were two examples of successful "partnering" that Obama mentioned in one of his speeches (it might have been the one at West Point).

SANAA, Yemen — Two suicide car bombers rammed their vehicles into a Shiite rebels’ checkpoint and a house south of the Yemeni capital Tuesday as a school bus was traveling nearby, killing at least 26 people including at least 16 primary school students, according to the Yemeni government, rebels and witnesses.

Witnesses said that the first car was loaded with potatoes apparently disguising explosives underneath. When the car bomber arrived at the checkpoint manned by rebels, he blew up the vehicle as the students’ bus was passing. After the first explosion, a second car targeted the home of a Shiite rebel leader, Abdullah Idris.

State TV quoted the country’s Supreme Security Committee — Yemen’s highest security body — as saying that at least 26 including 16 students and 10 civilians were killed in the twin bombings.

Witnesses at the site of the attack said that the rebels brought four pickup trucks and dumped dozens of bodies into them while several ambulances rushed to the scene to carry away the wounded. Body parts littered the street along with open bags of potatoes.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/15-schoolgirls-among-26-killed-in-yemen-car-bomb/

Shiite rebels in Yemen, who control the capital Sanaa, closed the strategic Hodeida port on the Red Sea and stormed into the building of the country’s main state newspaper Wednesday, The Associated Press (AP) reported. The rebels reportedly did not allow the director of Yemen's second-largest port to enter his office while they also ousted Faisal Makram, the editor-in-chief of al-Thawra newspaper on corruption charges.

The port was seized by Houthi rebels in October, who replaced the port governor with their ally, AP reported. Meanwhile, Yemen's information ministry said that al-Thawra's headquarters in Sanaa was raided by the rebels “to manipulate editorial policy," AP reported, citing SABA, Yemen’s official news agency. However, SABA did not openly name Shiite Houthis, who control several major cities in Yemen. The agency called the invasion a "blatant assault" and a "grave violation of the freedom of the press," AP reported.

Earlier on Tuesday, two car bombs exploded in Radaa city in Yemen’s central al-Bayda province, killing at least 25 people, among whom 15 were school children. The first car bomb exploded near a checkpoint guarded by Shiite Houthi rebels, when a bus carrying school children was passing the point, Reuters reported. The second explosion, which killed 10 people, occurred at the house of an official, who reportedly supported Houthis.

Radaa city has been the stronghold of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which considers the Shia community as heretics, and Houthis as people supported by Iran, Reuters reported.

http://www.ibtimes.com/yemens-shiite-rebels-close-hodeida-port-red-sea-raid-al-thawra-newspapers-office-1761077

SANAA

Shiite Houthi militants on Wednesday closed the headquarters of the Central Bank of Yemen in capital Sanaa and prevented employees from entering or leaving the building, a bank source said.

"Houthi militants stormed the Central Bank building, closed all its gates and denied entry or exit to its employees," the source told The Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity.

The militants also prevented funds from being taken out of the premises, he added, without giving any reason for the move.

The Shiite group has yet to comment on the reported incident, the second of its kind on Wednesday.

http://www.aa.com.tr/en/rss/436808--houthi-militants-shut-yemens-central-bank

Dec 17 (Reuters) - Yemen's Houthi movement sacked top managers of the country's second largest port and the main oil company on Wednesday, staff said, in the latest move by the Shi'ite Muslim group to consolidate its hold on state institutions.

The Houthis, who became the de facto power in Yemen in September when they captured the capital Sanaa, portray their move as a revolution against corruption and embezzlement which they say was emptying state coffers.

Officials at Hodeida port said Houthi fighters on Wednesday blocked the director of the facility, Yemen's main Red Sea harbour where most of the country's food imports arrive, with a view to replacing him.

"The staff were so angry that they walked out in a demonstration and closed off the port," a port official said by telephone.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/17/yemen-houthis-idUSL6N0U129J20141217?rpc=401