Norwegian Refugee Council staff held in Yemen



ADEN // Four Yemenis working with the Norwegian Refugee Council have been detained in a rebel-held part of the country after they distributed aid insurgents allege is linked to Saudi Arabia, the NGO said on Monday.

The NRC said authorities in the rebel-controlled Red Sea district of Hodeida detained three Yemeni staff and a contracted driver on Tuesday last week.

“Due to the security sensitivities regarding our staff, we cannot comment any further on the matter at this time,” said the Oslo-based non-governmental organisation.

In a statement carried by Yemen’s pro-government sabanew.net news website, local affairs minister Abdul Raqib Fattah had said earlier a dozen staff had been “abducted” from the aid group’s offices in the Hali district of Hodeida last week.

Local sources said the employees were accused of having accepted and distributed aid from a Saudi-led coalition, which has been battling the Houthis since March 2015.

The NRC said it did not take funding from Saudi Arabia in any of its operations but had been using recycled boxes to distribute hygiene kits in Yemen.

The group said when staff had opened the boxes to distribute the aid, the inside read “The campaign of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques for emergency response” - a reference to the Saudi king.

The boxes were dated January 2015 and had originally been used for food, according to the NRC.

Yemen’s conflict pits a Saudi-led Arab coalition supportive of president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi against the Iran-backed Houthis, who seized power in the capital Sanaa in 2014 and currently control the port of Hodeida and large parts of northern Yemen.

Monday’s news comes amid a push by forces loyal to Mr Hadi, backed by the Arab coalition, to close in on Hodeida, which is located on Yemen’s western coast.

The loyalist forces took full control of Mokha, south of Hodeida, earlier in February as part of a major offensive to oust the Houthis and their allies from Yemen’s southwestern coast.

The conflict escalated in March 2015 when the coalition began air strikes to help pro-Hadi forces to take large parts of the country back from the rebels.

More than 7,400 people have been killed and nearly 40,000 wounded in two years of fighting in Yemen, according to the World Health Organisation.

* Agence France-Presse

Hydrogen: Market potential

Hydrogen has an estimated $11 trillion market potential, according to Bank of America Securities and is expected to generate $2.5tn in direct revenues and $11tn of indirect infrastructure by 2050 as its production increases six-fold.

"We believe we are reaching the point of harnessing the element that comprises 90 per cent of the universe, effectively and economically,” the bank said in a recent report.

Falling costs of renewable energy and electrolysers used in green hydrogen production is one of the main catalysts for the increasingly bullish sentiment over the element.

The cost of electrolysers used in green hydrogen production has halved over the last five years and will fall to 60 to 90 per cent by the end of the decade, acceding to Haim Israel, equity strategist at Merrill Lynch. A global focus on decarbonisation and sustainability is also a big driver in its development.

Guide to intelligent investing
Investing success often hinges on discipline and perspective. As markets fluctuate, remember these guiding principles:
  • Stay invested: Time in the market, not timing the market, is critical to long-term gains.
  • Rational thinking: Breathe and avoid emotional decision-making; let logic and planning guide your actions.
  • Strategic patience: Understand why you’re investing and allow time for your strategies to unfold.
 
 

Director: Laxman Utekar

Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna

Rating: 1/5

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Mumbai Indians 213/6 (20 ov)

Royal Challengers Bangalore 167/8 (20 ov)

The Prison Letters of Nelson Mandela
Edited by Sahm Venter
Published by Liveright

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One in nine do not have enough to eat

Created in 1961, the World Food Programme is pledged to fight hunger worldwide as well as providing emergency food assistance in a crisis.

One of the organisation’s goals is the Zero Hunger Pledge, adopted by the international community in 2015 as one of the 17 Sustainable Goals for Sustainable Development, to end world hunger by 2030.

The WFP, a branch of the United Nations, is funded by voluntary donations from governments, businesses and private donations.

Almost two thirds of its operations currently take place in conflict zones, where it is calculated that people are more than three times likely to suffer from malnutrition than in peaceful countries.

It is currently estimated that one in nine people globally do not have enough to eat.

On any one day, the WFP estimates that it has 5,000 lorries, 20 ships and 70 aircraft on the move.

Outside emergencies, the WFP provides school meals to up to 25 million children in 63 countries, while working with communities to improve nutrition. Where possible, it buys supplies from developing countries to cut down transport cost and boost local economies.

 

Paatal Lok season two

Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy 

Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong

Rating: 4.5/5

Tips for job-seekers
  • Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
  • Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.

David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East

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How to donate

Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
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