U. N.: Starving risk for 1.4 million kids

JOHANNESBURG — The United Nations children’s agency warned that almost 1.4 million children are at “imminent risk of death” as famine threatens parts of South Sudan, Nigeria, Somalia and Yemen.

The UNICEF announcement came a day after famine was declared in parts of Unity state in South Sudan, where civil war has raged since late 2013 and where severe inflation has made food unaffordable for many.

UNICEF for months has warned about severe malnutrition in northeastern Nigeria, especially in areas that largely have been inaccessible because of the Boko Haram insurgency. The agency said nearly 500,000 children are expected to face severe malnutrition this year in Nigeria’s Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states.