PNG highlanders are abandoning their villages as drought and brush fires devastate crops in the worst drought in 50 years. They are reportedly eating wild berries and tubers normally reserved for pigfood. The local press claim that forty people are said to have died of starvation but the government denies these reports. The situation appears chaotic, with limited communication with the Highlands and with supply planes unable to land because of smoke from fires. The Red Cross expects conditions to continue to deteriorate over the next few months. from Reuters