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Latest news on Yemen, a country in the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula with ancient roots and a strategic location at the crossroads of Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

Yemen's capital and most populous city is Sanaa. Its official language is Arabic and its currency is the Yemeni rial. Its population is mostly Muslim and young, with a median age of 19.8 years.

Yemen has been locked in a seemingly intractable civil war since 2014, when the Houthi Shia Muslim rebel movement seized control of northern Saada province and neighbouring areas, forcing the internationally recognized president, Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, into exile abroad.

The conflict escalated dramatically in March 2015, when Saudi Arabia and eight other mostly Sunni Arab states - backed by the US, UK, and France - began air strikes against the Houthis, with the declared aim of restoring Mr Hadi's government.

The Saudi-led coalition feared that continued success of the Houthis would give their rival regional power and Shia-majority state, Iran, a foothold in Yemen, Saudi Arabia's southern neighbour. Saudi Arabia says Iran is backing the Houthis with weapons and logistical support - a charge Iran denies.

The stalemate has produced an unrelenting humanitarian crisis, with at least 8.4 million people at risk of starvation and 22.2 million people - 75% of the population - in need of humanitarian assistance, according to the UN. Severe acute malnutrition is threatening the lives of almost 400,000 children under the age of five. Yemen's health system has all but collapsed, while the world's largest cholera outbreak has killed thousands.

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