MALAWI, battered by one of the worst floods in living memory, has appealed for $6.7m in emergency relief for some 346_000 affected people and the rebuilding of damaged infrastructure. The appeal was made by Vice President Justin Malewezi at a meeting with donors in the administrative capital Lilongwe. Malewezi said the floods, which have claimed 10 lives and affected nearly half of the country’s 24 districts, were “serious and a national tragedy”. He said floods have damaged infrastructure including roads and boreholes in the impoverished southern African state of 11 million people. – AFP