Highly anticipated UN-brokered consultations about substantive talks which could lead to an end to more than three years of brutal conflict across Yemen, have begun in Sweden. Brutal fighting has left the Middle East nation divided between Government and rebel forces, with millions on the brink of famine, and the economy and society in ruins.

A United Nations independent rights expert has condemned Egyptian Government reprisals, which included housing demolitions and arbitrary arrests, against human rights defenders and others she encountered while visiting the country just over a month ago.

Conditions in Yemen have deteriorated alarmingly, and the country is on the “brink of a major catastrophe” said Mark Lowcock – Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator – on returning from his mission to Yemen on Saturday.

An escalation in fighting across northern Syria illustrates the “fragility” of the situation in the war-torn region, a senior UN humanitarian official said on Thursday, urging sustained international efforts to protect millions trapped there, from “devastation.”