AL-MUKALLA: Heavy fighting between Yemeni government forces and the Iran-backed Houthis broke out on Wednesday in the city of Taiz after the militia bombarded and attacked a strategic hilltop military base, local army officials said.
Abdul Basit Al-Baher, a Yemeni military official in Taiz, told Arab News that the Houthis shelled an air defense military base in northwest Taiz on Wednesday morning before sending ground troops to attack the base.
It sparked heavy fighting with government troops, and explosions rocked different neighborhoods.

AMMAN: Jordanian Minister of Energy Saleh Kharabsheh and UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology Sultan Al-Jaber signed a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday to collaborate in renewable energy.

The agreement was signed on the sidelines of COP27 held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Jordan News Agency reported.

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s parliamentary blocs are pushing conflicting views over what should top the priority list of the crisis-hit country, with one MP warning of a “social explosion” if a policy of “patchwork solutions” remains unchanged.
Some blocs believe that electing a president is the most pressing issue, while others say that legislation should be prioritized.
This divergence reflects the depth of the political crisis that Lebanon is facing more than two weeks after President Michel Aoun’s departure from the presidential palace.

ATHENS/LONDON: Iran has released two Greek-flagged tankers that it seized in the Gulf in May, the Greek shipping ministry said on Wednesday, ending a months-long diplomatic impasse which has strained relations between Athens and Tehran.
Iran detained the tankers in response to the confiscation of oil by the United States from an Iranian-flagged tanker off the Greek coast, fueling bilateral tensions amid a broader deterioration in relations between Iran and the West.

PARIS: Iranian security forces shot dead at least two protesters Tuesday in the western province of Kurdistan during demonstrations over Mahsa Amini’s death, the Olso-based Hengaw rights group said.
“Two people have been killed by direct fire from government forces in Sanandaj and Kamyaran,” Hengaw told AFP, adding that it was trying to confirm reports that more protesters were killed.