Yemeni government spokesman Rageh Badi says embattled Yemeni president Abd-Rabbo Mansour Hadi will not attend upcoming peace talks in Geneva. The announcement is a blow to the talks, which are aimed ending weeks of Saudi-led airstrikes against an Iran-supported rebel group amid a growing humanitarian crisis that has left millions short of food and fuel. Badi says Hadi will not attend due to the security situation and because Shia Houthi rebels have not satisfied a government pre-condition to pull out of towns and cities they occupy — including the capital, Sanaa. The leader of the Houthi rebels, Abdul-Malek al-Houthi, has called the talks the "only solution" for the conflict. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/131006.aspx