UNITED NATIONS, Dec 19 (Reuters) - United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday condemned the Houthi detention of another 10 U.N. personnel in Yemen, taking the total to 69, his spokesperson said.
The Iran-aligned Houthis detained the additional U.N. staff on Thursday, said U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, and Guterres calls for the immediate release of all those detained.
WASHINGTON, Dec 19 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday said that Washington's immediate goal on Sudan is a cessation of hostilities going into the new year that allows humanitarian organizations to be able to deliver assistance.
Earlier this month a group of Palestinian boys turned out to train at their local football pitch in the shadow of the wall separating Israel from the West Bank's Aida refugee camp -- and found a note at the gate.
The children took the ominous message from Israeli authorities to Muhannad Abu Srour, sports director at the Aida Youth Centre in the camp near Bethlehem, and the news was not good.
A famine declared in Gaza in August is now over thanks to improved access for humanitarian aid, the United Nations said on Friday, but warned the food situation in the Palestinian territory remained dire.
More than 70 percent of the population is living in makeshift shelters, it said, with hunger exacerbated by winter floods and an increasing risk of hypothermia as temperatures plummet.
Dec 19 (Reuters) - Major shipping companies are devising strategies for a potential return to the Suez Canal after two years of disruptions due to security risks in the Red Sea.
They have been rerouting vessels via longer, costlier routes around Africa since November 2023, following attacks on commercial ships by Yemen's Houthi forces, reportedly in solidarity with Palestinians during warfare in Gaza.
A ceasefire agreement reached in October has led some companies to explore resumption plans, although security remains a key concern. Below are the latest updates:
By Laila Bassam and Jana Choukeir
BEIRUT, Dec 19 (Reuters) - The committee overseeing the Hezbollah-Israel truce in Lebanon focused on Friday on how to return displaced people to their homes, addressing civilian issues to help prevent renewed war if a year-end deadline to disarm Hezbollah is not met.
The 15th meeting of the committee reflected a long-standing U.S. push to broaden talks between the sides beyond monitoring the 2024 ceasefire, in line with President Donald Trump's agenda of cementing peace deals across the volatile Middle East.
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 19 (Reuters) - There is no longer famine in Gaza, a global hunger monitor said on Friday, after access for humanitarian and commercial food deliveries improved following a fragile October 10 ceasefire in the war between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas.
The latest assessment by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification comes four months after it said 514,000 people - nearly a quarter of Palestinians in Gaza - were experiencing famine. It warned on Friday that the situation in the enclave remained critical.
New rules in Israel for registering non-governmental organisations, under which more than a dozen groups have already been rejected, could have a catastrophic impact on aid work in Gaza and the West Bank, relief workers warn.
The NGOs have until December 31 to register under the new framework, which Israel says aims not to impede aid distribution but to prevent "hostile actors or supporters of terrorism" operating in the Palestinian territories.
When Sudanese nurse Asmaa returned to the Darfur city of El-Fasher, she found only bodies where her neighbours once lived and no sign of the family she had come to save.
The Rapid Support Forces, battling Sudan's military since April 2023, seized the army's last stronghold in Darfur on October 26 in a bloody offensive marked by executions, atrocities, pillaging and rape.
More than a month after Iraq's parliamentary elections, the country's top leaders remain locked in talks to form a government while facing pressure from Washington to exclude Tehran-backed armed groups.
Amid seismic changes in the Middle East, where new alliances are forming and old powers waning, Iraqi leaders face a daunting task: navigating relations with US-blacklisted pro-Iranian factions.
- What does the US want? -
The US has held significant sway over Iraqi politics since leading the 2003 invasion that ousted long-time ruler Saddam Hussein.
