Tim Lenderking, the US special envoy for Yemen, is in the Gulf to "advance ongoing efforts to secure a new agreement" for peace, the US State Department has said.
"While in Oman and Saudi Arabia, Special Envoy Lenderking will meet with Yemeni, Omani, Saudi and international partners to discuss their co-ordinated efforts to further ongoing talks," a statement read.
Several milestones have been reached in Yemen where the war broke out in September 2014.
Last month, a swap involving 877 prisoners took place between the warring sides. Only days earlier, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Yemen Mohammed Al Jaber visited the Houthi-run capital of Sanaa for talks with the Iran-backed rebels and Omani officials to discuss ending the war in Yemen and achieving political peace.
The next round of exchanging prisoners is expected to take place on May 15, Yemen's deputy minister of human rights Majid Al Fadael told The National.
"The United States is working closely with the UN, Saudi Arabia, Oman and other partners to build on the UN-mediated truce, which has delivered the longest period of calm since the war began, to support an inclusive, Yemeni-led political process that permits Yemenis to shape a brighter future for their country," the US State Department added.
Another development has taken place on the FSO Safer, a tanker carrying 1.1 million barrels of oil which was decaying in the Red Sea, giving rise to fears of a catastrophic oil spill.
The UN Development Programme in March bought its own supertanker, the Nautica, to remove the barrels on board. It is on its way to the region and is expected to make a stop in Djibouti in the coming days.
An online donor conference will be held on Thursday to fill a $29 million in funding needed to "begin the operation in the first half of this year", the UN said.
Sanju
Produced: Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Rajkumar Hirani
Director: Rajkumar Hirani
Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Vicky Kaushal, Paresh Rawal, Anushka Sharma, Manish’s Koirala, Dia Mirza, Sonam Kapoor, Jim Sarbh, Boman Irani
Rating: 3.5 stars
Three ways to boost your credit score
Marwan Lutfi says the core fundamentals that drive better payment behaviour and can improve your credit score are:
1. Make sure you make your payments on time;
2. Limit the number of products you borrow on: the more loans and credit cards you have, the more it will affect your credit score;
3. Don't max out all your debts: how much you maximise those credit facilities will have an impact. If you have five credit cards and utilise 90 per cent of that credit, it will negatively affect your score.
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Emirates flies from Dubai to Seattle from Dh5,555 return, including taxes. Portland is a 260 km drive from Seattle and Emirates offers codeshare flights to Portland with its partner Alaska Airlines.
The car
Hertz (www.hertz.ae) offers compact car rental from about $300 per week, including taxes. Emirates Skywards members can earn points on their car hire through Hertz.
Parks and accommodation
For information on Crater Lake National Park, visit www.nps.gov/crla/index.htm. Because of the altitude, large parts of the park are closed in winter due to snow. While the park’s summer season is May 22-October 31, typically, the full loop of the Rim Drive is only possible from late July until the end of October. Entry costs $25 per car for a day. For accommodation, see www.travelcraterlake.com. For information on Umpqua Hot Springs, see www.fs.usda.gov and https://soakoregon.com/umpqua-hot-springs/. For Bend, see https://www.visitbend.com/.
