1.   Yemeni tribesmen are holding seven Italian tourists hostage and are demanding the financing of local projects in return for their release, officials said Friday.

2.   Yemeni soldiers have encircled a mountainous region where tribesmen are holding an American oil engineer hostage, Yemeni officials said Monday.

3.   Four German tourists freed after being held by tribesmen in Yemen for nearly two weeks continued their sightseeing on Monday before heading home, officials said.

4.   Four German tourists freed after being held by tribesmen in Yemen for nearly two weeks continued their siteseeing on Monday before heading home, officials said.

5.   The Yemeni authorities held fresh negotiations on Sunday for the release of five Polish tourists being held by tribesmen who killed three policemen staking out their mountain hideout.

6.   Yemeni police have surrounded the area where seven German tourists are being held by tribesman in an isolated hideaway, an official said on Friday.

7.   Security forces tightened the noose Friday around tribesmen holding seven Germans hostage in southern Yemen, as Bonn voiced scepticism over an imminent release of the motorcycle tourists.