So, what's an American with around $60,000 and an obsession with quick, conservative haulers to do? Well, he can buy an SQ5. At first glance, Audi of America lacks a vehicle that can compete with the latter's blend of performance, versatility and subdued looks. Meanwhile, our Euroland cousins get the same trio of bodystyles, as well as the A5/S5 Sportback, a characterful 'four-door coupe,' and a versatile hauler, the S4 Avant. In America, we can have the supercharged twins in two-door coupe, four-door sedan, and cabriolet body styles. A prime example of this is the Audi S4/S5 line.
No, instead, I'm referring to cars that are sold right here in the Land of the Free in one bodystyle, while Europe enjoys the same vehicle with a wider variety of configurations. Now, I'm not talking about models or brands that don't come here, like the Mercedes-Benz A-Class or the entire Renault line. are unspeakable.It may be obvious at this point, but here in the United States, European manufacturers routinely give us the short end of the stick. "The horrifying scenes of vehicles and trucks falling apart with people and goods. Each side blames the other for the holdup.Īnd Taez remains under siege, to the dismay of civil society organisations.Įach day "civilian victims fall on rugged mountain roads", more than a dozen groups said in a joint statement in April. The truce has also seen oil tankers arriving at the port of Hodeida, potentially easing fuel shortages in Sanaa and elsewhere.īut a deal to resume commercial flights out of Sanaa's airport for the first time in six years has yet to materialise, with a planned inaugural flight in late April postponed indefinitely. Less than a week after it took effect, Yemen's then president Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi announced he was handing over power to a new eight-man leadership council, fuelling cautious optimism over a long-term ceasefire. It has provided much of the Arab world's poorest country with a rare respite from violence.
The two-month renewable truce began in early April, coinciding with the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and the country has been pushed to the brink of famine.ĭespite the coalition's backing, forces loyal to the government have failed to prevent the Huthis from seizing control of most of northern Yemen and eyeing other strategic areas. The Huthis took control of the capital Sanaa in 2014, prompting the coalition to intervene the following year and giving rise to what the United Nations has termed the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Yemen's war pits the Iran-aligned Huthis against the Saudi-led military coalition backing the country's internationally recognised government. These days he only uses the road once or twice a week to avoid a rough journey that is compounded by the wear-and-tear on vehicles as well as the rising price of fuel.
We wait in traffic jams for three or four hours because of the narrowness of the road," truck driver Abdo al-Jaachani told AFP. "People are tired, especially children and women.
In normal times, one such road, known as "Al-Aqroudh", should allow drivers to reach the village of Al-Hawban east of Taez in just 15 minutes.īut now the trip can take up to eight hours. So far, however, those roads remain closed, meaning truck drivers and ordinary civilians have no choice but to seek out dangerous alternative routes prone to accidents and seemingly endless traffic jams. Overloaded trucks and cars packed with families ply narrow, bumpy mountain roads surrounding this Yemeni city long-besieged by Huthi rebels - evidence that the terms of a truce have yet to be met.Īnnounced just over a month ago, the truce called for warring parties to reopen the main roads into Taez, a city of roughly 600,000 people in Yemen's southwest that has been largely cut off from the world since 2015.