Red Cross appeals for access to key Yemen port

   Fighting in Yemen has made it virtually impossible to ship humanitarian supplies to a key harbour when the country is at risk of famine.

   International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC, has had to halt deliveries to the Red Sea port of Hudaydah, because it had not received security guarantees.

  ICRC's Middle East regional director, Robert Mardini, warned that Yemen, which depends on imports for 90% of its food supplies, was now living on its reserves and that the day will come very soon when they run out.

   The UN's emergency relief co-ordinator, Stephen O'Brien, has called on the warring parties to guarantee more access to ports to let in food, fuel and medicine imports.

    Speaking to reporters in the government-controlled southern port city of Aden, he also said the international community needed to step up its funding.