A gas explosion at a department store in Taiwan on Thursday killed four people and injured 26, fire authorities said.
The blast occurred at the food court on the 12th floor of the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi department store in Taichung city, the Taichung Fire Bureau said. The higher floors of the upscale department store were blown out, raining debris on pedestrians below.
Among the dead were two people visiting from Macau, Macao’s Tourism Office confirmed Thursday. Local media reported that they were part of a family of seven who were there for tourism. The other five were also injured are now being treated at local hospitals in Taichung.
TAIWAN AIR FORCE OFFICER KILLED AFTER BEING ‘INHALED’ BY FIGHTER JET’S ENGINE
Part of the store was under renovation, but it’s not clear if the work was connected to the explosion, Taichung Vice Mayor Cheng Chao-hsin told reporters at the scene. “If it’s found there were illegal actions or parts that violated renovation regulations, it will be dealt with appropriately,” Cheng said.
This image taken from video by Taiwan’s TVBS shows the damaged facade of the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi department store after an explosion in Taichung city in Taiwan on Thursday, Feb 13, 2025.(TVBS via AP)
Dozens of firefighters were deployed to the scene at about 11:30 a.m. Parts of the building’s exterior were damaged and scattered fragments were strewn on the streets.
Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen told reporters at the scene that she felt the shock at her office nearby. She said the fire bureau would focus on a rescue operation first, but an investigation was also underway and officers were checking whether there were other sources of danger.
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Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te said he had asked all relevant government agencies to investigate the cause of the accident.
Vice President JD Vance toured the Dachau concentration camp in Germany on Thursday ahead of the Munich Security Conference and a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy set for Friday.
Vance and his wife, second lady Usha Vance, toured the site that has become a powerful symbol of the atrocities committed by Nazi Germany against Jews and other minority groups during World War II.
“What happened here should never happen again,” Vance said to a group of dignitaries near the entrance to the camp.
Vice President JD Vance visits the Dachau concentration camp on Feb. 13, 2025, after his arrival in Bavaria to commemorate the victims and survivors of the Nazi terror regime and the 80th anniversary of the camp’s liberation by American forces on April 29, 1945. (Peter Kneffel/picture alliance via Getty Images)
CAR DRIVER IN MUNICH PLOWS INTO CROWD 1 DAY BEFORE VANCE AND WORLD LEADERS GATHER FOR SECURITY CONFERENCE
“I’ve read a lot in books,” he added. “But being here, and seeing it up close in person, really drives home what unspeakable evil was committed and why we should be committed to ensuring that it never happens again.”
The pair, who toured the site alongside 96-year-old Abba Naor, a Holocaust survivor who was an inmate at Dachau, also laid a wreath with a red, white and blue ribbon at the base of the International Monument – a bronze sculpture that depicts humans entangled in barbed wire.
They then stopped at a wall that reads “Never again” in five different languages. In front of the wall sits an urn with the ashes of an unknown prisoner.
Vice President JD Vance, second lady Usha Vance and Holocaust survivor Abba Naor tour the Dachau Concentration Camp memorial site in Germany, on Feb. 13, 2025.(Tobias Schwarz/AFP via Getty Images)
RUSSIA CLAIMS TRUMP, PUTIN TALK BROUGHT WORLD FROM ‘BRINK OF APOCALYPSE,’ EU WARNS OF ‘DIRTY TRICKS’
More than 200,000 people were held at Dachau between 1933-1945 and experts believe that more than 40,000 people were killed there.
Vance is the latest top American official to visit the site. It was toured by President Joe Biden, both as vice president during the Obama administration and as commander in chief, as well as by Vice President Mike Pence during the first Trump administration.
“I really am really moved by this site,” Vance said. “It’s very important that it’s here, and it’s very important that those of us who are lucky enough to be alive and can walk around, can know what happened here and commit ourselves to do everything to prevent it from happening again.”
Vice President JD Vance and his wife Usha Vance lay a wreath at the former Dachau concentration camp, Feb. 13, 2025.(Peter Kneffel/picture alliance via Getty Images)
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Vance’s five-day trip to Europe will also include his attendance of the Munich Security Conference, which begins Friday.
There he will meet with world leaders, including Zelenskyy, alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Vance and the Ukrainian president are expected to discuss President Donald Trump’s plans to end the three-year-long war.
Caitlin McFall is a Reporter at Fox News Digital covering Politics, U.S. and World news.
Russian-American ballerina Ksenia Karelina, who was sentenced to 12 years in Russian prison after donating just over $50 to a Ukrainian charity in early 2024, is “in transit,” her boyfriend tells Fox News, a day after American Marc Fogel was released in a prisoner swap.
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) informed Karelina’s family about the update, the ballerina’s boyfriend, Christopher Van Heerden told Fox News on Thursday.
While “in transit” is not a confirmation that Karelina is being released, it could mean Russia is moving her to a prison closer to Moscow, which is normally a precursor to release.
The news came during what Van Heerden described as an unusual nine-day gap in communication between Karelina and her mom, who had typically spoken on the phone every day since her incarceration.
FREED AMERICAN HOSTAGE MARC FOGEL LANDS IN US AFTER YEARS IN RUSSIAN CAPTIVITY
Karelina was visiting family in Yekaterinberg in February 2024 when she was detained over allegations of treason after donating $51 to a Ukrainian organization that passed the money onto the country’s military.
Ksenia Karelina was detained in Russia in February 2024 on allegations of treason after donating $51 to a Ukrainian charity.(Christopher Van Heerden )
The State Department determined Karelina was “wrongfully detained” on Tuesday, the same day American teacher Marc Fogel was released after spending more than three years in a Russian prison.
The family of Ksenia Karelina was told she was “in transit,” her boyfriend, Christopher Van Heerden, told Fox News.(Christopher Van Heerden )
In exchange for Fogel’s freedom, a Trump administration official told Fox News that the U.S. is releasing Russian prisoner Alexander Vinnik as part of the deal.
In this photo, Ksenia Karelina appears with her boyfriend, Christopher Van Heerden. The news about Karelina’s possible movement comes just days after American teacher Marc Fogel was freed in a prisoner swap with Russia.(Christopher Van Heerden )
AMERICAN BALLERINA LEFT OUT OF RUSSIA PRISONER SWAP PLEADS GUILTY TO TREASON: REPORT
While Van Heerden said that while he obviously can’t take the FSB at its word, he’s optimistic about Karelina’s return home, adding that President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs Adam Boehler are all aware and focusing on Karelina’s case.
The State Department determined Karelina was “wrongfully detained” on Tuesday.(Christopher Van Heerden )
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“Movement is happening as we speak,” Van Heerden said.
Nick Kalman is a Senior Foreign Affairs Producer based in Washington, D.C.
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Former Hamas hostage Daniella Gilboa was apparently forced to fake her own death for a propaganda video. In an interview with Israel’s Channel 12, Orly Gilboa, Daniella’s mother, detailed the horrifying ordeal.
“One of the captors just came to her with a camera and said, ‘Daniella, today we’re going to film you dead.’ She of course pleaded for her life and asked him not to do it,” Orly Gilboa told Channel 12. Gilboa also said that her daughter was covered in debris and powder to make it seem like she was killed in an Israeli airstrike.
In November 2024, Hamas claimed that Gilboa was killed in an Israeli airstrike, producing the video of her “dead body” as proof. However, Gilboa was in fact alive and was released from captivity on Jan. 25, 2025, alongside Liri Albag, Naama Levy and Karina Ariev.
Released Israeli hostage Daniella Gilboa, a soldier who was seized from her army base in southern Israel during the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas, is embraced by her parents after being released as part of a ceasefire and a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel, in an unknown location, in a handout photo obtained by Reuters on Jan. 25, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces/Handout via REUTERS)
Following Hamas’ release of the video, the IDF said in a statement that it was investigating the situation. The IDF also condemned the release of the video, saying “Hamas continues to engage in psychological terror and act with extreme brutality.”
Hamas made videos of multiple hostages, including Yarden Bibas, whose wife and two young sons were also kidnapped on Oct. 7, 2023. Bibas is seen in the Hamas video, which was released in November 2023, breaking down as he is told that his family was killed. The fate of Bibas’ wife, Shiri, and their sons, Ariel and Kfir, remains unknown.
Gilboa, Albag, Levy and Ariev were kidnapped by Hamas terrorists from an IDF base in southern Israel during the attacks on Oct. 7, 2023. Agam Berger, who was taken hostage with the other female soldiers, was held for an extra week alone. She was released from Hamas captivity on Jan. 30, 2025.
Former Hamas hostages Liri Albag, Naama Levy, Daniela Gilboa and Karina Ariev watch as fellow hostage Agam Berger is released.(Courtesy: IDF)
HAMAS SAYS IT WILL FREE MORE ISRAELI HOSTAGES ON SATURDAY AS ORIGINALLY PLANNED
On the day she was taken hostage, Gilboa was shot in the leg, but the bullet was not removed during her time in captivity.
In an exclusive interview with Ynet, Ran Gilboa, Daniela’s father, called his daughter “a hero who returned from hell.” He also revealed that for two days after his daughter’s kidnapping, his family did not know if she was alive or dead.
“Their captors gave them more food in the days leading up to their release. They were only told they would be freed three days before it happened,” Ran Gilboa told Ynet.
Israelis were stunned by the condition of three hostages released last week, Or Levy, Eli Sharabi, and Ohad Ben Ami, as the men appeared emaciated. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised that this “would not be ignored.” Additionally, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said that the “emaciated and pained” men were a visual representation of a “crime against humanity.”
President Donald Trump (left) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right).(Getty Images/Fox News Digital)
ISRAELI CABINET BACKS TRUMP’S DEMAND FOR HAMAS TO RELEASE ALL HOSTAGES BY SATURDAY DEADLINE
Hamas and Israel were engaged in a ceasefire. However, the terrorist organization threatened to stop hostage releases. President Donald Trump then gave Hamas a deadline of Saturday, Feb. 15, at 12 p.m. to release the remaining hostages.
“If all the Gaza hostages aren’t returned by Saturday at 12 p.m., I would say cancel the ceasefire,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “Let all hell break out. Israel can override it.”
Trump stressed that Hamas needs to release “all of them, not in drips and drabs.”
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Israel’s security cabinet backed President Trump’s threat, and Prime Minister Netanyahu said in a statement that if the hostages are not released by the deadline, they “will resume intense combat until Hamas is decisively defeated.”
On Thursday, Hamas announced it would free three more Israeli hostages as originally planned, according to the Associated Press.
Russia’s deputy chairman of the Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, on Thursday claimed that the recent discussion held between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin brought the world back from the “brink of the Apocalypse.”
“It just so happened at some point that the U.S. appointed itself the country-in-chief on our planet with the exclusive right to wage a hybrid war against our people, to mete out justice and grant pardons. It was a grave mistake, which nearly wiped humanity off the face of the earth,” he said, without mentioning that the West united behind Ukraine against Russia after Moscow launched the biggest invasion of a European nation since World War II.
“This is a lesson that must be learned by the arrogant American elites and the so-called deep state,” he continued. “The quicker our adversaries realize this, the better.
“If they don’t… the Doomsday Clock will keep on ticking towards midnight,” he added, threatening nuclear escalation.
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters from the White House after he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on ending the war with Ukraine on Feb. 12, 2025.(AP/Alex Brandon)
UKRAINE ADVOCATES TEAR INTO HEGSETH FOR GIVING RUSSIA ‘CONCESSIONS’ AT START OF PEACE TALKS: ‘BIGGEST GIFT’
Trump once again prompted geopolitical shock waves following his Wednesday call with Putin when he said in a Truth Social post that peace talks will start “immediately” – comments that came just hours after U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said it was unrealistic that Ukraine would be allowed to join the NATO alliance.
European leaders were quick to react with concern to comments from both Washington and Moscow, including EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, who told Fox News Digital, “It’s not wise to surrender Russia’s key demands before the negotiations even start.”
“Any peace agreement requires the full involvement of both the Europeans and the Ukrainians to succeed,” she continued. “Quick fixes are just dirty deals.
“Putin only responds to strength. Ukraine is resisting Russia’s invasion, and they have our full support. A bad deal for Ukraine is a bad deal for America and will embolden China,” Kallas said.
Kallas’ comments came after she met with NATO defense ministers, who similarly came out in support of Ukraine and issued warnings to Washington.
Lithuania Defense Minister Dovile Sakaliene said NATO leaders are facing “difficult discussions” with “two obvious choices.”
“Whether we decide to fall under the illusion that Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin are going to find a solution for all of us – and that would be a deadly trap,” she said. “Or we will, as Europe, embrace our own economic, financial and military capacity. And we will be the ones who will be deciding what will happen in Europe and in Ukraine with the United States.”
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis of Greece attend a press conference in Saariselka, Finnish Lapland, Dec. 22, 2024.(Lehtikuva/Antti Aimo-Koivisto via Reuters)
In addition, Estonia Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur warned, “We have to understand that there will be no peace without Ukraine.
“It cannot be so that someone will come and say when to talk. It has to be Ukraine,” he added.
Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Thursday said Putin would be “pleased” to welcome international leaders, including Trump, to Moscow in May.
European leaders reacted with apparent concern to Trump’s and the Kremlin’s comments and said there can be no peace agreement without direct EU and Ukrainian involvement.
SOME CRITICS WORRIED TRUMP WOULD HAVE UKRAINE GIVE UP TOO MUCH FOR PEACE AGREEMENT WITH RUSSIA
Similarly, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said, “There can’t be any negotiations about Ukraine without Ukraine being at the heart of it.”
Seven European leaders from the U.K., France, Germany, Poland, Italy, Spain and the EU released a joint statement on Wednesday and insisted that they should be part of any negotiations on Ukraine’s future.
“Our shared objectives should be to put Ukraine in a position of strength,” the statement said. “Ukraine and Europe must be part of any negotiations.”
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed he spoke with President Trump on Feb. 13, 2025, about ending the war with Russia.(AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier this week said he would be willing to exchange the land Ukraine has seized in Russia for the land occupied by Moscow’s troops in its eastern regions.
The Ukrainian president said he also spoke with Trump following his call with Putin on Wednesday about a “lasting, reliable peace.”
Caitlin McFall is a Reporter at Fox News Digital covering Politics, U.S. and World news.
Ukraine’s air force indicated in a Facebook post on Thursday that the Eastern European nation had been targeted in a drone attack overnight.
“85 ENEMY UAVS SHOT, 52 DRONES FAILED TO REACH THEIR TARGETS (LOCATIONALLY LOST),” the top of the post read, according to a Google translation of the Ukrainian text.
The announcement came after U.S. President Donald Trump noted on Wednesday that he had spoken to both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
TRUMP SAYS RUSSIA AGREES TO ‘IMMEDIATELY’ BEGIN NEGOTIATIONS TO END WAR IN UKRAINE
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a joint press conference with the President of the European Investment Bank (EIB) in Kyiv on Feb. 10, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine(TETIANA DZHAFAROVA/AFP via Getty Images)
In a Truth Social post, the president described his call with Putin as “lengthy and highly productive.”
During President Joe Biden’s White House tenure, the U.S. provided billions worth of assistance to Ukraine as the embattled nation has been contending with a Russian onslaught.
But Trump is pushing for an end to the years-long war between the two foreign nations.
UKRAINE REGAINING PRE-2014 BORDERS IS ‘UNREALISTIC OBJECTIVE,’ HEGSETH SAYS IN FIRST NATO VISIT
He said in the post that he and Putin “both agreed, we want to stop the millions of deaths taking place in the War with Russia/Ukraine.”
“We have also agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately, and we will begin by calling President Zelenskyy, of Ukraine, to inform him of the conversation, something which I will be doing right now,” he noted.
In a post later on Wednesday, Trump said his talk with Zelenskyy had gone “very well.”
PUTIN VIEWED AS ‘GREAT COMPETITOR’ BUT STILL A US ‘ADVERSARY’ AS UKRAINE NEGOTIATIONS LOOM, LEAVITT SAYS
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“He, like President Putin, wants to make PEACE,” Trump noted.
A group led by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute (RRPFI) has issued a series of takeaways following its recent visit to Taiwan. The takeaways can be seen as a roadmap of ideas for the Trump administration.
The eight-member delegation consisting of U.S. national security and business leaders concluded their strategic visit to Taiwan last month amid the presidential transition in Washington, D.C., a new administration in Taipei and ongoing Chinese coercion and aggression in East Asia.
The series of meetings was designed to strengthen ties between the United States and Taiwan across Taiwan’s political leaders and business elite. Members of the RRPFI delegation identified several key takeaways from the trip that could compliment the Trump administration’s policies toward strengthening the U.S.-Taiwan partnership.
TRUMP MUST DUMP ‘ONE CHINA’ POLICY AND RECOGNIZE ‘FREE’ TAIWAN, HOUSE REPUBLICANS SAY
The delegation said that while a number of President Donald Trump’s selections for top administration roles have expressed previously held views about policy involving Taiwan, there is a general mix of optimism and uncertainty over the direction the administration will take on security and economic matters relating to Taiwan.
A member of the Taiwanese coast guard monitors a Chinese coast guard boat as it passes near the coast of the Matsu Islands, governed by Taiwan, on Monday, Oct. 14.(Taiwan Coast Guard/AP)
Increasing defense spending, particularly with NATO allies, was a centerpiece of Trump’s first term. The delegation stressed national unity on defense and said elected officials from all parties need to live up to the intent to increase defense spending. The delegation emphasized to Taiwanese partners that the American public expects U.S. allies and partners to shoulder the primary burden of their own defense, a notion that will certainly appeal to the Trump administration.
The delegation asserted that Russia’s war in Ukraine and how the West handled it since Russia’s full-scale invasion are on the minds of Taiwanese leaders. The Biden administration used the Presidential Drawdown Authority on at least 55 occasions since August 2021 to provide Ukraine with military assistance from Department of Defense stockpiles, according to the State Department. The RRPFI delegation argue that the Presidential Drawdown Authority along with Foreign Military Sales are valuable tools for enhancing Taiwan’s capabilities and ensuring peace and stability in the region.
TAIWAN FM HAILS IMPORTANCE OF US RELATIONSHIP, SAYS GROUP VISITS ‘CONTRIBUTE TO PEACE AND STABILITY’
President Lai Ching-te meets a delegation from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute.(Official Photo by I Chen Lin / Office of the President)
At last month’s meeting, David Trulio, president and CEO of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, told Taiwanese leaders that, “especially with President Trump’s mandate in returning to office, Taiwan, the PRC, and the world are watching how the United States addresses China’s ongoing aggression in the South China Sea and malign online influence.”
He said that the security situation across the Taiwan Strait demands a continued commitment to peace through strength, including through robust partnership with Taiwan and sustained U.S. deterrence.
President Donald Trump, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping.(Getty)
TRUMP CABINET PICKS DELIGHT TAIWAN, SEND STRONG SIGNAL TO CHINA
“Taiwan has made, and is making, serious investments in its security,” Trulio told the audience.
“That said, given President Trump’s and the American public’s expectation that U.S. allies and partners shoulder the primary burden of their own defense, it is critical that Taiwan’s leaders deliver on their stated intent to increase defense spending and enhance their operational capabilities,” Trulio added.
Taiwan currently spends 2.45% of its GDP on defense, and Taiwanese leaders have expressed their intention to continue to increase their defense budget. Defense spending has increased by 80% since 2016, and their defense budget accounted for 15% of its total budget in 2024, according to Taiwan’s government.
The U.S. has been arming Taiwan for seven decades and Taiwan has consistently been one of the largest purchasers of U.S. weapons through the Foreign Military Sales process.
China’s military fired missiles into the water off eastern Taiwan on Aug. 4, 2022 in response to then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visiting the island.(China Military)
The delegation warned that not receiving weapons diminishes Taiwan’s security and enables the PRC to claim that the United States is an unreliable partner.
China takes these arm sales very seriously. China warned the U.S. that it was making “dangerous moves” by providing Taiwan with an additional $571 million in defense materials, which was authorized by then-President Joe Biden in December just prior to leaving office.
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The Chinese Foreign Ministry released a statement at the time urging the U.S. to stop arming Taiwan and to cease what it referred to as “dangerous moves that undermine peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.”
At least 20 people were injured on Thursday when a car driver drove into a crowd in Munich, Germany, the BBC reported. Police say the driver was detained at the scene and there is no further danger at this time.
This incident comes just hours before Vice President JD Vance and other world leaders will arrive in the city for a security conference that is set to take place on Friday.
This is a developing story, please check back for updates.
Rachel Wolf is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital and FOX Business.
Hamas announced on Thursday it will free all Israeli hostages as originally planned, according to The Associated Press.
The move comes days after President Donald Trump issued an ultimatum to the terrorist group threatening to end the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip if they did not release the hostages by Saturday, adding that he would “let all hell break out.”
TRUMP SAYS CEASEFIRE SHOULD BE CANCELED IF HOSTAGES AREN’T RELEASED BY SATURDAY
Hamas had threatened to delay freeing Israeli captives, accusing the Jewish State of failing to live up to obligations.
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This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.
The United Nations said Monday it suspended its humanitarian operations in the stronghold of Yemen’s Houthi rebels after they detained eight more U.N. staffers, affecting the global response to one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters.
In a statement, the U.N. said the “extraordinary” decision to pause all operations and programs in northern Saada province was due to the lack of necessary security conditions and guarantees.
A spokesman for the Houthis didn’t immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
This is a locator map for Yemen with its capital, Sanaa.(Associated Press)
UN CHIEF SOUNDS THE ALARM AMID FEARS OVER POSSIBLE DOGE-INSPIRED CUTS AFTER TRUMP’S ORDER
The rebels in recent months have detained dozens of U.N. staffers, as well as people associated with aid groups, civil society and the once-open U.S. Embassy in Sanaa, Yemen’s capital. None of the U.N. staffers has been released.
The U.N. statement said the pause in operations is meant to give the Houthis and the world body time to “arrange the release of arbitrarily detained U.N. personnel and ensure that the necessary conditions are in place to deliver critical humanitarian support” in rebel-held areas.
It said the latest detained U.N. staffers — taken late last month — included six working in Saada, on Yemen’s northern border with Saudi Arabia.
A view of the United Nations Headquarters building in New York City, United States on July 16, 2024.(Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
US STRIKES UNDERGROUND HOUTHI WEAPONS DEPOTS USED TO HIT AMERICAN SHIPS
Seven U.N. agencies operate in Saada, including the World Food Program, the World Health Organization and UNICEF, along with several international aid organizations, according to the U.N. humanitarian agency.
The U.N. late last month suspended all travel into Houthi-held areas.
The war in Yemen has killed more than 150,000 people, including fighters and civilians. The Iranian-backed Houthis have been fighting Yemen’s internationally recognized government, which is backed by a Saudi-led coalition, since 2014, when they descended from their stronghold in Saada and took control of Sanaa and most of the north.
The U.N. had projected that over 19 million people across Yemen will need humanitarian assistance this year as many deal with climate shocks, malnutrition, cholera and the economic effects of war.
Black smoke rises near Sana’a International Airport in Yemen after reported Israeli airstrikes.(Reuters)
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The rebels have imprisoned thousands of people during the war. In recent months, they also intensified their crackdown on dissent, including recently sentencing 44 people to death.
In January, the Houthis unilaterally freed 153 war detainees as one of several overtures to ease tensions after the ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Such prisoner releases have been viewed as a means to jump-start talks over permanently ending Yemen’s war.
