UNITED NATIONS: UN officials on Thursday urged the warring parties in Yemen to renew their truce after seven years of devastating war between the Yemeni government and the Iranian-backed Houthis.
The truce, in effect since April 2 and extended on an emergency basis twice, expired on October 2 without the Yemeni government and Houthis reaching an agreement to roll it over for another six months.

AL-MUKALLA: Government officials and human rights activists in Yemen have accused Iran-backed Houthis of torturing and executing a prisoner of war a year after capturing him in the central province of Marib.
Muammar Al-Eryani, Yemen’s minister of information, culture and tourism, said Houthi captors tortured Abdul Wahab Al-SHajjae, a Yemeni government soldier, and denied him lifesaving medication, which resulted in his death in prison, and that they refused to return his body to his family.

LONDON: Iran has begun arresting teenage schoolgirls and students who have taken part in anti-regime protests following the death of Mahsa Amini, according to The Times.

Students who have been protesting the compulsory wearing of the hijab have been arrested and taken to “psychological correctional facilities” for “reform,” said the Iranian education minister.

BEIRUT: Lebanese President Michel Aoun welcomed the US-brokered maritime border deal with Israel on Wednesday, saying it will “pull Lebanon out of the abyss,” in reference to his country’s three-year economic crisis.

Lebanon and Israel signaled their approval on Tuesday to the deal laying out their respective maritime rights.

A parliamentary debate has already taken place on the necessary steps to bring the agreement into force.

NEW YORK CITY: The UN on Wednesday welcomed the announcement that authorities in Israel and Lebanon have agreed to establish a permanent, mutually acceptable maritime boundary, formally ending a long-running dispute between them.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric described the deal as a “positive development” and told Arab News that it “will clearly benefit the stability and the prosperity of the region.”