Yemeni PM resigns

Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak, prime minister of Yemen's internationally recognised government, said in a statement on Saturday he had resigned after facing "lots of difficulties" including being unable to reshuffle the government.

His exit follows conflict with Rashad Al-Alimi, head of Yemen's presidential council, over his powers after the latter refused Mubarak's request to dismiss 12 of the government's ministers, six government sources told Reuters.

They said Finance Minister Salem Saleh Bin Braik was set to be appointed the new prime minister.

Mubarak was appointed premier in February 2024 after serving as foreign minister. He came to prominence in 2015 when he was kidnapped by Iran-aligned Houthi militia while serving as Yemen's presidential chief of staff during the Houthis' conflict with then-President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

Mubarak's resignation, which he announced in a statement, came with the US intensifying airstrikes to take out Houthi military assets and deter them from targeting commercial shipping in the Red Sea.