New top Yemeni govt official promises to work towards peace

CAIRO (AP) — The new head of Yemen’s internationally recognized government says the council he leads will work to end the country’s grinding civil war. The remarks came in the first televised address by Rashad al-Alimi on Friday. He thanked his government’s backers  —Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — which have been helping Yemeni government forces fight the Iran-backed Houthi rebels for years. Al-Alimi’s speech comes as both sides trade accusations of breaking a week-old cease-fire. Yemen’s exiled president stepped aside and transferred his powers to the presidential council on Thursday. The announcement came as international efforts to end the 8-year civil war with a two-month truce.