Trump’s recent senior appointments suggest an increasingly virulent anti-Iranian strategy which certainly coincides with that of the current Saudi regime. Things could hardly be worse.

By 2011 the international community had concluded that the Saleh regime needed to be replaced by one which would both implement the neo-liberal economic agenda and focus on counter terrorism.

The United Nations has stated that, of the four famines predicted for 2017, Yemen is the worst, with seven million people close to starvation and a further ten million in urgent need.

Is the forgotten war turning into a forgotten famine? What answers will we give when the next generation ask how we could watch these tragedies and do nothing?

There is no doubt that the military stalemate is a major reason leading to the Kuwait negotiations. After 14 months of full-scale war, the military situation is largely unchanged.

So what are Yemenis to do? Close the doors of their houses and slowly die of starvation and thirst?  Or move en masse, the way Syrians are now heading for Europe?

International media talk constantly of Huthi forces, but in reality the main military force in Yemen is now that of ex-president Saleh who, wherever he is, is doing what he promised: destroying as much as he possibly can.

This piece aims to provide the minimum necessary background to understand recent and forthcoming events in a rapidly changing situation in Yemen.

The humanitarian situation remains grave. Why doesn’t it receive the attention given to similar situations elsewhere?  With over 10 million people hungry, 13 million without access to water and sanitation, 1 million children malnourished, and about 700,000 IDPs and refugees, there is no doubt that there is a need for urgent humanitarian action.

Eleven months after the signature of the Gulf Cooperation Council’s [GCC] initiative and the  formation of the new Government of National Unity and nine months after the election of the interim President, where are we with Yemen's National Dialogue? Things are different this time - but are they any more likely to last?

People perceive that cash and support are available for military and security costs but not for development or humanitarian needs which affect the vast majority of the population on a daily basis.