Yemen's government, separatists sign deal to stop infighting

Yemen's internationally recognized government signed a power-sharing deal on Tuesday with southern separatists backed by the United Arab Emirates. The deal aims to end months of infighting in the country's south.

The two groups are in an alliance against Yemen's Houthi rebels. But their deadly clashes have exposed a potential rift in the anti-Houthi bloc and threatened to further destabilize the Arab world's poorest country.

Saudi Arabia's state TV broadcast the signing ceremony in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. That's where Yemen's president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, has been in exile since 2014, when the Houthis took control of the capital Sanaa and much of northern Yemen.

In this photo released by Saudi Royal Palace, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, left, and Yemen's President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, attend the signing a power-sharing deal between Yemen's internationally recognized government and Yemeni separatists that are backed by the United Arab Emirates, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019. At top is a picture of Saudi Arabia's founder late King Abdul Aziz Al Saud. (Bandar AljaloudSaudi Royal Palace via AP)

In August, the UAE-backed southern separatists took control of Aden, the temporary capital, from forces loyal to Hadi, which are backed by Saudi Arabia.

Tuesday's power-sharing deal allows for President Hadi to return to Aden and envisages a new Cabinet.

A copy of the deal obtained by The Associated Press also shows the separatists agreed to disband their militias, which would be integrated into Hadi's forces within three months.

In this photo released by the Saudi Royal Palace, Yemeni Southern Transitional Council member and former Aden Governor Nasser al-Khabji, left, and Yemen’s deputy Prime Minister Salem al-Khanbashi greet each other before signing a power-sharing deal witnessed by Yemen's president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, background right, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, center, and Dhabi's Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019. Yemen's internationally recognized government signed a power-sharing deal with Yemeni separatists that are backed by the United Arab Emirates. A picture of Saudi Arabia's founder late King Abdul Aziz Al Saud hangs on wall. (Bandar AljaloudSaudi Royal Palace via AP)

In return, the southern separatists are to take part in United Nations-brokered talks between Hadi's government and the Houthi rebels.

Those talks aim to end the wider conflict in Yemen, which has killed tens of thousands of people and caused near-famine conditions in some areas.

The agreement further dictates that both sides pull their forces out of Aden, and says all sides would be under the Saudi-led coalition's control. It leaves only a unit of the presidential guard in Aden to protect Hadi, while coalition forces will protect the southern separatists' leaders.

In this photo released by the Saudi Royal Palace, Yemen's president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, center, is accompanied by Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, right, and Dhabi's crown prince, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan before signing a power-sharing deal in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019. Yemen's internationally recognized government has signed a power-sharing deal with Yemeni separatists that are backed by the United Arab Emirates. The deal aims to halt months of infighting between the two groups. (Bandar AljaloudSaudi Royal Palace via AP)

Peter Salisbury, Yemen expert at the Crisis International Group, a Brussels-based think tank, said the agreement solves two short-term problems, if it can be successfully implemented. It prevents a war-within-a-war between the southern separatists and Hadi's government. It also provides more credibility to future government negotiations with the Houthis.

However, Salisbury cautioned that the agreement "is loosely worded, and open to interpretation ... and sets an ambitious timeline for implementation."

Attending the ceremony were Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Abu Dhabi's crown prince, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Also present was Aidarous al-Zubaidi, the head of the secessionist Southern Transitional Council.

In this photo released by the Saudi Royal Palace, Yemen's president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, center, is accompanied by Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, right, and Dhabi's crown prince, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan before signing a power-sharing deal in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019. Yemen's internationally recognized government has signed a power-sharing deal with Yemeni separatists that are backed by the United Arab Emirates. The deal aims to halt months of infighting between the two groups. (Bandar AljaloudSaudi Royal Palace via AP)

Saudi Arabia has in the past weeks increased its military presence in southern Yemen, airlifting in additional troops, armored vehicles, tanks and other military equipment.

The UAE has since July been pulling troops out of Yemen, leaving the coalition with a weakened ground presence and fewer tactical options.

That coffee you slurped this morning? It’s 600,000 years old.

Using genes from coffee plants around the world, researchers built a family tree for the world's most popular type of coffee, known to scientists as Coffea arabica and to coffee lovers simply as “arabica.”

The researchers, hoping to learn more about the plants to better protect them from pests and climate change, found that the species emerged around 600,000 years ago through natural crossbreeding of two other coffee species.

“In other words, prior to any intervention from man,” said Victor Albert, a biologist at the University at Buffalo who co-led the study.

These wild coffee plants originated in Ethiopia but are thought to have been first roasted and brewed primarily in Yemen starting in the 1400s. In the 1600s, Indian monk Baba Budan is fabled to have smuggled seven raw coffee beans back to his homeland from Yemen, laying the foundation for coffee’s global takeover.

Arabica coffee, prized for its smooth and relatively sweet flavor, now makes up 60% - 70% of the global coffee market and is brewed by brands such as Starbucks, Tim Horton's and Dunkin'. The rest is robusta, a stronger and more bitter coffee made from one of arabica's parents, Coffea canephora.

To piece together arabica coffee’s past, researchers studied genomes of C. canephora, another parent called Coffea eugenioides, and more than 30 different arabica plants, including a sample from the 1700s — courtesy of the Natural History Museum in London — that Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus used to name the plant.

The study was published Monday in the journal Nature Genetics. Researchers from Nestlé, which owns several coffee brands, contributed to the study.

The arabica plant’s population fluctuated over thousands of years before humans began cultivating it, flourishing during warm, wet periods and suffering through dry ones. These lean times created so-called population bottlenecks, when only a small number of genetically similar plants survived.

Today, that renders arabica coffee plants more vulnerable to diseases like coffee leaf rust, which cause billions of dollars in losses every year. The researchers explored the makeup of one arabica variety that is resistant to coffee leaf rust, highlighting sections of its genetic code that could help protect the plant.

The study clarifies how arabica came to be and spotlights clues that could help safeguard the crop, said Fabian Echeverria, an adviser for the Center for Coffee Research and Education at Texas A&M University who was not involved with the research.

Exploring arabica’s past and present could yield insight into keeping coffee plants healthy – and coffee cups full – for future early mornings.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

FILE - Mohammed Fita picks coffee beans on his farm Choche, near Jimma, 375 kilometers (234 miles) southwest of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Saturday, Sept. 21 2002. Wild coffee plants originated in Ethiopia but are thought to have been primarily roasted and brewed in Yemen starting in the 1400s. (AP Photo/Sayyid Azim, File)

FILE - Arabica coffee beans harvested the previous year are stored at a coffee plantation in Ciudad Vieja, Guatemala, on May 22, 2014. In a study published in the journal Nature Genetics on Monday, April 15, 2024, researchers estimate that Coffea arabica came to be from natural crossbreeding of two other coffee species over 600,000 years ago. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo, File)