Yemen: Ghayza Airport Opened to Receive Aid

The first Saudi Royal Air Force aircraft loaded with 5,000 baskets of food arrived at Al-Ghayza airport in Al-Mahra province in Yemen. (SPA)
The first Saudi Royal Air Force aircraft loaded with 5,000 baskets of food arrived at Al-Ghayza airport in Al-Mahra province in Yemen. (SPA)
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Yemen: Ghayza Airport Opened to Receive Aid

The first Saudi Royal Air Force aircraft loaded with 5,000 baskets of food arrived at Al-Ghayza airport in Al-Mahra province in Yemen. (SPA)
The first Saudi Royal Air Force aircraft loaded with 5,000 baskets of food arrived at Al-Ghayza airport in Al-Mahra province in Yemen. (SPA)

An official source in the Coalition Forces Command (the Coalition for the Support of Legitimacy in Yemen) announced that in coordination with Yemen's legitimate government, Al-Ghayza airport in Al-Mahra province was opened to receive planes carrying relief and humanitarian aid.

The source said the first Saudi Royal Air Force aircraft had arrived loaded with 5,000 baskets of food provided by the King Salman Center for Relief and Humanitarian Works.

He stressed that the coalition forces have harnessed all the potential to contribute to the delivery of humanitarian aid and relief materials to the beneficiaries within Yemen.

Advisor at the Royal Court and General Supervisor of King Salman Center for Relief and Humanitarian Aid Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Rabiah has emphasized the opening of the airport, pointing out that the center initiated the first humanitarian aid through a plane belonging to the Royal Saudi Air Force carrying 5,000 food baskets.

Dr. Rabiah also said that this initiative will facilitate the entry of aid more quickly in order to alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people.



Iraq, UK Agree on Trade Package Worth up to $15 Billion, Defense Deal

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (R) and Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (L) shake hands during their meeting in Downing Street in London, Britain, 14 January 2025. (EPA)
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (R) and Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (L) shake hands during their meeting in Downing Street in London, Britain, 14 January 2025. (EPA)
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Iraq, UK Agree on Trade Package Worth up to $15 Billion, Defense Deal

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (R) and Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (L) shake hands during their meeting in Downing Street in London, Britain, 14 January 2025. (EPA)
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (R) and Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (L) shake hands during their meeting in Downing Street in London, Britain, 14 January 2025. (EPA)

Iraq and Britain have agreed on a trade package worth up to 12.3 billion pounds ($14.98 billion) and a bilateral defense deal, the Iraqi and British prime ministers said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

The deal, envisaging more than 10 times the total of bilateral trade in 2024, was announced after a meeting between Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and British counterpart Keir Starmer at the latter's Downing Street offices.

It includes a 1.2-billion-pound project in which British-made power transmission systems will be used for a grid interconnection project between Iraq and Saudi Arabia, as well as a 500-million-pound plan to upgrade the Al-Qayyarah air base in northern Iraq.

A water infrastructure project by a UK-led consortium that will help provide clean water in arid southern and western Iraq is also part of the deal, the statement said. The project would be worth up to 5.3 billion pounds in UK exports.

Sudani and Starmer also signed a defense deal that "establishes the basis for a new era in security cooperation".

Sudani said earlier that the UK-Iraqi security deal would develop bilateral military ties after last year's announcement that the US-led coalition set up to fight ISIS would end its work in Iraq in 2026.

The Iraqi premier began an official visit to the United Kingdom on Monday amid historic geopolitical shifts in the Middle East.

Iraq is trying to avoid becoming a conflict zone once again amid a period of regional upheaval that has seen Iran's allies Hamas degraded in Gaza and Hezbollah battered in Lebanon during wars with Israel, and Bashar al-Assad toppled in Syria.