- Spanish PM, Palestinian leader urge Mideast de-escalation
- New study reinforces theory Covid emerged at Chinese market
- World Bank boosts climate financing by 10 percent
- Bagnaia eyeing summit on home ground in 100th MotoGP
- 'Something was wrong', defendant in French mass rape tells court
- Hezbollah chief admits 'unprecedented' blow in device blasts
- Sales of US existing homes slip slightly in August
- Fear, panic haunt Lebanese after devices explode
- Labuschagne sparks Australia fightback in England ODI opener
- S.Africa's HIV research power couple says fight goes on
- Why is Israel focusing on border with Lebanon?
- Mpox vaccines administered in Rwanda, first in Africa
- US Fed rate cut is 'very positive sign' for economy: Yellen
- Unknown Mozart string trio discovered in Germany
- 'Are we five-year-olds?' F1 drivers won't mind their language
- Brazil judge orders X to reimpose block or face hefty fine
- Munich to rename stadium street after Beckenbauer
- Champions Italy to face Argentina in Davis Cup Final 8
- The winding, fitful path to weight loss drug Ozempic
- Italians defeat American Magic to reach Louis Vuitton Cup final
- Norris has 'nothing to lose' as he hunts Verstappen in Singapore
- Kyiv 'outraged' at Swiss showing of Russian war film
- French city renames Abbe Pierre square after abuse claims
- Footballer charged after huge cannabis seizure at UK airport
- Vatican recognises Medjugorje shrine, but not Virgin's messages
- Israel bombs Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon after wave of deadly blasts
- Bank of England freezes rate after jumbo US cut
- Playing Nadal is 'kind of a nightmare', says Alcaraz
- Portugal tackles last of deadly northern forest fires
- Ton-up Ashwin lifts India to 339-6 against Bangladesh
- Departing NATO chief warns US against 'isolationism'
- Coming winter 'sternest test yet' for Ukraine energy grid
- Evacuations as tail of Storm Boris floods northeast Italy
- Lebanon's Hezbollah reeling after second wave of deadly blasts
- Taiwan recognises same-sex marriages between Chinese, Taiwanese
- Stock markets rally after jumbo US rate cut
- Gabon's ousted leader Bongo says renouncing politics for good
- Lebanon device blasts: what we know about deadly attacks
- Equity markets rally after jumbo US rate cut
- Late Harrods owner Al-Fayed accused of rape: BBC
- Hong Kong man sentenced 14 months for wearing 'seditious' T-shirt
- Lebanon's Hezbollah in disarray after second wave of deadly blasts
- Equity markets, yen rally after jumbo US rate cut
- Meta and Spotify blast EU decisions on AI
- Hasan takes three as Bangladesh rattle India in first Test
- Two killed during police operation in New Caledonia
- Flood-hit region leaders to meet in Poland to discuss EU aid
- Sri Lanka to vote in first poll since economic collapse
- Hong Kong probe finds Cathay Airbus defect could cause 'extensive' damage
- AI development cannot be left to market whim, UN experts warn
RIO | 3.29% | 65.05 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.1% | 25.03 | $ | |
CMSD | 0.4% | 25.08 | $ | |
SCS | -5.53% | 13.37 | $ | |
RBGPF | 5.79% | 60.5 | $ | |
GSK | -1.34% | 41.87 | $ | |
BTI | -0.85% | 37.559 | $ | |
RYCEF | 5.76% | 6.95 | $ | |
NGG | -1.73% | 68.859 | $ | |
BP | 1.59% | 32.955 | $ | |
RELX | 1.29% | 47.99 | $ | |
BCE | -0.88% | 35.3 | $ | |
AZN | 0.7% | 79.13 | $ | |
VOD | -1.64% | 10.065 | $ | |
BCC | 4.59% | 143.65 | $ | |
JRI | -0.26% | 13.405 | $ |
Coalition denies Yemen prison air strike that killed 70
The Saudi-led coalition on Saturday denied carrying out an air strike on a prison in Yemen's rebel-held north that aid groups said killed at least 70 people, including migrants, women and children.
Claims the military coalition ordered the raid, which reduced buildings to rubble and left rescuers scrabbling for survivors with their bare hands, were "groundless", the alliance said.
The attack, which coincided with a coalition strike on Hodeida that killed three children and knocked out the impoverished country's internet, was condemned by the United Nations secretary-general.
But "these claims adopted by the militia are baseless and unfounded", said coalition spokesperson Turki al-Malki, referring to the Iran-backed Huthi insurgents.
The latest violence in Yemen's intractable, seven-year war came after the Huthis claimed their first deadly attack on Abu Dhabi, capital of coalition partner the United Arab Emirates, on Monday.
This week has witnessed a dramatic upswing in the conflict that has already killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions, creating what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
The rebels seized the capital Sanaa in 2014, prompting the Saudi-led intervention -- supported by the US, France and Britain -- in March 2015. It was intended to last just a few weeks.
The internet blackout, which went into its second day on Saturday according to web monitor NetBlocks, complicated rescue work and media reporting as information slowed to a trickle.
Unverified footage released by the Huthis revealed gruesome scenes at the bombed-out prison facility as rescue workers scrabbled to dig out bodies and mangled corpses were placed in piles.
- 'Horrific act of violence' -
Eight aid agencies operating in Yemen said in a joint statement that the prison in Saada, the rebels' home base, was used as a holding centre for migrants, who made up many of the casualties.
They said they were "horrified by the news that more than 70 people, including migrants, women and children, have been killed... in a blatant disregard for civilian lives".
Hospitals were overwhelmed as hundreds of casualties flooded in, aid workers said.
"It is impossible to know how many people have been killed. It seems to have been a horrific act of violence," said Ahmed Mahat, Doctors Without Borders' head of mission in Yemen.
The strikes came after the Huthis took the seven-year war into a new phase by claiming the drone and missile attack on Abu Dhabi that killed three people on Monday.
The UAE threatened reprisals after the attack, which was the first deadly assault it has acknowledged inside its borders that was claimed by the Huthis.
Meeting on Friday, the UN Security Council unanimously condemned the "heinous terrorist attacks" on Abu Dhabi, but the council's Norwegian presidency also denounced the strikes on Yemen.
In a later statement, the UN chief Antonio Guterres "reminds all parties that attacks directed against civilians and civilian infrastructure are prohibited by international humanitarian law".
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for "all parties to the conflict to de-escalate" and "abide by their obligations under international humanitarian law".
However, the Huthis warned foreign companies to leave the "unsafe" UAE, a veiled threat of revenge attacks after Friday's strikes.
"We advise the foreign companies in Emirates to leave because they invest in an unsafe country and the rulers of this country continue in their aggression against Yemen," tweeted military spokesperson Yahya Saree.
K.Brown--BTB