Free Republic

The 2011 Somali famine killed an estimated 260,000 people, half of them age 5 and under, according to a new report to be published this week that more than doubles previous death toll estimates, officials told The Associated Press. The aid community believes that tens of thousands of people died needlessly because the international community was slow to respond to early signs of approaching hunger in East Africa in late 2010 and early 2011. The toll was also exacerbated by extremist militants from al-Shabab who banned food aid deliveries to the areas of south-central Somalia that they controlled. Quicker action...

US vice-president's wife Jill Biden arrives at famine zone with two planes, a 29 car convoy and CNN Wearing a linen trouser suit, neon-green Nike trainers and a CNN lapel-mic, Jill Biden sat in the shade of an acacia tree and listened solemnly to Fatuma Adem's story. By Mike Pflanz, Dadaab 6:32PM BST 08 Aug 2011 Wearing a linen trouser suit, neon-green Nike trainers and a CNN lapel-mic, Jill Biden sat in the shade of an acacia tree and listened solemnly to Fatuma Adem's story. Watching the wife of the US vice-president touring the world's biggest refugee camp for famine-hit...