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Houthis Say Detained UN Staff to Face Trial Over Israeli Attack
A man walks outside the United Nations compound following reports of UN staffers being detained by the Houthis, in Sanaa, Yemen, Oct. 29, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
Detained local United Nations staff will face trial on suspicion of links to an Israeli airstrike that assassinated top Houthi leaders in Yemen in August, the acting foreign minister of the terrorist-led Houthi government told Reuters.
The prime minister of Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi-run government and several other ministers were killed in an Israeli strike on the capital Sanaa in August, the first such attack to kill senior officials.
A total of 36 United Nations employees were arrested after that attack, the UN said on Friday. It is not clear how many of those would stand trial.
The UN has repeatedly rejected Houthi accusations that UN staff or UN operations in Yemen were involved.
The Houthis — an internationally designated terrorist group whose slogan is “death to America, death to Israel, curse the Jews, and victory to Islam” — have controlled large swathes of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, since seizing power in 2014 and early 2015 in the midst of the country’s civil war.
‘PROCESS MOVING TOWARD ITS CONCLUSION’
“The steps taken by the security agencies were carried out under full judicial supervision. The public prosecution was kept informed step by step with every action taken,” acting foreign minister Abdulwahid Abu Ras said in an interview with Reuters.
“Therefore, as long as the prosecution is informed, it is certain that this process is moving toward its conclusion, leading to trials and the issuance of judicial rulings,” he said.
Abu Ras said that a cell within the World Food Program was clearly involved in directly targeting the government.
There was no immediate comment from a World Food Program spokesperson, but the United Nations has repeatedly rejected accusations staff were involved in spying.
At least 59 UN personnel are being held by Houthis, according to the United Nations, which has condemned what it calls arbitrary detentions and called for the immediate release of its personnel and other detainees.
The defendants are Yemenis and according to Yemeni law could face the death penalty.
‘INCREASINGLY DIFFICULT’ FOR UN TO PROVIDE AID
The UN has accused Houthis of taking steps that have made it increasingly difficult for the agency to provide assistance to those in need in Yemen. Houthi security forces entered several United Nations offices in Sanaa on Sunday.
Hundreds of UN personnel remain in parts of Houthi-controlled Yemen, including a small number of international staff, said Farhan Haq, deputy spokesperson for the UN secretary general.
Acting foreign minister Abu Ras said the government is supporting other humanitarian organizations.
“We have clarified in a clear and explicit statement from the Foreign Ministry that we will support and assist organizations committed to the principles of humanitarian work, facilitating their activities and work,” he said.
After the war between Israel and Hamas erupted on Oct. 7, 2023, the Houthis attacked global shipping lanes to show their solidarity with the Palestinian terrorist group. The group frequently fired missiles towards Israel, most of which were intercepted.
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Rep. Ilhan Omar says Stephen Miller’s comments on immigrants sound like how ‘Nazis described Jewish people’
Rep Ilhan Omar, Democrat of Minnesota, on Sunday likened the Trump administration’s immigration rhetoric to Nazi depictions of Jews.
“It reminds me of the way the Nazis described Jewish people in Germany,” Omar said in an interview on CBS’s Face the Nation, commenting on a social media post by Stephen Miller, President Donald Trump’s senior adviser, in which he suggested that “migrants and their descendants recreate the conditions, and terrors, of their broken homelands.” Miller, who is Jewish, is the architect of the Trump administration’s immigration policy.
Omar called Miller’s comments “white supremist rhetoric” and also drew parallels between his characterization of migrants seeking refuge in the U.S. to how Jews were demonized and treated when they fled Nazi-era Germany. “As we know, there have been many immigrants who have tried to come to the United States who have turned back, you know, one of them being Jewish immigrants,” she said.
Now serving as Trump’s deputy chief of staff for policy, Miller is central to the White House’s plans for mass deportations and expanded barriers to asylum. During Trump’s first term, Miller led the implementation of the so-called Muslim travel ban in 2017, which barred entry to the U.S. for individuals from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen, and pushed to further reduce a longtime refugee program.
Rep. Ilhan Omar: “When I think about Stephen Miller and his white supremacist rhetoric, it reminds me of the way the Nazis described Jewish people in Germany.” pic.twitter.com/GAjIMqFq26
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 7, 2025
Miller’s comments echoed similar rhetoric by Trump after an Afghan refugee was accused of shooting two National Guard members near the White House last month, killing one.
Trump told reporters at a cabinet meeting last week that Somali immigrants are “garbage” and that he wanted them to be sent “back to where they came from.” The president also singled out Omar, a Somali native who represents Minnesota’s large Somali-American community. “She should be thrown the hell out of our country,” Trump said.
In the Sunday interview, Omar called Trump’s remarks “completely disgusting” and accused him of having “an unhealthy obsession” with her and the Somali community. “This kind of hateful rhetoric and this level of dehumanizing can lead to dangerous actions by people who listen to the president,” she said.
The post Rep. Ilhan Omar says Stephen Miller’s comments on immigrants sound like how ‘Nazis described Jewish people’ appeared first on The Forward.
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Nigeria Seeks French Help to Combat Insecurity, Macron Says
French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, Sept. 15, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/Pool
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has sought more help from France to fight widespread violence in the north of the country, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday, weeks after the United States threatened to intervene to protect Nigeria’s Christians.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, has witnessed an upsurge in attacks in volatile northern areas in the past month, including mass kidnappings from schools and a church.
US President Donald Trump has raised the prospect of possible military action in Nigeria, accusing it of mistreating Christians. The government says the allegations misrepresent a complex security situation in which armed groups target both faith groups.
Macron said he had a phone call with Tinubu on Sunday, where he conveyed France’s support to Nigeria as it grapples with several security challenges, “particularly the terrorist threat in the North.”
“At his request, we will strengthen our partnership with the authorities and our support for the affected populations. We call on all our partners to step up their engagement,” Macron said in a post on X.
Macron did not say what help would be offered by France, which has withdrawn its troops from West and Central Africa and plans to focus on training, intelligence sharing and responding to requests from countries for assistance.
Nigeria is grappling with a long-running Islamist insurgency in the northeast, armed kidnapping gangs in the northwest and deadly clashes between largely Muslim cattle herders and mostly Christian farmers in the central parts of the country, stretching its security forces.
Washington said last month that it was considering actions such as sanctions and Pentagon engagement on counterterrorism as part of a plan to compel Nigeria to better protect its Christian communities.
The Nigerian government has said it welcomes help to fight insecurity as long as its sovereignty is respected. France has previously supported efforts to curtail the actions of armed groups, the US has shared intelligence and sold arms, including fighter jets, and Britain has trained Nigerian troops.
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Netanyahu Says He Will Not Quit Politics if He Receives a Pardon
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu participates in the state memorial ceremony for the fallen of the Iron Swords War on Mount Herzl, Jerusalem on Oct. 16, 2025. Photo: Alex Kolomoisky/POOL/Pool via REUTERS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that he would not retire from politics if he receives a pardon from the country’s president in his years-long corruption trial.
Asked by a reporter if planned on retiring from political life if he receives a pardon, Netanyahu replied: “no”.
Netanyahu last month asked President Isaac Herzog for a pardon, with lawyers for the prime minister arguing that frequent court appearances were hindering Netanyahu’s ability to govern and that a pardon would be good for the country.
Pardons in Israel have typically been granted only after legal proceedings have concluded and the accused has been convicted. There is no precedent for issuing a pardon mid-trial.
Netanyahu has repeatedly denied wrongdoing in response to the charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, and his lawyers have said that the prime minister still believes the legal proceedings, if concluded, would result in a complete acquittal.
US President Donald Trump wrote to Herzog, before Netanyahu made his request, urging the Israeli president to consider granting the prime minister a pardon.
Some Israeli opposition politicians have argued that any pardon should be conditional on Netanyahu retiring from politics and admitting guilt. Others have said the prime minister must first call national elections, which are due by October 2026.