On 6 December, delegations from both the Yemeni government and the Houthi rebels began peace talks near Stockholm. Abdullah al-Alimi, a representative of the Yemeni government, tweeted that the conference was ‘a true opportunity for peace’. Mohamed Abdelsalam, who heads the Houthi delegation, promised to ‘spare no effort to make a success of the talks’. Pray for God to quell the scepticism of observers. Pray for the Yemeni government to resist launching an all-out attack on the key port city of Hudaydah, currently controlled by the rebels. The talks began encouragingly, with an agreement to exchange 5,000 prisoners: see