Editor's note

The ongoing civil war in Yemen has led to a staggering humanitarian crisis. Half the population is on the brink of starvation. The conflict is between two religious factions: the Sunni Muslims and the Houthis. Scholar Myriam Renaud looks at the roots of the Houthi movement and the role their religious beliefs have played in the war.

While South Africans were pre-occupied with the unfolding drama of Jacob Zuma’s presidency they were missing an underlying problem: that the country’s difficulties went beyond the president and were lodged within the ruling African National Congress. James Hamill explains why the party presents a major obstacle to the renewal plans being pursued by the current president Cyril Ramaphosa.

Kalpana Jain

Senior Religion + Ethics Editor

Top stories
Supporters of Shiite Houthi rebels attend a rally in Sanaa, Yemen, in 2017. AP Photo/Hani Mohammed, File

Who are Yemen’s Houthis?

Myriam Renaud, University of Chicago

The Houthis belong to the Shiite branch of Islam. The Houthi insurgency began in the early 1990s, spurred in part by growing influence of different Sunni branches of Islam.
South African’s President Cyril Ramaphosa. One of the biggest obstacles to his success is the party he leads, the ANC. Fllickr/GCIS

Why the ANC itself is the chief impediment to Ramaphosa’s agenda

James Hamill, University of Leicester

For a long time South Africa thought it had a Jacob Zuma problem. In fact its got a systemic ANC problem.

Science + Technology

Southern African nations need to up their groundwater management game

Gaathier Mahed, Nelson Mandela University

Many African countries tend to mismanage their groundwater resources.

Orangutans can communicate about the past just like humans, new research finds

Adriano Reis e Lameira, University of St Andrews

Discovering that orangutans can communicate about things that happened in the past provides new clues to how human language evolved.

Business + Economy

Brexit Groundhog Day as EU leaders stand firm in face of British political stalemate

Nieves Perez-Solorzano, University of Bristol

The EU realises the red lines it needs to meet are now the British parliament's, not Theresa May's.

Nearly all sexual harassment at work goes unreported – and those who do report often see zero benefit

Carly McCann, University of Massachusetts Amherst; Donald T. Tomaskovic-Devey, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Two-thirds of people who report workplace sexual harassment say they lost their jobs or are retaliated against in other ways. Most never receive any money.