Alhurra

Next door in Yemen, the fighting took a sharp turn.

Al-Hurra reports that the head of Yemen's Saudi-backed Presidential Leadership Council, Rashad al-Alimi, announced a full-scale military campaign to retake the capital Sana'a from the Iran-aligned Houthi movement.

He said the decision came after, in his words, the exhaustion of opportunities for peace.

The announcement followed a few tough days for the government side when the Houthis seized areas overlooking the Bab al-Mandab Strait and advanced toward the last road linking Taiz, Yemen's third-largest city, to the port of Aden.

Those were the Treasury Secretary's own assessments, and independent verification of the barrel figure was not found.

Al-Hurra reported that Washington had so far spared major Chinese banks that facilitate the oil trade while sanctioning smaller Chinese refineries.

Republican Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana, on Face the Nation, called Iran's plan not a serious offer and argued for continuing the sanctions and the blockade.

He also said the strait was at least partly closed, that oil prices were painful for consumers, and that the country had to either settle or escalate.