The US special envoy for Yemen lashed out at the Houthi rebels, accusing them of failing to try to reach an urgently needed cease-fire in the war-wrecked nation. Tim Lenderking said the Iranian-backed Houthis bear the major responsibility for refusing to engage meaningfully on a cease-fire and to take steps to "resolve a nearly seven-year conflict that has brought unimaginable suffering to the Yemeni people”.