Dramatic floods in the eastern Somali region of Ethiopia have killed at least three people and displaced more than 50,000 since the start of the month, aid sources said Wednesday.

Dramatic floods in the eastern Somali region of Ethiopia have killed at least three people and displaced more than 50,000 since the start of the month, aid sources said Wednesday.

ADDIS ABABA, Oct 18, 2007 (AFP) - Ethiopia has allowed UN agencies freely to conduct relief operations in the volatile Ogaden region, where the army is cracking down on insurgents, a top UN official said Thursday.

'The Ethiopian government has assured the UN humanitarian activities within the Somali region will be unrestricted,' said Fidele Sarassoro, the UN Office of the Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) representative in Ethiopia.

GENEVA, Oct 17, 2007 (AFP) - Former UN chief Kofi Annan formally launched his new humanitarian forum here on Wednesday by urging all nations to work together to meet the challenges of climate change.

The Global Humanitarian Forum will work with governments and civil society to address the humanitarian impact of climate change on the poor and most vulnerable, Annan said.

'We are all in the same boat and we need to come together to resolve it,' the former UN Secretary General told journalists.

GOMA, DR Congo, Oct 12, 2007 (AFP) - Renewed fighting broke out Friday in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Nord-Kivu province where the army killed 19 renagade troops and three of its own men were wounded, the regional military chief said.

'This morning we recaptured two villages between Mweso and Kitchanga,' said General Vainqueur Mayala, who commands regular army (FARDC) troops in the east.

GOMA, DR Congo, Oct 12, 2007 (AFP) - Renewed fighting broke out Friday between the regular army and renegade troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Nord-Kivu province, a local spokesman with the UN mission in DRC said.

'Clashes have been reported from Katsiru, a village between Mweso and Kitchanga,' almost 70 kilometres (45 miles) north of the provincial capital Goma, which lies on the Rwandan border, MONUC spokesman Claude Cyrille said.

GENEVA, Oct 10, 2007 (AFP) - The Red Cross on Wednesday said that an estimated ten million people were affected by typhoon damage and floods in Vietnam, and launched an emergency appeal for 2.7 million dollars (1.9 million euros) in relief aid.

'We estimate that there are ten million people affected by floods in July, and 10 million by the most recent floods,' said Winnie Romeril, a spokeswoman for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

'A lot of people were displaced twice,' she told AFP.

KAMPALA, Oct 10, 2007 (AFP) - The United Nations food agency and charity group Oxfam warned Tuesday that thousands of Ugandans affected by recent floods will face months of starvation if assistance is not stepped up.

'The situation is dire for hundreds of thousands of people who have lost their homes, their belongings and most of their crops,' World Food Programme chief Josette Sheeran said in a statement.

Uganda was one of the countries most affected by the torrential rains and floods that have swept much of sub-Saharan Africa in recent weeks.

KAMPALA, Oct 9, 2007 (AFP) - The United Nations food agency warned Tuesday that thousands of Ugandans affected by recent floods will face months of starvation if assistance is not stepped up.

'The situation is dire for hundreds of thousands of people who have lost their homes, their belongings and most of their crops,' World Food Programme chief Josette Sheeran said in a statement.

Uganda was one of the countries most affected by the torrential rains and floods that have swept much of sub-Saharan Africa in recent weeks.

GENEVA, Oct 9, 2007 (AFP) - The United Nations said on Tuesday it has allocated 3.7 million dollars (2.6 million euros) in emergency assistance to the West African countries of Ghana, Mali and Togo after recent severe floods.

The funds from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) is aimed at improving the living conditions of 125,000 people across the three countries, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement.

Ghana will receive 2.5 million dollars, Mali 1 million dollars and Togo 225,770 dollars, OCHA said.

GENEVA, Sept 25, 2007 (AFP) - The UN's food relief agency said Tuesday that it would begin airdrops of food in Sudan next month in areas cut off by severe flooding that has struck a large swathe of Africa.

The World Food Programme said the airdrops in three southern Sudanese States would begin in October and last for about a month.

'The WFP will carry out the airdrops to help 43,800 victims of floods in three states in southern Sudan,' WFP spokeswoman Christiane Berthiaume told journalists.

GENEVA, Sept 21, 2007 (AFP) - The Red Cross warned Friday that a massive aid effort is needed to cope with floods in 18 countries across Africa that have already affected at least 1.5 million people and killed nearly 300.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said that the situation is expected to worsen, with more rain forecast in coming weeks.

GENEVA, Sept 19, 2007 (AFP) - The International Committee of the Red Cross has opened a blog hosted by the website of French daily Le Monde to focus on humanitarian issues that receive little coverage in the local media.

The French language blog run by the ICRC's office in France is aimed at highlighting broader concerns about armed conflicts and will draw in other relief agencies and actors, the Geneva-based agency said on Wednesday.

'I just think existing, mainstream media have limitations in what they can cover,' said chief ICRC spokesman Florian Westphal.

MOGADISHU, Sept 18, 2007 (AFP) - The Somali government on Tuesday warned of a humanitarian catastrophe because of acute food shortages in the war-battered Horn of Africa nation.

'A humanitarian catastrophe is imminent in Somalia if the international community does not respond soon,' Interior Minister Mohamed Mohamud Guled told reporters.

'A lot of people have fled their homes across the country and are currently suffering,' he added.

GENEVA, Sept 17, 2007 (AFP) - Former UN chief Kofi Annan warned Monday that climate change was likely to be the most urgent humanitarian challenge in the future, highlighting some one million people hit by recent flooding in Africa.

Annan said he wanted the impact of climate change on refugee flows and humanitarian strife around the world to be a first priority of a new forum he is launching on October 17.

'This is perhaps the single most important humanitarian challenge of years to come,' Annan told journalists in Geneva.

NAIROBI, Sept 12, 2007 (AFP) - Thousands of children are at risk of dying from malnutrition in central and southern areas of Somalia formerly considered the country's breadbasket, the UN Children Fund (UNICEF) said Wednesday.

'83,000 children in central and southern Somalia suffer from malnutrition -- 13,500 of whom are severely malnourished and at risk of dying,' it said in a statement released after a recent nutrition survey.

NAIROBI, Sept 8, 2007 (AFP) - The United Nations' humanitarian arm Saturday expressed concern over the humanitarian situation in Ethiopia's volatile Ogaden region where the government has launched a crackdown on insurgents.

'We are indeed very concerned by reports we have heard of what is happening there, on the effects of military operations on the humanitarian situation there,' said UN aid chief John Holmes.

NAIROBI, Sept 4, 2007 (AFP) - Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warned Tuesday a major humanitarian crisis could be developing in Ethiopia's rebel Ogaden region, where the organisation was repeatedly denied access in recent weeks.

'I think we are missing a big thing that is happening under our eyes,' said Loris de Filippi, operational coordinator for MSF Belgium in Ethiopia.

LIMA, Aug 29, 2007 (AFP) - Peruvian officials Wednesday issued a world-wide emergency request for 40,000 tents for some 200,000 people made homeless by the massive earthquake that struck the southwest coastal area earlier this month.

The National Civil Defense Institute (Indeci) said 9,300 tents have gone up so far in the worst-affected cities of Pisco, Chincha, Ica and Canete, where most of the 519 fatalities tallied so far in the tragedy were found.

GENEVA, Aug 28, 2007 (AFP) - The United Nations on Tuesday launched a 20.2 million dollar emergency appeal to help Sudan cope with devastating floods that have left at least 200,000 people homeless.

The appeal is seeking 20.2 million dollars (14.8 million euros) on top of an existing 13.5 million dollars already provided by the UN's Central Emergency Response Fund and the local Common Humanitarian Fund, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement.

ATHENS, Aug 27, 2007 (AFP) - As Greece battles devastating forest fires, EU members have made what a spokeswoman for the bloc called its biggest ever offer of emergency assistance to a member state.

Here is a list of all international aid sent so far:

-- Austria: military transport plane, two helicopters, 20 soldiers

-- Cyprus: more than 100 firefighters

-- France: 60 firefighters, six firefighting vehicles, four water-bombing planes

-- Germany: three helicopters

-- Israel: 55 firefighters, three helicopters

GENEVA, Aug 24, 2007 (AFP) - Floods in North Korea in recent weeks have affected 437,000 people and damaged more than one-fifth of the country's rice crop, according to official North Korean estimates, the UN's food relief agency said Friday.

'According to figures from the North Korean agriculture ministry, 223,381 hectares of rice, corn, and soja (soybean) have been damaged, or more than 20 percent of rice crops, and 15 percent of corn fields,' said World Food Programme spokeswoman Christiane Berthiaume.

GENEVA, Aug 24, 2007 (AFP) - Floods in North Korea in recent weeks have affected 437,000 people and damaged more than one-fifth of the country's rice crop, according to official North Korean estimates, the UN's food relief agency said Friday

'According to figures from the North Korean agriculture ministry, 223,381 hectares of rice, corn, and soja have been damaged, or more than 20 percent of rice crops, and 15 percent of corn fields,' said World Food Programme spokeswoman Christiane Berthiaume.

GENEVA, Aug 21, 2007 (AFP) - The United Nations will launch an international appeal this week to help an estimated 1.5 million people affected by weeks of torrential rain and floods in Sudan, a UN spokeswoman said.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said it feared more destruction as the rains continue, after 150,000 Sudanese were left homeless and at least 30,000 homes destroyed in the past six weeks.

ROME, Aug 21, 2007 (AFP) - The Italian Catholic Church will donate one million euros (1.35 million dollars) to relief efforts following last week's devastating earthquake in Peru, the bishops' conference said Tuesday.

'To address the emergency' that has claimed at least 540 lives since the measuring 8.0 on the Richter scale struck last Wednesday, the Italian Church leadership 'has made available one million euros,' it said in a communique.

GENEVA, Aug 21, 2007 (AFP) - The United Nations is preparing an urgent international aid appeal to help hundreds of thousands of flood victims in North Korea in response to Pyongyang's call for help, a UN spokeswoman said Tuesday.

UN agencies said they had received requests from the reclusive North Korean government to coordinate relief aid and evaluate the long-term damage caused by torrential rains earlier this month that left five provinces partly submerged.

GENEVA, Aug 20, 2007 (AFP) - The Red Cross Monday launched a global appeal for 5.5 million dollars (four million euros) to aid 3.7 million people hit by massive floods in North Korea.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent societies said in a statement that medical supplies and infrastructure were severely damaged by major flooding across five provinces and the health situation was worsening.

NAIROBI, Aug 20, 2007 (AFP) - Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said Monday it was outraged at the lack of access to care for Somalis in and around Mogadishu and the general disrespect by warring parties for humanitarian efforts.

'The level of care that is being provided usually in the capital is very low but it has been decreasing over the last months very shockingly,' MSF international chief Christophe Fournier (eds: correct) told reporters.

GENEVA, Aug 16, 2007 (AFP) - The Red Cross on Friday launched an initial appeal for 1.3 million dollars (980,000 euros) in emergency aid for survivors of the devastating earthquake in Peru that left at least 500 dead.

Offers of funds, manpower and expertise poured in from Peru's immediate neighbours, the Americas region, Europe, Asia and the United Nations as the extent of the devastation from the 8.0-magnitude quake Wednesday emerged.

ISLAMABAD, Aug 17, 2007 (AFP) - Pakistan Friday despatched relief supplies including rice and tents to China for victims of devastating floods there that have killed more than 500 people, the foreign ministry said.

A plane carrying 150 tents, 1,000 blankets, five tonnes of rice and 200,000 water purifying tablets had left for the northwestern Chinese city of Urumqi, a ministry statement said.

NEW YORK, Aug 16, 2007 (AFP) - The United Nations pledged a million dollars (750,000 euros) of relief for Peru on Thursday as governments and aid agencies around the world rushed to help the quake-ravaged South American nation.

Offers of funds, manpower and expertise poured in from Peru's immediate neighbors, the Americas region and Europe as news spread of the extent of the devastation from the 8.0-magnitude quake Wednesday.

US President George W. Bush offered 100,000 dollars in immediate emergency aid, with the possibility of more to come, the White House said.

GENEVA, Aug 16, 2007 (AFP) - The international Red Cross, governments and private groups quickly launched a relief operation for Peru on Thursday after the major earthquake that killed hundreds in the South American nation.

The International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) said a Peruvian Red Cross team had reported 'widespread devastation' in the southern region worst hit by the quake.

Two IFRC planes carrying tents, plastic covers, blankets and water canisters were to leave Panama City for Lima on Thursday.

FREETOWN, Aug 3, 2007 (AFP) - Japan on Friday cancelled a 33-million-dollar (23.9-million-euro) debt owed by Sierra Leone and pledged five million dollars in aid to help normalise erratic power supplies in the capital Freetown.

'Over the years, Japan has been channeling its support through international organisations but now wants to strengthen its bilateral cooperation with Sierra Leone to provide direct assistance,' Vice Foreign Minister Masayoshi Hamada said at the end of a three-day visit.

GENEVA, July 26, 2007 (AFP) - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Thursday condemned its expulsion from Ethiopia`s volatile Ogaden region and rejected charges that it was meddling in local politics.

The ICRC 'deplores the decision by the authorities of Ethiopia`s Somali Regional State, where it has been present for over 12 years, to give it seven days` notice to leave,' a statement released in Geneva said.