Yemen Calls for Int’l Support to Revive its Economy, Stop Houthi Terror

Presidential Leadership Council member Aidaroos al-Zubaidi holds talks in Riyadh with European Union Ambassador to Yemen Gabriel Vinals. (Saba)
Presidential Leadership Council member Aidaroos al-Zubaidi holds talks in Riyadh with European Union Ambassador to Yemen Gabriel Vinals. (Saba)
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Yemen Calls for Int’l Support to Revive its Economy, Stop Houthi Terror

Presidential Leadership Council member Aidaroos al-Zubaidi holds talks in Riyadh with European Union Ambassador to Yemen Gabriel Vinals. (Saba)
Presidential Leadership Council member Aidaroos al-Zubaidi holds talks in Riyadh with European Union Ambassador to Yemen Gabriel Vinals. (Saba)

The Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council urged on Monday international support to help revive the country’s economy, stop the collapse of the local currency and put an end to the terrorism of the Iran-backed Houthi militias.

Members of the PLC, Aidaroos al-Zubaidi and Sultan al-Arada held separate talks in Riyadh with European Union Ambassador to Yemen Gabriel Vinals.

Their talks coincided with the arrival of United Nations envoy Hans Grundberg to the Yemeni capital Sanaa to persuade the Houthis to renew and expand the nationwide truce.

An Omani delegation had also departed Sanaa after talks with Houthi leaders as part of Muscat’s efforts to back Grundberg’s truce drive.

Zubaidi discussed with the European envoy the latest developments in the political process and regional and international efforts aimed at ending the conflict in Yemen and establishing peace, reported the Saba news agency.

They also tackled the Houthi escalation on various battlefronts and their terrorist attacks on oil export ports, it added.

They addressed means and mechanisms to support the PLC and legitimate Yemeni government to help them draft urgent solutions to revive the economy and improve the people’s living conditions, it continued.

Zubaidi called on the EU to intensify its humanitarian support to Yemen to help curb the collapse of the local currency and the sharp rise in the prices of consumer goods.

For his part, Vinals reiterated the EU’s keenness on supporting the unity of the PLC and government and UN efforts to end the war and restore peace.

Meanwhile, Arada discussed with Vinals the latest developments in Yemen and the repeated Houthi attacks on oil facilities and threats to international marine navigation, official sources said.

Arada hoped that “positive stances” would be reflected in “more practical steps that would lead to pressure on the Houthis to make them cease their ongoing field escalation.”

He suggested that the international community turn to “other options to deal with the Houthis and their insistence on destabilizing international peace and security.”

The PLC is committed to comprehensive and just peace based on the three references that enjoy the support of effective national, regional and international players, he added.



Fidan, Barrack Discuss Merging of SDF in Syrian Army, Erdogan Warns of Israeli Violations

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and US special envoy to Syria Tom Barrack meet on Tuesday. (Turkish Foreign Ministry)
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and US special envoy to Syria Tom Barrack meet on Tuesday. (Turkish Foreign Ministry)
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Fidan, Barrack Discuss Merging of SDF in Syrian Army, Erdogan Warns of Israeli Violations

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and US special envoy to Syria Tom Barrack meet on Tuesday. (Turkish Foreign Ministry)
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and US special envoy to Syria Tom Barrack meet on Tuesday. (Turkish Foreign Ministry)

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and US special envoy to Syria Tom Barrack held talks on Tuesday on the latest developments in Syria a year after the ouster of Bashar al-Assad's regime.

They discussed the measures needed to establish stability in Syria and maintain its territorial integrity.

Turkish sources said the meeting focus primarily on the implementation of the agreement between Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) leader Abdi Mazloum on the merger of the Kurdish forces in the Syrian army.

The agreement was signed in Damascus in March and should have been completed by December.

Fidan and Barrack also tackled the Israeli violations and attacks against Syria and their “negative impact on its stability and unity.” They discussed sanctions on Syria and the support for political steps during the country’s transition, added the sources.

Fidan had on Saturday accused Israel of “encouraging” the SDF to renege on the March agreement.

In a televised interview, he warned that the developments in southern Syria were the “greatest danger.” He explained that the problem isn’t in the extent of the developments, but in how Israel has intervened in them.

The danger in Syria could impact Türkiye, he added.

He stressed the need for the SDF to fulfill its commitments to the March agreement and to dissolve itself and for its foreign fighters to leave Syria.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned on Tuesday the Israeli violations in Syria, saying they were the “greatest obstacle” to the country’s security and stability at the time and for the long-term.

Speaking before ambassadors to Türkiye, he vowed that Ankara will continue to support Damascus “as it has always done”.

He echoed Fidan’s demand on the SDF to commit to the March agreement, saying any delay will lead to a new crisis in Syria.

He also slammed the international silence over the “massacres that were committed in Syria” during its 13 years of civil war.

Throughout those years, “except for a few with a real conscience, we didn’t hear anything from the supporters of democracy and defenders of human rights,” he added.


Sudanese Powers Sign Declaration of Principles to End the War 

The gatherers in Nairobi held the warring parties and their allies fully responsible for any violations and war crimes. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The gatherers in Nairobi held the warring parties and their allies fully responsible for any violations and war crimes. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Sudanese Powers Sign Declaration of Principles to End the War 

The gatherers in Nairobi held the warring parties and their allies fully responsible for any violations and war crimes. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The gatherers in Nairobi held the warring parties and their allies fully responsible for any violations and war crimes. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The political and civilian parties of Sudan’s Somoud alliance signed in Nairobi on Tuesday a joint declaration of principles with the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army, led by Abdul Wahid al-Nur, and the Arab Socialist Baath Party to end the war in Sudan and completely eliminate the Islamic movement from politics.

The declaration is the first act of rapprochement between Sudanese parties that are opposed to the ongoing war between the army and Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Former Prime Minister and Somoud leader Abdalla Hamdok was among the signatories.

The declaration said that “there can be no military solution to the crisis”, urging the immediate end to the war.

It called for greater pressure to be applied on the military and RSF to end the conflict and commit to the roadmap drafted by the international Quad that includes Saudi Arabia, the US, United Arab Emirates and Egypt in August.

The declaration called for the swift implementation of a proposed three-month humanitarian truce and for an unconditional ceasefire.

Sudan Liberation Movement/Army deputy leader Abdullah Harran said the signatories of the declaration agreed on the need to expand it further and to bring in more parties to sign it, excluding the ousted National Congress.

Harran told a press conference that the declaration aims to establish a wide popular civilian base that will embark on a transitional phase, leading up to holding free and transparent elections.

The Sudan Liberation Movement/Army holds some regions in central Darfur and has extended its influence in northern parts of the province. It has received tens of thousands of refugees from el-Fasher in areas under its control.

Leading member of the Arab Socialist Baath Party Wajdi Saleh said the gatherers in Nairobi agreed on a “unified vision” to end the war.

They signed three documents, he revealed. The first is the declaration of principles to build a new nation, the second is a roadmap to stop the war and the third aims to designate the National Congress and Islamic movement as terrorist.

Moreover, he declared that the warring parties would be barred from taking part in the democratic transition.

The gatherers held the warring parties and their allies fully responsible for any violations and war crimes, calling on regional and international powers, led by the Quad, to intervene decisively to implement a humanitarian truce.


Israeli Settler Kills 16-Year-Old Palestinian in West Bank, Mayor Says

Friends and family gather around the body of Ammar Yasser Sabbah, 16, ahead of his funeral at a morgue in Bethlehem on December 16, 2025, after he was killed by Israeli forces in the town of Tuqu’, east of Bethlehem during a military raid the day before. (AFP)
Friends and family gather around the body of Ammar Yasser Sabbah, 16, ahead of his funeral at a morgue in Bethlehem on December 16, 2025, after he was killed by Israeli forces in the town of Tuqu’, east of Bethlehem during a military raid the day before. (AFP)
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Israeli Settler Kills 16-Year-Old Palestinian in West Bank, Mayor Says

Friends and family gather around the body of Ammar Yasser Sabbah, 16, ahead of his funeral at a morgue in Bethlehem on December 16, 2025, after he was killed by Israeli forces in the town of Tuqu’, east of Bethlehem during a military raid the day before. (AFP)
Friends and family gather around the body of Ammar Yasser Sabbah, 16, ahead of his funeral at a morgue in Bethlehem on December 16, 2025, after he was killed by Israeli forces in the town of Tuqu’, east of Bethlehem during a military raid the day before. (AFP)

An Israeli settler shot dead a 16-year-old Palestinian in Tuqu' on Tuesday after the funeral of another teenager, the town's mayor said.

Violence has escalated in the West Bank since the beginning of the war in Gaza in October 2023. Attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank have increased sharply, with the UN reporting the highest number of attacks on record in October.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Muheeb Jibril's death on Tuesday.

"Today, after the funeral of 16-year-old Ammar Sabah, who was killed yesterday by the Israeli army in the town center, a number of youths were gathered by the main street when a settler shot 16-year-old Muheeb Jibril in the head," Tuqu' Mayor Mohammed al-Badan told Reuters by telephone.

Israeli forces killed Sabah on Monday during a military raid on the town, the Palestinian health ministry said. The military said the incident was under review. It said rocks were thrown at soldiers who used riot dispersal means and later responded with fire.

The West Bank is home to 2.7 million Palestinians who have limited self-rule under Israeli military occupation. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have settled there.

Most world powers deem Israel's settlements, on land it captured in a 1967 war, illegal, and numerous UN Security Council resolutions have called on Israel to halt all settlement activity.

Israel denies the illegality of the settlements, citing biblical and historical connections to the land.