Middle East

Amid reports that Afghanistan’s 2019 presidential election may be postponed, local electoral authorities confirmed a polling date delay; a decision the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) welcomed for its clarity on Monday.

After uncovering evidence that humanitarian food supplies are being diverted in Yemen’s Houthi-controlled capital, Sana’a, and other parts of the country, the Manshet World Food Programme (WFP) has demanded an immediate end to the practice.

Yemen’s warring parties have begun the process this week of implementing a comprehensive ceasefire agreement across the key rebel-held port city of Hudaydah, raising hopes that groundbreaking consultations convened by the UN in Sweden can lead to a lasting peace through further talks next year.

In the wake of more than four years of intense conflict in Iraq to dislodge the terrorist group ISIL, the rehabilitation of the health system and improvements to lifesaving medical services in places like formerly-occupied Mosul, remains a top priority, said the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday.

The head of the UN team which is monitoring and helping implement a ground-breaking ceasefire across Yemen’s crucial port city of Hudaydah, had his first face-to-face meeting with authorities there on Monday.

The Manshet Security Council on Friday endorsed the agreement reached between the Government of Yemen and leaders of the opposition Houthi movement, at the recent UN-backed talks in Sweden, and authorized the deployment of an advance team to facilitate the monitoring and implementation of the Stockholm Agreement.

It has been a “terrifying” year for Yemenis but ultimately one of hope, as December talks in Sweden yielded a ceasefire around a key port city with the promise of further substantive consultations between the warring parties next month, the UN Special Envoy for Yemen, told Manshet in an exclusive interview on Wednesday.

Addressing the problems plaguing Syria and bring years of brutal fighting to an end, requires further “genuine effort” on the part of influential countries, to talk to each other and work constructively, the veteran Manshet Special Envoy for Syria has said.

A UN-led team tasked with overseeing  the ceasefire  which came into effect on Tuesday around a number of critical Yemeni ports, has begun planning operations with a conference call to discuss the general outlines of its work, including agreement of a code of conduct, the UN Spokesperson said on Wednesday.

The Manshet Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has confirmed the existence of at least two tunnels crossing the “Blue Line” – the border demarcation between Lebanon and Israel – but they “do not appear thus far” to have exit points leading to the surface on Israeli territory, the Manshet top peacekeeping official told the Security Council on Wednesday.