Houthi rebels brought Yemen closer to civil war on Sunday, launching an offensive on the southern city of Taiz, The Wall Street Journal reports. Militants seized the international airport, key government buildings, and surrounded the residence of the city's governor.

The Yemeni president's chief of staff, Ahmed Awadh bin Mubarak, has been kidnapped by gunmen in the capital Sana'a amidst discussions over the country's new constitution, The Guardian reports.

President of Yemen Ali Abdullah Saleh announced that he "will be leaving power in the coming days" following nine months of demonstrations against his government, reports Reuters. Of course, we said the same thing in April, and now look.

Embattled Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh traveled to Saudi Arabia on Saturday following an attack on his compound, leaving Vice President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi in control of the government. According to a spokesman, Saleh is in Saudi Arabia for "simple check-ups," but "western diplomatic sources" tell CNN that the president is undergoing neurosurgery and had suffered "severe burns to his face and chest." It's unclear what Saleh's departure means for the ongoing protests and clashes between government forces and opposition groups, but opposition leaders say they will not allow Saleh to return to the country. The attack on Saleh's compound was originally blamed on a "rebel tribe"; the Yemeni government now believes it may have been Al Qaeda. [CNN; image via AP]

Following weeks of anti-government protests, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has agreed to a deal that would see him resign from his post in exchange for immunity from prosecution. The leaders of the opposition have conditionally signed on, and will present a counteroffer today—though it remains to be seen if the protestors themselves will sign on. Elsewhere in the region, Libyan government forces reportedly retreated from the city of Misurata, which had seen heavy fighting earlier in the week; in Syria, at least 20 mourners were killed by security forces as part of an increasingly brutal crackdown that resulted in some 75 deaths on Friday. [image of Misrata via AP]

The U.S. will no longer support jerkoff Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh, The New York Times reports, and is actively negotiating for his departure. Which is good, we guess, insofar as Saleh was a brutal, repressive autocrat whose people have been calling for his resignation (or more) for weeks; on the other hand, the deal seems to be that his vice-president will take power until elections are held, an outcome that's unlikely to pacify Yemen's angry protestors. Oh, and, terrorism: One reason the U.S. hasn't called for Saleh's resignation is that Yemen is "because he was considered a critical ally in fighting the Yemeni branch of Al Qaeda." (Fret not, however, for the State Department's stated position is that fighting al Qaeda in Yemen "goes beyond any one individual.") Student protestors, meanwhile, are "really very, very angry" with the U.S. for dragging its feet. [NYT; image via AP]

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, a critical U.S. ally who's been abandoned by several generals, is supposedly nearing a deal to resign "within days in favor of a civilian-led transitional government."

Thousands of Yemeni protesters have kicked off their "day of rage" in Sanaa, the capital.

Ali Abdullah Saleh, the longtime President of Yemen, has said he won't try to extend his term or put his son in power, according to Reuters. A large "Day of Rage" protest aimed at Saleh's government is planned for Wednesday.

The giant diplomatic cable dump released by Wikileaks today represents the world's largest leak of geopolitical gossip: Diplomats tittering about world leaders' sexxxy affairs, their financial skeeziness and weird quirks. Let's dive into a U.S. Embassy gossip roundup!