MILLIONS AT RISK AS EAST AFRICA RAINS FAIL

Rains across swathes of East Africa have failed for the sixth year in a row, leaving millions of people facing hardship, Oxfam has warned.
The charity says Somalia's drought is the worst for 20 years, and November rainfall was less than 5% of normal in parts of Kenya and Ethiopia. Oxfam says the next rains in hardest-hit areas are not due until April.

• The UN has already said it is aiming to feed 20 million people in East Africa over the next six months. It says the drought and rising food prices in East Africa are causing severe hardship.
• Oxfam highlights large parts of the Turkana region of northern Kenya as having just 12mm of rain in the last three months - leaving almost one person in three malnourished.
• The charity also says the Central Highlands and the Ogaden region of Ethiopia, and virtually the whole of Somaliland have also received less than 5% of normal rainfall in November.
• The crisis is most severe in parts of Somalia, where worsening conflict and the drought have left 3.6 million people - nearly half the country's population - in need of aid.

Source: BBC