Egypt government plans to reduce prices on staple food items

Egypt government plans to reduce prices on staple food items

AL-MUKALLA: The Houthi militia in Yemen on Sunday kidnapped the leader of a major teachers’ union amid a crackdown on a growing public movement demanding payment for public employees.

The Yemeni Teachers Club said that armed Houthis in Sanaa encircled the residence of its chairman, Abu Zaid Al-Kumaim, who was later kidnapped.

The club demanded the immediate release of Al-Kumaim and the payment of public worker wages.

“We were disappointed to learn of the club president’s arrest at a time when we were expecting our government to reconsider the issue of the interruption of our salaries as educators and teachers for up to eight years, and work to ensure their regular payment and end our suffering,” the club said in a statement.

Tens of thousands of public employees in Houthi-controlled regions have not been paid since late 2016, when the Houthis ended payments in protest of the Yemeni government’s move of the central bank headquarters from Sanaa to Aden.

The Yemeni government accused the Houthis of looting the bank’s foreign currency reserves to finance military operations.

Public pressure on the Houthis has grown lately following reports that the militia had generated millions of dollars in cash from Hodeidah ports since April 2022 during the UN-brokered truce.

Al-Kumaim