One thousand five hundred and thirty people were killed and 10953 were injured in 9931 car accidents during 2000 in Yemen, the Traffic Office reports. Losses and damage were estimated at 625,941,515 Rials.
Three hundred and forty people were killed and 3271 were injured in 3868 car accidents in the capital, which holds the first position among all Yemeni cities by number of casualties resulting from accidents. Second came Taiz and then Ibb.
Punctures, driving in the reverse direction, bad weather, lack of continuos technical check ups of cars and bad condition of roads are the most common causes of accidents.

Observers believe that developments taking place in preparation for the local council elections may lead to a surprise in the overall results. It is not quite clear to what extent Islah, the second largest party, will be present in many southern and eastern areas, which may provide an opportunity for the parties of the Opposition Supreme Coordination Council (OSCC) to take over. Observers claim that many of the citizens in the eastern and southern regions of the country have decided to support the opposition's united stand regarding the constitutional amendments and the elections and that many of them have lost hope in the PGC and that this may lead to a surprise win for the YSP and the other opposition parties who are still participating in the elections.
"We are motivated further by these assessments" a YSP official told Yemen Times.
In regard to the constitutional amendments, the divided position of Islah as to whether to support the amendments or not, has further weakened its position . "There is an internal dispute within the party and I believe that we will not reach a conclusion until next week," a leading Islah figure said.
It is interesting to note however that the members of the national opposition council have stated that they would boycott the local council elections, and say "NO" to constitutional amendments. This is expected to have little effect on the decision of the OSCC, which agreed earlier to come out with a common strategy and cooperate in nominating candidates from their parties, or independent individuals closest to their parties' ideologies. "It is time for us to coordinate and work together for the sake of our parties and the people," said Jarallah Omar, the second man in the YSP, the leading party of the OSCC.
A surprise win in the local council elections for opposition parties in southern and eastern areas could be devastating for the Islah party, and could in the long run be a potential threat to the ruling party, analysts conclude.

A party was held on Saturday in Aden to celebrate receiving American aid for the Demining Program. The celebration was attended by the State Minister for Cabinet Affairs- Mr. Mutahar Al-Saadi, Aden governor- Mr. Taha Ahmad Ghanem, American Ambassador to Yemen- Barbara Bodine, Cabinet Secretary - Mr. Sharaf Al-Hadi, Staff General Qasem Al-Sheibani and others. The aid grant included a number of vehicles to facilitate transportation.
In his speech, Mr. Al-Saadi expressed thanks to the American government for their continued help in both technical and financial fields.
The American Ambassador spoke highly about the level demining staff have reached. She also affirmed the American commitment to help the demining program.

A bomb exploded in front of the house of Brigadier General Staff Ahmad Shamlan, Head of the First Defense Brigade of President Ali Abdullah Saleh's Presidential Guard, last Wednesday morning. A security source told YT that the bomb exploded as the guard of his house, located in the Asbahi Complex, opened the gate for Shamlan's car to leave the courtyard of the house. "The bomb was placed so that it would explode once it sensed the gate's opening" the source said. One of the house's guards was severely injured, while little damage was caused to the house. Yemen Times asked whether Mr. Shamlan had personal disputes that could be the reason why he was targeted, however the response was that he had no personal conflicts with anyone whatsoever. The attempt is the first to be reported against a security official in such a high-ranking position in one of the Defense Brigades of the President. "Investigation into the incident has already started" the source concluded.

Sons Complains Against PGC

The Sons of the Yemeni League party sent a letter of complaint about the PGC to a number of official and international organizations concerned with democracy in Yemen. The letter brought forward the threatening and dismissing of Saleh M. Muthanna, the party nominee for the original committees in the district of Rahba, by the head of the committee and member of the PGC, Hussein Abdullah Al-Futeini.
The letter appealed to all bodies concerned with democracy to reject and condemned such violations of laws and freedoms.
"We do not accept marginalization in a country whose rulers call for democracy, public rights and political participation. What happened to our nominees is an example of what happens in the other governorates," the letter concluded.

Mrs. Shada M. Nasser, lawyer, has obtained a license from the ,Ministry of Culture and Tourism to establish a forum for culture and thought which she will call "The Belqis Cultural and thought Forum". The forum aims at:
* Training Yemeni woman in culture and thought.
* Help in supporting the poor families, children and the handicapped.
* Studying and documenting the history of Yemeni woman and her role.
* Studying and documenting the role of Yemeni woman in the national movement.
* Supporting women to take their positions in the political and economic life through making them aware of their political, social and cultural rights and their rights in education and labor.
Measures are being undertaken to open the forum which will be located in Sana'a.

Mr. Ahmad Ismael Mohammed Al-Bawab, Public Relations Manger at the Yemeni Bank for Reconstruction and Development has finished his book "Public Relations at Banks" comprising definitions of public relations, their importance to institutions, etc.
The book adds to Al-Bawab's credit a new beneficial work that will help many people in the same field.

A leading member in the Yemeni Congregation for Reform (Islah) condemned dishonest attempts by the PGC to corrupt electorates by making them take a divorce oath as a guarantee to win their votes.
While political parties race for the elections, analysts and observers expect a great success for the PGC in the northern governorates and for the Opposition Coordination in the southern and eastern ones.

An young Arab woman was arrested last week in Sana'a following a report from Yemen's Embassy in Emirates that she was afflicted with AIDS. The woman is said to have practiced prostitution in Dubai before she was deported.
Since her arrival in Yemen, it is alleged that she rented a flat and practiced prostitution with many well-to-do people.

A gang made up of five armed persons broke into a number of shops in Hodeidah last Monday 22. Following a report about an armed gang roving the city, military forces started tracing them up. One of the gang members was arrested near the beach and is now undergoing interrogation.

Mr. Ayman Mohammed Nasser, Chief Editor of Attariq Newspaper, nominated himself as a candidate for local elections in Attawahi in Aden. Mr. Nasser enrolled as an independent.

The Tenth Anniversary Meeting of COCA leaders was inaugurated Saturday morning 27.1.2001 in the COCA headquarters. The meeting is being held during (27.1-1.2.2001) and focuses on issues that have a general auditing effect. It is also to shed light on efforts exerted to develop techniques and theories of auditing work ensuring the total quality management for the the outcome of auditing work.
It also focuses on evaluating and endorsing the plans of the authority.
Throughout the week a number of papers are going to be presented, including a paper on the total quality of assisting activities for auditing performance and another paper on encouraging authorities and institutions to address their limitations and to work in accordance with the recommendations of the COCA. A workshop is going to be organized on how to make the reports of the authority more effective.
The inauguration meeting was attended by all the managers of the authority along with members of the Dutch review court and the German project cooperation manager in the authority.

The Yemeni Anti-Aids Society held in cooperation with the Ministry of Health, a speech ceremony on the international day of HIV. A number of speeches were delivered in the ceremony asserting the great hazards of HIV.
The report indicated that the first case was discovered in Yemen in 1990 and that the number of those affected exceed 1200 cases. The report also noted that statistics may not be absolutely true as there may be some cases unreported.
Statistics also indicate that about 18,8 million persons from all over the world have died due to this disease, of whom 3,8 million are children. Statistics also show that 34,3 million persons are suffering from aids virus and are expected to die within the coming decade. In 1999, the number of those affected by HIV was 5,4 million. Reports indicate that the number of those reported to be infected in Yemen is decreasing. However, the flow of people to Yemen, especially from the Horn of Africa, considered to be one of the most infected areas, should be taken on board.

The third psyche training course will be inaugurated the coming Thursday in the Psychological and Neuro Hospital and will last for four weeks. The course was organized in cooperation with the British Embassy and British Council. A number of specialist doctors from the hospital, Sana'a University and Science and Technology University will train 30 persons working in the hospital, Central Prison Authority and some governmental hospitals in the Capital.