Walk towards Battersea Power Station, a luxury property, retail and office destination on the edge of the Thames River in Central London, and it is hard not to gaze in awe at the sheer size and scale of the building.
Set in the heart of one of central London’s most ambitious new developments – on a 17-hectare former industrial brownfield site – the landmark red brick structure and its distinctive four white chimneys dominate the skyline.
The imposing sight cements the years of work that has gone into regenerating the Grade II listed building, which hit a key milestone this month when it was removed from Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register ahead of its full opening to the public in 2022.
As visitors approach the building there is a feeling of something special. That sentiment has been a big driver of sales this year, Meriam Lock-Necrews, head of residential at Battersea Power Station company, told The National.
While the developer, owned by a consortium of Malaysian investors, secured £150 million ($201.76 million) in sales in 2020 when the country was grappling with the pandemic and the complete shutdown of the property market at the start of the crisis, this year is increasingly lucrative.
“This year our sales are over £300m, a record since launch,” Ms Lock-Necrews said. “We’re outperforming the market.”
With the outside of the building – reconstructed using 1.75 million bricks, all painstakingly matched to the originals – now complete, residents moved into the first of the 254 residential homes to be finished in May, with more moving into another completed section of the building last month.
“It’s been a long time coming and the perception from outside was ‘are they going to deliver this?’" Ms Lock-Necrews said.
It is quite a journey from its former life as a power station, which was decommissioned in 1983 and once supplied London with a fifth of its electricity.
First approved by planners at the local council in 2010, the £9bn project broke ground in 2013 when work commenced on the first phase of the eight-phase project to build a new mixed-use neighbourhood and business quarter south of the river on derelict land.
The completed project will have 25,000 people living and working on the site, making it one of London’s largest office, retail, leisure and cultural quarters with 250 shops as well as cafes, restaurants, a theatre, hotel and cinemas as well as 7.68 hectares of public space, including a 2.42ha public park.
A key milestone for the area was the opening of Battersea Power Station tube station on the Northern Line in September, connecting the area to the rest of the city for the first time – another key change helping to ramp up sales, Ms Lock-Necrews said, as the finished apartments attract more interest from investors.
“People that we've had registered on our books are now calling up going, ‘OK can we come down’ because they love the idea and the vision of it but now that it has actually come to fruition they’re coming to see it,” she said.
“We did a sale on a large four-bed for about £7 million the other week just off the back of the tube station opening."
Lockdown also helped to boost sales, she said, as runners or walkers using up their daily allowance of exercise time discovered the development for the first time.
Walk around the area and the bespoke restaurants, cafes, independent shops and gyms surrounding the more modern Circus West Village are full of patrons, as dozens of runners or families pushing buggies head past.
The step-up in sales in March came as the country slowed emerged from the third lockdown and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak extended the stamp duty holiday, giving property buyers a saving of up to £15,000.
The pandemic also made people re-evaluate how they want to live, with the power station's 15-minute city concept a big draw, Ms Lock-Necrews said.
“The fact that you have your own public realm with everything you need downstairs ... we call it the 15-minute neighbourhood because you live here, you work here, you play here but within two minutes you have access to shops, restaurants, hairdressers, dentists, the park, the river, the tube station."
With residents now able to get to the City of London via the underground or a riverboat just outside within 20 minutes, the liveability factor went up another notch.
But the 15-minute city lifestyle in prime central London does not come cheap.
Prices for apartments in the power station itself start from £865,000 for a studio, with one-beds setting buyers back more than £1m and two beds more than £2m.
At the higher end, the 30 or so Sky Villas at the top of the building with a private walled garden, go for "several million".
“The quality of the apartments as well as the heritage linked to the building where old meets new offers buyers something different, especially when compared to other new developments that also offer similar services, such as concierge, spa facilities, private lounges and meeting rooms and gardens," Ms Lock-Necrews said.
However, the development, like all new-builds, is still at risk of buyers drifting off to buy something even newer in the future.
“But there's a finite amount of space and there's a finite number of developers, and most people now are not just looking for somewhere to live, they're looking for a neighbourhood to live in, a community with all the amenities," Ms Lock-Necrews said.
"You can count on one hand the developments in central London that offer all of that in one place."
Dubai is another location that offers residents a plethora of mini cities where residents have all the amenities on their doorstep, she said.
“That’s why there has been a strong appetite from the Middle East market and I imagine that will pick up even more as we evolve and create the high street and that retail offering as well," she said.
More than 90 per cent of the development is sold across the first three phases, with half of the sales made up of domestic customers and the rest international, with Middle East buyers a strong component of the purchases.
Yet despite travel restrictions easing this summer, Ms Lock-Necrews said this did not automatically translate into higher sales from that region.
“We’ve certainly seen more Middle East buyers turn up, but nowhere near the scale we've seen historically, I personally think that we'll see a resurgence of that market post Ramadan next year,” she said.
For now the focus is on completing phase two, the power station itself, with work to be done in the heart of the mammoth structure where the retail and office space will be located,
Hundreds of builders are still on site, with the space so vast it could house St Paul’s Cathedral with ease.
Residents will eventually have instant access to 500 square metres of retail space with more than 100 shops featuring big names such as Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, while tech specialist Apple will locate its offices across six floors.
Final handover will be next summer, not bad for a regeneration project that began in early 2014, with the white chimneys – effectively the DNA of the landmark, dismantled because of corrosion from decades of heavy industrial use and then reconstructed and repainted in 2017.
While the vast development is a town within itself, it sits on the edge of the wider Nine Elms area, Europe's biggest regeneration project, with its location helping to keep it somewhat insulated from the criticism directed at the wider area.
Nine Elms, a 230-hectare town of 20,000 homes, has in recent weeks been described by the media as “Boris’s ugly ghost town”.
First commissioned in 2012 during Boris Johnson's tenure as mayor of London, the regeneration project, which stretches from Vauxhall Cross to Battersea Power Station itself, was lauded by the now UK prime minister as “the greatest transformational story in the world’s greatest city”.
While the aim was to breathe new life into an area previously known only for its warehouses, distribution depots and run-down homes, it has been hit by claims that some Chinese-backed developers are failing to sell properties while others are running out of money to complete projects.
Chinese developers R&F and CC Land, for example, are reportedly struggling to offload luxury homes in their £3bn joint venture Nine Elms Square, with only one in three sold since the apartments were first marketed in 2018.
Meanwhile, agents claim figures for neighbouring buildings have occupancy rates of only about 25 per cent to 30 per cent.
Ms Lock-Necrews is quick to dismiss criticism lobbed at other developers in the Nine Elms venture, as well as fears that such a disparate set of buildings will fail to deliver a community.
“Of course, with any kind of transformation people are always sceptical when [several] developments come through at one time,” she said.
“We have to work together and the success of the other developers down the road is just as important as our success."
She points to the increase in values of about 50 per cent at Battersea Power Station's phase one development, Circus West Village – which is adjacent to the power station – since it was first handed over in 2017 with 1,500 residents now in situ, as evidence of the success of their offering.
“That gives you the confidence to say it is a well-established area and it's got even more potential for the future,” she said.
There is every reason for her team to feel slightly removed from the issues faced elsewhere in the Nine Elms development, partly because Battersea Power Station is a breathtaking work of art.
Phase three will connect the development to the the new tube station along a high street known as Electric Boulevard, with more residential buildings and a hotel. Future phases promise more homes and lifestyle offerings.
So with the new community slowly emerging, how long will it take to finish?
Probably until the end of the decade, Ms Lock-Necrews estimated.
"It’s still very fresh," she said.
Match info
Manchester United 1 (Van de Beek 80') Crystal Palace 3 (Townsend 7', Zaha pen 74' & 85')
Man of the match Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace)
How to report a beggar
Abu Dhabi – Call 999 or 8002626 (Aman Service)
Dubai – Call 800243
Sharjah – Call 065632222
Ras Al Khaimah - Call 072053372
Ajman – Call 067401616
Umm Al Quwain – Call 999
Fujairah - Call 092051100 or 092224411
Baby Driver
Director: Edgar Wright
Starring: Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx, Lily James
Three and a half stars
The Details
Kabir Singh
Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series
Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga
Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Suresh Oberoi, Soham Majumdar, Arjun Pahwa
Rating: 2.5/5
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Barcelona v Liverpool, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE).
Second leg
Liverpool v Barcelona, Tuesday, May 7, 11pm
Games on BeIN Sports
Three-day coronation
Royal purification
The entire coronation ceremony extends over three days from May 4-6, but Saturday is the one to watch. At the time of 10:09am the royal purification ceremony begins. Wearing a white robe, the king will enter a pavilion at the Grand Palace, where he will be doused in sacred water from five rivers and four ponds in Thailand. In the distant past water was collected from specific rivers in India, reflecting the influential blend of Hindu and Buddhist cosmology on the coronation. Hindu Brahmins and the country's most senior Buddhist monks will be present. Coronation practices can be traced back thousands of years to ancient India.
The crown
Not long after royal purification rites, the king proceeds to the Baisal Daksin Throne Hall where he receives sacred water from eight directions. Symbolically that means he has received legitimacy from all directions of the kingdom. He ascends the Bhadrapitha Throne, where in regal robes he sits under a Nine-Tiered Umbrella of State. Brahmins will hand the monarch the royal regalia, including a wooden sceptre inlaid with gold, a precious stone-encrusted sword believed to have been found in a lake in northern Cambodia, slippers, and a whisk made from yak's hair.
The Great Crown of Victory is the centrepiece. Tiered, gold and weighing 7.3 kilograms, it has a diamond from India at the top. Vajiralongkorn will personally place the crown on his own head and then issues his first royal command.
The audience
On Saturday afternoon, the newly-crowned king is set to grant a "grand audience" to members of the royal family, the privy council, the cabinet and senior officials. Two hours later the king will visit the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the most sacred space in Thailand, which on normal days is thronged with tourists. He then symbolically moves into the Royal Residence.
The procession
The main element of Sunday's ceremonies, streets across Bangkok's historic heart have been blocked off in preparation for this moment. The king will sit on a royal palanquin carried by soldiers dressed in colourful traditional garb. A 21-gun salute will start the procession. Some 200,000 people are expected to line the seven-kilometre route around the city.
Meet the people
On the last day of the ceremony Rama X will appear on the balcony of Suddhaisavarya Prasad Hall in the Grand Palace at 4:30pm "to receive the good wishes of the people". An hour later, diplomats will be given an audience at the Grand Palace. This is the only time during the ceremony that representatives of foreign governments will greet the king.
The Beach Bum
Director: Harmony Korine
Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Isla Fisher, Snoop Dogg
Two stars
The Intruder
Director: Deon Taylor
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Michael Ealy, Meagan Good
One star
Coffee: black death or elixir of life?
It is among the greatest health debates of our time; splashed across newspapers with contradicting headlines - is coffee good for you or not?
Depending on what you read, it is either a cancer-causing, sleep-depriving, stomach ulcer-inducing black death or the secret to long life, cutting the chance of stroke, diabetes and cancer.
The latest research - a study of 8,412 people across the UK who each underwent an MRI heart scan - is intended to put to bed (caffeine allowing) conflicting reports of the pros and cons of consumption.
The study, funded by the British Heart Foundation, contradicted previous findings that it stiffens arteries, putting pressure on the heart and increasing the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke, leading to warnings to cut down.
Numerous studies have recognised the benefits of coffee in cutting oral and esophageal cancer, the risk of a stroke and cirrhosis of the liver.
The benefits are often linked to biologically active compounds including caffeine, flavonoids, lignans, and other polyphenols, which benefit the body. These and othetr coffee compounds regulate genes involved in DNA repair, have anti-inflammatory properties and are associated with lower risk of insulin resistance, which is linked to type-2 diabetes.
But as doctors warn, too much of anything is inadvisable. The British Heart Foundation found the heaviest coffee drinkers in the study were most likely to be men who smoked and drank alcohol regularly.
Excessive amounts of coffee also unsettle the stomach causing or contributing to stomach ulcers. It also stains the teeth over time, hampers absorption of minerals and vitamins like zinc and iron.
It also raises blood pressure, which is largely problematic for people with existing conditions.
So the heaviest drinkers of the black stuff - some in the study had up to 25 cups per day - may want to rein it in.
Rory Reynolds
LA LIGA FIXTURES
Friday Celta Vigo v Villarreal (midnight kick-off UAE)
Saturday Sevilla v Real Sociedad (4pm), Atletico Madrid v Athletic Bilbao (7.15pm), Granada v Barcelona (9.30pm), Osasuna v Real Madrid (midnight)
Sunday Levante v Eibar (4pm), Cadiz v Alaves (7.15pm), Elche v Getafe (9.30pm), Real Valladolid v Valencia (midnight)
Monday Huesca v Real Betis (midnight)
UAE Team Emirates
Valerio Conti (ITA)
Alessandro Covi (ITA)
Joe Dombrowski (USA)
Davide Formolo (ITA)
Fernando Gaviria (COL)
Sebastian Molano (COL)
Maximiliano Richeze (ARG)
Diego Ulissi (ITAS)
The major Hashd factions linked to Iran:
Badr Organisation: Seen as the most militarily capable faction in the Hashd. Iraqi Shiite exiles opposed to Saddam Hussein set up the group in Tehran in the early 1980s as the Badr Corps under the supervision of the Iran Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The militia exalts Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei but intermittently cooperated with the US military.
Saraya Al Salam (Peace Brigade): Comprised of former members of the officially defunct Mahdi Army, a militia that was commanded by Iraqi cleric Moqtada Al Sadr and fought US and Iraqi government and other forces between 2004 and 2008. As part of a political overhaul aimed as casting Mr Al Sadr as a more nationalist and less sectarian figure, the cleric formed Saraya Al Salam in 2014. The group’s relations with Iran has been volatile.
Kataeb Hezbollah: The group, which is fighting on behalf of the Bashar Al Assad government in Syria, traces its origins to attacks on US forces in Iraq in 2004 and adopts a tough stance against Washington, calling the United States “the enemy of humanity”.
Asaeb Ahl Al Haq: An offshoot of the Mahdi Army active in Syria. Asaeb Ahl Al Haq’s leader Qais al Khazali was a student of Mr Al Moqtada’s late father Mohammed Sadeq Al Sadr, a prominent Shiite cleric who was killed during Saddam Hussein’s rule.
Harakat Hezbollah Al Nujaba: Formed in 2013 to fight alongside Mr Al Assad’s loyalists in Syria before joining the Hashd. The group is seen as among the most ideological and sectarian-driven Hashd militias in Syria and is the major recruiter of foreign fighters to Syria.
Saraya Al Khorasani: The ICRG formed Saraya Al Khorasani in the mid-1990s and the group is seen as the most ideologically attached to Iran among Tehran’s satellites in Iraq.
(Source: The Wilson Centre, the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
MATCH INFO
Manchester United 6 (McTominay 2', 3'; Fernandes 20', 70' pen; Lindelof 37'; James 65')
Leeds United 2 (Cooper 41'; Dallas 73')
Man of the match: Scott McTominay (Manchester United)
Thor%3A%20Love%20and%20Thunder%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Taika%20Waititi%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Chris%20Hemsworth%2C%20Natalie%20Portman%2C%20Christian%20Bale%2C%20Russell%20Crowe%2C%20Tessa%20Thompson%2C%20Taika%20Waititi%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Traits of Chinese zodiac animals
Tiger:independent, successful, volatile
Rat:witty, creative, charming
Ox:diligent, perseverent, conservative
Rabbit:gracious, considerate, sensitive
Dragon:prosperous, brave, rash
Snake:calm, thoughtful, stubborn
Horse:faithful, energetic, carefree
Sheep:easy-going, peacemaker, curious
Monkey:family-orientated, clever, playful
Rooster:honest, confident, pompous
Dog:loyal, kind, perfectionist
Boar:loving, tolerant, indulgent
EU Russia
The EU imports 90 per cent of the natural gas used to generate electricity, heat homes and supply industry, with Russia supplying almost 40 per cent of EU gas and a quarter of its oil.
Results:
6.30pm: Maiden | US$45,000 (Dirt) | 1,400 metres
Winner: Tabarak, Royston Ffrench (jockey), Rashed Bouresly (trainer)
7.05pm: Handicap | $175,000 (Turf) | 3,200m
Winner: Dubhe, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
7.40pm: UAE 2000 Guineas Group 3 | $250,000 (D) | 1,600m
Winner: Estihdaaf, Christophe Soumillon, Saeed bin Suroor
8.15pm: Handicap | $135,000 (T) | 1,800m
Winner: Nordic Lights, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
8.50pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 Group 2 | $450,000 (D) | 1,900m
Winner: North America, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
9.25pm: Handicap | $175,000 (T) | 1,200m
Winner: Mazzini, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass
10pm: Handicap | $135,000 (T) | 1,400m.
Winner: Mubtasim, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
Recent winners
2002 Giselle Khoury (Colombia)
2004 Nathalie Nasralla (France)
2005 Catherine Abboud (Oceania)
2007 Grace Bijjani (Mexico)
2008 Carina El-Keddissi (Brazil)
2009 Sara Mansour (Brazil)
2010 Daniella Rahme (Australia)
2011 Maria Farah (Canada)
2012 Cynthia Moukarzel (Kuwait)
2013 Layla Yarak (Australia)
2014 Lia Saad (UAE)
2015 Cynthia Farah (Australia)
2016 Yosmely Massaad (Venezuela)
2017 Dima Safi (Ivory Coast)
2018 Rachel Younan (Australia)
Alita: Battle Angel
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Stars: Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Keean Johnson
Four stars
Freezer tips
- Always make sure food is completely cool before freezing.
- If you’re cooking in large batches, divide into either family-sized or individual portions to freeze.
- Ensure the food is well wrapped in foil or cling film. Even better, store in fully sealable, labelled containers or zip-lock freezer bags.
- The easiest and safest way to defrost items such as the stews and sauces mentioned is to do so in the fridge for several hours or overnight.
The six points:
1. Ministers should be in the field, instead of always at conferences
2. Foreign diplomacy must be left to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation
3. Emiratisation is a top priority that will have a renewed push behind it
4. The UAE's economy must continue to thrive and grow
5. Complaints from the public must be addressed, not avoided
6. Have hope for the future, what is yet to come is bigger and better than before
Sri Lanka World Cup squad
Dimuth Karunaratne (c), Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perera, Kusal Perera, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Mendis, Isuru Udana, Milinda Siriwardana, Avishka Fernando, Jeevan Mendis, Lahiru Thirimanne, Jeffrey Vandersay, Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal.
RESULTS
6.30pm: Maiden (TB) Dh 82,500 (Dirt) 1.600m
Winner: Miller’s House, Richard Mullen (jockey), Satish Seemar (trainer).
7.05pm: Maiden (TB) Dh 82,500 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Kanood, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass.
7.50pm: Handicap (TB) Dh 82,500 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Gervais, Sandro Paiva, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
8.15pm: The Garhoud Sprint Listed (TB) Dh 132,500 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Important Mission, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer.
8.50pm: The Entisar Listed (TB) Dh 132,500 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Firnas, Xavier Ziani, Salem bin Ghadayer.
9.25pm: Conditions (TB) Dh 120,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner: Zhou Storm, Connor Beasley, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
Tuesday's fixtures
Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm
The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2.9-litre%20twin-turbo%20V6%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E8-speed%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E536hp%20(including%20138hp%20e-motor)%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E750Nm%20(including%20400Nm%20e-motor)%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh1%2C380%2C000%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Enow%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Super 30
Produced: Sajid Nadiadwala and Phantom Productions
Directed: Vikas Bahl
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Pankaj Tripathi, Aditya Srivastav, Mrinal Thakur
Rating: 3.5 /5
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
