The UK Secretary of State for International Development, Andrew Mitchell, said the response by many European and developed countries to the crisis in the Horn of Africa had been "derisory and dangerously inadequate". "The overall requirement is $1.6bn (�990m) for Somalia, roughly $300m is needed in the next two months to provide an adequate response…

An estimated 10 million people have been affected in East Africa by the worst drought in more than half a century. More than 166,000 desperate Somalis are estimated to have fled their country to neighbouring Kenya or Ethiopia. She said some of the mothers had walked up to six days with no food to try…

The UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs for Somalia said the ongoing conflict in Somalia had made it extremely difficult for agencies to access communities in the south, which are controlled by al-Shabab. "The overall requirement is $1.6bn (�990m) for Somalia, roughly $300m is needed in the next two months to provide an…

The law firm had said it was being prevented from responding to "inaccurate" comments made by News International chairman James Murdoch because the company would not allow it breach its duty of client confidentiality. Downing Street confirms that the prime minister received and responded to a letter from Labour MP Tom Watson last October, in…

Mr Cameron said the public inquiry would be widened to examine broadcasters and social media and named the panel "The overall requirement is $1.6bn (�990m) for Somalia, roughly $300m is needed in the next two months to provide an adequate response to famine-affected areas. Children and adults are dying at an appalling rate," Mr Ban…

'Dangerously inadequate' Save the Children's Sonia Zambakides told the BBC the situation in Somalia was shocking. Those conditions include more than 30% of children being acutely malnourished, and four children out of every 10,000 dying daily. Earlier, the Met was accused by MPs of a "catalogue of failures" in the News of the World phone-hacking…

Downing Street confirms that the prime minister received and responded to a letter from Labour MP Tom Watson last October, in which he had raised concerns about Mr Coulson BBC Africa analyst Martin Plaut says this marks a considerable change in policy from Washington. Nearly half the Somali population - 3.7 million people - were…

"If we don't act now, famine will spread to all eight regions of southern Somalia within two months, due to poor harvests and infectious disease outbreaks," said the UN humanitarian co-ordinator for Somalia, Mark Bowden. The UN has declared a famine in two areas of southern Somalia as the region experiences the worst drought in…

The protester accused of throwing shaving foam at Rupert Murdoch is charged with a public order offence The US considers al-Shabab a terrorist group and last year stopped aid to the large area of Somalia it controls. Families have built their own homes at the camp with tree branches, wood and plastic sheets, he says.…

News International has said a May 2007 letter from the firm had made it believe that hacking was a "matter of the past" and confined to a single rogue reporter. In Somalia's war-ravaged capital, Mogadishu, the BBC's Mohamed Mwalimu says more than 4,000 people are crammed into one camp, called Safety. BBC Africa analyst Martin…