Yemen airport to reopen to U.N. aircraft
SANAA, Yemen — The Saudi-led military coalition fighting Shiite rebels in Yemen said Wednesday that it will reopen the war-torn country’s main airport and a vital Red Sea port to some humanitarian aid shipments, easing a blockade imposed after rebels fired a missile toward the Saudi capital earlier this month.
The easing is to begin today. The airport in the capital of Sanaa would reopen to U.N. aircraft and the seaport of Hodeida would be able to receive urgent humanitarian aid, the coalition statement said.
It was not immediately clear, however, if port operations will return to the pre-blockade level.
“It is good news, but we are still waiting to see the specific details,” Jamie McGoldrick, the U.N. humanitarian chief for Yemen, said of Wednesday’s announcement.
In an interview just before the coalition made the announcement, McGoldrick said a continued blockade would make Yemen’s long-suffering population more vulnerable to cholera and famine.
Virginity tests for female recruits persist
JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesia’s military and police continue to perform abusive virginity tests on female recruits three years after the World Health Organization declared they had no scientific validity, an international human-rights group said Wednesday.
Human Rights Watch said senior Indonesian police and military officers have told it that security forces still impose the “cruel and discriminatory tests,” which are carried out under the guise of psychological examinations for mental health and morality reasons.
The group called for President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to order the national police chief and military commander to ban the practice.
The testing includes the invasive “two-finger test” to determine whether female applicants’ hymens are intact. The WHO in its 2014 clinical guidelines for health care of sexually abused women said the test lacks any scientific basis.
Russian legislators OK media crackdown
MOSCOW — Russian senators gave final approval to legislation rushed through parliament that allows authorities to crack down on foreign media in retaliation for U.S. actions against Kremlin-funded broadcaster RT.
The vote Wednesday by the Federation Council, or upper house of parliament, means the law allowing media outlets to be branded “foreign agents” now awaits signature by President Vladimir Putin. The lower house of parliament passed the legislation last week.
The Justice Ministry has warned two U.S. state-funded media outlets, Voice of America and Radio Liberty, that they may be declared “foreign agents” under the law, which is based on one already used to impose tight restrictions on nongovernmental organizations that receive financing from abroad.