Photos: Yemen’s hospitals struggle to operate amid persistent power outages

Aden, Yemen – In this coastal city long accustomed to sweltering, humid summers, the absence of electricity can reshape an entire day.When the power cuts out, fans and air conditioners fall silent. Sleep becomes difficult. Students race to finish their homework before darkness arrives. Children spill onto the streets while young men drift towards the sea in search of moving air and cooler waters.Inside hospitals, where treatment cannot be postponed until the lights come back on, electricity carries a different weight altogether.Yemen’s power crisis predates the current war. Even before the conflict, only about 55 percent of the population had access to electricity from all sources, which is among the lowest rates in the Middle East and North Africa.Since 2015, damage to infrastructure, fuel shortages and ageing generation and distribution systems have left supplies even more fragile.In Aden, power stations continue to face repeated shutdowns, leaving residents without electricity for long periods. Insurance premium increases on tankers carrying fuel to Aden have also reportedly made the crisis worse.A man walks beneath a web of power lines in a neighbourhood in Aden, where long and...