Fierce battle erupts in Yemen capital

SANAA, Yemen — The Yemeni army and Houthi fighters waged artillery and gunbattles near the presidential palace in Sanaa on Monday in the most intense clashes since the Shiite Muslim movement took control of the capital in September.

Widely viewed as Shiite Iran's ally in its regional struggle for influence with Saudi Arabia, the Houthis - now part of the Yemeni government - said they would "escalate the situation" if their demands for a fair stake in a new constitution were not honored.

The street battles marked a new low in the fortunes of the Arabian Peninsula state, plagued by tribal divisions, a separatist challenge in the south and a threat from the regional wing of Al Qaeda, which claimed a deadly Jan. 7 attack in Paris on a French satirical journal known for mocking Islam.