Over 4.5 Million People Remain Displaced in Yemen
Over 4.5 million people remain displaced in Yemen amid a years-long conflict in the Arab country, the United Nations humanitarian office said Sunday. "I urge the international community to continue to give generously to the people of Yemen, to support them to rebuild their lives with dignity," Edem Wosornu, Director of Operations and Advocacy Division at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said in a statement. Yemen has fallen into civil war since 2014, when Iran-backed Houthis seized several provinces, including the capital Sanaa .UN estimates that in 2024, over 18 million people – over half the population – will need humanitarian assistance and protection services in Yemen.
The Vietnamese crew members on the True Confidence, which was hit by a deadly missile strike from Houthi forces in Yemen, are expected to return to Vietnam on March 13. Pham Van Thanh, 36, called his family in Hai Phong on Saturday, saying he had worked with the Vietnamese Embassy in Egypt and had completed the procedures to return to Vietnam on March 13. Besides Thanh, there were three other Vietnamese on board the True Confidence: Dang Duy Kien, 41; Nguyen Van Tao, 36; and Phung Van An, 33. Kien was killed following the missile strike by Houthi forces at the Gulf of Aden. With the help of the embassy and other relevant authorities, the crew members received new passports on Sunday before flying back to Vietnam on March 13. The True Confidence, which was Barbados-flagged and Liberian-owned, was over 90 km from the Aden port when the missile hit at around 5:20 p.m. on March 6.
US, French and British forces downed dozens of drones in the Red Sea area overnight and on Saturday after Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis targeted bulk carrier Propel Fortune and US destroyers in the region, the US military said in a statement. The group's military spokesman Yahya Sarea, said in a televised speech on Saturday they had targeted the cargo vessel and "a number of US war destroyers at the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden with 37 drones". The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said the American military and coalition forces had downed at least 28 uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) over the Red Sea on Saturday.
US President Joe Biden said Saturday that he believes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is "hurting Israel more than helping Israel" in how he is approaching its war against Hamas in Gaza. The US leader expressed support for Israel's right to pursue Hamas after the October 7 attack but said of Netanyahu that "he must pay more attention to the innocent lives being lost as a consequence of the actions taken." Biden said of the death toll in Gaza, "It's contrary to what Israel stands for. And I think it's a big mistake." More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to health officials, with the majority being women and children and hundreds of thousands going hungry.
