Floods have swept through many villages in Kano State, northern Nigeria, killing dozens of people and rendering many thousands homeless, local officials said on Thursday.

As floodwaters in northern Sudan recede, displaced communities are facing increased health risks from water-borne diseases and lack of clean water and sanitation, the IFRC reported Wednesday. "We fear the spread of disease and cases of eye and chest infections have begun to be reported," said Spanish Red Cross relief delegate Joan Nadal.

Widespread flooding in northern Sudan after two consecutive years of serious drought have displaced tens of thousands of people, destroyed crops and threatened food security, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FA0) said Wednesday.

Efforts to save the world's last, critically important forests, should initially focus on just a handful of countries, a new report has found. A unique satellite based survey of the planet's remaining unbroken forests, which include virgin, old growth and naturally regenerated woodlands, has found that more than 80 percent are located in just 15 countries.