Yemen, Israel-Palestine, Guinea-Bissau.

Today's three stories you should know.

Mar 27, 2024

Yemen

The war in Yemen is coming up on it tenth anniversary and, for the Yemeni civilians caught in the middle, it’s largely been a decade of misery and hardship. The conflict has led to one of the worst - and most underreported - humanitarian crises in the world. Something that’s often lost when reporting stories like this are the voices of the people most affected. To address this, the New Humanitarian has launched “The Yemen Listening Project,” for which they solicited emails, WhatsApp messages, voice notes, videos, poems and pictures from more than 100 Yemenis. They really are very moving and worthy of your time.

The full list is here. And Al Jazeera has published a selection here.

Israel-Palestine

Ireland today announced it will intervene in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. Foreign minister Micheál Martin accused Israel of: “The purposeful withholding of humanitarian assistance to civilians. The targeting of civilians and of civilian infrastructure. The indiscriminate use of explosive weapons in populated areas. The use of civilian objects for military purposes. The collective punishment of an entire population.” Martin did not say exactly what form the intervention would take.

Guinea-Bissau

The son of Guinea-Bissau's ex-president was today sentenced to six years in prison in the US for leading an international heroin trafficking ring. What’s particularly interesting, though, is what authorities said motivated him. Malam Bacai Sanha Jr, 52, wanted to fund a coup and take over the country his father ruled from 2009 until his death in 2012. He then planned to establish a “drug regime.” Guinea-Bissau is well known as a drug trafficking hub, particularly for cocaine on its way to Europe from Latin America. "Malam Bacai Sanha Jr wasn't any ordinary international drug trafficker," said FBI agent Douglas Williams.