Archive: yemen

17th February 2024
By: Brian Whitaker
Publishing an independent newspaper is a hazardous business in countries where there is no tradition of a free press and where the authorities are not accustomed to having their actions questioned in print. Founded in 1991, the Yemen Times broke new ground in Yemeni journalism and won… Read more
1st December 2023
  At the height of the AIDS epidemic millions of people, especially in the world’s poorest countries, faced illness and death without access to proper treatment — and desperation opened the door for charlatans raising false hopes with quack cures. Among them was Abd al-Majeed al-Zindani, one of… Read more
29th June 2022
By: Brian Whitaker
As British troops pulled out of Aden in 1967 the band of the Royal Marines struck up a tune to send them on their way – not Rule Britannia or Land of Hope and Glory but a Cockney song, Fings Ain't Wot They Used To Be. It was an ironic choice but, in the circumstances, probably the right one. "Fings… Read more
17th February 2021
By: Brian Whitaker
The Yemeni city of Marib lies 120 km to the east of the capital, Sana'a, with mountainous territory in between. It was from Marib, in the early stages of the six-year war, that pro-government forces hoped to launch an assault against the Houthi rebels who had seized Sana'a. Since then, though, the… Read more
17th May 2020
By: Brian Whitaker
Many people are dying in the Yemen's southern city of Aden and no one is quite sure why. Maybe it's coronavirus but it could be dengue fever, chikungunya, ebola, malaria, pneumonic plague or something else, according to the head of the National Emergency Committee. More than 500 deaths have been… Read more
6th May 2020
By: Brian Whitaker
The Houthis who rule over much of northern Yemen have now confirmed what many had long suspected: that the Covid-19 virus is present in the territory they control. Yesterday their health minister announced that a man found dead in a hotel in the capital, Sana'a, on Sunday had been posthumously… Read more
30th April 2020
By: Brian Whitaker
Covid-19 has reappeared in Yemen with the announcement of five new cases in the southern city of Aden. This could scarcely have come at a worse time. Last week the city was declared a disaster area after flash floods swept several people away and caused streets to be bathed in sewage. In the… Read more
24th April 2020
By: Brian Whitaker
Yemen is officially clear of coronavirus cases following the recovery of its first – and so far only – Covid-19 patient. A Yemeni man working in the port of ash-Shihr, on the Indian Ocean coast of Hadramaut province, was diagnosed with the virus on April 10. The town was immediately placed under… Read more
6th February 2020
By: Brian Whitaker
The war in Yemen is complicated and it can be difficult to keep track of what's happening on the ground, not to mention the related peace efforts. A new report from the Sana'a Center for Strategic Studies is a useful starting point for anyone wanting a quick catch-up – well, relatively… Read more
9th August 2019
By: Brian Whitaker
Fighting between rival militias in Yemen's anti-Houthi coalition is continuing for a third day, according to reports this morning from the southern city of Aden. The clashes which broke out on Wednesday involve southern separatists on one side and supporters of Yemen's ousted but internationally… Read more