Hundreds of mourners in northern Yemen on Thursday buried 17 civilians, including nine children, killed in air strikes last week as Western pressure increased on the warring parties to end the devastating four-year war.

Saudi Arabia's air defense systems shot down a drone over the kingdom on Friday, the Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen said, and it accused the country's Houthi fighters of launching the aircraft and targeting civilians.

Yemeni government and Houthi representatives have reached an agreement on the first phase of their redeployment of forces under a U.N.-sponsored deal for the warring armies to leave the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah, the United Nations said on Sunday.

The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen launched a targeting operation in the Houthi-held capital, Sanaa, Saudi state TV reported on Saturday.

Amnesty International accused the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday of diverting arms supplied by Western and other states to "unaccountable militias accused of war crimes" in Yemen.

A U.N. special envoy told warring Yemenis on Tuesday that rapid implementation of a prisoner swap deal would help advance efforts at a political settlement of a nearly four-year-old war.

The head of a United Nations advance team tasked with monitoring a ceasefire between the Iranian-aligned Houthi group and Saudi-backed government forces in Yemen's Hodeidah has arrived in Yemen, U.N. and local officials said on Saturday.

Explosions rocked Yemen�s Red Sea city of Hodeidah for a second day on Wednesday despite a U.N.-mediated ceasefire meant to pave the way for peace negotiations to end nearly four-years of war.

The U.N. Security Council is considering a draft resolution that asks U.N. chief António Guterres to submit proposals by the end of the month on how to monitor a ceasefire agreed by Yemen�s warring parties for the key port city of Hodeidah, diplomats said on Monday.

The United Nations proposed at initial talks between Yemen�s warring parties on Tuesday that they withdraw from the contested port city of Hodeidah, a lifeline for millions facing famine, and place it under the control of an interim entity.

Yemeni Houthi officials are expected to travel to Sweden shortly for talks as early as Wednesday to end the nearly four-year-old war after the Saudi-led coalition allowed the evacuation of some of their wounded for treatment.

The U.N. special envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths, arrived on Friday in the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, witnesses said.

Yemen�s Houthi movement said on Monday it was halting drone and missile attacks on Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and their Yemeni allies, responding to a demand from the United Nations.

The Saudi-led coalition has ordered a halt in its offensive against Iranian-aligned Houthi rebels in Yemen�s main port city Hodeidah, three sources said on Thursday, in an apparent concession to Western pressure to end the war.

Tougher checks on European Union arms exports are needed and sanctions should be imposed on those countries that flout the bloc�s rules, the European Parliament said on Wednesday.

After a night of air strikes on Yemen�s Hodeidah, calm descended to allow hungry families to stock up on food in the Houthi-held Red Sea port city on Tuesday.

The United States is halting refueling of aircraft from the Saudi-led coalition engaged in Yemen, the United States and Saudi Arabia said on Friday, ending one of the most divisive aspects of U.S. assistance to the Saudi war effort.

The number of Yemenis on the brink of famine could rise to 12 million - or two in five of the population - from around 8.5 million in coming months due to escalating war and a deepening economic crisis, the United Nations food agency said on Monday.

The Iran-aligned Houthi movement in Yemen said it launched a missile targeting a facility of oil firm Aramco in Asir in southwestern Saudi Arabia, Houthi-run media al-Masirah TV and SABA reported on Tuesday.

A Saudi-led military coalition foiled attacks by explosives-laden speedboats deployed by Yemen�s Iran-aligned Houthi movement against commercial vessels, including an oil tanker, in the Red Sea, Saudi and Emirati state media said on Wednesday.