Hello and welcome to the Intelligence on Economist Radio.

I'm your host, Jason Palmer.

Every weekday, we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world.

Scandal has again rocked the world of horse racing, with the winner of this year's Kentucky Derby at risk of disqualification and unable to run in this weekend's Belmont stakes.

We look at an industry that's suffering for its drug problem.

And during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s, the fight was joined by the International Brigades,

foreign fighters against Franco's fascists.

Our obituaries editor looks back on the life of the last surviving member.

First up, though. Seven years into the war in Yemen, the situation is as bleak as ever.

Fighting continues between the Houthis, a group of Shia rebels,

and forces loyal to the government backed by Saudi

Arabia. Government forces have been pushed back to Marib, the last big city in the north still under

their control. Only airstrikes by Saudi Arabia are slowing the Houthis advance, an advance that's

only worsening a grinding humanitarian crisis.

The United Nations has said that millions are set to go hungry this year.

Humanitarian situation in Yemen is falling off a cliff,

with more than 20 million Yemenis needing humanitarian assistance.

And on Monday, their special envoy called for an urgent ceasefire.

The continuation of military activities in several parts of the country, including

Marib, is undermining, in my view, the prospects of peace in Yemen.

It puts lives of millions at risks, and this war needs to end.

But that is unlikely. The fight for Marib is just the latest front in a long and bruising war, with peace nowhere in sight.

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