The worst plague brought on by excessive rains in Yemen have moved into  Uganda and Tanzania having passed through Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia.

Experts say desperate measures being used to combat the locusts are ineffective.

In Uganda, soldiers have been deployed the chase the insects off crops.

Motorised spray units are being used to kill them.

Experts say locusts can fly as a high as 200 meters and easily avoid these.

This is the worst plague in a quarter of a century and there are no signs of its abating with new hoppers hatching in areas already stripped bare by the adults.

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They say this will send a strong message that the international community will not enable fighters who have shown a complete disregard for the laws of war

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Thirty human rights groups including Oxfam, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have said in a letter to the UN Security Council effectively backing a request from Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to place an arms embargo on South Sudan and to ratchet up sanctions on individuals accused of hindering the peace process.

The letter points out that during five days of fighting between forces loyal to the president and the vice president, civilian neighborhoods and U.N. compounds were shelled.

Ban says fighting in South Sudan has stopped for the time being but there’s  a real danger of it restarting.

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There have been calls for a better aid system and new focus on preventing trouble before it begins.

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Delegates at the first UN Humanitarian Summit were dealing with core commitment to use global leadership to prevent and end wars and uphold the norms of humanitarian law.

However these are presented as a declaration of intent and are not binding – which is what caused the medical watchdog group Medicines Sans Frontiers to shun the gathering.

Oxfam’s executive director Winnie Byanyima says it’s shameful how the rich world moans about the refugees, and leaves the poor to shoulder the burden. Europe must do more.

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