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Pro-government Yemeni Forces Destroy Six Iran-made Drones in 10 Days

A funeral setting for the late head of Yemeni intelligence service Major General Mohammad Tamah in Aden, EPA
A funeral setting for the late head of Yemeni intelligence service Major General Mohammad Tamah in Aden, EPA
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Pro-government Yemeni Forces Destroy Six Iran-made Drones in 10 Days

A funeral setting for the late head of Yemeni intelligence service Major General Mohammad Tamah in Aden, EPA
A funeral setting for the late head of Yemeni intelligence service Major General Mohammad Tamah in Aden, EPA

As battles intensify on both north and south Yemeni fronts, namely in Saada and Taiz, the Yemeni army air forces said it managed to successfully down another Iran-made drone operated by Houthis.

The Yemeni army’s official website published a statement saying that operations for downing Houthi militia drones is taking place across all battlefronts, with six Iran-made drones being destroyed over the last 10 days.

Last Saturday, according to the statement, Yemeni army forces, backed by pro-government popular forces and tribes, were able to locate and shoot down a drone in Baqm district in the Houthi stronghold, Saada.

The army added that this operation was the first and that previous efforts have downed at least three other drones in the Yemeni militia stronghold.

“Iran’s continued support for Houthi militias and providing the group with sophisticated weapons including ballistic missiles and aircraft violates UN resolutions, with the aim of prolonging the war in Yemen and destabilizing the region to better serve Tehran's interests and subversive agenda,” the Yemeni army said.

Meanwhile, army sources confirmed 20 Houthi deaths on Sunday evening as killed in clashes in Saada province, after the elements of the Iranian-backed group tried to infiltrate army-held positions north-west of the northern Baqm district, but failed and were forced to flee.

A number of Houthis fighters were also killed during clashes in Taiz, where militiamen tried to slip past army defenses in the Madar region but failed, army sources said.

Meanwhile, army artillery targeted a vehicle based north of Mount Mounim west of Taiz city, resulting in its immediate destruction and death of all Houthi members onboard.

In an official statement, Col. Fuad Hassan, leading a unit at the Dabbab Front, west of the city of Taiz, confirmed army forces having circled militias in the area of Ramada.

Hassan pointed out that army forces carried out, during the past two days, a qualitative operation in the region in which it destroyed a vital war room used by the Iran-backed militias.

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World

EU Urges Iran to Release Nobel-Prize Winner Mohammadi

A handout photo provided by the Narges Mohammadi Foundation on October 2, 2023 shows an undated, unlocated photo of Iranian rights campaigner Narges Mohammadi. (Narges Mohammadi Foundation/AFP)
A handout photo provided by the Narges Mohammadi Foundation on October 2, 2023 shows an undated, unlocated photo of Iranian rights campaigner Narges Mohammadi. (Narges Mohammadi Foundation/AFP)
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EU Urges Iran to Release Nobel-Prize Winner Mohammadi

A handout photo provided by the Narges Mohammadi Foundation on October 2, 2023 shows an undated, unlocated photo of Iranian rights campaigner Narges Mohammadi. (Narges Mohammadi Foundation/AFP)
A handout photo provided by the Narges Mohammadi Foundation on October 2, 2023 shows an undated, unlocated photo of Iranian rights campaigner Narges Mohammadi. (Narges Mohammadi Foundation/AFP)

The European Union called on Saturday for the release of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, who was detained by Iranian security forces along with at least eight other activists.

Brussels described Friday's arrests in the eastern city of Mashhad as "deeply concerning".

"The EU urges Iranian authorities to release Ms. Mohammadi, taking also into account her fragile health condition, as well as all those unjustly arrested in the exercise of their freedom of expression," Anouar El Anouni, a spokesman for the bloc's diplomatic service, said.

Mohammadi, 53, who was last arrested in November 2021, has spent much of the past decade behind bars.

The 2023 Peace Prize laureate was granted temporary leave from prison on health grounds after problems related to her lungs and other issues in December 2024.

On Friday she was detained once again along with eight other activists at a ceremony for lawyer Khosrow Alikordi, who was found dead in his office last week, her foundation said.

Within Iran, the Mehr news agency cited the Mashhad governor Hassan Hosseini as saying individuals held at the ceremony had chanted "slogans deemed contrary to public norms" but did not name them.

"Mohammadi, who already had to endure years in prison because of her advocacy, bravely continues to use her voice to defend human dignity and the fundamental rights of Iranians, including freedom of expression, which must be respected at all times," El Anouni said.

Alikordi, 45, was a lawyer who had defended clients in sensitive cases, including people arrested in a crackdown on nationwide protests that erupted in 2022.

His body was found on December 5, with rights groups calling for an investigation into his death, which Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights said "had very serious suspicion of a state murder".

World

US, Ukraine to Discuss Ceasefire in Berlin Ahead of European Summit

Anti-drone nets hang taut along a road near the city of Izyum of Kharkiv region, northeastern Ukraine, 12 December 2025. (EPA)
Anti-drone nets hang taut along a road near the city of Izyum of Kharkiv region, northeastern Ukraine, 12 December 2025. (EPA)
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US, Ukraine to Discuss Ceasefire in Berlin Ahead of European Summit

Anti-drone nets hang taut along a road near the city of Izyum of Kharkiv region, northeastern Ukraine, 12 December 2025. (EPA)
Anti-drone nets hang taut along a road near the city of Izyum of Kharkiv region, northeastern Ukraine, 12 December 2025. (EPA)

Germany will host US and Ukrainian delegations over the weekend for talks on a ceasefire in Ukraine, ahead of a summit with European leaders and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Berlin on Monday, a German official said on Saturday.

A US official said overnight that President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner were travelling to Germany for talks involving Ukrainians and Europeans.

The choice to send Witkoff, who has led negotiations with Ukraine and Russia regarding a US peace proposal, appeared to be a signal that Washington saw a chance of progress. The White House had said on Thursday Trump would send an official to talks only if he felt there was enough progress to be made.

"Talks on a possible ceasefire in Ukraine are taking place in Berlin this weekend between foreign policy advisors from, among others, the US and Ukraine," said a German government source when asked about the meetings.

On Monday, Merz is hosting Zelenskiy and European leaders for a summit in Berlin, the latest in a series of public shows of support for the Ukrainian leader from allies across Europe as Kyiv faces pressure from Washington to sign up to a peace plan that initially backed Moscow's main demands.

Britain, France and Germany have been working in the last few weeks to refine the US proposals, which, in a draft disclosed last month, called for Kyiv to cede more territory, abandon its ambition to join NATO and accept limits on its armed forces.

World

Germany to Send Soldiers to Fortify Poland Border

A border guard officer stands guard at the Polish-Belarusian border, in Polowce, Poland. (AP file photo)
A border guard officer stands guard at the Polish-Belarusian border, in Polowce, Poland. (AP file photo)
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Germany to Send Soldiers to Fortify Poland Border

A border guard officer stands guard at the Polish-Belarusian border, in Polowce, Poland. (AP file photo)
A border guard officer stands guard at the Polish-Belarusian border, in Polowce, Poland. (AP file photo)

Germany has said it will send a group of soldiers to Poland to help with a project to fortify the country's eastern border as worries mount about the threat from Russia.

Poland, a strong supporter of Ukraine in its fight against Moscow, announced plans in May last year to bolster a long stretch of its border that includes Belarus and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.

The main task of the German soldiers in Poland will be "engineering activities," a spokesman for the defense ministry in Berlin said late Friday.

This could include "constructing fortifications, digging trenches, laying barbed wire, or erecting tank barriers," he said.

"The support provided by German soldiers as part of (the operation) is limited to these engineering activities."

The spokesman did not specify the exact number of troops involved, saying only it would be a "mid-range two-digit number".

They are expected to participate in the project from the second quarter of 2026 until the end of 2027.

The spokesman stressed that parliamentary approval was not needed for the deployment as "there is no immediate danger to the soldiers from military conflicts".

Except for certain exceptional cases, the German parliament has to approve the deployment of the country's armed forces overseas.

Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Warsaw has staunchly backed Kyiv and been a transit route for arms being supplied by Ukraine's Western allies.

Warsaw has also modernized its army and hiked defense spending.

Germany is Ukraine's second-biggest supplier of military aid after the United States and has sent Kyiv a huge quantity of equipment ranging from air defence systems to armored vehicles.