English

Although the Yemen conflict looks more successful from a Saudi perspective than it did a few months ago, it is still a stalemate. A de facto southern entity had arguably been in existence since Yemeni unification in 1990, but the Saudi-led war in Yemen has deepened the dissolution of what remains of the Yemeni state and, in effect, created two capitals.

Four years represents many things: an Olympic cycle, the gap between U.S. presidential elections, a typical American college degree, the space between leap years. A four-year span is also, it seems, how long a repressive security force can expect to wait before the U.S. government loses its nerve and lifts its objections to resupplying it with arms.

Five young girls were behind a series of deadly explosions in the north-eastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri on Thursday evening, security sources say.

The engagement of the United States, Japan, and South Korea, both with each other and with African partners, has resulted in some interesting security developments that has gone largely unnoticed by observers.