The "Red Sea Spirit", a Greek-owned bulk carrier flying the Panama flag, was attacked off the coast of Yemen by pirates on Thursday, though it remains unclear whether the hijacking was successful.
Yemen has rejected Iranian "interference" in its affairs after Tehran's foreign minister criticised regional intervention in Sanaa's war with Shiite rebels in a thinly veiled allusion to Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia says it has regained control of Jabal Dukhan, an area they say was seized by Yemeni Shi'ite rebels who reportedly crossed into Saudi territory last week.
Saudi military forces pressed their offensive against Yemen's Shiite rebels on Saturday after the insurgents made a cross-border raid earlier this week. Meanwhile rebels claim they captured some Saudi soldiers in Yemeni territory on Friday.
Reports say Saudi jets have pounded Shiite rebels camps in northern Yemen in retaliation for a rebel incursion across the border. Saudi ground troops are said to be gathering near the Yemeni border.
Yemeni Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi said his country was ready to begin talks with northern Shiite insurgents, but will not negotiate with rebels with separatist demands.
In this edition: thousands of Shiite Lebanese are expelled from the UAE for refusing to rat on their compatriotes; civilians get caught in the crossfire in Yemen's civil war; students at a Cairo university are divided over a proposed niqab ban.
Yemen's government is denying claims by Shiite rebels - the subject of a current government offensive - that they shot down a government MiG warplane in the northern region of Saada on Friday, saying that a technical problem caused the crash.
Today on the Web: The web reacts to violent clashes in Yemen, the blogosphere talks about the terrible flooding in the wake of tropical storm Ketsana; and paintball fans recreate a portrait of Marilyn Monroe on a giant canvas.
Dozens of people have been killed in fierce clashes between government troops and Shiite rebels in northern Yemen, according to military sources. A government offensive against Zaidi rebels has seen hundreds killed since it began six weeks ago.
