(Reuters) - Yemen's powerful Houthi movement fought artillery battles with the army near the presidential palace in Sanaa on Monday, plunging the fragile Arab state deeper into turmoil and drawing accusations that the militia fighters were mounting a coup.

Explosions echoed across the city and plumes of dark smoke hung over downtown buildings as the most intense clashes since the Shi'ite Muslim Houthi movement seized the capital in September brought everyday life to a halt.

The Houthis had seized the state news agency and television station, a government minister said.

Medical sources said five people had been killed and more than 20 wounded. Final numbers were likely to be higher.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/19/us-yemen-clashes-idUSKBN0KS08K20150119

This is classic: "We're only protecting him."

(Reuters) - Yemen's minority Shi'ite Houthi fighters took up guard at President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi's home on Wednesday but said they had not toppled him, after two days of fighting which left little doubt that the enfeebled leader was now at their mercy.

The Houthis, friendly to Iran, swept into the capital four months ago and have emerged as the dominant force in the country. For now at least they appear to have decided to stop short of overthrowing Hadi, possibly preferring to exert control over a weakened leader rather than take on the burden of power.

Their defeat of the presidential guards in gunbattles and artillery duels in recent days adds to disarray in a country where the United States is also carrying out drone strikes against one of the most powerful branches of al Qaeda.

After clashes at the president's office and home on Tuesday, the Houthis' leader threatened in a speech overnight to take further "measures" unless Hadi bows to his demand for constitutional changes that would increase Houthi power.

http://in.reuters.com/article/2015/01/21/yemen-security-president-idINKBN0KU0Q920150121

Shiite Houthi fighters tightened their grip on Yemen’s capital after seizing control of the presidential palace, threatening to plunge Saudi Arabia’s southern neighbor deeper into sectarian conflict.

The Houthis seized an army base that houses rocket systems in the mountains on the edge of Sana’a, al-Masdar independent news website reported, citing military officials it didn’t identify. The rebels manned checkpoints, blocked the road to the palace and reinforced their positions around the residence of U.S.-backed President Abdurabuh Mansur Hadi, who hasn’t made a public appearance since fighting started three days ago.

Yemen’s government has struggled to exert authority over much of the country amid challenges by ethnic separatists, political protesters and Islamist militants, who Hadi battled with U.S. military support. The resulting power vacuum caused alarm in Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, and enabled al-Qaeda to expand its operations. The group’s Yemen branch claimed this month’s killings at the Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-20/yemen-s-houthis-take-control-of-presidential-palace-aide-says.html