Sana'a

The Americans, the British and the French closed their embassies in Yemen this week. Iona Craig, who lived in Yemen for years, says that while Western governments were concerned about safety, they were also showing their dissatisfaction with the Houthis, the group that overthrew Yemen’s government.

Sana’a resident Hisham al-Omeisy live-tweeted the television address of the rebel leader whose forces have taken control of Yemen’s capital. He says Western media are overreacting, and that for many Yemenis the Houthi takeover is more business as usual than a big event.

Laura Kasinof never expected to become a war correspondent, but her calm life in Yemen gave her a front-row seat to protests and violence as the Arab Spring reached the country. Now Kasinof has written a book about her experiences and shares her fears about Yemen’s future.

A protest in Sana’a led by a northern Yemeni tribe, the Houthis, became a military assault on the capital over the weekend. Now a UN-brokered peace deal will allow the Houthis into power and end the fighting, but the situation remains complex with sectarian and tribal disputes still simmering.

The Houthi insurgency may be low on the radar of American worries in Yemen, the but the Shiite group is now in the streets of the capital and fighting government forces. And that battle could hand an opportunity to the group Western nations are focused on: al-Qaeda.