Macron presses Saudi king to lift Yemen blockade – report

French President Emmanuel Macron called for a “complete lifting” of a blockade on Yemen in a telephone call with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman on December 24, Reuters quoted an Elysee source as saying on Wednesday. “The president expressed his strong concerns about the humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen and called on the Saudi king to lift completely the blockade to allow humanitarian aid and commercial goods to enter Yemen,” the source said. A week ago, the Saudi-led coalition said that it would keep the Houthi-controlled Hodeidah port – vital for aid – open for a month despite another missile attack against Riyadh, but it has kept up air raids.