Oxfam wants improved access to Syria

Aid organisation Oxfam has urged the UN Security Council to help improve humanitarian access to war-torn Syria, saying more funds are needed as the "catastrophe worsens”.

• Families flee Syria into Jordanwatch
• Obama pressures Putin on Syria weapons
• Powerful blast rocks Damascus

French troops to quit Timbuktu

French airstrikes have targeted the fuel depots and desert hideouts of Islamic extremists in northern Mali, as French forces plan to hand control of Timbuktu to the Malian army this week.

• Timbuktu: France works on exit of forces
• 100s loot stores in Timbuktu, target Arabs
• Timbuktu used 'passive resistance' on foes

Oxfam urges Haiti to halt evictions

The aid group Oxfam has urged Haitian authorities to halt evictions from the encampments that are still home to more than 357 000 people, nearly three years after a devastating earthquake.

• Hurricane Sandy kills 3, slams Bahamas
• US hails Haiti post-quake reconstruction
• Tropical Storm makes landfall in Haiti

Niger hit by worst flooding in 80 years

The international aid group Oxfam says half a million people have been displaced in Niger as the country reels from the worst flooding in 80 years.

• Niger floods, cholera claim 162 lives
• 52 people dead after rains flood Niger
• Floods, locusts add to Chad food crisis

100s killed in east DRC – Oxfam

With DRC's army diverted to fighting a new rebel group in the east of the country, new militia groups have arisen as older ones reassert themselves, killing hundreds of defenceless civilians, Oxfam says.

• DRC, Rwanda leaders set to meet
• DRC govt 'must evaluate rebel accord'
• 1000s march for peace in DRC

Oxfam score in Federer's win

British charity Oxfam has won more than £100 000 thanks to Roger Federer's win at Wimbledon after being left a bet in a gambler's will.

• SA sports stars hail Federer
• Serena 'selling' serve
• Covered court irks Murray

Uganda says could eject Oxfam

Uganda has threatened to kick out Oxfam after the British charity accused the government of complicity in violent land grabs for commercial gains, according to the interior ministry.

• Ugandans displaced by UK company landgrab
• Oxfam: Act to save West Africans
• Oxfam: millions needed to avert Niger famine

Millions face hunger in Sahel

Aid agencies say they are facing a multi-million dollar funding shortage to deal with a food crisis in the Sahel where people are resorting to increasingly desperate measures to survive.

• Millions at risk in Sahel, UN says
• African ministers discuss Sahel terrorism
• SA intervenes in Sahel region

1.5m kids face Sahel hunger disaster

Up to 1.5 million children under 5 living in Africa’s Sahel region risk severe malnutrition if famine warnings are ignored, the UN says.

• Unicef: 300 000 kids risk death in E Africa
• 1.25m+ kids at risk in Somali drought
• 400 000 Somali kids at risk of death

Drought again haunts Sahel

For the third time in the past decade, drought has returned to the arid, western shoulder of Africa, bringing hunger to millions.

• Pledge to boost Sahel security
• Mali links development to Sahel security
• Satellite helps Sahel rainfall

Climate deal 'took delicate touch'

Pushing too hard at international climate change talks might have killed the only treaty regulating carbon emissions, says Edna Molewa.

• Molewa upbeat over COP 17 deal
• Zuma lauds climate conference
• Durban deal - too little, too late

Ugandans displaced by UK company landgrab

At least 22 500 Ugandans were forced from their homes to make way for a British timber company, aid agency Oxfam says in a report, calling for an investigation into alleged abuses.

SA aid criticism unfair, dept says

Criticisms of South Africa's response to the drought and famine in the Horn of Africa are unfair and ill-informed, the department of international relations and co-operation says.

• Govt calls on SA to help Somali famine relief

Somalia world's worst famine in 20 yrs

Somalis are dying in large numbers in the world's worst famine in 20 years.

• Somalia hails UN famine declaration
• Somali insurgents bar WFP
• Millions facing misery in Somalia

Rising prices changing diet - Oxfam

People across the world are changing their eating habits because of the rising cost of food, according to a survey of 17 countries carried out by Oxfam.

• Food security critical - organisation
• Climate change forces farming rethink
• Oxfam warns on world food supply

UN expects food prices to remain high

In spite of a slight drop in May, concerns about stocks will keep global food prices high and volatile for the rest of 2011, warns a report by the UN's food agency.

• Taming food prices
• Climate change spurs food prices: study
• Clinton warns on food price threat

Oxfam probes donor funds in Pakistan

British charity Oxfam has launched an investigation into "financial irregularities" in their Pakistan flood relief operation.

• Oxfam slams Pakistan donors
• World can't pay for Pakistan disaster
• Pakistan promised millions in aid

Land grab worsening hunger in Africa

An aid group is warning that decades of progress against hunger in Africa is being reversed by rising food prices, chronic droughts and unfair land policies.

• Kenya to curb rising fuel, food prices
• Mozambique to raise food, fuel prices
• UN resumes food aid in S Sudan states

Oxfam warns on world food supply

Oxfam has called for an overhaul of the world's food system, warning that millions of people would be gripped by hunger due to population growth.

• Food security critical - organisation
• Climate change threatens food security - UN
• Science should rule GM food debate - Mulder

Oxfam - Too much aid for political reasons

Oxfam says major powers are concentrating too much aid on countries for political and military reasons and overlooking other severe crises.

• Oxfam slams Pakistan donors
• 3 Oxfam staffers killed in Afghanistan

Hundreds killed in Colombia flooding

The unusually heavy rain that has pounded Colombia this year has killed 284 people in related accidents, say officials.

• Bodies recovered in Colombian landslide
• Rains leave rising dead in Colombia
• 50 missing in Colombian landslide

Haiti camp evacuates over hurricane

It was the jewel of Haiti's post-earthquake recovery: an organised relocation camp with thousands of tents billed as hurricane-resistant.

• Haiti prepares for Hurricane Tomas
• Haiti cholera deasth toll rises
• Storm threatens stricken Haiti

3 Oxfam staffers killed in Afghanistan

Three Oxfam aid staffers have been killed by a roadside bomb in northern Afghanistan, the charity has said.

• US troops, Afghan politician killed
• Taliban attackers in US uniforms
• Kidnapped Afghan campaigners killed

Kidnapped worker freed

A British aid worker kidnapped this month in Chad has been freed, Chadian ministers have announced.

• France: Darfur aid staff freed
• Darfur: 3 aid workers abducted