"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 said. Some children look like skeletons while others have swollen legs and hands, he adds. The US considers al-Shabab…

"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. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday that Washington would provide an extra $28m in emergency aid to…

Earlier, the Met was accused by MPs of a "catalogue of failures" in the News of the World phone-hacking inquiry. Prime Minister David Cameron told MPs that "with hindsight" he would not have hired ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson as his communications chief, in the closest he has come to an apology. The…

Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers said the move came after a "significant increase in the workload" over the past fortnight. But US aid officials say assurances must be given that the insurgents will not interfere with its distribution. She said the US had already provided $431m this year in emergency aid to the…

The UN said the humanitarian situation in Somalia's southern Bakool and Lower Shabelle districts had deteriorated rapidly and declared them to be suffering a famine. She said the US had already provided $431m this year in emergency aid to the Horn of Africa, but that was "not enough". She said some of the mothers had…

In April 2010 US President Barack Obama issued an executive order naming al-Shabab a terrorist organisation, meaning no US aid could go to areas under its control, our analyst adds. Earlier, the Met was accused by MPs of a "catalogue of failures" in the News of the World phone-hacking inquiry. He said the goal was…

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. Downing Street and Buckingham Palace denied claims by Labour MP Chris Bryant that royal officials raised concerns about Mr Coulson's appointment "What we need is…

She said there had been a "surge of inquiries and requests for assistance from the public and solicitors". Mr Cameron said the public inquiry would be widened to examine broadcasters and social media and named the panel She said some of the mothers had walked up to six days with no food to try to…

Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers said the move came after a "significant increase in the workload" over the past fortnight. 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…

Labour MP Nick Raynsford said that, when Mr Coulson was at Downing Street, the cabinet secretary was alerted to evidence of illegal phone hacking, covert surveillance and hostile media briefing against a senior government official - the cabinet secretary later denied it. The UN has declared a famine in two areas of southern Somalia as…