'Diplomatic vandalism': aid groups' fury as US puts Houthis on terror list

Trump administration's 11th-hour decision greeted with dismay by aid agencies working in Yemen

The Trump administration has made an 11th-hour decision to designate Yemen's Houthi rebels as a foreign terrorist organisation in a move that is likely to severely worsen the war-torn country's humanitarian crisis.

The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, announced the decision late on Sunday, despite bipartisan opposition and months of warnings from UN officials and aid organisations that the designation - part of the White House's maximum pressure" campaign on Iran and its allies - would lead to shortages and delays for aid and commercial shipments and undermine the peace process.