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Page 12A WORLD East Oregonian Saturday, March 11, 2017 UN says world faces largest humanitarian crisis since 1945 UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The world faces the largest humanitarian crisis since the United Nations was founded in 1945 with more than 20 million people in four countries facing starvation and famine, the U.N. human- itarian chief said Friday. Stephen O’Brien told the U.N. Security Council that “without collective and coor- dinated global efforts, people will simply starve to death” and “many more will suffer and die from disease.” He urged an immediate injection of funds for Yemen, South Sudan, Somalia and northeast Nigeria plus safe and unimpeded access for humanitarian aid “to avert a catastrophe.” “To be precise,” O’Brien said, “we need $4.4 billion by July.” Without a major infusion of money, he said, children will be stunted by severe malnutrition and won’t be able to go to school, gains in economic development will be reversed and “livelihoods, futures and hope will be lost.” U.N. and food organiza- tions define famine as when more than 30 percent of children under age 5 suffer from acute malnutrition and mortality rates are two or more deaths per 10,000 people every day, among other criteria. “Already at the beginning “People will simply starve to death ... many more will suffer and die from disease.” — Stephen O’Brien, U.N. under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs Manuel Elias/The United Nations via AP In this photo provided by the United Nations, Stephen O’Brien, the U.N’s Under-Sec- retary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, address- es the U.N. Security Council Friday. of the year we are facing the largest humanitarian crisis since the creation of the United Nations,” O’Brien said. “Now, more than 20 million people across four countries face starvation and famine.” O’Brien said the largest humanitarian crisis is in Yemen where two-thirds of the population — 18.8 million people — need aid and more than seven million people are hungry and don’t know where their next meal will come from. “That is three million people more than in January,” he said. The Arab world’s poorest nation is engulfed in conflict and O’Brien said more than 48,000 people fled fighting just in the past two months. During his recent visit to Yemen, O’Brien said he met senior leaders of the govern- ment and the Shiite Houthi rebels who control the capital Sanaa, and all promised access for aid. “Yet all parties to the conflict are arbitrarily denying sustained humani- tarian access and politicize aid,” he said, warning if that behavior doesn’t change now “they must be held accountable for the inevitable famine, unnecessary deaths and associated amplification in suffering that will follow.” For 2017, O’Brien said $2.1 billion is needed to reach 12 million Yemenis “with life-saving assistance and protection” but only 6 percent has been received so far. He announced that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will chair a pledging conference for Yemen on April 25 in Geneva. The U.N. humanitarian chief also visited South Sudan, the world’s newest nation which has been ravaged by a three-year civil war, and said “the situation is worse than it has ever been.” “The famine in South Sudan is man-made,” he said. “Parties to the conflict are parties to the famine — as are those not intervening to make the violence stop.” O’Brien said more than 7.5 million people need aid, up by 1.4 million from last year, and about 3.4 million South Sudanese are displaced by fighting including almost 200,000 who have fled the country since January. “More than one million children are estimated to be acutely malnourished across the country, including 270,000 children who face the imminent risk of death should they not be reached in time with assistance,” he said. “Meanwhile, the cholera outbreak that began in June 2016 has spread to more locations.” In Somalia, which O’Brien also visited, more than half the population — 6.2 million people — need humanitarian assistance and protection, including 2.9 million who are at risk of famine and require immediate help “to save or sustain their lives.” He warned that close to one million children under the age of five will be “acutely malnourished” this year. Massive statue discovered in Egyptian slum South Koreans stunned by leader’s rapid ouster CAIRO (AP) — Archae- ologists in Egypt discovered a massive statue in a Cairo slum that may be of Ramses II, one of the country’s most famous and longest ruling ancient pharaohs. The colossus, a large portion of whose head was pulled from mud and groundwater by a bulldozer and seen by The Associated Press on Friday, is around 26 feet high and was discovered by a German-Egyptian archaeological team. “We used the bulldozer to lift it out. We took some precautions, although somewhat primitive, but the part that we retrieved was not harmed,” said Khaled Mohamed Abuelela, manager of antiquities at Ain Shams University. Egyptologist Khaled Nabil Osman said the statue was an “impressive find” and the area in the working class neighborhood of Matariya in eastern Cairo is likely full of other buried antiquities. “It was the main cultural place of ancient Egypt, even the Bible mentions it,” he said. “The sad news is that the whole area needs to be SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — This was not supposed to happen in South Korea. It was too divided, too corrupt, too much in thrall to the rich and powerful who’d always had their way. Four months ago, the idea that the country’s leader, along with the cream of South Korean business and politics, would be knocked from command after sustained, massive, peaceful protests would have been ludicrous. Now Park Geun-hye, thanks to a court ruling Friday, is no longer presi- AP Photo/Amr Nabil A boy rides his bicycle past a recently discovered statue in a Cairo slum that may be of pharaoh Ramses II, in Cairo, Egypt on Friday. cleaned up, the sewers and market should be moved.” Ramses II, who took the throne in his early 20s as the third pharaoh of the 19th Dynasty, ruled Egypt more than 3,000 years ago. He is credited with expanding ancient Egypt’s reach as far as modern Syria to the east and modern Sudan to the south. The expansion earned him the title “Ramses the Great.” Ramses II ruled Egypt for 60 years — one of the longest stretches in ancient Egypt — and besides his military exploits is known for being a great builder whose image can be seen at a string of sites across the country. Massive statues of the warrior-king can be viewed in Luxor, and his most famous monument is in Abu Simbel, near Sudan. Osman said the massive portion of the head removed from the ground near a street market was made in the style that Ramses was depicted, and was likely him. L i t t le D a r l i n gs ! This special section will be fi lled with photos of and messages for adorable little darlings from Umatilla County. Families will want to keep this special keepsake for their child and family for years to come. PUBLISHES: April 19, 2017 DEADLINES: April 6, 2017 Olivia, t. I loved you from the very star heart. my ed rac emb , You stole my breath un. beg just has er Our life togeth . You’re part of me, my little one Love, Mom Send in, or drop by, a full color high resolution photo, your child’s name and a message to your child today! Little Darlings 211 SE Byers, Pendleton, OR 97801 333 E. Main, Hermiston, OR 97838 or email classifi eds@eastoregonian.com Your Name: Phone Number: Child’s Name: Message: www.eastoregonian.com www.hermistonherald.com dent and may very well face criminal extortion and other charges. The head of the country’s biggest company, Samsung, sits in jail, when he’s not in a courtroom facing trial for bribery and embezzlement linked to the corruption scandal that felled Park. And a Who’s Who of once untouchables languishes behind bars awaiting their day in court. This swift upending of the status quo has so shaken the country’s foundations that it has left people here a bit stunned. Now comes the hard part. South Koreans will look to take their peaceful revo- lution — and the genuine sense of empowerment that many of the average citizens who took to the streets in protest, week after week, now feel at their accom- plishment — and turn it into lasting progress. Half a dozen or so candi- dates will now scramble, over the next two months, for a shot at becoming the next president of South Korea. Elections will likely come May 9. The current smart money is on a liberal — Moon Jae-in, who lost to Park in 2012.
