Yemen to Give Civil Servants Raises; Protests Rage Against Economy
Yemen's government says it is giving civil servants and pensioners pay raises, after protests against the country's woeful economy nearly paralyzed a major port city Sunday. Officials have not said when the raises would take effect or how much they will be. Demonstrations against the economy in the port of Aden continued Monday. Many shops were closed, and some people burned tires in the streets. Some of the marchers demanded to be paid in dollars, accusing senior officials of taking their salaries in the U.S.-based currency while paying the rank-and-file in the increasingly weak Yemeni rial. The rial has lost more than half its value against the dollar since Iranian-backed Houthi rebels seized the capital of Sanaa in 2014, sending the Western-recognized government into exile in Saudi Arabia. It has…