EU pledges extra €250m famine aid

The European Commission will promise an extra 250 million euros ($304 million) in famine aid for Africa, Afghanistan and Venezuela ahead of the G7 summit, an EU official said yesterday.  The move comes ahead of a meeting of the leaders from the Group of Seven major industrialised economies in Britain later this week. The leaders are facing calls to make good on commitments to provide billions in extra aid to tackle and ward off famine in vulnerable nations. The United Nations warned in March that 34 million people worldwide are just one step away from starvation and that acute hunger was set to soar in over 20 countries.