Somalia's devastating famine continues to spread. The U.N. declared three new regions in the Horn of Africa to be famine zones on Wednesday, including the Somalian capital Mogadishu. They also predicted that the famine, which has killed tens of thousands of people, will likely spread across all of Somalia's south in the next four to six weeks, The Associated Press reports. About 3.7 million people of 7.5 million are in crisis, with 3.2 million in near-death situations. Getting aid to the impoverished region has proven difficult because the al-Qaida-affiliated al-Shabab controls most of the area and is imposing a toll on all goods. The area is also very dangerous for aid workers. The White House is working to relax sanctions that prohibits U.S.-funded groups from paying any fee to terrorists, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.
