Clashes in Yemen city despite truce

DUBAI • Clashes shook Yemen's flashpoint city of Hodeidah yesterday after air strikes and deadly fighting on the outskirts overnight, residents said, despite a United Nations-brokered ceasefire between pro-government forces and rebels.

The warring parties exchanged accusations of violating the ceasefire accord that took effect last Friday, but which quickly came under pressure. At least 29 fighters, including 22 Houthi rebels and seven pro-government troops, were killed last Saturday night in clashes and air strikes in Hodeidah province, a pro-government military source said.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

4,400-year-old tomb found in Egypt

SAQQARA (Egypt) • Egypt unveiled a well-preserved 4,400-year-old tomb decorated with hieroglyphs and statues south of Cairo last Saturday. Officials expect more discoveries when archaeologists excavate the site further in the coming months.

The tomb was found in a buried ridge at the ancient necropolis of Saqqara. It was untouched and unlooted, Mr Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, told reporters at the site. The tomb dates from the rule of Neferirkare Kakai, the third king of the Fifth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom.

REUTERS

Closer eye on German firm buys

BERLIN • Berlin plans to cut to 10 per cent the threshold at which it can launch national security probes of stake purchases in German firms by non-European companies, business newspaper Handelsblatt reported yesterday.

The decision to lower the trigger threshold from the current 25 per cent follows years of mounting concern over the risk posed to the German economy by cash-rich Chinese investors buying stakes in strategically important companies.

REUTERS