About our Yemen news
Latest news on Yemen, covering the Houthi conflict, humanitarian crisis, Red Sea shipping attacks, and political developments across Sanaa and Aden.
Yemen lies at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, bordering Saudi Arabia and Oman along the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Since 2014, the Iran-aligned Houthi movement, also called Ansar Allah, has controlled the capital, Sanaa, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene the following year in support of the internationally recognised government. More than a decade on, the conflict remains one of the world's most severe humanitarian crises, with millions of people in need of aid. The Presidential Leadership Council governs from the southern city of Aden, while the Houthis administer Sanaa and much of the north.
The Houthis periodically target commercial shipping near the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, disrupting a route that carries a significant share of global trade, and have exchanged fire with Israel and Saudi Arabia amid wider regional tensions involving Iran. The group also continues to detain United Nations staff and aid workers, drawing repeated condemnation from the Security Council. Meanwhile, the internationally recognised government has faced friction with the secessionist Southern Transitional Council over control of southern governorates such as Hadramaut and Al-Mahra. The United Nations' special envoy for Yemen continues to push for an inclusive, Yemeni-led political process, though funding shortfalls are straining the humanitarian response.
Yemeni culture is renowned for its hospitality, its highland coffee traditions tied to the historic port of Mocha, and the widespread social custom of chewing qat leaves. Communities across the country continue daily life amid power cuts, water shortages, and displacement, with families and aid workers showing remarkable resilience. The UNESCO-listed Old City of Sanaa and the mud-brick towers of Shibam, often called the "Manhattan of the Desert", showcase centuries of distinctive architecture. Further south, Socotra Island's endemic wildlife, including the striking Dragon's Blood Tree, has earned it the nickname the "Galápagos of the Indian Ocean".
Yemen's history stretches back to ancient civilisations such as the Sabaean and Himyarite kingdoms, whose engineering feats included the Great Dam of Marib. The region prospered from the ancient frankincense and myrrh trade and later became known as the birthplace of coffee cultivation, shipped worldwide through the port of Mocha. The 1962 revolution ended the northern imamate, and North and South Yemen unified in 1990, though old regional tensions never fully disappeared. A popular uprising in 2011 forced a change in leadership, and the Houthi takeover of Sanaa a few years later set the stage for the conflict still shaping the country.
Yemen's path towards peace remains uncertain, but the human and geopolitical stakes ensure it stays firmly in the international spotlight. Our NewsNow feed brings together the latest headlines on Yemen's political, humanitarian, and security developments from a wide range of sources. Whether you are following the peace process, the Red Sea shipping disputes, or the humanitarian response, this feed keeps you comprehensively informed. Stay up to date with everything happening in Yemen, all in one place.