Geneva

Nearly 100 people have drowned in floods in Sudan, where rivers have burst their banks, inundating villages and farm lands, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said on Thursday. The toll over the past month was reported by the Sudanese Red Crescent, which has been leading the humanitarian response to the flooding.

The world has experienced record extreme weather conditions including unusual floods, heatwaves, storms and cold snaps since the beginning of the year, the United Nations weather agency said on Tuesday. Preliminary observations also indicated that global land-surface temperatures in January and April reached the highest levels recorded for those months.

Somali children are at risk from unexploded ordnance around the capital, Mogadishu, where daily fighting has forced 27 000 people to flee since June, United Nations agencies said on Friday. Bombing and gun battles in the capital prevent families from working or buying food, the United Nations refugee agency said.

The International Committee of the Red Cross has pulled out from Ethiopia’s restive Ogaden region following a government order, but still hopes to return, a spokesperson said on Thursday. Authorities in Ethiopia’s Somali regional state last week gave the Red Cross seven days’ notice to leave, accusing it of consorting with rebels.

More than 500 people have been killed in the most devastating floods to hit China for a decade, the Red Cross said on Monday, launching an emergency appeal for aid to the millions left homeless. ”Over the past two months, more than 200-million people have been affected and over 500 have been killed nationwide,” it said in a statement.

The International Committee of the Red Cross on Thursday rejected accusations it was consorting with rebels in Ethiopia’s restive Ogaden region, and said its expulsion would hurt needy civilians there. The humanitarian agency denounced the decision on Tuesday by authorities in Ethiopia’s Somali regional state giving it seven days’ notice to leave.

The United Nations on Tuesday appealed for -million to help Somalis fleeing renewed violence and said the overall number of people uprooted in the Horn of Africa country was now estimated at 500 000. More than 10 000 people fled the capital, Mogadishu, last week, many of them now living in ”deplorable conditions”.

The United Nations human rights chief on Friday called on Sudan to protect a village of 4 500 people in West Darfur where armed men in military uniform have carried out abductions and sexual violence. Louise Arbour, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, urged the Khartoum government to set up a permanent police presence in Bir Dagig.

A Swiss police force on Wednesday handed out bars of chocolate to motorists in an attempt to encourage safe driving habits. The one-day "Thank You" campaign targeted clean motorists stopped during routine roadside checks, following a rash of serious road offences this year in the western Fribourg region, cantonal police said in a statement.