From Zero Hunger to severe food shortages, Brazil braces for hard times
Brazil is grappling with severe food insecurity, which is characterised by the inability to eat for a whole day; while moderate food insecurity means that a person is concerned or uncertain about future access to food, or the quality of food they can access is compromised. “For the past few...
After spells of food security, Brazil’s growing numbers of hungry people worries WFP
Not long ago hailed for its exemplary efforts to reduce hunger, Brazil is seeing a marked deterioration in its food security indicators as the economic fallout of Covid-19 deepens and a growing number of people struggle to afford a nutritional diet amid government aid cuts. Considered an upper middle-income country,...
Tensions soar in Tigray as Ethiopia alleges aid agencies are arming rebels, ‘fabricating facts and figures’ against state
Ethiopian government accusations that aid agencies are supporting rebel forces in Tigray have left international relief organisations concerned for the security of frontline staff, even as conflict escalates and hundreds of thousands of people face famine. In a statement last week, Ethiopian foreign affairs official Redwan Hussein accused aid organisations...
‘I’m sorry, but it’s too late’: Doctor tells of how emotionally it’s taxing to care for someone who’d have prevented Covid
Dr Brytney Cobia said early this week that all but one of her Covid patients in Alabama did not receive the vaccine. The vaccinated patient, she said, just needed a little oxygen and is expected to fully recover. Some of the others are dying. “I’m admitting young healthy people to...
Biden vs Facebook: Conservative media sigh with relief as Big Tech accused of ‘killing people’
US resident Biden’s criticism of Facebook is a double win for Fox News. Not only does it draw attention away from the network’s own culpability for the vaccination gap, but it feeds a potent right-wing narrative about government and Big Tech colluding to silence conservatives. ‘ Biden and Facebook have...
South Africa’s unrest hits neighbours as Namibia tells of coffin shortage for burial of Covid victims
South Africa’s neighbours felt the shockwaves of days of unrest and looting, prompting some to rethink their economic reliance on the regional power. In Namibia, the effect was immediate. In commenting on the country’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Health Minister Kalumbi Shangula said the unrest in South Africa threatened...
US President Biden and Facebook feud over Covid vaccine hesitancy as virus ravages Americans
The White House and Facebook got into a feud over the past few days after President Biden and aides repeatedly accused the company of doing too little to combat Covid vaccine misinformation. On Thursday, US surgeon general Vivek Murthy released an advisory about health misinformation that included some fairly banal...
Astronomers call for talks on humanity’s right to ‘dark and quiet skies’ at next month UN meeting
Aerospace companies have launched about 2,000 Internet satellites into orbit around Earth over the past two years, nearly doubling the number of active satellites. This has sparked concerns among astronomers and other skygazers, who worry about interference with observations of the night sky. Now, in what would be the biggest...
New studies pour cold water on existence of potentially livable lakes under Mars
Maybe hold off on that Martian ice fishing trip. Two new studies splash cold water on the idea that potentially habitable lakes of liquid water exist deep under the Red Planet’s southern polar ice cap. The possibility of a lake roughly 20 kilometres across was first raised in 2018, when...
Pro-democracy violence deepens economic crisis in Africa’s absolute monarchy
The pro-democracy demonstrations and deadly violence that erupted in Eswatini last month and continued into July have deepened the southern African nation’s economic and humanitarian crisis, but without forcing any reform of the royal establishment. The people of Eswatini have never lived under a democratic system of government. King Mswati...
