#Yemen clashes kill dozens as aid delayed

Houthi militants ride a patrol truck

Fierce clashes raged Monday between rebels and loyalist fighters in southern Yemen, leaving nearly 100 dead in 24 hours, as the Red Cross faced delays to urgently needed aid deliveries.

Relief workers have warned of a dire situation in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula state, where a Saudi-led coalition is waging an air war on Iran-backed Houthi Shia rebels.

At least 53 people have been killed in 24 hours of fighting between rebels and fighters loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi in the main southern city Aden, medical and army sources said on Monday.

Seventeen civilians were said to be among the dead.

Witnesses said that clashes continued on Monday as rebels tried to seize a port in the city, which sits on an extinct volcano jutting out into the sea.

In the town of Daleh, about 120 kilometres (75 miles) north of Aden, at least 19 Houthi rebels and 15 pro-Hadi militiamen were killed in fighting overnight, local officials said.

Seven more people were killed in clashes in the southern province of Abyan, where Hadi loyalists have besieged the base of a rebel army brigade loyal to ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who is accused of backing the Houthis.

Hadi, who is backed by the United Nations as Yemen's legitimate leader, took refuge in Aden in February after the Houthis, who hail from the mountainous north, seized power in the capital Sanaa.

Hadi fled to Saudi Arabia last month as rebels advanced on his southern stronghold, prompting the military campaign by the Saudi-led coalition, now in its 12th day.

Yemen, strategically located near key shipping routes and bordering oil-rich Saudi Arabia, is sinking deeper into a multi-sided civil conflict.

The fighting has drawn in an array of armed groups including the Houthis, pro-Hadi militia, army units loyal to Saleh, southern separatists, Sunni tribes and Al-Qaeda militants.

The Red Cross has appealed for an immediate truce to facilitate aid deliveries and allow people to seek water, food and medical assistance.

It has been trying to fly emergency supplies into Sanaa but the plane is still stuck on the tarmac.

"We have a cargo plane with medical supplies which is ready to go," Sitara Jabeen, a spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Geneva, told .

"We have the permission for this plane but we have logistical problems for the landing. There are less and less planes landing in Yemen. We are trying to solve the logistic problems," she added.

The Red Cross is also trying to deploy a team of surgeons to Aden, but says it is still awaiting authorisations from all sides in the fighting.

It has called for all land, air and sea routes to be immediately opened to allow the delivery of 48 tonnes of medical supplies and surgical kits the organisation has ready to treat the 2,000 to 3,000 people who have been wounded in the fighting.

An AFP photographer at Sanaa airport reported that three Indian aircraft and one Russian plane landed in the capital on Monday to evacuate their citizens.

Russia presented a draft resolution to the UN Security Council on Saturday calling for a humanitarian pause in the Saudi-led air strikes.

Riyadh has assembled a coalition of five Gulf monarchies, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Sudan to wage air raids on the Houthis.

Pakistan said on Monday that it had been asked by Saudi Arabia to contribute aircraft, ships and ground troops to Operation Decisive Storm.

Despite close ties with Riyadh, Pakistan has so far held back from joining the offensive, saying it does not want to get involved in any conflict that would inflame sectarian tensions.

Shia Iran has strongly criticised the intervention in Yemen by the coalition of largely Sunni Muslim nations, accusing Saudi Arabia of sowing instability with its air campaign.

Tehran has angrily rejected accusations of arming the Houthis.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is due to visit Islamabad on Wednesday to discuss the situation, Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said during a special parliamentary debate.

"There should be no ambiguity that if the security of Saudi territory is at stake Pakistan will stand by for support," he told lawmakers.

Few Egyptians heed calls for 'Islamic revolution'; minor clashes

Low turnout for Islamic protests on Friday in different parts of the country; two security officers and a civilian killed, more than a dozen injured so far

Police stand guard as an army vehicle approaches as they prepare for more possible protests in the eastern suburb of Mataryia, Cairo, November 28, 2014

Few Egyptians heeded a call to carry out an uprising to impose Islamic law and preserve Egypt's "Muslim identity" in planned Friday protests, while militant attacks and clashes killed three.

A limited number of protests kicked off in several governorates across the country, but not much larger than the normal weekly protests staged by supporters of Islamist ousted Mohamed Morsi, who have seen their street presence dwindle amid a police crackdown that has killed hundreds and landed thousands in jail.

Friday's protests were called for by the Salafist Front, a small ultraconservative Islamist group, and were backed by the Muslim Brotherhood.

"The media blew worries about the protests out of proportion. The Islamists definitely failed today," political analyst Amr Hisham Rabei told .

The relative calm of the day was broken by militant attacks as two army officers were killed in drive-by shootings by unknown assailants in Qalioubiya governorate, north of Cairo and Gesr El-Suez in Cairo.

Improvised explosives were also thrown at security forces in the Nile Delta's Sharqiya governorate, injuring two policemen and eight civilians.

Small protests in Cairo and Alexandria turned violent as protesters clashed with police.

A man, 42, was shot dead amid clashes between police and protesters in Cairo's eastern Matariya district, a health ministry spokesman, Hossam Abdel-Ghaffar, told . It is unclear whether the man was taking part in the protests or was passing by, Abdel-Ghaffar said.

Matariya has witnessed near-weekly Friday clashes between Brotherhood supporters and police in the months following Morsi's ouster in July 2013. Last month a child was killed in similar clashes in the district.

Two other officers – one from the police, another from the army – were injured during clashes with Islamist supporters in Alexandria.

The clashes in Cairo and Alexandria were the largest reported. So far, 20 people have been injured nationwide, Abdel-Ghaffar said.

Friday's limited violence occurred despite heightened security measures taken across Egypt in anticipation of the protests, with security forces deployed in major squares and at key buildings.

Many shops closed their doors across the country on Friday and fewer people than usual roamed the streets in the capital and elsewhere.

There were several small demonstrations in the late afternoon to express support to the government in Mansoura and Mahalla in the Nile Delta, as well as Alexandria and Cairo. 

Earlier on Friday, police said they arrested 107 alleged Brotherhood members for intending to carry out acts of violence, As reported.

The figure increased as dozens were rounded up by police during the day.

A police spokesperson said 224 protesters were arrested nationwide.

At least 10 small improvised bombs were defused in four governorates, including Cairo, the police said.

Two sound bombs detonated in highly secured areas of Cairo – in Abdel-Moneim Riad Square, walking distance from Tahrir Square, and near the presidential palace east of Cairo.

Unlike the Brotherhood, several other Islamist groups including the Salafist Nour Party – an ally of the government – and former Brotherhood allies the Wasat Party and Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya movement rejected the demonstrations.

Egypt's Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab on Thursday had declared that Friday would be a "normal day."