Bush urges more global food aid

U.S. President George W. Bush urged Congress today to approve $770 million in new global food aid to be made available beginning in October. The sum would be in addition to $200 million in emergency food aid announced two weeks ago through a U.S. Department of Agriculture program called the Emerson Trust, and more aid is likely to be sought, he said.

"This is not only a humanitarian issue; it is a matter of national security as well," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, said in a statement.

Riots have broken out in Egypt, Haiti, Yemen, Bangladesh and other nations in response to the rising price of food, which has gone up 43 percent internationally over the past year.

The majority of the assistance is to be sent to Africa, with none of it targeted for North Korea, where dire food shortages have been under way for months, the White House officials said.

[CNN]