AL-MUKALLA: At least five people have been killed by flash floods following torrential rains this week in the south, central and western regions of Yemen, local media and officials said. 

Three people drowned and two others were rescued after a bus was swept away by floodwaters in the Bayhan district in the southern province of Shabwa. Roads and farms were also destroyed by flooding in the province.

LONDON: A leaked recording in which Israel’s police chief described Arabs as murderous by “nature” has sparked outrage among Israeli Arab parties.

During a private phone conversation last week, Israel’s far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai discussed plans to establish a national guard, in part to combat allegedly high crime rates in Arab communities, the Times of Israel reported.

ANKARA: Turkiye closed its airspace to flights to and from an airport in Kurdish-administered northern Iraq, a top Turkish official announced Wednesday, citing an alleged increase in Kurdish militant activity threatening flight safety.
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Tanju Bilgic said the Turkish airspace has been closed to flights taking off and landing at Suleimaniyah International Airport, in northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region, since Tuesday.

RAMALLAH: Opposition was on Tuesday mounting against the Israeli government’s approval for the establishment of a national guard force under the supervision of the country’s controversial far-right security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Groups representing 1.7 million Arabs living in Israel, political opposition figures, and Israeli security services chiefs have all expressed concerns over the decision and the possibility of Ben-Gvir taking direct control of the armed force.

The move has come in the wake of violent clashes in mixed Jewish-Arab towns in May 2021.

NEW YORK CITY: The UN Security Council on Tuesday strongly condemned recent Houthi escalations of the conflict in Yemen, including an attack on senior government officials in Taiz. Members urged the Iran-backed militia to halt the provocations and “prioritize the Yemeni people.”

A government soldier was killed and two wounded in the besieged city of Taiz on March 25 when an explosives-laden Houthi drone targeted a convoy in which military leaders, including Defense Minister Mohsen Al-Daeri, were traveling.