At least 61 killed in clashes in Yemen's Hodeida
Hodeida, Nov 11 : At least 61 combatants have been killed in clashes in Yemen's flashpoint Hodeida, medics and a military source said Sunday, and dozens of wounded taken to hospitals outside the city.
Medics in the Red Sea city reported 43 Huthi rebels and nine loyalists killed in clashes over the past 24 hours. Another nine loyalist fighters were reported killed by medics at a hospital in government-held Mokha, south of Hodeida. A government military source confirmed the toll.
Dozens of wounded rebels were transferred to hospitals in the provinces of Sanaa and Ibb, further inland, a source at the Hodeida military hospital said.
A pro-government alliance, led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, are pushing to seize Hodeida from Yemen's Shiite Huthi rebels, who are linked to Iran.
More than 400 combatants have been killed in 10 days of clashes in Hodeida, a city on Yemen's Red Sea coastline that is home to the impoverished country's most valuable port.
Government forces have pressed further into the strategic port city, seizing its main hospital in heavy fighting Saturday, as they try to advance on Hodeida's vital docks Hodeida has been controlled by the Huthis since 2014, when the rebels seized the capital Sanaa and a string of port cities.
The World Health Organisation estimates nearly 10,000 people have been killed since 2015, when Saudi Arabia and its allies joined the government's war against the Huthis, driving the insurgents from the Red Sea coastline but failing to retake Hodeida.
Other rights groups believe the toll may be five times as high.
The conflict has triggered what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with 14 million Yemenis facing mass starvation.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
