SANAA, Yemen — Yemen’s Shiite rebels said Monday that they will halt rocket fire into Saudi Arabia for the sake of peace efforts, answering a key Saudi demand in the latest push to stop the civil war in the Arab world’s poorest country.

But the rebels also said they had fired a ballistic missile into Saudi Arabia overnight in response to an attempted border incursion and a Saudi airstrike, and that they reserved the right to respond to attacks.

For the past three years, a U.S.-backed, Saudi-led coalition has been waging war against the Iran-aligned rebels, known as Houthis, to restore Yemen’s internationally recognized government. The rebels say they have long been excluded from that government and aim to rectify historic grievances.

Rebel leader Mohammed Ali al-Houthi announced in a statement that the rebels had ordered the cessation of rocket and drone attacks on the Saudis and forces loyal to the United Arab Emirates, a leading coalition member, at the request of U.N. envoy Martin Griffiths.

The Houthis swept down from northern Yemen in 2014 and captured the capital, Sanaa, with the help of forces loyal to longtime strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh, who had been forced from power by an Arab Spring-inspired popular uprising. Saleh was killed in internal fighting between the Houthis and their allies last year.

The government fled Sanaa in early 2015, and Saudi Arabia, citing fears that its nemesis Iran was trying to make inroads on the Arabian Peninsula, began launching airstrikes against the rebels in March of that year.

U.K. leader has eye on rebellion as EU braces for Brexit push

LONDON — The U.K. and the European Union plowed ahead Monday with plans to have their divorce deal signed, sealed and delivered within days as British Prime Minister Theresa May waited to see whether rebel lawmakers opposed to the agreement had the numbers to challenge her leadership.

The draft agreement reached last week triggered an avalanche of criticism in Britain and left May fighting to keep her job even as British and EU negotiators raced to firm up a final deal before a weekend summit where EU leaders hope to rubber-stamp it.

The 585-page, legally binding withdrawal agreement is as good as complete, but Britain and the EU must flesh out a far less detailed seven-page declaration on their future relations. May said “an intense week of negotiations” lay ahead to finalize the framework.

New assessment: ‘Little clear progress’ in Afghanistan war

WASHINGTON — The U.S. and Afghan governments have made “little clear progress” recently in compelling the Taliban to negotiate a peace deal, according to a new U.S. assessment Monday.

“Progress toward peace remains elusive,” Glenn A. Fine, the acting Pentagon inspector general, wrote in an introduction to a comprehensive review of military, political and humanitarian conditions in Afghanistan during the July-September period. These were the final three months of the 17th year of a war that began in October 2001.

The report offered little support for the Trump administration’s assertions that its revised war strategy, announced in August 2017, is bringing the Afghan government and the Taliban insurgency closer to peace and reconciliation.

Attorney: Woman in alleged homeless scam was duped also

TRENTON, N.J. — A woman charged with scamming GoFundMe donors out of more than $400,000 with a fake story about a homeless veteran was duped by her former boyfriend and genuinely thought she was helping the man, her attorney said Monday.

James Gerrow told ABC’s “Good Morning America” that Mark D’Amico was “calling the shots” in the alleged scheme that resulted in criminal charges last week against Katelyn McClure, D’Amico and homeless Marine Johnny Bobbitt.

The criminal complaint alleges the three concocted a feel-good story.

“This was an abusive relationship. Mr. D’Amico was the one behind this and he was the one calling all the shots,” Gerrow said. “She didn’t understand or appreciate that this may very well be a crime.”

Report: Saudi crown prince to go to G-20 summit

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will attend the Group of 20 summit in Buenos Aires later this month, Saudi media reported Monday.

It would be the crown prince’s first trip abroad after the Oct. 2 slaying of writer Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate, and would bring him face to face with world leaders from the U.S., Turkey, Canada and European countries, among others.

President Donald Trump and other leaders are expected to attend the two-day summit that begins Nov. 30. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has kept international pressure mounting on the kingdom, is also expected to attend.

U.S. intelligence officials have concluded that the crown prince ordered the killing, but Trump has resisted that assessment.

Israel avoids early elections as coalition is kept intact

JERUSALEM — Israel avoided early elections after a key coalition partner in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government said on Monday that he would not withdraw his party, keeping the coalition intact despite a crisis triggered by a violent flare-up with Gaza militants.

Education Minister Naftali Bennett said his hard-line, pro-settler Jewish Home party would give Netanyahu another chance to more firmly address the security challenges facing Israel.

The sudden coalition crisis was triggered by a botched undercover Israeli raid in Gaza last week that led to the most violent fighting between Israel and Gaza militants since a 2014 war.

Hard-line Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman resigned in protest of a cease-fire that ended the fighting.

Not too late: The French government awarded its highest honor to a 100-year-old Kentucky man who fought in World War II. Retired Army Lt. Col. William Pollard, was awarded the French Legion of Honor on Monday. Pollard was 25 in 1944 and one of the first soldiers to arrive ashore during the invasion of Normandy

In France: Protests of fuel tax hikes are choking facilities critical to the economy, and police have orders to remove the drivers blocking sensitive sites, officials said Monday. In a third day of actions, grass-roots protesters blocked oil depots and disrupted English Channel traffic in a bid to keep up pressure on the government.