Houthi security forces have detained 11 United Nations personnel in Yemen over the past three days, and the U.N. is seeking their safe and unconditional release as soon as possible, U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, said on Friday. He said the U.N. was very concerned about the developments and was seeking clarification from the Houthis about why the Yemeni staff was detained. The two women and nine men work for five different U.N. agencies and the U.N. envoy for Yemen. Intelligence officers of the Houthi group, which controls the capital, Sana'a, and large parts of the north of the country, raided the homes and offices of these people, confiscating phones and computers. The Houthis have been controlling Sanaa since 2015.
American forces destroyed four drones and two anti-ship ballistic missiles in areas of Yemen controlled by Iran-backed Houthis, the U.S. military said on Friday. The Houthis have been targeting vessels they say are linked to Israel in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since November 2023. The group says this is in solidarity with Palestinians facing indiscriminate Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip. The United States and Britain have since January carried out strikes they say are aimed at degrading the Houthis' ability to target shipping. "U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) forces successfully destroyed four UASs and two ASBMs in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen," the military command said in a social media post, using abbreviations for unmanned aircraft systems and anti-ship ballistic missiles.
Doctors Without Borders has reported the documentation of 63,000 cases of cholera and acute watery diarrhea in 20 Yemeni provinces by the end of May. In its report, the organization stated, "Twenty out of Yemen's 22 provinces are witnessing a significant increase in acute watery diarrhea cases, with more than 63,000 cases reported in the country by May 31." The report highlighted that more than 2,700 cholera cases have been confirmed despite the limited testing capacity in the country. The report noted that while acute watery diarrhea is a recurrent disease in Yemen, such a rise in cases poses a threat to the lives of people who already have limited access to healthcare.
The D-8 group of developing nations called on Saturday for the U.S. to lift its veto on the full membership of Palestine as an independent and sovereign state in the United Nations. The Palestinians are currently a non-member observer state, a de facto recognition of statehood that was granted by the U.N. General Assembly in 2012. In a declaration after a meeting in Istanbul of its council of ministers, G-8 members Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey also demanded all countries stop supplying weapons and ammunition to Israel.
