Obama announces emergency aid for Horn of Africa famine

U.S.President., Barack Obama

President Barack Obama is announcing an additional US$113 million in emergency aid to the Horn of Africa, where millions of people in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are suffering through famine and drought. Tens of thousands have died.

The new emergency relief assistance will go for food, health, shelter, water and other needs. It is on top of US$870 million the U.S. already has provided.

Obama said in a statement Thursday that the “heartbreaking accounts” from the region “remind us of our common humanity and the need to reach out to people in need.”

Copyright 2011. The Associated Press