Fighting intensifies in Yemen

Janet Jalil (0:00)

This is The Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Janet Jalil, and in the early hours of Tuesday, the 6th of October, these are our main stories. Fighting intensifies in Yemen between Iranian Bat-Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition supporting the Yemeni government. France braces for what could be its biggest day of school protests yet after a 15-year-old boy has had his hand blown off during a confrontation with police. The Nobel Prize in Medicine is awarded to scientists who have used light to better understand how our brains work.

Also in this podcast, we look back on the life of British best-selling author and politician, Jeffrey Archer, who has died at the age of 86

Sarah Nichols (0:49)

And you have the keyboard in front of you exactly where you'd expect a piano keyboard. And then take the strings that are lying horizontally.

Just make them go straight up.

Janet Jalil (0:59)

We speak to the inventor of a new piano, the Standing Grand.

We start in Yemen, where government forces backed by Saudi aircraft have carried out a wave of attacks on Iranian-backed Houthi fighters in an attempt to wrest back control of territory that the Houthis seized in a lightning advance last month. This includes strategic positions on the Bab al-Mandab Strait, an important waterway that the Saudis had been using as an alternative to the blockaded Strait of Hormuz. The Yemeni military says it's carried out hundreds of strikes and begun an offensive against the capital Sana, which has been held by the Houthis for years. For their part, the Houthis say they have again attacked targets in Saudi Arabia, including Riyadh Airport, an oil refinery, and a military base. Here's a Houthi military spokesperson, Yaya Sariah.

Yaya Sariah (2:00)

The armed forces carried out three qualitative military operations using a large number of ballistic and cruise missiles and drones. The armed forces warned all international airlines using Saudi airspace to seize their flights as it has become an operation zone for our forces, with the exception of the sacred airspace over Mecca and Medina.

Janet Jalil (2:22)

According to UN figures, the fighting has displaced more than 180,000 people in a country that is already in the grip of a humanitarian crisis. Shortly before we recorded this podcast, I got this update on the latest clashes from Kashia Jornady of BBC Persian.

Kashia Junaidi (2:39)

It's a very big development when we consider the role the Houthis played in putting pressure on international oil markets in support of the war in Iran. The Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces say that they have managed to drive back Houthis from some of the strategically important territories that they had recently captured around the strategic waterway Bab al-Mandab, including Moqa.

And by this, they have weakened the Houthis' control over Bab al-Mandab, but of course, this doesn't mean that they can't attack international shipping lanes through the Red Sea, but they are now in a weakened position. The Houthis themselves have started attacking Saudi targets. They have attacked airports in Riyadh, and they are warning that they will further escalate their attacks against the Saudis. Of course, the forces of the internationally recognized government in Yemen, who are fighting against the Houthis, are supported by a Saudi air power, more than a hundred Saudi combat aircrafts have been supporting their operation, as well as they have been also receiving US intelligence support during their operations.

Janet Jalil (3:52)

But as you say, the Houthis have managed not only to gain large tracts of territory along the Red Sea in that lightening advance last month, but they've also been carrying out attacks on Saudi Arabia, and there's no prospect of that ending soon.

Kashia Junaidi (4:06)

Not at all. And of course, there have been discussions here in Washington regarding the military strength and the situation of the Houthis, considering the fact that the Americans have bombarded Houthi strategic points last year. And now there is this new understanding here in Washington that probably the American forces were not successful in destroying the Houthi military capability.

And of course, they'll be receiving support from the Iranian government and they've managed to reconstruct their military power to attack the Saudis.

Janet Jalil (4:39)

Kashia Junaidi, to France now.

That's the sound of more demonstrations against dilapidated and understaffed schools. The protests began last month at a high school in a Paris suburb over teacher shortages and rapidly spread to hundreds of schools with many of the demonstrations turning violent as protesters clashed with police. Dozens of people including children, teachers and police officers have been injured. During one confrontation on Monday, a 15-year-old boy had his hand blown off, reportedly when he tried to pick up a police stung grenade, although that's been disputed by witnesses. In the past week, 5,000 people, mainly teenagers, have been arrested. And the protest looks set to continue, with teachers and public sector workers expected to join a national day of action. Our Paris correspondent, Hugh Schofield, spoke to Anka Desai, starting with the incident involving the 15-year-old student.