Up to 10 million people are facing starvation

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The EEC is donating 5.8 million to help combat the famine in Ethiopia.

Officials from Oxfam, Save the Children, Christian Aid and the Red Cross believe that up to 10 million people are facing starvation unless the flow of aid is increased.

Aid agencies lobbied EEC ministers in Brussels in response to the latest drought to hit the country.

Hugh McKay from the Save the Children Fund said: "This is an excellent start and will buy us a little time to develop a long term strategy to deal with this tragedy".

The Community has also ordered the immediate shipment of 5,000 tons of food with more to be delivered soon.

The worst affected areas are the northern provinces of Tigre, Wollo and Eritrea, where a 10-year drought and a succession of wars have produced the worst famine in Ethiopia's modern history.

As the announcement was made the Ethiopian Relief and Rehabilitation Commission said it would hold an emergency meeting with Western governments to discuss ways to improve airlifting food to the region.

Local officials are said to be trying to clear congestion at ports to get more food to the rest of the country. Up to 1,000 tons of food a day are now being handled, up from 500 a few weeks ago.

A recent report shown on the BBC highlighted the harrowing problems being faced in Ethiopia and led to an overwhelming public response.

Overseas director of Oxfam Michael Harris said: "On one day alone we received 1,000 calls from people offering help, including three who offered transport aircraft." 

American soldiers arrested several Cuban workers at the airport

The action, which has shocked the world, was ordered by President Ronald Reagan following a bloody coup by Cuban-trained military who executed Prime Minister Maurice Bishop, and at least 13 of his associates.

Backed by helicopter gunships, 1,900 US troops were airlifted to Pearls airport in the north of the island at dawn. They were followed a few hours later by 300 soldiers from six other Caribbean countries.

The invasion of this former British colony has angered British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher who spoke with President Reagan last night to try to dissuade him from military action.

But the Pentagon has expressed a "sense of outrage" that she refused to participate in the invasion despite America's support during the Falklands conflict last year.

The US Secretary of Defense, Caspar Weinberger, said three US soldiers were killed as they fought members of a Cuban work force building a runway at Point Salinas Airport.

Other US officials said 30 Soviet advisers and 600 Cubans had been arrested. The Caribbean Broadcasting Corp owned by the Barbados government reported four Cubans dead.

President Reagan announced the attack at a news conference in the White House four hours after his troops had landed.

At his side was the prime minister of Dominica, Eugenia Charles, who is also chair of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).

The president said the US had taken military action after an appeal by the OECS, Jamaica and Barbados who were worried about the security of the region following last week's coup.

He also wanted to ensure the safety of a thousand Americans living in Grenada, including about 600 students and teachers at St George's University medical school.

Grenada gained its independence in 1974 and five years later there was a popular revolution led by the New Jewel Movement which brought the charismatic Marxist leader, Maurice Bishop, to power.

The coup leaders - Hudson Austin and Bernard Coard, Mr Bishop's former deputy - objected to the prime minister's policy of developing closer ties with the United States.

famine: a severe shortage of food（饑荒）