The Houthi Movement, that controls Sanaa and other parts of Yemen, have reignited the civil war in the country, and launched attackes on Saudi border regions. At least 30 Yemeni government troops have reportedly been killed in Houthi rebel attacks on military camps in central Yemen. The defence ministry said ballistic missiles and drones struck several camps in the provinces of Marib and Hadramawt, resulting in the death and injury of a number of Yemeni personnel. It did not give an exact toll. The ministry denounced the attacks as "treacherous" and vowed to "respond to this aggression at an appropriate time and place". The Houthis, who control much of north-western Yemen and are backed by Iran, said they had targeted "large Saudi military build-ups" preparing for an offensive. A Saudi-led coalition has supported the government during the civil war. In a separate attack, the coalition's spokesperson said that 11 civilians had been wounded in the Saudi Arabian border region of Najran, in what they described as a Houthi strike. (click image to read more)

Armenia president, Vahagn Khachaturyan has re-appointed Nikol Pashinyan as Armenian prime minister, after the decisive victory of his Civil Contract party in parliamentary elections in June. During a ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Yerevan, President Khachaturyan signed a decree on the appointment of Nikol Pashinyan as Prime Minister of the Republic. President Vahagn Khachaturyan said in short remarks: It is a great honor for me to sign a decree on appointing you to the post of Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, for which I received a proposal from the political majority in the National Assembly, under Article 149 of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia. I sincerely congratulate you, I wish you great patience, endurance, and determination to lead us in these difficult times, to lead the country to the future, a prosperous future. Nikol Pashinyan thanked the president and added,  I must say honestly that in 2018, when I assumed the post of Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia as a result of the People's, non-violent, velvet revolution, it would have been difficult to predict that we would go down such a path and I think it would have been difficult to predict that we would be able to overcome this path. But we are where we are, and I think that the key role and significance in all this is unequivocally and undoubtedly the people of the Republic of Armenia, who, after all, have demonstrated special expressions of state consciousness and state-centeredness throughout this period. And of course, this is a great obligation and commitment. Of course, the Government will be formed in the near future and all members of the Government, including me, will already enshrine our obligations to our people in the text of the oath.  In the meantime Ruben Rubinyan has been elected Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia, following a secret vote of MPs. He is a 36-year-old MP from the ruling Civil Contract party, who was one of the deputy speakers in the previous parliament and, until recently, was the special representative in the negotiations on the normalization of relations with Turkey.

​ Two women have emerged as favourite to lead the United Nations as Secretary-General from 1 January 2027, when the term of the present incumbent, Antonio Gutteres, expires. A straw poll of the members of the UN Security Council, held on Thursday, 30 July showed that of the seven candidates, Rebecca Grynspan of Costa Rica and Carolyn Rodriguez-Birkett of Guyana received ten and nine positive endorsements respectively, by the 15 members UN Security Council Although the poll and its result are supposed to be secret, the result leaked within minutes, and was carried on world media outlets, such as Reuters. The result was as follows   Michelle Bachelet 6 encourage 5  discourage   4 no opinion María Fernanda Espinosa 5 2 8 Rafael Grossi 7 2 6 Rebeca Grynspan 10 1 4 Olara Otunnu 2 5 8 Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett 9 2 4 Macky Sall 6 7 2   Article 97 of the UN Charter states that the “Secretary-General shall be appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council”. Straw polls are informal ballots used to determine the viability of Secretary-General candidates.  The seven current candidates are: Michelle Bachelet Jeria (Chile), who was nominated by Brazil, Chile, and Mexico on 2 February, with Chile withdrawing its nomination on 24 March; María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés (Ecuador), who was nominated by Antigua and Barbuda on 11 May; Rafael Mariano Grossi (Argentina), who was nominated by Argentina on 26 November 2025; Rebeca Grynspan Mayufis (Costa Rica), who was nominated by Costa Rica on 3 March; Olara Otunnu (Uganda), who was nominated by Uganda on 24 July; Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett (Guyana), who was nominated by Guyana on 15 June; and Macky Sall (Senegal), who was nominated by Burundi on 2 March. At Thursday's straw poll, there was no difference between the ballots presented to the five permanent members (P5) and the ten elected members (E10). Council members received one ballot per candidate, containing the candidate’s name followed by three options: “encouraged”, “discouraged”, and “no opinion expressed”.   It is ofcourse early days, and the straw poll is just an informal indication of the mood of the UN Security Council, but the strong showwing by the two womencandidates may be an indication that for the first time, the head of the UN can be a women. (click image to read more) ​