UN chief appeals for halt to Yemen fighting for Ramadan

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon pressed Monday for a halt to fighting in Yemen at the beginning of Ramadan, which starts later this week, as the world body launched talks aimed at brokering peace. Ban, who met in Geneva with some of the delegations involved in the talks, said he had "emphasized the importance of having another humanitarian pause at least two weeks." Such a pause won't be enough in itself to get aid to all needy Yemenis "given the obstacles to access and the scale of destruction," Ban told reporters.