A young Yemeni girl waits among the crush of women lining up to receive free bread at a charity bakery during a severe shortage of food in Sanaa on August 15, 2017. Yahya Arhab / EPA
A young Yemeni girl waits among the crush of women lining up to receive free bread at a charity bakery during a severe shortage of food in Sanaa on August 15, 2017. Yahya Arhab / EPA
A young Yemeni girl waits among the crush of women lining up to receive free bread at a charity bakery during a severe shortage of food in Sanaa on August 15, 2017. Yahya Arhab / EPA
A young Yemeni girl waits among the crush of women lining up to receive free bread at a charity bakery during a severe shortage of food in Sanaa on August 15, 2017. Yahya Arhab / EPA

Yemen humanitarian crisis: How cholera outbreak is adding to country's woes


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Half a million cases of cholera have been reported in Yemen and more than 2,000 people have died since the outbreak began spreading rapidly earlier this year.

The epidemic has sparked one of the worst humanitarian crisis in the Middle East, with around 5,000 people infected per day in Yemen, according to the World Health Organisation.

Yemen was already impoverished and wracked by conflict before the start of the war. But almost three years since Houthi rebels seized the capital, the fighting has killed thousands and left millions facing starvation and disease.

Adding to the suffering, is the worst cholera outbreak in recent history.

The disease is endemic to Yemen but began spreading rapidly as disruption to medical services and infrastructure in the country increased.

The Saudi-led coalition blocked flights to Sanaa airport in August last year to stop the Houthi rebels from shipping arms into the country, but has since asked the UN to take control of the airport and resume flights to allow humanitarian aid access.

The UN has warned that the war is likely to cause an entire generation of Yemenis to lose any chance of rebuilding their country as children are the most affected by the lack of educational and medical services.

More than a quarter of the fatalities and 41 per cent of those who contracted cholera were children, according to the UN.

The WHO said the outbreak in Yemen is not likely to have a high fatality rate considering the number of cases. As long as those affected receive medical care, 99 per cent of cases can survive.

The new campaign from the Emirates Red Crescent launched in southern Yemen to mark Eid Al Adha will help various Yemeni families who have been displaced, or suffered from the brutal war.

UN special envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed has also made a renewed push to achieve a political solution to the nearly three-year-old war as he shuttles between the countries involved.

International organisations have stressed the importance of ending the war through a diplomatic solution and have agreed with Mr Cheikh Ahmed’s claim that there is no military resolution to the Yemen crisis.

The Saudi-led coalition, which includes the UAE, launch its military campaign in Yemen in 2015 after the Iran-backed Houthis captured Aden. The coalition aims to help Yemeni forces restore to power the internationally recognised president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi.

How do Sim card scams work?

Sim swap frauds are a form of identity theft.

They involve criminals conning mobile phone operators into issuing them with replacement Sim cards by claiming to be the victim, often pretending their phone has been lost or stolen in order to secure a new Sim.

They use the victim's personal details - obtained through criminal methods - to convince such companies of their identity.

The criminal can then access any online service that requires security codes to be sent to a user's mobile phone, such as banking services.

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The chef's advice

Troy Payne, head chef at Abu Dhabi’s newest healthy eatery Sanderson’s in Al Seef Resort & Spa, says singles need to change their mindset about how they approach the supermarket.

“They feel like they can’t buy one cucumber,” he says. “But I can walk into a shop – I feed two people at home – and I’ll walk into a shop and I buy one cucumber, I’ll buy one onion.”

Mr Payne asks for the sticker to be placed directly on each item, rather than face the temptation of filling one of the two-kilogram capacity plastic bags on offer.

The chef also advises singletons not get too hung up on “organic”, particularly high-priced varieties that have been flown in from far-flung locales. Local produce is often grown sustainably, and far cheaper, he says.

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Some of Darwish's last words

"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008

His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.