By AFP / 23 Jan 2013

Yemen needs $716 million in aid this year, or 22 percent more than 2012’s requirements, UN agencies said on Tuesday, after improved security enabled a reassessment of the humanitarian situation.

“We are hoping that we will be able to raise the whole amount so that we can comprehensively meet the needs and save lives,” said the head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Yemen, Trond Jensen.

By Arabtimesonline | 19 Jan 2012

BEIRUT (AP) — Syria's powerful allies in Russia are vowing to block any Western attempts to intervene militarily in Syria as Damascus fights off an increasingly chaotic 10-month-old revolt against President Bashar Assad.