Aden container terminal SANAA, 10 Jul -- A survey of local business environment in six governorates published by the German Agency for Technical Cooperation, GTZ, ranked the southern province of Aden at the top, the defense ministry website, 26-Sept said.  The survey conducted between Aug 6 and Sept 16 of last year said “Aden witnessed advanced levels in the indices of pro-activity, service delivery of private and public sector actors, infrastructure, utilities, business services, labor, implementation level of central policies, and the design of local initiatives for developing the private sector.”

Total-led LNG plant in Belhaf, Shabwa SANAA, 10 Jul -- The Parliament on Saturday voted to summon oil minister, Ameer al-Aidrous to question him over allegations foreign oil companies in Yemen are pressuring the government to increase the annual production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from 5.3 billion tons to 7.9 million, Marib Press website said.

SANAA, 05 Jul -- The French oil company, Total announced on Monday the acquisition of a 36 percent interest in block-72 production sharing agreement, News Yemen website said citing a press release by the company.  The 1,821 sq km block, located south of the Masila basin in Hadramout is operated by DNO Yemen and the acquisition is subject to the approval of the Ministry of Oil and Mineral Resources.  Total and other partners which include DNO, TG Holdings Yemen, Ansan Wikfs and the Yemen Company (TYC) plan to drill an exploration well in the fourth quarter of this year.

SANAA, 05 Jul -- Commander of the Republican and Special Forces, Col. Ahmad Ali Saleh Monday met with visiting British military delegation headed by Deputy Chief of Defence Staff in the United Kingdom, Lieutenant General Simon Mayall and British Deputy Chief of Staff for Politics and Planning, Jayne Millington, the defense ministry website said.  During the meeting, aspects of bilateral military cooperation between Yemen and the UK were discussed in addition to training, and ways to benefit from British military expertise to bolster the military and security capabilities of Yemen’s armed forces.

HADRAMOUT, 05 Jul -- Three soldiers were killed on Monday and five others wounded in separate clashes with suspected al-Qaeda militants in Hadramout and Marib provinces, al-Watan website said.  Security sources said “two soldiers from the central security forces were killed in the area of Fowah east of the southern port city of Mukala in clashes with wanted security suspects believed to have ties to al-qaeda,” adding “the fighting broke out when the soldiers raided a house where suspected al-Qaeda members were hiding.”

AL-JAWF, 24 May -- Four state ministers escaped assassination attempt on Monday when gunmen, believed to be Shiite rebels, fired two mortar shells at the government complex in al-Jawf province where the ministers were attending a celebration to mark the anniversary of the nation’s unity, al-Masder Online website said.  According to a ‘reliable’ tribal source in the area, the four ministers are Deputy Premier for Defense and Security Affairs, and Local Administration Minister, Dr. Rashad al-Alimi, Electricity and Power Minister, Awad al-Souqatri, Minister of Public Works, Omar al-Khorshami, and Minister of Technical and Vocational Eduction, Abrahim Omar Hajri.

MARIB, 24 May -- Yemen’s air force launched strikes on Monday night against al-Qaeda members in Wadi Abyda valley located in the eastern region of Marib, al-Masder Online said citing a tribal source in the area.  The source said the raid killed the Secretary General of the Local Council in Marib, Jaber al-Shabwani, his uncle and four of his escorts while he was negotiating with al-Qaeda elements in a bid to convince them to turn themselves in to authorities, adding “one member of al-Qaeda was killed in the strike but he is not dangerous.”  Head of Marib-Al-Jawf tribal alliance, Sheik Alawi al-Basha Bin Zaba confirmed the death of Jaber al-Shabwani saying “tonight we received information about unidentified jets bombing cars in Wadi Abyda region including the car of Sheik Jaber al-Shabwani, the secretary general of the governorate who was killed in the bombardment along with a number of his escorts and there might be others.”  “We know that the secretary general was leading intermittent mediation efforts with wanted suspects and we think he was targeted while he was meeting with the suspects,”

SANAA, 23 May -- In a 45-minute videotape posted on Jihadist websites on Sunday, US-Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Awlaki advocated the killing of American civilians saying the United States deliberately killed over a million Muslim civilians in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere and the American people are to blame “because, in general, they elected this administration and they are financing the war.”  Anwar said “America, if you transgress against us, we will transgress against you, and you keep killing our people, we will kill your people.  This is the image that we need to present.