Could peace talks fashion a better future for Yemen?

Our readers have their say on the Houthis, the Rohingya, the jailed journalists and mixed gender classrooms

A tribesman loyal to Yemen's Houthi rebels during a gathering aimed at mobilising more fighters. Hani Mohammed / AP

Please refer to your editorial last month on the Yemen peace talks in Geneva. It is indeed a lamentable tragedy that a beautiful country like Yemen has been wracked with conflict for three years. Millions of Yemenis have had their lives torn apart and today face the grim threat of starvation and the loss of livelihoods. But they are blameless in all of this. The great concern is that Yemen might become like Syria, with an endless war on its hands. Even hotels and hospitals have been bombed and besieged in the ongoing struggle. What will ordinary Yemenis do now? How can they hope to work, live and look after their families?

So I, like the rest of the world, hope that the talks in Geneva this week help to iron out some of the issues and allow peace to return to Yemen at long last.

Rajendra Aneja, Dubai

The Houthis have entirely lost their grip of reality

In reference to your article Yemen government announces pay rise after mass protest (September 4), Yemen has become a land of contradictions and confusion over the course of its brutal war. The cancer of hatred and opportunism in the country has reached a level where some groups are willing to sell their countrymen down the river for personal gain. The Houthis are the living example of this tragedy. They have entirely lost their grip of reality.

Name withheld by request

The practice of journalism deserves ultimate respect

I write in reference to your article Dozens of Myanmar civil society groups condemn conviction of Reuters reporters (September 5): your report on the arrest, trial and conviction of two journalists who reported tirelessly on the plight and crisis of Myanmar's Rohingya muslims was very thorough. The United Nations and a host of countries in Europe and beyond have condemned this act by theMyanmar government. And justifiably so. The practice of journalism should be respected, because journalists take serious risks to bring us the actual events happening on the ground. The jailing of these two Reuters reporters is a very sad state of affairs.

K Ragavan, Bengaluru

The world must wake up to the plight of the Rohingya

I write in reference to Campbell MacDiarmid's online article From the killing fields to exile without hope (September 4) on the tragic fate of Myanmar's Rohingya Muslims: I am hoping against all hopes that the hibernating international community will wake up from its unholy slumber and find a solution to this dire case of genocide and exile. It is truly a slap on the face of humanity.

Name withheld by request

Mixed gender classrooms will foster maturity in children

In reference to your article Mixed gender classes will 'curb bad behaviour' in government schools (September 5), this is another small but significant step on the road to advancement and maturity.

Dave Pryce, United Kingdom