BBC在线收听下载:也门胡塞武装开始撤离三个主要港口

This is the BBC news. Hello, I'm Jonathan Izard. The United Nations says the Houthi group in Yemen is planning to withdraw its forces from three key ports in the first major step since a ceasefire was agreed in December. The UN General overseeing the deal Michael Lollesgaard said the Houthi intended to redeploy their forces over four days from Hudaydah, Salif and Ras Issa, starting on Saturday. Lise Grande is the UN humanitarian coordinator in Yemen. The port of Hudaydah is the lifeline for all of northern Yemen. Twenty million Yemenese depend upon the supplies that come through that single port. If redeployment happens and we sincerely hope that it does, it will ensure that the port is safe and secure and that families all across the country who need food in order to survive, who need medicines in order to survive, they will know that those commodities will reach them. But the Yemeni information minister has said that the Houthi's unilateral withdrawal was unacceptable because it did not allow for joint monitoring and verification.

The United States has said it's ready to defend its forces and interests in the Gulf as tensions with Iran escalate. The Pentagon says it's sending reinforcements to the region, but is not seeking conflict with the Iranians. Steve Jackson reports. The USS Arlington, which carries amphibious vehicles and aircraft, had already been scheduled to go to the Middle East, but its deployment is being brought forward. It will join a strike group headed by an aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, which has just passed through the Suez Canal on the way to the Gulf. Patriot missiles are also being sent to protect US forces in the area. Tensions have been increasing ever since President Trump pulled the US out of an international deal to stop Iran pursuing nuclear weapons. Tehran has described the latest deployments as psychological warfare aimed at intimidating Iran.

President Trump has dismissed suggestions that the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has breached his trust by test firing short-range missiles. Mr. Trump told the POLITICO Magazine the tests were very standard stuff and denied being angry or frustrated. Mr. Trump has repeatedly emphasized the importance of his personal relationship with Mr. Kim in spite of the lack of progress towards ending the North's nuclear program.

Facebook is suing a South Korean firm Rankwave over allegations that it made nearly ten million dollars by misusing the data of Facebook account holders. The tech giant accuses Rankwave of using up to thirty apps to troll details of posts made on Facebook pages in order to analyze how popular or influential a user was. Facebook alleges the information was used for marketing purposes in violation of the social network's policies. BBC news.