Yemen

Yemen's government and Shi'ite rebels in the north should suspend fighting to allow the United Nations to deliver aid to refugees, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes told reporters after a delayed aid convoy arrived from Saudi Arabia. Holmes said he had asked for a "ceasefire … on humanitarian" grounds during a meeting with Yemeni officials in the Arabian Peninsula country, one of the world's poorest nations outside Africa. Aid agencies are warning of a humanitarian crisis in northern Yemen, where up to an estimated 150,000 people have fled their homes since Shi'ite rebels launched the insurgency in 2004. Limited access to the war zone means they have no clear idea of exactly how many have fled. (Reuters)