DUBAI: Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have detained more than a dozen aid workers, including United Nations staff, in an apparently coordinated sweep, the Yemeni government and an NGO said Friday.
At least 18 Yemeni aid workers were kidnapped in four rebel-held parts of the war-torn country, the Yemeni Mayyun Organization for Human Rights said, listing 10 workers from UN agencies.
Yemen’s internationally-recognized government condemned the “massive abduction campaign,” saying it targeted “dozens of employees of the United Nations agencies, the office of the UN envoy Hans Grundberg, and several international organizations working” in the capital Sanaa and other Houthi-run areas.
In a statement on social media platform X , Information Minister Moammar Al-Eryani called it an “unprecedented escalation and a flagrant violation of international laws and conventions.”
A diplomatic source, speaking on condition of anonymity, also told AFP that more than a dozen aid workers including UN staff were kidnapped on Thursday.
There was no immediate comment from the Houthis or the United Nations.
The abductions underline the perilous task facing aid workers in Yemen, whose long-running civil war has precipitated one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
“The Houthi armed group raided the homes and kidnapped staff of the United Nations and other international organizations operating in four governorates under” their control, the Mayyun Organization said.
This “serious escalation... constitutes a violation of the privileges and immunities of United Nations personnel,” it added, describing the abductions as “blackmail practices in order to obtain political and economic gains.”
The “simultaneous” abductions took place in the capital Sanaa, the key port of Hodeida, Amran and Saada, the rebels’ traditional stronghold, the aid group said.
“The Houthis’ actions are undermining essential humanitarian work in Yemen at a time when the majority of Yemenis do not have adequate access to basic necessities like food and water,” Niku Jafarnia, Yemen researcher at Human Rights Watch, told AFP.
The Houthis have kidnapped, arbitrarily detained, and tortured hundreds of civilians, including UN and NGO workers, since the start of Yemen’s conflict in 2014, according to rights groups.
Several aid workers have been killed or kidnapped throughout the conflict, forcing international agencies to temporarily suspend operations or pull out international staff as a security precaution.
The Yemani information minister said the Houthis have “previously abducted dozens of United Nations employees,” with at least three kidnapped over the past three years still in detention.
Last year, the charity Save the Children suspended operations for 10 days in northern Yemen after a staff member died in detention in the rebel-held capital.
Also last year, a long-serving staffer with the UN World Food Programme was shot and killed in the southern city of Taiz by unknown gunmen.
The Houthis seized control of Sanaa in September 2014, prompting a Saudi-led military intervention on behalf of the government the following March.
Yemen Houthis detain aid workers, UN staff
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Yemen Houthis detain aid workers, UN staff
- The Houthis have kidnapped, arbitrarily detained, and tortured hundreds of civilians, according to rights groups
Pakistan launches national ‘Agri Stack’ to digitize farming sector
- Agri Stack to give farmers digital IDs, integrate land data, streamline access to subsidies, credit, insurance and markets
- Initiative aims to boost productivity, transparency and rural incomes in a sector contributing one-fifth of GDP
KARACHI: Pakistan has begun work on a “National Agri Stack” to build digital infrastructure for its agriculture sector, aiming to boost farmer access to credit, subsidies and markets, the ministry of IT said on Friday.
Agriculture is the backbone of Pakistan’s economy, employing more than a third of the workforce and contributing around a fifth of gross domestic product. The sector faces persistent challenges, however, including low productivity, fragmented landholdings, water scarcity and climate shocks, while farmers often lack formal identification and credit histories needed to access finance.
The Agri Stack initiative, led by the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT) in collaboration with the Ministry of National Food Security and Research (MNFSR), the Land Information and Management System (LIMS) and the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), seeks to integrate land and farmer data, deliver targeted services and improve transparency in farm support.
In simple terms, the Agri Stack will create a “digital ID and online service hub” for every farmer in Pakistan. It will gather all key information — who the farmer is, what land they own or work on, what crops they grow — into one secure system. This means the government, banks and agri companies can deliver the right help directly to the right farmer, including subsidies, loans, crop insurance, weather updates and market prices.
The system is meant to cut out paperwork, reduce delays, stop resources from going to the wrong people and give farmers better tools to grow and sell their crops.
“The Agri Stack will enable verified farmer identities, land data integration, precision advisory, and efficient delivery of services like subsidies, crop insurance, and credit,” said Federal IT Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja at a stakeholder consultation in Islamabad, according to a statement from the IT ministry.
“This is the architecture for an inclusive and tech-driven agricultural transformation under Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s Digital Nation Pakistan, in collaboration with the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC).”
LIMS Director General Maj Gen (R) M Ayub Ahsan Bhatti said the platform, also called PAKGROW, would “innovate the agricultural arena of Pakistan by transforming and improving the lives of small farmers and convening policymaking.”
The consultation endorsed forming a steering committee co-chaired by MoITT and MNFSR, a technical working group on data and cybersecurity, and pilot projects over the next 12–18 months. Priority areas include smart input subsidies, weather-indexed crop insurance, credit access through alternative data, and market linkages via LIMS.
Officials said the Agri Stack would combine satellite-driven crop intelligence, digital IDs, trusted payment systems and market platforms to create a “digitally empowered agricultural future.”
If implemented effectively, experts say a national Agri Stack could help Pakistan tackle some of its most entrenched agricultural challenges by giving farmers verified digital identities, streamlining subsidy and credit delivery, and providing timely, data-driven advice on crop management.
Integrating land records, satellite imagery, and market information into a single digital platform could reduce leakages in government support programs, expand financial inclusion for smallholders, improve resilience against climate shocks and connect rural producers more directly to buyers. This would ultimately boost productivity, transparency and rural incomes in a sector that underpins both the economy and national food security.
Leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan shake hands and sign deal at White House peace summit
WASHINGTON: The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan shook hands Friday at a White House peace summit before signing an agreement aimed at ending decades of conflict.
President Donald Trump was in the middle as Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan flanked him on either side. As the two extended their arms in front of Trump to shake hands, the US leader reached up and clasped his hands around theirs.
The two countries in the South Caucasus signed agreements with each other and the US that will reopen key transportation routes while allowing the US to seize on Russia’s declining influence in the region. The deal includes an agreement that will create a major transit corridor to be named the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, the White House said.
Trump said at the White House on Friday that naming the route after him was “a great honor for me” but “I didn’t ask for this.” A senior administration official, on a call before the event with reporters, said it was the Armenians who suggested the name.
Both leaders said the breakthrough was made possible by Trump and his team.
“We are laying a foundation to write a better story than the one we had in the past,” Pashinyan said, calling the agreement a “significant milestone.”
“President Trump in six months did a miracle,” Aliyev said.
Trump remarked on how long the conflict went on between the two countries. “Thirty-five years they fought, and now they’re friends and they’re going to be friends a long time,” he said.
That route will connect Azerbaijan and its autonomous Nakhchivan exclave, which are separated by a 32-kilometer-wide (20-mile-wide) patch of Armenian territory. The demand from Azerbaijan had held up peace talks in the past.
For Azerbaijan, a major producer of oil and gas, the route also provides a more direct link to Turkiye and onward to Europe.
Trump indicated he’d like to visit the route, saying, “We’re going to have to get over there.”
Asked how he feels about lasting peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Trump said “very confident.”
Friday’s signing adds to the handful of peace and economic agreements brokered this year by the US
The peace deal between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda helped end the decadeslong conflict in eastern Congo, and the US mediated a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, while Trump intervened in clashes between Cambodia and Thailand by threatening to withhold trade agreements with both countries if their fighting continued. Yet peace deals in Gaza and Ukraine have been elusive.
Trump has made no secret of his wish to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in helping ease long-running conflicts across the globe. Aliyev and Pashinyan on Friday joined a growing list of foreign leaders and other officials who have said the US leader should receive the award.
US takes advantage of Russia’s waning influence
The signing of a deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan, both former Soviet republics, also strikes a geopolitical blow to their former imperial master, Russia. Throughout the nearly four-decade conflict, Moscow played mediator to expand its clout in the strategic South Caucasus region, but its influence waned quickly after it launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The Trump-brokered deal would allow the US to deepen its reach in the region as Moscow retreats, senior US administration officials said.
The Trump administration began engaging with Armenia and Azerbaijan in earnest earlier this year, when Trump’s key diplomatic envoy, Steve Witkoff, met with Aliyev in Baku and started to discuss what a senior administration official called a “regional reset.”
Negotiations over who will develop the Trump Route — which will eventually include a rail line, oil and gas pipelines, and fiber optic lines — will likely begin next week, and at least nine developers have expressed interest already, according to the senior administration official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity.
Separate from the joint agreement, both Armenia and Azerbaijan signed deals with the United States meant to bolster cooperation in energy, technology and the economy, the White House said.
Trump previewed much of Friday’s plan in a social media post Thursday evening, in which he said the agreements would “fully unlock the potential” of the South Caucasus region.
“Many Leaders have tried to end the War, with no success, until now, thanks to ‘TRUMP,’” Trump said on his Truth Social site.
The Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict has lasted for decades
The two nations were locked in conflict for nearly four decades as they fought for control of the Karabakh region, known internationally as Nagorno-Karabakh.
The area was largely populated by Armenians during the Soviet era but is located within Azerbaijan. The two nations battled for control of the region through multiple violent clashes that left tens of thousands of people dead over the decades, all while international mediation efforts failed.
Most recently, Azerbaijan reclaimed all of Karabakh in 2023 and had been in talks with Armenia to normalize ties. Azerbaijan’s insistence on a land bridge to Nakhchivan had been a major sticking point, because while Azerbaijan did not trust Armenia to control the so-called Zangezur corridor, Armenia resisted control by a third party because it viewed it as a breach of sovereignty.
But the prospect of closer ties with the United States, as well as being able to move in and out of the landlocked nation more freely without having to access Georgia or Iran, helped entice Armenia on the broader agreement, according to US officials.
Meanwhile, Russia stood back when Azerbaijan reclaimed control of Karabakh in the September 2023 offensive, angering Armenia, which has moved to shed Russian influence and turn westward. Azerbaijan, emboldened by its victory in Karabakh, also has become increasingly defiant in its relations with Moscow.
Foreign ministers of five countries condemn Israeli plan to seize Gaza City
- Israel’s security cabinet has approved a plan to seize control of Gaza City, escalating military operations in the devastated Palestinian territory
GAZA: The foreign ministers of Australia, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom on Friday strongly condemned the Israeli Security Cabinet’s decision to launch a new large-scale military operation in Gaza.
“The plans that the Government of Israel has announced risk violating international humanitarian law,” the ministers said in a joint statement.
Israel’s security cabinet has approved a plan to seize control of Gaza City, escalating military operations in the devastated Palestinian territory. The move drew renewed criticism at home and abroad on Friday, as concerns mounted over the nearly two-year-old war.
ICC unseals Libya war crimes warrant for militia officer
- The crimes were allegedly committed in Benghazi or surrounding areas, in Libya, on or before June 3, 2016 until on or about July 17, 2017
THE HAGUE: The International Criminal Court on Friday unsealed an arrest warrant for a Libyan militia member accused of war crimes including murder and torture between 2016 and 2017.
The court said there were “reasonable grounds to believe” that Saif Suleiman Sneidel was responsible for war crimes of murder, torture and “outrages upon personal dignity.”
The November 2020 warrant found “reasonable grounds to believe that Mr.Sneidel participated in three executions where a total of 23 people were murdered,” the ICC’s prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
The crimes were allegedly committed in Benghazi or surrounding areas, in Libya, on or before June 3, 2016 until on or about July 17, 2017.
The prosecutor’s office said Sneidel’s arrest warrant had been issued under seal to “maximize arrest opportunities” and to minimize risks to the criminal investigation.
“For this reason, no details of the application or warrant could be provided until this stage,” it said.
The decision to make it public followed a second application by the prosecutor’s office to “increase prospects for arrest.”
“We hope to create the momentum for Mr.Sneidel’s arrest and surrender,” said deputy prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan said.
“The Court can now discuss issues related to possible arrest with States, the UN Security Council, and the international community at large, fostering support and cooperation.”
Sneidel is believed to have been serving in Group 50, a sub-unit of the Al-Saiqa Brigade led by the the late Libyan commander, Mahmoud Mustafa Busayf Al-Werfalli.
Prior to his death, Al-Werfalli was the subject of two ICC arrest warrants for eight executions in Benghazi, three of which the prosecution alleges Sneidel took part in.
“The prosecution alleges that Mr.Sneidel was a close associate of Mr.Al-Werfalli, and had an important leadership role alongside him in the Al-Saiqa Brigade,” the statement said.
The ICC has been investigating atrocities in Libya since 2011, following a referral from the United Nations Security Council.
The ICC also confirmed that another Libyan suspect, Khaled Mohamed Ali El Hishri, had been arrested by German authorities on July 16, 2025 for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
He remains in custody in Germany pending legal proceedings.
Libya has faced years of instability, militia violence and fractured government since Qaddafi was overthrown and killed in 2011 near his hometown of Sirte during the Arab Spring uprising.
Turkiye hails US-brokered Armenia-Azerbaijan deal
- “At a time when international conflicts and crises are intensifying, this step constitutes a highly significant development for the promotion of regional peace and stability
ISTANBUL: Turkiye hailed an agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan as progress toward a “lasting peace” on Friday after US President Donald Trump declared the foes had committed to permanently end hostilities.
“We welcome the progress achieved toward establishing a lasting peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and the commitment recorded in Washington today in this regard,” Turkiye’s foreign ministry said, in a statement.
“At a time when international conflicts and crises are intensifying, this step constitutes a highly significant development for the promotion of regional peace and stability. We commend the contributions of the US administration in this process.”
