US imposes sanctions on Yemen bank, citing support to Houthis
US imposes sanctions on Yemen bank, citing support to Houthis/node/2597482/world
US imposes sanctions on Yemen bank, citing support to Houthis
Images of a fireball exploding on a cargo ship are shown on a giant screen during a protest called for by Yemen's Houthi movement in Sanaa, Mar. 17, 2025. (AFP)
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Updated 17 April 2025
AFP
US imposes sanctions on Yemen bank, citing support to Houthis
US State Department said Washington was 'committed to disrupting Houthi financial networks and banking access'
Updated 17 April 2025
AFP
WASHINGTON: The United States unveiled sanctions Thursday on a Yemen bank, including its key leaders, citing its support for Houthi militants in that country.
The designation of the International Bank of Yemen (IBY) complements a government effort “to stop Iran-backed Houthi attacks against commercial shipping in the Red Sea,” said the US Treasury Department.
Houthi forces launched an armed rebellion in 2014 after years of protesting discrimination and marginalization, seizing control of the capital Sanaa and other several provinces.
Since November 2023, Houthi forces have targeted shipping lanes using missiles and drones in what they say is solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, where a brutal war has raged since October that year.
“Financial institutions like IBY are critical to the Houthis’ efforts to access the international financial system and threaten both the region and international commerce,” said Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender in a statement.
The official said the US government was “committed to working with the internationally recognized government of Yemen.”
Thursday’s action follows a designation in January of the Yemen Kuwait Bank for Trade and Investment.
In a separate statement, the US State Department added that Washington was “committed to disrupting Houthi financial networks and banking access.”
Besides the IBY, key leaders targeted in Thursday’s actions are Kamal Hussain Al Jebry, Ahmed Thabit Noman Al-Absi and Abdulkader Ali Bazara, the Treasury Department said.
As a result of sanctions, property and interests in property of designated individuals in the United States are blocked and must be reported.
US and China say a trade deal is drawing closer as Trump and Xi ready for a high-stakes meeting
Updated 6 sec ago
AAP
US and China say a trade deal is drawing closer as Trump and Xi ready for a high-stakes meeting
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: A trade deal between the United States and China is drawing closer, officials from the world’s two largest economies said Sunday as they reached an initial consensus for President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to aim to finalize during their high-stakes meeting.
Any agreement would be a relief to international markets even if it does not address underlying issues involving manufacturing imbalances and access to state-of-the-art computer chips.
Beijing recently limited exports of rare earth elements that are needed for advanced technologies, and Trump responded by threatening additional tariffs on Chinese products. The prospect of a widening conflict risked weakening economic growth worldwide.
China’s top trade negotiator, Li Chenggang, told reporters the two sides had reached a “preliminary consensus,” while Trump’s treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said there was “a very successful framework.”
Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng leaves after the trade talks between the US and China, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on October 26, 2025. (REUTERS)
Trump also expressed confidence that an agreement was at hand, saying the Chinese “want to make a deal and we want to make a deal.” The Republican president is set to meet with Xi on Thursday in South Korea, the final stop of his trip through Asia.
Bessent told CBS’ “Face the Nation” that the threat of additional higher tariffs on China was “effectively off the table.” In interviews on several American news shows, he said discussions with China yielded initial agreements to stop the precursor chemicals for fentanyl from coming into the US, and that Beijing would make “substantial” purchases of soybean and other agricultural products while putting off export controls on rare earths.
When asked how close a deal was, Trump’s trade representative, Jamieson Greer, said on “Fox News Sunday” that “it’s really going to depend” on the two presidents.
Meanwhile, Trump reiterated that he plans to visit China in the future and suggested that Xi could come to Washington or Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s private club in Florida.
The progress toward a potential agreement came during the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, in Kuala Lumpur, with Trump seeking to burnish his reputation as an international dealmaker.
Yet his way of pursuing deals has meant serious disruptions at home and abroad. His import taxes have scrambled relationships with trading partners while a US government shutdown has him feuding with Democrats.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent leaves after the trade talks between the US and China, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on October 26, 2025. (REUTERS)
Trump attends ceasefire ceremony between Thailand and Cambodia
At the summit, Thailand and Cambodia signed an expanded ceasefire agreement during a ceremony attended by Trump. His threats of economic pressure prodded the two nations to halt skirmishes along their disputed border earlier this year.
Thailand will release Cambodian prisoners and Cambodia will begin withdrawing heavy artillery as part of the first phase of the deal. Regional observers will monitor the situation to ensure fighting doesn’t restart.
“We did something that a lot of people said couldn’t be done,” Trump said. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet called it a “historic day,” and Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said the agreement creates “the building blocks for a lasting peace.”
The president signed economic frameworks with Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia, some of them aimed at increasing trade involving critical minerals. The United States wants to rely less on China, which has used limits on exports of key components in technology manufacturing as a bargaining chip in trade talks.
“It’s very important that we cooperate as willing partners with each other to ensure that we can have smooth supply chains, secure supply chains, for the quality of life, for our people and security,” Greer said. Trump reengages with a key region of the world
Trump attended this summit only once during his first term, and US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth seemed unfamiliar with ASEAN during his confirmation hearing in January.
This year’s event was a chance for Trump to reengage with nations that have a combined $3.8 trillion economy and 680 million people.
“The United States is with you 100 percent, and we intend to be a strong partner and friend for many generations to come,” Trump said. He described his counterparts as “spectacular leaders” and said that “everything you touch turns to gold.”
Trump’s tariff threats were credited with helping spur negotiations between Thailand and Cambodia. Some of the worst modern fighting between the two countries took place over five days in July, killing dozens and displacing hundreds of thousands of people.
The president threatened, at the time, to withhold trade agreements unless the fighting stopped. A shaky truce has persisted since then.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim praised the agreement between Thailand and Cambodia, saying at the summit that “it reminds us that reconciliation is not concession, but an act of courage.” Tariffs are in focus on Trump’s trip
Trump in Kuala Lumpur met Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who was also attending the summit. There has been friction between them over Brazil’s prosecution of Jair Bolsonaro, the country’s former president and a close Trump ally. Bolsonaro was convicted last month of attempting to overturn election results in his country.
During their meeting, Trump said he could reduce tariffs on Brazil that he enacted in a push for leniency for Bolsonaro.
“I think we should be able to make some good deals for both countries,” he said.
While Trump was warming to Lula, he avoided Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. The president is angry with Canada because of a television advertisement protesting his trade policies, and on his way to the summit announced on social media he would raise tariffs on Canada because of it.
One leader absent from the summit was Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Although he was close with Trump during Trump’s first term, the relationship has been more tense lately. Trump caused irritation by boasting that he settled a recent conflict between India and Pakistan, and he has increased tariffs on India for its purchase of Russian oil.
Melissa strengthens into a Category 4 hurricane, threatening catastrophic flooding in Jamaica, Haiti
“Conditions are going to go down rapidly today”
Updated 25 min 49 sec ago
AP
KINGSTON, Jamaica: A strengthening Melissa grew into a Category 4 hurricane Sunday and US forecasters said it could reach Category 5 status, unleashing torrential rain and threatening to cause catastrophic flooding in the northern Caribbean, including Haiti and Jamaica,
The US National Hurricane Center added that Melissa is likely to reach the southern coast of Jamaica as a major hurricane late Monday or Tuesday morning, and urged people on the island to seek shelter immediately.
“Conditions are going to go down rapidly today,” Jamie Rhome, the center’s deputy director, said on Sunday. “Be ready to ride this out for several days.”
Melissa was centered about 115 miles south-southwest of Kingston, Jamaica, and about 295 miles south-southwest of Guantánamo, Cuba, on Sunday evening. It had maximum sustained winds of 145 mph and was moving west at 5 mph , the hurricane center said.
Melissa was expected to drop rains of up to 30 inches on Jamaica and southern Hispaniola — Haiti and the Dominican Republic — according to the hurricane center. Some areas may see as much as 40 inches of rain.
It also warned that extensive damage to infrastructure, power and communication outages, and the isolation of communities in Jamaica were to be expected.
Melissa should be near or over Cuba by late Tuesday, where it could bring up to 12 inches of rain, before moving toward the Bahamas later Wednesday.
The Cuban government issued a hurricane warning for the provinces of Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo, and Holguin. It also sent a tropical storm warning to the province of Las Tunas.
Airports closed and shelters activated
Jamaica’s two main airports, the Norman Manley International Airport and the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, were closed by Sunday.
Local officials ordered the evacuation in the seaside community of Old Harbor Bay in the southern parish of St. Catherine on Sunday.
The order came after Jamaican officials said at a press conference earlier that they were contemplating enforcement because many residents in flood prone and low-lying communities were not heeding the advice to seek safer alternative locations.
Melissa is forecast to reach Category 5 when it makes landfall along the south coast on Tuesday.
Desmond McKenzie, who is leading the Jamaican government’s disaster response, said in a press conference, that all the more of 650 shelters in Jamaica are open.
Officials said earlier that warehouses across the island were well-stocked and thousands of food packages pre-positioned for quick distribution if needed.
Evan Thompson, the principal director of the Meteorological Service of Jamaica, said the storm surge is expected mainly over the southern side of the island.
“There is potential flooding in every parish of our country,” Thompson said. “If you’re in a flood prone, low-lying area, you need to take note. If you’re near a river course or a gully, you need to take special note and find some alternative location that you can move to should you be threatened by the heavy rainfall.”
Some foreign governments are also preparing for the hurricane’s arrival in Jamaica.
The government of Antigua and Barbuda is housing visiting students at a hotel in Kingston. As of Sunday morning, 52 of them had checked in.
“They have a better bounce back regimen here in terms of standby power and water south-southwest of Kingston, Jamaica, and about 295 miles south-southwest of Guantánamo, Cuba. It had maximum sustained winds of 145 mph .
Management
Milei reforms on the line in pivotal Argentine midterms
Updated 28 min 46 sec ago
AFP
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina: Polls closed and vote counting began Sunday in Argentina’s pivotal midterm elections, which will determine whether libertarian President Javier Milei can continue his polarizing campaign of downsizing the state.
The legislative elections are the first national test of support for Milei since he won office two years ago on a promise to revive the long-ailing Argentine economy by dint of painful reforms.
Half of the seats in the Chamber of Deputies and one-third of the Senate are up for grabs.
Milei’s small La Libertad Avanza party is hoping to significantly increase its seat tally in both chambers but is not expected to secure a majority.
Polls closed at 6:00 p.m. after ten hours of voting, with low turnout seen as a sign of disillusionment both with Milei and the opposition.
Preliminary results are expected Sunday evening.
The election run-up was marked by a run on the national currency, the peso, that forced Milei to seek a bailout from US President Donald Trump, a close ally.
Washington has promised an unprecedented $40 billion package of aid, but the assistance came with a warning from Trump to Argentines that he would not “be generous” if the outcome Sunday is unfavorable for Milei.
Argentines fear the government could depreciate or devalue the peso, widely seen as too strong, after the vote.
Questioned about the possibility on Sunday after he cast his ballot, Economy Minister Luis Caputo replied: “No.”
“Monday is just another day, nothing changes to the economic program or the band system,” he said, referring to the peso-dollar exchange rate band set by the government in April.
‘Nothing for workers’
Clad in his trademark leather jacket, Milei voted in Buenos Aires on Sunday morning, greeting waiting supporters but refusing media questions.
Adriana Cotoneo, a 69-year-old pensioner also voting in Buenos Aires, told AFP she backed his party “not because I believe it’s the best option, but because I’m clear about who I want to be gone” — a reference to the center-left Peronist party that governed Argentina for most of its post-war history but has been dogged by allegations of corruption.
Economist and former TV pundit Milei, 55, electrified the 2023 race by revving a chainsaw at rallies to signify his plans to slash a bloated state and one of the world’s highest inflation rates.
He cut tens of thousands of public sector jobs, froze public works, cut spending on health, education and pensions and led a major deregulation drive, prompting repeated mass protests.
His reforms were blamed for initially plunging millions of Argentines deeper into poverty. But they did slow inflation by two-thirds, to the relief of many, although at a cost of faltering economic growth, consumption and manufacturing.
“The economic plan is not working for the people, for businesses, for industry,” centrist opposition senator Martin Lousteau said as he voted in the capital.
“We need a better Congress, less polarized, with less shouting, insults, and more capacity for dialogue,” he said.
US generosity limited
Investors began dumping the peso last month after Milei’s party suffered a blistering rejection in bellwether Buenos Aires provincial elections.
Trump stepped in to shore up his closest Latin American ally, calling him a “great leader” and hosting him for talks at the White House.
Milei’s LLA party and its allies could still however struggle to garner the third of seats they need in each chamber to advance the president’s reform agenda in the face of an increasingly combative opposition.
The self-declared “anarcho-capitalist” leader has already seen many of his signature policies blocked by Congress, notably his efforts to privatize major state-owned companies and his veto of increased spending on public universities, emergency pediatric care and people with disabilities.
Adding to his woes, members of Milei’s inner circle have been implicated in a variety of scandals.
Colombia’s left picks Ivan Cepeda as 2026 presidential candidate/node/2620370/world
Colombia’s left picks Ivan Cepeda as 2026 presidential candidate
Updated 34 min 50 sec ago
Reuters
BOGOTA: Colombian Senator Ivan Cepeda was elected to be the left’s 2026 presidential candidate on Sunday after a primary vote by the Historic Pact, a leftist coalition that brought the country’s current president, Gustavo Petro, to power in 2022.
Cepeda, 63, won the Historic Pact’s primary with 1.02 million votes , surpassing former Health Minister Carolina Corcho, who received 472,062 votes , with 88 percent of votes tallied.
The turnout was low, considering the potential 41.2 million voters, reported by the National Civil Registry. Registered voters are allowed to vote in any primary.
The Electoral Council must decide in the coming weeks whether Cepeda will be able to participate in another interparty referendum in March 2026, in which other politicians will compete in search of a candidate who represents a broader segment of the left and center.
Most political parties will hold their primaries in March, alongside legislative elections. Colombians will go to the polls in May to elect Petro’s successor, and if necessary, a runoff will be held in June.
US transport chief warns of more flight delays and cancellations as government shutdown drags on
FAA says ground delay programs issued on Sunday at major airports because of staffing shortages
Shortages worsened by government shutdown as Republicans, Democrats disagree over budget
Updated 26 min 3 sec ago
Reuters
WASHINGTON : US airports reported 22 incidents of air traffic controller shortages on Saturday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said, with more shortages expected to bring more flight delays and cancelations in the days ahead as the government shutdown drags on.
According to FlightAware, a flight tracking website, there were more than 5,900 US flight delays by 6 p.m. Eastern Time (2200 GMT) on Sunday and more than 5,300 on Saturday. Delays have often been above average since the shutdown began on October 1.
The state of air safety has been closely watched for signs of increased delays or cancelations, as observers look for indications that the shutdown is making life harder for Americans. That in turn could pressure lawmakers to break the budget deadlock that led to the shutdown.
The Federal Aviation Administration on Saturday had 22 “triggers” that indicated shortages of air traffic controllers, Duffy told the Fox News “Sunday Morning Futures” program. He called that figure “one of the highest that we’ve seen in the system” since October 1.
“That’s a sign that the controllers are wearing thin,” Duffy said. The agency also issued a ground stop at Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday due to traffic controller staffing shortages around 11:30 a.m. (1530 GMT), which was lifted later although delays continued.
Air traffic controllers resume operations a day after Hollywood Burbank Airport operated for hours without a staffed control tower due to staffing shortages amid the US government shutdown, in Burbank, California, on October 7, 2025. (REUTERS/File Photo)
The Trump administration has warned that flight disruptions will increase as controllers miss their first full paycheck on Tuesday.
Air traffic controllers received a paycheck two weeks ago at 90 percent of their regular pay. But Tuesday’s payday would have been for their first pay period solely for work in October.
Controllers facing the prospect of missing a federal paycheck are looking for other sources of income, Duffy said.
“They’re taking second jobs, they’re out there looking,” he said.
Some 13,000 air traffic controllers and about 50,000 Transportation Security Administration officers must work even if they are not being paid during the shutdown.
The FAA is about 3,500 air traffic controllers short of targeted staffing levels and many had been working mandatory overtime and six-day weeks even before the shutdown.
In 2019, during a 35-day shutdown, the number of absences by controllers and TSA officers rose as workers missed paychecks, extending wait times at some airport check points. Authorities were forced to slow air traffic in New York and Washington.
Duffy and other Republicans have criticized Democrats for opposing a “clean” short-term funding bill with no strings attached.
Democrats criticize President Donald Trump and Republicans for refusing to negotiate over health care subsidies that expire at the end of the year.
