2 million children out of school in war-torn Yemen: UN

SANAA, Yemen - Two million children are out of school in war-torn Yemen, a fourth of whom have dropped out since the conflict escalated in March 2015, the United Nations children's agency said Wednesday.

The education of a further 3.7 million children is at risk as teachers' salaries have not been paid in more than two years, UNICEF said in a statement.

"Violence, displacement and attacks on schools are preventing many children from accessing school," said Sara Beysolow Nyanti, UNICEF representative in Yemen.

One in five schools in the country can no longer be used as a direct result of the conflict that has devastated Yemen's already fragile education system, the UN agency says.

"Children out of school face increased risks of all forms of exploitation including being forced to join the fighting, child labor and early marriage," Nyanti said.

"They lose the opportunity to develop and grow in a caring and stimulating environment, ultimately becoming trapped in a life of poverty and hardship."

Tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, have been killed since Saudi Arabia and its allies intervened in March 2015 in support of the beleaguered government after the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels captured the capital Sanaa.

The fighting has displaced millions and left 24.1 million -- more than two-thirds of the population -- in need of aid.

According to UNICEF, 1.8 million children under the age of five are suffering from severe malnutrition.

The United Nations has described Yemen as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

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United States blames Iran for Saudi attacks

WASHINGTON - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday accused Iran of leading attacks on Saudi oil plants that have cut the kingdom's output roughly in half, as he ruled out Yemeni involvement and denounced Tehran for engaging in false diplomacy.

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi group claimed credit for the attacks on two plants at the heart of Saudi Arabia's oil industry, including the world's biggest petroleum processing facility.

Pompeo, however, said on Twitter that there was no evidence the attacks came from Yemen.

"Tehran is behind nearly 100 attacks on Saudi Arabia while Rouhani and Zarif pretend to engage in diplomacy," Pompeo said, referring to Iran's President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif.

"Amid all the calls for de-escalation, Iran has now launched an unprecedented attack on the world's energy supply," he added. The State Department declined to provide any evidence to bolster Pompeo's claim.

"We call on all nations to publicly and unequivocally condemn Iran’s attacks," Pompeo said, warning that the Trump administration would work with its allies to make sure Iran was "held accountable for its aggression."

The tweets signaled a more hawkish stance in Washington towards Tehran, following signs of a possible thaw in relations between the two nations after months of escalation.

Last year, U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from a 2015 pact that aimed to keep a lid on Tehran's nuclear ambitions and he has imposed a series of sanctions that have crippled Iran's economy.

But in recent weeks, Trump has said he would be open to meeting with Rouhani, perhaps on the sidelines of the United National General Assembly in New York later this month. Pompeo has said such talks could take place without any preconditions.

Rouhani, for his part, has said that Tehran, which denies seeking nuclear weapons, would not talk to the United States until Washington lifts the sanctions.

Republican Senator Lindsay Graham, a close Trump ally and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Saturday's attacks showed Iran was not interested in peace and was instead pursuing nuclear weapons and regional dominance.

"It is now time for the U.S. to put on the table an attack on Iranian oil refineries if they continue their provocations or increase nuclear enrichment," Graham said on Twitter.

Others cast doubt on Pompeo's allegations.

"This is such irresponsible simplification and it's how we get into dumb wars," Democratic Senator and committee member Chris Murphy tweeted. "Iran is backing the Houthis and has been a bad actor, but it's just not as simple as Houthis=Iran."

Saturday's attacks follow earlier cross-border attacks on Saudi oil installations and on oil tankers in Gulf waters.

Saudi Arabia, which leads a Sunni Muslim coalition that intervened in Yemen in 2015 against the Houthis, has blamed regional rival Shi'ite Iran for previous attacks. Tehran has denied the allegations. Riyadh also accuses Iran of arming the Houthis, a charge denied both by the group and Tehran.

The White House said the United States was committed to keeping oil markets well-supplied in the wake of the attack and the U.S. Energy Department said the administration could release oil from strategic reserves if necessary.

The attacks on the two facilities cut Saudi Arabia's crude oil supply by around 5.7 million barrels per day or about 50 percent of its output.

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More than 100 killed in air strike on Yemen prison: ICRC

More than 100 people are believed to have been killed in an air strike by the Saudi-led military coalition on a detention center in Yemen, the International Committee of the Red Cross said Sunday.

The coalition said it targeted a facility run by the Huthi rebels that "stores drones and missiles", but the rebels said the attack had leveled a building they used as a prison.

The United Nations said 52 detainees were among the dead, with a further 68 still missing.

"Casualties are most likely to increase as rescue efforts are still ongoing," it said.

The ICRC rushed to the scene in the city of Dhamar with medical teams and hundreds of body bags.

"The location that was hit has been visited by ICRC before," Franz Rauchenstein, its head of delegation for Yemen, told AFP from Dhamar. "It's a college building that has been empty and has been used as a detention facility for a while."

"What is most disturbing is that (the attack was) on a prison. To hit such a building is shocking and saddening – prisoners are protected by international law."

Rauchenstein said that over 100 people were estimated to be dead, and that at least 40 survivors were being treated for their injuries in hospitals in the city, south of the capital Sanaa.

ICRC teams collecting bodies were also "working relentlessly to find survivors under the rubble", he said, but cautioned that the chances of finding any were very slim.

Footage obtained by AFP showed heavy damage to the building and several bodies lying in the rubble, as bulldozers worked to clear away huge piles of debris.

The coalition intervened in 2015 to support the government after the Iran-aligned Huthis swept out of their northern stronghold to seize Sanaa and much of Yemen -- the Arab world's poorest nation.

Fighting since then has already claimed tens of thousands of lives and sparked what the United Nations calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

'STAGGERING' CASUALTIES 

The UN's humanitarian coordinator in Yemen called Sunday's air strike "horrific" and said aid groups had been forced to divert critical medical supplies, intended for treating cholera outbreak, to Dhamar hospitals.

"We have no choice," Lise Grande said. "The scale of the casualties is staggering."

Both sides stand accused of actions that could amount to war crimes.

The coalition has been blacklisted by the UN for the killing of children, while Saudi Arabia and its allies accuse the Huthis of using civilians as human shields in densely populated areas. 

Before the ICRC's comments, the coalition had insisted the strike was conducted against "a military compound which was a legitimate military target".

It said secondary explosions indicated the building was used to store weapons and that the Huthis were masking its identity by "claiming it was a secret prison".

"This is a traditional Huthi tactic and a violation of the laws of armed conflict. This site was not registered with the United Nations" and was not on the coalition's "no strike list" of sites provided by the UN and other agencies, coalition spokesman Turki Al-Malki said in a statement.

The coalition said it "took all precautionary measures to protect civilians".

But Huthi television channel Al-Masirah said dozens had been killed and wounded in seven air strikes that hit the building.

"The enemy targeted prisoners on purpose in Dhamar, many of whom were preparing to be released under a prison swap deal," Huthi rebel chief Abdelmalek al-Huthi said in a televised speech on Sunday.

The UN's Yemen envoy Martin Griffiths said Sunday's deaths were a "tragedy".

"The human cost of this war is unbearable," he said. "We need it to stop. Yemenis deserve a peaceful future."

The attack in Dhamar comes weeks after a new front opened in Yemen's complex war, pitting 2 of Riyadh's allies against each other in a struggle for control of the south.

The United Arab Emirates, a key member of the coalition backing the Yemeni government, has also trained and supported secessionists who seek an independent southern Yemen. 

The southern forces last month seized control of the interim capital Aden in the south, in a see-sawing battle with government troops that has drawn warnings that the country could break apart entirely.

The government has accused the UAE of backing a "coup".

Analysts say the fight for the south is a key test for Saudi Arabia, which hopes to mediate a ceasefire so it can focus on its main mission of battling the Huthis who are aligned with its arch foe Iran.

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UAE airstrikes raise tensions with Yemen gov't

DUBAI - The United Arab Emirates has confirmed it launched airstrikes on Yemen's interim capital Aden, after furious accusations from the internationally recognized government which has lost control of the city to UAE-backed separatists.

In the face of charges it targeted Yemeni government troops, Abu Dhabi said it acted in self-defense against "terrorist militias" threatening the Saudi-led military coalition against Huthi rebels in which the UAE is a key partner.

The UAE's foreign ministry issued a statement late Thursday, hours after the separatists regained control of Aden, forcing government troops who had entered the southern port city a day earlier to withdraw.

Airstrikes on Wednesday and Thursday that reportedly left dozens dead hit "armed groups affiliated with terrorist organizations", Abu Dhabi said, in a reference to Islamists it believes makeup part of Yemeni government forces.

The operation "was based on confirmed field intelligence that the militias prepared to target the coalition forces -- a development which required a preemptive operation to avert any military threat", it added.

The accusations risk straining an already complex conflict in Yemen, which is being fought on two main fronts -- a battle for control of Aden and the south, and the Saudi-led coalition's campaign against the Huthis in the north.

In further violence in the port city on Friday, a suicide bombing killed three separatist fighters, while a separatist military chief survived a roadside bomb that killed five of his guards, security sources said.

Blaming the attacks on Al-Qaeda, the security sources said separatist forces made several arrests, adding that they aimed to dismantle jihadist "sleeper cells".

But residents have reported arrests of soldiers loyal to the internationally recognized government. 

On August 1, separate attacks in Aden by jihadists and Huthi rebels killed 49 people, mostly separatist fighters from the Southern Transitional Council.

The STC accused the government of complicity in the attacks, sparking a showdown between the two sides.

The intensifying conflict between Abu Dhabi and the government undermines the coalition and poses a headache for regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia, which is focused on fighting the Huthis who are aligned with Riyadh's arch-foe Iran.

The airstrikes came in a see-sawing battle between the government and southern separatists who have tussled for control of Aden and the neighboring provinces Abyan and Shabwa over the past three weeks.

Saudis as peacemakers?

Yemen's government on Thursday accused the UAE of mounting the airstrikes in support of the separatists, in an assault it said killed 40 combatants and wounded 70 civilians. 

The UAE, which has a zero-tolerance policy towards Islamists, believes that part of Yemen's army is made up of militants from Al-Islah, a party considered close to the Islamic Brotherhood.

The allegation was backed by its Yemeni ally, the head of the STC, Aidarus al-Zubaidi, who aims to regain independence for South Yemen, which was forcibly unified with the north in 1990. 

At a press conference in Aden on Thursday, he said that among fighters captured during the retaking of the city were "internationally wanted terrorists".

However, Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi redoubled his allegations against the UAE, accusing it late Thursday of having planned, financed and coordinated attacks on state institutions and military positions in Aden.

The Yemeni head of state, who is in exile in the Saudi capital, called on Riyadh to "intervene to halt the blatant interference of the United Arab Emirates, in support of the militias, and air raids against the armed forces of Yemen".

The UAE's minister of state for foreign affairs, Anwar Gargash, on Friday urged all sides to go back to the negotiating table under a Saudi proposal for talks in Jeddah.

Yemen's government has said the STC must first withdraw from its positions.

"The Saudi initiative is the way out of this crisis," Gargash said on Twitter.

The coalition intervened in Yemen's war in 2015 in support of the government after the Huthis swept south from their northern stronghold to seize the capital Sanaa and much of Yemen -- the Arab world's poorest nation.

The strategic port city of Aden has since then served as the government's interim capital. 

Fighting over the past four years has already claimed tens of thousands of lives and sparked what the United Nations calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

"The situation is very fragile. Families are again trapped in their homes by fighting, unable to secure food and reach medical care," the UN humanitarian coordinator in Yemen, Lise Grande, said of the recent battle for the south.

The UN Security Council on Thursday voiced concern over the clashes, including what it called a "violent attempt to take over state institutions".

It urged all parties to "show restraint and to preserve Yemen's territorial integrity".

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Saudi Arabia slams US Senate vote as 'interference'

RIYADH - Saudi Arabia on Sunday rejected as "interference" a US Senate resolution to end American military support for a Riyadh-led war in Yemen, and another holding its crown prince responsible for the murder of critic Jamal Khashoggi.

"The kingdom condemns the latest position of the US Senate that was based on unsubstantiated allegations and rejects the blatant interference in its internal affairs," the foreign ministry said in a statement released by the official Saudi Press Agency.

Though largely symbolic, the US Senate vote on Thursday dealt a fresh warning to President Donald Trump, who has staunchly backed the Saudi regime despite global uproar over the Yemen conflict and the murder of journalist Khashoggi.

On the Yemen measure, which more broadly attacks the president's prerogative to launch military action, 49 Democrats or their allies voted in favour, along with seven Republicans, while another three Republicans abstained.

The Senate also approved a resolution condemning Khashoggi's murder and calling Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, "responsible" for it.

The Saudi ministry warned that the kingdom would not tolerate any "disrespect" of its rulers.

"This position by the US Senate sends the wrong messages to all those who want to cause a rift in Saudi-US relationship," the ministry said.

"The kingdom hopes that it is not drawn into domestic political debates in the US to avoid any... significant negative impact on this important strategic relationship."

The Senate resolution acknowledged the US-Saudi ties were "important" but called on Riyadh to "moderate its increasingly erratic foreign policy".

The resolutions cannot be debated in the House of Representatives before January, and would likely be vetoed in any case by Trump.

But the Senate votes send a strong message to the White House over anger on both sides of the aisle towards Riyadh.

Khashoggi, a Saudi contributor to the Washington Post, was killed on October 2 shortly after entering the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul in what Riyadh called a "rogue" operation.

The murder has tarnished Riyadh's international reputation, and Western countries including the United States, France and Canada have placed sanctions on nearly 20 Saudi nationals.

UN chief Antonio Guterres on Sunday called for a "credible" probe into the murder.

Anger at the human cost of the war in Yemen has also prompted a harder line in Congress about the US military's role in backing Saudi-led coalition strikes against Huthi rebels.

Since the coalition launched its campaign in 2015, the conflict has killed nearly 10,000 people, according to the World Health Organization. But some rights groups believe the toll to be far higher.

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US to make final conclusions on Saudi killing in days: Trump

WASHINGTON - The United States will make final conclusions by early next week over the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, President Donald Trump said Saturday, following reports that the CIA had held Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman responsible.

Saudi Arabia has repeatedly changed its official narrative of the October 2 murder, first denying any knowledge of Khashoggi's whereabouts and later saying he was killed when an argument degenerated into a fistfight.

Earlier this week, a Saudi prosecutor exonerated the crown prince of involvement in the brutal murder.

Speaking to reporters in Malibu, California after surveying damage from wildfires, Trump said a "full report" on "who did it" would be completed by Monday or Tuesday.

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert earlier said reports indicating the United States had already made final conclusions in the case were "inaccurate."

"There remain numerous unanswered questions with respect to the murder of Mr Khashoggi," she added.

The State Department will continue to seek facts and work with other countries to hold those involved in the killing accountable, Nauert said, "while maintaining the important strategic relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia."

"In the meantime, we will continue to consult Congress, and work with other nations to hold accountable those involved in the killing of Jamal Khashoggi."

She noted that Washington had already taken "decisive measures" against individuals, including visa and sanctions actions.

The remarks appeared to contradict reports that the Central Intelligence Agency had determined Saudi Arabia's powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing of Khashoggi, a vocal critic.

'TRULY SPECTACULAR ALLY'

The killing and the international uproar it triggered has frayed ties between Washington and longtime ally Riyadh, which has sought to end discussion of the murder and rejected calls for an international investigation.

But ahead of a briefing by his secretary of state and CIA director, Trump demured when asked about possible retaliation against Riyadh.

"They have been a truly spectacular ally in terms of jobs and economic development," Trump told reporters.

"And I also take that -- you know, I'm president -- I have to take a lot of things into consideration."

The Washington Post, which broke the story, said the CIA found that 15 Saudi agents flew on government aircraft to Istanbul and assassinated Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate.

Khashoggi, a Post columnist, had gone to the consulate to obtain documents necessary to marry his Turkish fiancee.

European Union foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini meanwhile reiterated calls for a "thorough, credible and transparent" probe into Khashoggi's killing.

"The need remains to shed full clarity on the circumstances surrounding this horrendous crime as well as to ensure accountability for all those responsible for it," she said in a statement.

Reiterating the EU's categorical opposition to the death penalty, Mogherini said "we will continue to stress that the kingdom of Saudi Arabia must put in place measures to ensure that something like this can never happen again."

"In due course, the EU and its member states will consider how they can act together towards appropriate measures against those responsible, in support of the rules based international system," she added.

In the latest version of the events presented by the Saudi prosecutor on Thursday, a 15-member squad was formed to bring Khashoggi back from Istanbul "by means of persuasion" -- but instead ended up killing the journalist and dismembering his body in a "rogue" operation.

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Yemen's ex-president Saleh shot dead after switching sides in civil war

SANAA/DUBAI - Veteran former president Ali Abdullah Saleh was killed in a shooting on Monday after switching sides in Yemen's civil war, abandoning his Iran-aligned Houthi allies in favour of a Saudi-led coalition, foes and supporters said.

Sources in the Houthi militia said its fighters stopped Saleh's armoured vehicle with an RPG rocket outside the embattled capital Sanaa and then shot him dead. Sources in Saleh's party confirmed he died in an attack on his convoy.

Unverified footage of his bloodied body lolling in a blanket circulated just days after he tore up his alliance with the Houthis following nearly three years in which they had jointly battled the Saudi-led coalition that intervened to try to reinstate Yemen's internationally recognised government.

In a televised speech on Monday, Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi congratulated the Yemeni people for what he described as a victory against a "conspiracy of treason" engineered by the group's Gulf Arab enemies. He did not mention Saleh's death.

Saleh, 75, had said in a speech on Saturday that he was ready for a "new page" in ties with the coalition and called the Houthis a "coup militia", leading them to accuse him of betrayal.

Warfare between the former allies has torn densely populated Sanaa for days as Houthi fighters seized control of much of the capital and on Monday blew up Saleh's house while coalition jets bombed their own positions.

The end of their alliance had seemed poised to transform the fortunes of war after two years of attrition along mostly static front lines, which gave the Saudi-led coalition a new advantage over the Houthis.

Stalemate in Yemen has contributed to a human catastrophe as a Saudi-led blockade and internal fighting has thrust millions to the brink of famine and accelerated the spread of deadly epidemics.

Eyes will now turn to Saleh's political allies and military commanders, whom analysts credited with aiding the Houthi march southwards in 2014 to dominate swathes of western Yemen.

"What happens now and whether his family and political allies fight on is not yet clear," said Adam Baron, a Yemen expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations.

"His people will be angry, and many will certainly be out for blood, but there are many in the middle especially among the tribes who will fall with whoever appears stronger," he said.

"The (Saudi-led) coalition may have put a lot of their eggs in Saleh's basket only for it to fall over now. They appeared to strongly support his attempt to confront the Houthis and now that bid may have failed."

HEADS OF SNAKES

Saleh once compared his 33-year rule over Yemen to "dancing on the heads of snakes", a period that included unification of conservative north and Marxist south Yemen, civil war, uprisings, Islamist militant campaigns and tribal feuds.

But he was forced from power in 2012 following an Arab Spring uprising that left him wounded by an attempted assassination, leading to a Saudi-brokered political transition.

He fled to his one-time ally Saudi Arabia for treatment of his injuries and the princes in Riyadh allowed him to return to Yemen months later - something they came to bitterly regret as he undermined the transition plan and later joined the Houthis.

That set the stage for his final role - that of ally to the Houthi movement which he had previously fought six times during his own presidency, and to Iran, the Houthis' political backer.

But they vied for supremacy over the territory they ran together, including Sanaa, which the Houthis seized in September 2014, and their feud burst into open combat on Nov. 29.

The manoeuvring ended on Monday, as footage circulating on social media appeared to show his corpse, a deep wound in the side of its head, wrapped in a red blanket and being loaded onto a pick-up truck as tribal fighters waved their weapons.

"Praise God!" and "Hey Ali Affash!" (another name for Saleh) they were shouting.

Officials in his own General People's Congress party said Saleh was killed outside Sanaa in an RPG and gun attack on his convoy along with the GPC's assistant secretary general, Yasser al-Awadi.

His death was confirmed by Saleh's nephew and former chief of Yemen's security forces, Yahya Mohammed Abdullah Saleh, who hailed him as a martyr on his official Facebook page.

STREET BATTLES EASE IN SANAA

Residents reported that the situation in Sanaa had calmed. Most people were indoors, and streets were deserted amid a state of fear as the Houthis asserted full control. Saudi-led aircraft continued to fly overhead.

Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdul Salam claimed significant gains in the battle for Sanaa on Monday.

"With the aid and approval of God, the security forces backed up by wide popular support were able last night to cleanse the areas in which the militias of treason and betrayal were deployed," he said in a statement.

The Houthi movement's TV channel al-Masirah and witnesses said Houthi fighters had seized the downtown home of Saleh's nephew Tareq, an army general.

Residents said the warring sides traded heavy automatic and artillery fire as the Houthis advanced in the central Political District, which is a redoubt of Saleh and his family.

"We lived through days of terror. Houthi tanks have been firing and the shells were falling on our neighbourhood," said Mohammed al-Madhaji, who lives in the frontline district.

"The fighting has been so violent we feel we could die at any moment. We can't get out of our homes."

Houthi media and political sources also reported that the Houthis also advanced toward Saleh's birthplace in a village outside Sanaa where he maintained a fortified palace.

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US could ask visa applicants for social media passwords

PASSWORD, PLEASE: US embassies could ask visa applicants for passwords to their own social media accounts in future background checks, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said Tuesday.

Kelly said the move could come as part of the effort to toughen vetting of visitors to screen out people who could pose a security threat.

He said it was one of the things under consideration especially for visitors from seven Muslim majority countries with very weak background screening of their own -- Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

"We're looking at some enhanced or some additional screening," Kelly told a hearing of the House Homeland Security Committee. "We may want to get on their social media, with passwords," he said.

"It's very hard to truly vet these people in these countries, the seven countries... But if they come in, we want to say, what websites do they visit, and give us your passwords. So we can see what they do on the internet."

"If they don't want to cooperate, then they don't come in" to the United States, he said.

Kelly stressed that no decision had been made on this, but said tighter screening was definitely in the future, even if it means longer delays for awarding US visas to visitors.

"These are the things we are thinking about," he said.

"But over there we can ask them for this kind of information and if they truly want to come to America, then they will cooperate. If not, next in line."

The seven countries were targeted in president Donald Trump's January 27 immigrant and refugee ban order, which has sense been at least temporarily blocked under court order.

pmh/mdl

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US judge orders Trump administration to allow entry to immigrant visa holders

LOS ANGELES/NEW YORK - A federal judge in Los Angeles has ruled President Donald Trump's administration must allow immigrants with initial clearance for legal residency to enter the United States from seven Muslim-majority nations, despite an executive order ban.

Tuesday's ruling by U.S. District Judge Andre Birotte Jr follows decisions by federal judges in at least four other states that also limited the executive order Trump issued on Friday.

But it goes further, by focusing on a large group of people from the seven nations of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen - the countries targeted in the executive order - who are outside the United States and trying to enter.

In the temporary ruling, Birotte ordered U.S. officials to refrain from "removing, detaining or blocking the entry of plaintiffs or any other person ... with a valid immigrant visa" who is arriving from one of the seven nations.

According to the U.S. Department of State, immigrant visas are the first step to becoming a lawful permanent resident, or a green card holder.

Birotte's ruling does not apply to tourists, students or business travelers with non-immigrant visas.

The U.S. Department of Justice is reviewing the order and would have no further comment, a spokeswoman for the agency said in an email.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security cited its policy of not commenting on pending litigation.

Trump's executive order has not only caused consternation for the nations involved but among other Muslim-majority countries, allies such as Germany and Britain and career State Department officials.

Attorney Julie Ann Goldberg, who brought the case on behalf of more than two dozen plaintiffs of Yemeni descent, including U.S. citizens, said they sought the ruling after learning of a move by the U.S. State Department to cancel the immigrant visas of people from the seven countries.

More than 200 people with immigrant visas who left Yemen and are related to U.S. citizens or legal residents are stranded in Djibouti across the Bab el-Mandeb Strait from Yemen and were barred from flying to the United States, Goldberg said by telephone from Djibouti.

"It's terrible because I have children here who are without their parents," she said.

Some other children in the group are U.S. citizens whose parents were traveling with immigrant visas, she added.

In Boston, U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs on Sunday issued a ruling, to last seven days, that barred the detention and removal of approved refugees, visa holders and permanent U.S. residents who entered from the seven countries.

By early Thursday in Djibouti, Goldberg said, no one from the group she represented was being allowed to leave for the United States. She accused the Trump administration of "absolutely ignoring" rulings she believes should allow their departure.

In an email, a State Department official confirmed the agency had provisionally revoked "relevant visas as defined" under Trump's executive order.

The White House said on Wednesday it has issued updated guidance on the order clarifying that green card holders require no waiver to enter the United States.

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Suicide bomber kills 1, wounds 3 in Yemeni port city

ADEN, - A suicide bomber blew himself up near a cinema in the Yemeni port city of Aden on Saturday, killing one person and wounding three others, residents and a local official said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing in Aden's Crater district, which was carried out by an attacker wearing an explosive belt.

Islamist militants, including the Islamic State group, have exploited an 18-month civil war between a Saudi-backed exiled Yemeni government and the Houthi movement to carve out influence in southern Yemen, where they have been recruiting new followers and launching attacks on military targets and senior officials.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the assassination of two security officers killed in Aden earlier this week, the group said on Friday via its Telegram account.

In August, a suicide bomber killed at least 54 people when he drove a car bomb into a militia compound in Aden in one of the deadliest attacks claimed by Islamic State in the southern port city.

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Yemen forfeit World Cup qualifier over ineligible player

ZURICH - Yemen have forfeited their World Cup qualifier against North Korea, a match they made a Herculean effort to take part in, after fielding an ineligible player, FIFA said on Monday.

Yemen, officially the home side for the match played in Qatar, lost 1-0 on the pitch on June 11.

But that became a 3-0 walkover after the disciplinary committee of world soccer's governing body ruled that they fielded Mudir Abdurabu Ali Al Radaei who should have been serving a one-match ban for an accumulation of yellow cards.

The decision meant North Korea leapfrogged the Philippines to go top of Asian zone Group H on goals scored. Both teams have six points from their opening two games, while Yemen have lost their first two matches without scoring.

Yemen, coached by the Czech Republic's Miroslav Soukup, were unable to play at home because of fighting in their country.

Photographs posted on Facebook showed the team sitting and sleeping on the cramped deck of a boat on a 13-hour crossing to Djibouti, on the African continent, which media reports said was the only way for them to leave Yemen.

Last week, Barbados were knocked out of the competition for the same offence. They beat Aruba 3-0 on aggregate in a two-leg tie, after winning the return 1-0, but this became a 3-2 defeat after Aruba were awarded a 3-0 win in the second leg.

Indonesia, who should have been in Group F, were expelled in June after FIFA suspended the country's football association because of government interference in the domestic league.

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