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Al-Alimi in Moscow to Garner Russian Support for Legitimate Yemeni Govt

Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) shakes hands with Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Dr. Rashad Al-Alimi (R) during their meeting at the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, 28 May 2025. (EPA)
Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) shakes hands with Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Dr. Rashad Al-Alimi (R) during their meeting at the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, 28 May 2025. (EPA)
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Al-Alimi in Moscow to Garner Russian Support for Legitimate Yemeni Govt

Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) shakes hands with Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Dr. Rashad Al-Alimi (R) during their meeting at the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, 28 May 2025. (EPA)
Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) shakes hands with Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Dr. Rashad Al-Alimi (R) during their meeting at the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, 28 May 2025. (EPA)

Chairman of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council Dr. Rashad al-Alimi held talks in Moscow on Wednesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Putin said cooperation with Yemen dates back to Soviet times and diplomatic ties between the two sides were established in 1928. Yemen and Russia have been cooperating actively for some one hundred years.

He said the Russian embassy will resume operations in Yemen, reported Russia Today.

“The trade and economic relationship between Russia and Yemen is developing with success and holds several promising sectors,” he remarked.

Al-Alimi was in Moscow at Putin’s invitation and he sought to garner Russian support for the legitimate Yemeni government against the Iran-backed Houthi militias.

Al-Alimi and Putin discussed ways to boost cooperation between their countries and coordinate positions on various issues of mutual interest.

Putin underscored Russia’s “commitment to supporting Yemen and its people, and their aspirations for security, stability, and peace,” said a statement from Al-Alimi’s office.

“He emphasized the deep historical relations between the two countries, which are based on longstanding traditions of friendship and mutual respect,” it added.

Putin expressed his confidence in the development of these relations in a way that serves the interests of both nations and contributes to the security and stability of the region.

For his part, Al-Alimi briefed Putin on the situation in Yemen and the hopes pinned on the outcomes of his visit to Moscow, which coincides with the 97th anniversary of the establishment of close relations between their nations.

He highlighted the “longstanding and solid Yemen-Russia friendship, rooted in goodwill, balanced interests, and Russia’s significant support in strengthening the presence of the Yemeni state across various stages.”

He expressed his gratitude and appreciation for Russia’s consistent stance in support of the Yemeni people and their constitutional legitimacy. He recalled the enduring legacy of cooperation between the two countries and peoples in areas such as economic, political, military, educational, health, and cultural cooperation.

“We in the leadership of the Republic of Yemen highly value Russia’s supportive stance for constitutional legitimacy, as well as Moscow’s commitment to achieving peace and stability and ending the suffering of the Yemeni people,” Al-Alimi stressed. “We also appreciate Moscow’s consistent condemnation of terrorist threats that destabilize maritime security and international peace and security.”

Moreover, Al-Alimi addressed the deteriorating economic, service, and humanitarian conditions, exacerbated by the terrorist Houthi militia attacks on oil facilities. He acknowledged “the significant financial support provided by the Coalition to Support Legitimacy led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.”

He underlined the importance of “maintaining the cohesive stance of the international community regarding the Yemeni issue, and efforts to combat terrorism, piracy, and organized crime.”

He also praised Russia’s position in support of Arab causes, foremost among them the right of the Palestinian people to establish their independent state according to international resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative.

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Arab World

Funerals Held in Lebanon for Three Journalists Killed in Israeli Strike

A woman stands amid Hezbollah flags on March 29, 2026, in the Choueifat area on the outskirts of Beirut during the funeral of journalists killed the previous day in an Israeli strike in south Lebanon. (AFP)
A woman stands amid Hezbollah flags on March 29, 2026, in the Choueifat area on the outskirts of Beirut during the funeral of journalists killed the previous day in an Israeli strike in south Lebanon. (AFP)
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Funerals Held in Lebanon for Three Journalists Killed in Israeli Strike

A woman stands amid Hezbollah flags on March 29, 2026, in the Choueifat area on the outskirts of Beirut during the funeral of journalists killed the previous day in an Israeli strike in south Lebanon. (AFP)
A woman stands amid Hezbollah flags on March 29, 2026, in the Choueifat area on the outskirts of Beirut during the funeral of journalists killed the previous day in an Israeli strike in south Lebanon. (AFP)

Mourners gathered on Sunday in Choueifat, south of Beirut, for the funerals of three journalists killed by an Israeli airstrike.

Ali Shoeib, a correspondent with Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV, Fatima Ftouni, a reporter with the pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV, and her brother Mohammed, a cameraman with the station, were killed in a strike on their car while covering the Israel-Hezbollah war in southern Lebanon on Saturday.

Israel’s military said it had targeted Shoeib, accusing him of being a Hezbollah intelligence operative, without providing evidence. Lebanese officials have condemned the strike as a war crime.

Mourners chanted, “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” as the bodies were buried in an empty lot converted into a temporary graveyard during the war.

“It’s not the first time our colleagues are killed,” said Mohammad Ali Badreddine, an SNG engineer with al-Mayadeen. “It’s a big loss... they were among the brightest and most professional people and also among the kindest people.”

Arab World

Former Algerian President Liamine Zeroual Dies

Former Algerian President Liamine Zeroual casts his vote in the 1997 parliamentary elections. (AFP)
Former Algerian President Liamine Zeroual casts his vote in the 1997 parliamentary elections. (AFP)
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Former Algerian President Liamine Zeroual Dies

Former Algerian President Liamine Zeroual casts his vote in the 1997 parliamentary elections. (AFP)
Former Algerian President Liamine Zeroual casts his vote in the 1997 parliamentary elections. (AFP)

Algeria announced three days of national mourning on Sunday after the death of 84-year-old Liamine Zeroual, the former soldier who served as the country's president from 1994 to 1999.

Born on July 3, 1941 in the eastern city of Batna, Zeroual served in Algeria's National Liberation Army (FLN), which fought for independence from French rule.

After leading a transitional administration during a later civil war, Zeroual organized the country's first multi-party presidential election in 1995, winning by a wide margin.

In 1998, however, he unexpectedly cut short his five-year term, making way for Abdelaziz Bouteflika to succeed him and run the country for 20 years.

Zeroual remained respected in retirement. Algeria's presidency said he had died at a military hospital in Algiers after a serious illness and that flags would fly at half-mast across the country.

Arab World

Lebanon Kids Struggle to Keep Up Studies as War Slams School Doors Shut

UNICEF says the war has left almost half a million students out of school in Lebanon. Anwar AMRO / AFP
UNICEF says the war has left almost half a million students out of school in Lebanon. Anwar AMRO / AFP
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Lebanon Kids Struggle to Keep Up Studies as War Slams School Doors Shut

UNICEF says the war has left almost half a million students out of school in Lebanon. Anwar AMRO / AFP
UNICEF says the war has left almost half a million students out of school in Lebanon. Anwar AMRO / AFP

In a classroom turned shelter for displaced families, teenager Ahmad Melhem follows a recorded lesson on a tablet as the war between Hezbollah and Israel interrupts education for hundreds of thousands of students in Lebanon.

"I don't want to regret not finishing my studies despite the difficult circumstances," said Melhem, whose family was displaced from Beirut's southern suburbs, the site of repeated Israeli bombardment.

"We took a risk and went back to get schoolbooks," he told AFP.

"We're trying with everything we have to continue our education so we can achieve our goals," said the 17-year-old, who hopes to study engineering after finishing high school.

Crisis-hit Lebanon was pulled into the Middle East war on March 2 when militant group Hezbollah fired rockets towards Israel to avenge the US-Israeli killing of Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

Israel has responded with large-scale strikes on Lebanon and a ground offensive in the country's south, killing more than 1,100 people -- including 122 children -- and displacing more than one million people, according to authorities.

The United Nations children's agency UNICEF says the war has left almost half a million students out of school in Lebanon, after more than 350 public schools were turned into shelters and many in areas under Israeli bombardment were closed.

Melhem's family and others are sharing a classroom divided up by plastic curtains at a school in a central Beirut district, the room scattered with thin mattresses and blankets, a table and small stove serving as a shared kitchen.

- 'Digital divide' -

In the corner, Melhem has set up his books and a computer screen, but there is no internet in the room.

An NGO has provided internet access in the schoolyard, crowded with children playing and families socializing, but Melhem says he cannot concentrate because of the noise, so he watches the recorded classes later.

His private school resumed distance learning two weeks after the war began, after cancelling subjects and shortening lessons.

"In-person (class) is better and more engaging," he said. "I miss group work and the science projects we used to do."

According to a 2023 World Bank report, each day of public school closures costs the Lebanese economy three million dollars.

In the courtyard, Melhem's mother helps her other son, aged eight, to follow his online classes.

"If I leave him alone, his mind wanders and he can't keep up with the lesson," says Salameh, 41.

"The war has destroyed everything," she added.

"Education is the only thing left for my children."

UNICEF's head of education in Lebanon, Atif Rafique, expressed particular concern about the future of students who are preparing to enter university while the war continues.

He warned of the dangers of children dropping out of school, especially "girls and adolescent young women" who face additional risks, including early marriage.

'Not even pens'

In Dekwaneh, north of Beirut, at a vocational institute that is now a shelter, Aya Zahran said she spends her day "preparing food and working to make the place livable".

"We have only one phone that my siblings and I share," said Zahran, 17, who is also displaced from Beirut's southern suburbs.

But "the link the school sent us (for online classes) doesn't work", she said.

Rafique said hundreds of public schools lack the resources for distance learning, and noted a "big digital divide" when it comes to internet access, with teachers also affected.

UNICEF has helped launch an online platform with recorded lessons, and a hotline allowing students to access materials through a phone call, without needing internet access.

He said children in south Lebanon have been disproportionately affected by education interruptions since the last round of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah broke out in October 2023.

Just a week before the latest war began, UNICEF reopened 30 schools in the south that had been damaged in the previous conflict, he said.

At the vocational institute's entrance, an education ministry employee was registering children to assess what educational services they need.

"The situation here is very difficult... there's no internet here, and not even pens," said Nasima Ismail, who has been displaced from the northeast Bekaa region, as she signed up her children.

"My children are top students. I don't want them to miss out on their education, as happened to us when we were kids," said Ismail, recalling Lebanon's devastating 1975-1990 civil war.

"I want them to complete their education, even if we are left with nothing," she said.

"I wish them days better than ours."