Symbolic imageHouthi missiles keep targeting Saudi Arabia as Yemen's government reshuffles
Yemen's government sacked ministers and front commanders after its offensive stalled. Nearly 310,000 people have been displaced since August, the UN says.
On Thursday, 5 November, the Saudi-led coalition said its air defences destroyed a Houthi ballistic missile fired toward the Medina region, minutes after Saudi civil defence warned of danger near the port of Yanbu. The Houthis called the claim that they target the city a "blatant and grave falsehood" and said they hit only oil facilities and military bases. The Wall Street Journal, as cited by the Jerusalem Post, reports that the Houthis demanded $51 billion from Saudi Arabia and recognition as Yemen's rulers in exchange for ending hostilities.
Reshuffle after setbacks
President Rashad al-Alimi replaced the information minister with southerner Salem al-Awlaki and dismissed Yusuf al-Sharaji, who ran the Taiz front, the Guardian reports. Maj Gen Rashad al-Yousfi now leads efforts to lift the siege. The offensive launched on 5 October has failed, the paper says, and Reuters put Houthi forces about 60 km from Aden.
Taiz running short
Prices in Taiz have risen up to fivefold and waste collection has stopped, the UN humanitarian office OCHA says. Al Jazeera reports that sanitation workers face sniper fire near the landfill in Houthi-held territory, so residents burn rubbish in the streets.
Lobbying in Europe
Foreign Minister Afrah Abdulaziz Al-Zouba asked France on Tuesday, 3 November, to help persuade the EU to list the Houthis as a terrorist organisation, Le Monde reports. She plans to make the same case in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy and Greece.
Other opinions
Iran's foreign ministry, quoted by TASS, denies that Iranian military advisers are in Yemen, rejects EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas's claims and calls the EU complicit through sanctions.