The War in Yemen

Yemen's Socotra Island is noted for its unusual flora and fauna (above)

The U.S. has been conducting a largely covert war against al Qaeda across the length and breadth of Yemen since at least 2002. The protests and revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt at the start of this year encouraged local anti-government forces to have a go at Yemen's leader, Ali Abdullah Saleh, another of the region's many Presidents-for-life. And so, to last Friday, when the dice rolled again:

WASHINGTON — Yemen’s embattled president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, arrived in Saudi Arabia on Saturday for urgent medical treatment of wounds sustained in a bold attack on the presidential compound, Saudi officials said, abruptly shifting the political calculus that has allowed him to cling to power despite months of protest and violence [New York Times].