From cancelling student loan debt to raising minimum wage, different strategies aim to reduce effects of soaring prices
The Covid pandemic, soaring food and fuel prices, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have dealt a triple blow to people around the world. Here is a look at what governments are doing to try to help citizens and companies weather the cost of living crisis.
Continue reading...Years of mismanagement have led to soaring debt levels, but critics say that without meaningful relief, austerity will continue
The International Monetary Fund has approved a $1.3bn (£1.1bn) loan to Zambia, as the country scrambles to rebuild its crisis-hit economy after defaulting on its foreign debts in 2020.
The Covid pandemic compounded Zambia’s economic woes, blamed on years of mismanagement and corruption, which left the country with unsustainable levels of debt.
Continue reading...Humanitarian workers expect conditions to worsen as monsoon rains continue and say millions face a terrible winter
Aid workers have appealed for urgent donations to fight the “absolutely devastating” impact of flooding in Pakistan, as new satellite images appeared to confirm that a third of the country is now underwater.
As the UK’s Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) launched an appeal to raise funds for the 33 million people affected, the European Space Agency released stark images based on data captured by its Copernicus satellite.
Continue reading...Diarrhoea and malaria cases spread, with risk of dysentery and cholera, as millions of displaced people forced to drink flood water
Health officials have warned of large-scale outbreaks of disease in Pakistan after severe flooding displaced millions of people.
A rise in cases of diarrhoea and malaria has been reported after months of heavy rains left people stranded and without access to clean water.
Continue reading...Motorists forced to pay premium for smuggled black market fuel or drive to service stations at border with neighbouring Mozambique
Motorists in Malawi are having to rely on fuel smuggled in from neighbouring Mozambique as pumps across the country run dry, while some drivers told the Guardian they had to cross the border to get petrol as the country grapples with severe shortages.
“We have been depending on smuggled fuel from Mozambique,” said Allick Pondani, a motorist from the southern Malawi district of Phalombe. “Some entrepreneurs have taken advantage of the situation and are smuggling the scarce commodity, which they are selling at 50% over the normal pump price.”
Continue reading...Open letter from 44 Anglican leaders contrasts ‘generous’ British response to Ukraine with ‘dire need’ still unmet in their countries
Dozens of bishops from drought-ravaged east Africa have appealed to the UK government to urgently get more funding to those in need, warning that Britain’s rapid response to the Ukraine crisis must not come at the expense of lives elsewhere.
As the worst drought for four decades tightens its grip on Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya, with millions facing acute hunger, the group of 44 Anglican bishops criticised the international community for not paying attention to early warnings or backing up rhetoric with sufficient funds.
Continue reading...Food experts say shipment is drop in bucket for drought-hit Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia but hope supplies pick up
The first ship carrying grain from Ukraine for people in the hungriest parts of the world has docked at Djibouti, on the Horn of Africa, as areas of east Africa are badly affected by deadly drought and conflict.
Food security experts say it is a drop in the bucket for the vast needs in the worst-hit countries of Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia, the country to which the shipment is going. But the flow of Ukrainian grain to other hungry parts of the world is expected to continue, with another ship leaving on Tuesday for Yemen. The UN World Food Programme has said it was working on multiple ships.
Continue reading...Call for emergency funding as nearly half a million people displaced and estimated $10bn damage to economy
The United Nations and Pakistan are to appeal for $160m (£135m) in emergency funding for the nearly half a million people displaced by record-breaking floods that have killed more than 1,150 people since mid-June.
Large areas remain underwater and more than 33 million people, or one in seven Pakistanis, have been affected by the floods. Rescuers have been evacuating stranded people to safer ground.
Continue reading...‘Historic’ move sees media professionals claim rights after years of persecution under Omar al-Bashir and crackdown after 2021 coup
Sudanese journalists have formed the country’s first independent union in more than three decades.
Abdulmoniem Abu Idrees, 58, Khartoum correspondent for the Agence France-Presse news agency, was elected the union’s first president in a vote on Sunday.
Continue reading...Investigation into attacks by Bashar al-Assad’s forces that left 700 people dead could help bring justice for victims
The “startling display of violence” meted out by Syrian government forces against civilians in the town of Daraya 10 years ago has been laid bare in the first detailed investigation into the massacre.
At least 700 people were killed when forces loyal to president Bashar al-Assad stormed the town between 24 and 26 August 2012. Troops went door to door killing and detaining men, women and children. Terrified people sheltered in basements.
Continue reading...WHO hails west African country as first in world to stamp out Guinea worm, lymphatic filariasis, sleeping sickness and trachoma
Togo has been praised by the World Health Organization for becoming the first country in the world to eliminate four neglected tropical diseases.
The WHO presented the west African country with an outstanding achievement award this week for eliminating Guinea worm, lymphatic filariasis, sleeping sickness and trachoma in just 11 years.
Continue reading...Campaigners hail landmark decision as a ‘huge paradigm shift’ in attitudes towards sexuality
Being gay, bisexual or transgender should not be considered an illness and cannot be treated, the Vietnam government has announced in “a huge paradigm shift” in LGBTQ+ rights in the country.
The Ministry of Health said medical professionals should treat LGBTQ+ people with respect and ensure they are not discriminated against.
Continue reading...Record win for women is a cause for celebration as acrimony over the presidency continues
More women won parliamentary seats in Kenya’s elections this month than ever before.
The National Gender and Equality Commission said Kenyans elected 30 female MPs, up from 23 in 2017, seven female governors, up from three in 2017, and three female senators, the same number as in 2017.
Continue reading...Lawyers for Jagtar Singh Johal say he was given electric shocks after unlawful arrest in Punjab in 2017
A British Sikh campaigner is facing a possible death sentence after the UK intelligence services passed on information about him to the Indian authorities, according to a high court complaint.
Lawyers for Jagtar Singh Johal from Dumbarton, Scotland, say he was tortured, including being given electric shocks, after his unlawful arrest in the Punjab in 2017 where he had travelled for his wedding.
Continue reading...Protests follow appearance of ‘tortured’ writer on state television, while human rights group warn forced confessions on the rise as hijab laws hardened
There were protests and condemnation last week after an Iranian woman who was arrested for defying newly hardened hijab laws appeared on state television to give what observers claimed was a forced confession as a result of torture.
Sepideh Rashno, 28, was arrested in July soon after footage of her being harassed on a bus over “improper clothing”, was circulated online.
Continue reading...Somali social media has been flooded with tributes to the man better known as ‘Hadraawi’
Messages of condolences continue to pour in from around the world following the death of Mohamed Ibrahim Warsame, regarded as one of Somalia’s greatest poets.
Warsame, better known as “Hadraawi”, died in Hargeisa, in Somaliland, on Thursday at the age of 79.
The snake sneaks in the castle:
although it’s carpeted with thorns
Continue reading...Urgent action needed to avert further disaster in war-torn country as funding ‘fast running out’
Nearly one in three children under five in the Ethiopian region of Tigray are malnourished and the UN said urgent action is needed to prevent them from dying.
According to a new emergency assessment carried out by the World Food Programme (WFP), 29% of very young children are suffering from global acute malnutrition (GAM). More than half of pregnant or breastfeeding woman are also malnourished.
Continue reading...People in Ethiopian region turn to desperate measures after authorities stop 6 million people accessing their own money
Hunger in the besieged region of Tigray is pushing people to increasingly desperate measures as the authorities are systematically blocking and confiscating remittances needed by millions of people.
Banking services and all communications have been cut off to the state by the Ethiopian administration since last year, with 6 million people denied access to their own money.
Continue reading...Fears the unit will enforce public order laws limiting women’s rights and freedoms amid crackdown since military coup
Human rights campaigners in Sudan fear the launch of a new police squad will herald the return of “morality policing” in the country.
The government has announced the creation of the community police unit to “reaffirm the relationships between people and the police” and ensure security.
Continue reading...Bunge and Cargill, behind more than 30% of soy exports to EU and UK, accused of exposing suppliers to link with indigenous rights violations
Two of the world’s biggest grain traders are sourcing soy from a Brazilian farm linked to abuses of indigenous rights and land, a report from the environmental group Earthsight claims
Earthsight named the companies as Bunge and Cargill and said they sourced soy produced on a farm located on ancestral land of the Kaiowá indigenous group.
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