UN News blames 'renewed fighting' for Yemen's hungry children; Yemen's government, in Asharq Al-Awsat, blames whoever is arming the Houthis

What UN News reports. Aid agencies in Yemen say renewed fighting between 'Houthi opposition forces' and 'Government troops' is deepening a hunger emergency. Mobile health clinics told UN News that 'hundreds of children' displaced by the violence have the most deadly form of malnutrition. It gives no exact figure. It does not say who restarted the fighting.

What Asharq Al-Awsat reports. We hold only its headline: 'Yemen's Message to the World: Implement Your Decisions and Stop Arming the Houthis'. The headline speaks for the government as 'Yemen'. It says someone is arming the Houthis but does not say who.

Where they differ

What is NOT settled

• The number of children. 'Hundreds' is the only count, and only UN News gives it.
• Who restarted the fighting. Neither report says.
• Who arms the Houthis. The government says someone does. The one headline we hold does not name them.
• The Houthi account. We hold no report that carries it.

What this is about. A war in Yemen between the Houthi movement and the internationally recognised government has flared again, and children are paying for it in hunger.

How it got here. The Houthis, who call themselves Ansar Allah, are an armed movement from Yemen's far north. Their roots are in the Zaydi branch of Shia Islam. In September 2014 they took the capital, Sanaa. The government fled south. In March 2015 a coalition led by Saudi Arabia went to war to restore it. In April 2015 the UN Security Council passed resolution 2216. It demanded that the Houthis withdraw from the cities they held and put an arms embargo on their leaders. A UN-brokered truce began in April 2022. It formally lapsed that October, but large-scale fighting largely stayed down. From late 2023 the Houthis attacked shipping in the Red Sea, saying they were acting over the war in Gaza. The United States and Britain struck them in return from January 2024.

Who the actors are. - The Houthis hold Sanaa and much of the populous north. - The government is led since April 2022 by a Presidential Leadership Council. It works largely from Aden and is backed by Saudi Arabia. - Saudi Arabia led the coalition and has a long border with Houthi territory. - Iran is accused by the United States, Saudi Arabia and the Yemeni government of arming the Houthis. Iran denies supplying weapons. - UN agencies run much of the aid that reaches Yemenis.

What is at stake. If the fighting spreads, more families are driven from home and away from food and clinics. If outside arms keep flowing, as the government alleges, a settlement is harder to reach.

Where it stands. The reports we hold say the fighting has resumed, and aid clinics are treating displaced children for severe malnutrition. They do not say where the fighting is or how far it has spread.