In late May, The Guardian had an excellent report on a group of tourists visiting Yemen from the UK.
As with everything we are told, taught or preached to about, context is everything. Kevin Rushby’s article is one of the best i have read in that it sets western life – notably British life – in context with how many people miss-perceive countries such as Yemen. In particular i like the juxtaposition between knife crime in Britain, the Yemeni jambiya worn by most Yemenis in the north of Yemen, and the …

On Sunday 4 South Korean tourists were killed in a suicide bomb attack in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Shibam Hadramout. 2 Yemenis working as tour guides were also killed. A number of others in the group were injured. I also understand that 4 Spanish students were close by and were not injured.
Here’s some links to the story:
BBC – Tourists Die In Explosion
Reuters – Qaeda Bomber Behind Yemen Attack Trained In Somalia
CNN – Al Qaeda Blamed

Why now is Somali piracy headlining around the world? it is hardly a new phenomenon. I decided to take a quick look around the online media to see what is being rumoured, theorised and conspired.

US Embassy in Sana’a Under Attack

Attack on US Embassy in Sana’a – What Next?
Backstory: The leader of Al-Qaeda in Yemen was killed earlier this year in Tarim. In the shootout some of his henchmen were captured and imprisoned. A number of the group members escaped, or, were not involved in the action and presumably held in reserve for future attacks. In the days leading up to the recent US Embassy attack, the government was warned that an attack will happen on the day during Ramadan that coincides with the day …

There isn’t much talk of the ’credit crunch’ in Yemen but the national habit of chewing Qat is turning into what can only be called a ’qat crunch’.
Whilst the western world is obsessing over the credit crisis, sub prime chaos and rising oil prices and its effects on consumer spending and rising costs, Yemen is experiencing similar problems caused by shortages of water, massively increasing food prices and a fast growing population. The price of wheat has increased 3 fold in the last few months. Rainfall in much of Yemen …