead or wounded and many bodies ripped apart or burned beyond recognition.

“This was a horrible incident this morning, the explosive device went off as the bus was passing by the area and destroyed it completely,” said Daud Doyow, a witness.

“Bodies of civilians were strewn in pieces and most of the people died,” he added.

“There were more than 20 people on board and 10 of them were confirmed dead while the rest are seriously wounded and taken to hospital, this is a horrible scene here,” said another witness, Abdirisak Adan.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing, but Somalia's Al Qaeda-aligned Al Shabaab group carries out regular attacks in and around the capital, often killing civilians.