EU emergency aid to Albania

The European Union has authorised emergency food aid to be sent to about two thousand Albanian families that have been struck by floods in the north of the country.

The EU's Humanitarian Office has authorised the immediate release of ten tonnes of mixed foodstuffs and is considering the possibility of sending further food and winter clothes.

Heavy rains, the worst for more than thirty years, have caused damage in the region around the town of Lezha, which lies below sea level and is prone to flooding.

Several hundred residents have been evacuated from their homes.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service