Yemen's Houthis on Tuesday denied reports that the Saudi-backed government forces had advanced into areas under their control, insisting that the armed group maintains "firm control" over all their recent battlefield gains.
In a social media post, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea dismissed the government's claims of victory as a mere attempt to appease their behind-the-scenes backers.
Sarea further alleged that Houthi forces had launched dozens of strikes against "enemy" positions in southern Yemen over the past few hours, inflicting more than 200 casualties. He added that similar attacks targeted "enemy" troops massing in the provinces of Al-Jawf and Marib.
On Monday, Yemeni government forces claimed to regain control of the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait and the key Red Sea port city of Mocha in a large-scale military offensive codenamed "Operation Dawn of Yemen". They also announced the launch of a strategic offensive on the Houthi-held capital, Sanaa.
On the same day, the Saudi-led multinational coalition said that 100 fighter jets participated in "Operation Dawn of Yemen", destroying more than 300 Houthi targets.
The coalition affirmed that it is currently providing round-the-clock air support for the Yemeni government's ground operations, along with continuous aerial protection for the vital Bab al-Mandab Strait, a crucial chokepoint for global maritime trade.
The latest developments came amid an escalation in clashes between the Houthi group and Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces across southwestern Yemen.
Yemen's conflict began in late 2014 when the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and much of northern Yemen, prompting a Saudi-led military intervention in support of the internationally recognized Yemeni government in 2015. The recent clashes marked the sharpest escalation since a UN-brokered truce in 2022 largely halted major hostilities in the war-torn country.
Houthis deny Yemeni gov't advances, claim firm control over all battlefield gains
Houthis deny Yemeni gov't advances, claim firm control over all battlefield gains
China's 16th Arctic Ocean expedition achieved the country's first video call spanning the North and South Poles on September 25, coinciding with the Mid-Autumn Festival, using a domestically developed satellite system with a delay of no more than one second.
The expedition deployed four vessels -- Xuelong, Xuelong 2, Jidi, and Tansuo 3 -- to study extreme environmental changes in the Arctic amid accelerating global warming. On September 29, China's research icebreakers Xuelong and Xuelong 2 returned to Shanghai after completing their missions, while Jidi and Tansuo 3 continue their expedition tasks and are expected to return in mid-October following a three-month journey.
The expedition team held a satellite video conversation with China's Antarctic Qinling Station, extending festive greetings to their polar scientific research counterparts and testing a large-scale constellation designed to provide global broadband internet and support integrated space-Earth 6G networks.
"This is the first time that China has used a domestically developed communications satellite system to make a video call across the largest latitude span," said Liu Feng, a senior engineer at the National Marine Data and Information Service.
The around-13,000-satellite GW constellation, led by China Satellite Network Group (SatNet), is China's first mega low Earth orbit satellite internet project. During the polar test, the maximum uplink and downlink speed reached around 30 megabits per second, equivalent to taking about 10 minutes to download a 1GB file. The equipment can also be used for emergency rescue and maritime communications.
"During the test period, it also supported real-time communications among Xuelong, Jidi, Tansuo 3, the National Marine Data and Information Service and the Polar Research Center. After Jidi and Tansuo 3 entered ice zone operation areas, their communication could not be guaranteed. So file transfers and navigation logs had to be transmitted through the SatNet equipment," said Zhang Bin, an engineer at the National Marine Data and Information Service. The successful test of the domestically produced satellite communication equipment marks China's independent control over polar region communications. The equipment ensures that data remains within the country, effectively safeguarding data security.
China holds first video call between North, South Poles via homegrown satellite system
