<span style="color: #222222;">The US and UK have hinted they could take military action against Yemen's Houthi rebels after they repelled the largest attack yet on Red Sea shipping.<br />''<br />'' Carrier-based jets and warships shot down 21 drones and missiles launched by the Iran-backed group on Tuesday night.<br />''</span><br />''The UN Security Council has passed a resolution demanding an immediate end to the Houthi attacks. The text endorsed the right of UN member states to defend their vessels.<br />'' <br />''The UN resolution demanded that the Houthis immediately cease all such attacks, which impede global commerce and undermine navigational rights and freedoms as well as regional peace and security. Eleven nations voted for it, but Russia, China, Mozambique, and Algeria abstained.<br />''<br />''<span style="color: #222222;">Earlier, the US and several allies warned of consequences for the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea. The International Chamber of Shipping says 20 percent of the world's container ships are now avoiding the Red Sea and using the much longer route around the southern tip of Africa instead.</span><br />