UN says 20m people face famine: How can we not intervene?

This weekend, as Kilkenny and Tipperary enthralled; as our rugby team fell short again; as TV panellists at Crufts discussed joint replacement for dogs, the UN warned the world faces the largest humanitarian crisis since the Second World War.

The agency predicted that more than 20m people across four countries face famine.

“People will simply starve to death” and “many more will... die from disease”, said Stephen O’Brien of the UN. “We need $4.4bn by July,” he warned, urging immediate aid for Yemen, South Sudan, Somalia, and northeast Nigeria, as well as safe access for humanitarian aid, “to avert a catastrophe”.