The UN envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths, offered a bleak picture of prospects for peace in the country, on Tuesday.
This came at the end of his three-year stint in a peacemaking role in which little progress was made towards ending the war.
In his final address to the UN Security Council as envoy to Yemen, Mr Giffiths said he had been unable to bridge differences between Yemen's internationally recognised government, which is backed by a Saudi-led coalition, and the Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
Mr Griffiths is set to become the head of UN humanitarian operations in the coming weeks, after his latest bout of shuttle diplomacy failed to end a Houthi assault on the oil and gas-rich province of Marib, the government’s last stronghold in northern Yemen.
“Yemen is a tale of missed and then lost opportunities,” Mr Griffiths said.
“Over the course of the conflict, armed and political actors have multiplied and fragmented.
"Foreign interference has grown. What was possible in terms of conflict resolution years ago is not possible today. And what is possible today may not be possible in the future.”
Mr Griffiths said his most recent talks with Houthi officials in the rebel-held capital Sanaa did not alter their long-standing demand for the lifting of an air and sea blockade before they would agree to ceasefire negotiations.
“Perhaps an international conversation may need to restate the realistic goals for a negotiation process,” he told the 15-member council.
Diplomats met in New York amid ongoing Houthi violence, including a drone attack on a school in south-western Saudi Arabia and drone and missile strikes that killed at least 10 civilians in Marib on Thursday.
"I strongly condemn these acts, as well as the Houthis' continued crackdown on the rights and freedoms of Yemeni women, as well as religious and ethnic minorities," said Barbara Woodward, the UK's ambassador to the UN.
“I think it's clear that the Houthis do not have the courage to embrace a ceasefire.”
The US State Department on Tuesday said its Special Envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking will travel to Saudi Arabia this week to meet Yemeni and Saudi senior officials, as well as Mr Griffiths.
Mr Lenderking "will discuss the latest efforts to achieve a comprehensive, nationwide ceasefire, which is the only way to bring Yemenis the relief they so urgently need," the State Department said.
Yemen's war erupted in late 2014 when the Houthis seized large parts of the country, claiming to be fighting corruption and foreign interference, while imposing Iran-style restrictions on areas under their control.
Fighting intensified in March 2015 when a Saudi-led coalition launched an air strike campaign to try to restore the ousted government of President Abdrabu Mansur Hadi.
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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.
Uefa Nations League: How it works
The Uefa Nations League, introduced last year, has reached its final stage, to be played over five days in northern Portugal. The format of its closing tournament is compact, spread over two semi-finals, with the first, Portugal versus Switzerland in Porto on Wednesday evening, and the second, England against the Netherlands, in Guimaraes, on Thursday.
The winners of each semi will then meet at Porto’s Dragao stadium on Sunday, with the losing semi-finalists contesting a third-place play-off in Guimaraes earlier that day.
Qualifying for the final stage was via League A of the inaugural Nations League, in which the top 12 European countries according to Uefa's co-efficient seeding system were divided into four groups, the teams playing each other twice between September and November. Portugal, who finished above Italy and Poland, successfully bid to host the finals.
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What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.
Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.
Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.
Premier League results
Saturday
Tottenham Hotspur 1 Arsenal 1
Bournemouth 0 Manchester City 1
Brighton & Hove Albion 1 Huddersfield Town 0
Burnley 1 Crystal Palace 3
Manchester United 3 Southampton 2
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 Cardiff City 0
West Ham United 2 Newcastle United 0
Sunday
Watford 2 Leicester City 1
Fulham 1 Chelsea 2
Everton 0 Liverpool 0
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
Despacito's dominance in numbers
Released: 2017
Peak chart position: No.1 in more than 47 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Lebanon
Views: 5.3 billion on YouTube
Sales: With 10 million downloads in the US, Despacito became the first Latin single to receive Diamond sales certification
Streams: 1.3 billion combined audio and video by the end of 2017, making it the biggest digital hit of the year.
Awards: 17, including Record of the Year at last year’s prestigious Latin Grammy Awards, as well as five Billboard Music Awards
