News in Brief -2024-08-15

FE Team | Published: August 14, 2024 22:02:03

Yemen government urges UN to move
to its Aden base after Huthi attack
DUBAI, Aug 14: The Yemeni government has called on the United Nations to move to second city Aden after Huthi rebels seized its office in the capital Sanaa and detained dozens of staff from international organisations. "We reiterate the call for the United Nations mission, all UN agencies, international organisations operating in Yemen... to immediately move their headquarters to the interim capital, Aden, and the liberated areas," Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani said on Tuesday on social media platform X. The Iran-backed Huthis overran the capital Sanaa in 2014 and hold most of the country's main population centres, forcing the internationally recognised government to flee to Aden. A Saudi-led coalition intervened to prop up the beleaguered government the following year. — AFP
Sudan army boycotts US-led peace talks
KHARTOUM, Aug 14: Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan refused to send a delegation to the peace talks in Geneva Fresh peace talks aimed at ending Sudan's 16-month war have begun despite one of the warring sides - the national army - refusing to attend. The US, which is facilitating the discussions, insisted the event continued regardless as the millions suffering in Sudan "cannot afford for us to wait". Fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has claimed thousands of lives, and driven approximately 10 million people from their homes. — BBC
Seoul nears 'tropical nights' record
SEOUL, Aug 14: A streak of super-hot tropical nights is set to break a century-old South Korean weather record, according to official data released Wednesday, as the peninsula bakes in a prolonged heat wave. North Korean authorities also issued a warning over "fierce heat" with temperatures of up to 37 degrees Celsius (99 Fahrenheit), as AFP images showed Pyongyang residents using umbrellas and portable fans to keep cool. Much of the world is enduring a summer of extreme heat, with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warning last month that humanity is suffering an "extreme heat epidemic" and calling for action to limit the impacts of heat waves intensified by climate change. The so-called tropical nights phenomenon refers to when the temperature does not drop below 25 degrees Celsius (77 Fahrenheit) overnight, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration. — AFP
Indian soldier dies in Kashmir clashes
SRINAGAR, Aug 14: Soldiers in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir battled insurgents on Wednesday, the army said, with a captain killed in clashes in the disputed territory. The Indian army, in a post on social media platform X, offered its "deepest condolences" over the death of the officer. The violence is the latest in a string of clashes in the Hindu-dominated southern Jammu region this year. Gunbattles erupted last Tuesday in forests near the tourist resort of Patni Top and local media reported a civilian and a suspected militant were also wounded. Muslim-majority Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947, with each side claiming it in full. Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh called a meeting with army, security, and intelligence chiefs on Wednesday after the latest clashes in Jammu, which had been relatively peaceful for the past two decades. — AP
S Africa's unemployment reaches new highs
JOHANNESBURG, Aug 14: South Africa's jobless rate rose to a near record in the second quarter of 2024, continuing a trend that has seen the number of unemployed people grow by more than 60 percent in ten years, official data showed Tuesday. The unemployment rate hit 33.5 percent between April and June, up by 0.6 percentage point from the previous quarter, national statistics agency StatsSA said. That is close to the record 35.3 percent reached in 2021 during the coronavirus pandemic. About 8.4 million people were out of work, up from 5.2 million in 2014, it said. Including people who have given up looking for work, the jobless rate was a staggering 42.6 percent, up from 41.9 percent in the first quarter, StatsSA added. — AFP