THE United Nations is moving to stem a humanitarian disaster unfolding in the isolated Angolan town of Luau, where about 10 people a day are reported to be starving to death. The UN plans to dispatch this coming week an inter-agency assessment mission including an initial load of food, medical and other assistance. The UN said last week that seven to eight children and three to four adults were dying each day in the town, which lies in the country’s east, near the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The town of 9 000 has been swollen by an unknown number of refugees fleeing conflict in Angola and across the border in the Congo. Poor security in the area has kept the town isolated and aid agencies at bay. Around a million people have been killed in the war between the government and the UNITA rebel movement and millions more have been uprooted from their homes. – Reuters