Mr Baker accused the international community of failing to respond to appeals for help for Niger. He said there was a
shortfall
of $69 million, and unless that could be found, tens of thousands of children would die.
The US state of Alabama is suing BP and Transocean, the two companies it blames for the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, for damages.
Alabama is the first US state to sue since the Deepwater Horizon rig, owned by Transocean and leased to BP, exploded in April and sent millions of gallons of oil into the sea.
Andy Gallacher reports.
Alabama's Attorney General Troy King said BP had inflicted catastrophic harm on the Gulf Coast state. On Thursday afternoon, he filed two lawsuits, one against BP, the other against Transocean, Halliburton and other companies associated with the oil spill. The legal action accuses the companies of damaging Alabama's coastline and economy as well as a failure to
adhere to
recognize industry standards. The legal action goes against the wishes of Alabama's Governor Bob Riley who has said he hopes to reach an out-of-court settlement.
The German economy, Europe's biggest, has shown its largest three-month growth since
reunification
over 20 years ago. It grew by 2.2%, mainly
spur
red by exports but also by strong sales at home. Correspondents say it's unclear whether this was a one-off rise or the start of more general European recovery.