Tecomán, Mexico | AFP | Like any other 10-month-old, Luis Manuel Gonzales babbles and touches anything within reach. But he stands out in a stunning and perhaps life-threatening way: he weighs 28 kilos (62 pounds). He might need medical treatment costing a fortune, but his father earns a little over …
Read More »Deadly heat from climate change may hit slums hardest
Miami, United States | AFP | With sheet metal roofs, concrete floors, poor ventilation and spotty electricity, crowded urban slums in Africa can expect to get even hotter and deadlier due to global warming, US researchers said Monday. Scientists at Johns Hopkins University analyzed three informal settlements in Nairobi, including the …
Read More »Obama: ‘No One Nation’ Can Confront Global Development Challenges
New York, United States | AFP | Former U.S. President Barack Obama said nations must cooperate to confront some of world’s most pressing challenges, including climate change , poverty, disease, and discrimination. “The biggest problems we confront—no one nation is going to be able to solve on its own—not even the …
Read More »In Rio, office workers join the ranks of the homeless
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | AFP | Vilmar Mendonca used to be a human resources director for several companies in Brazil. Now he is homeless, sleeping outdoors along with thousands of other victims of the country’s economic crisis. Mendonca lost his job in 2015 and for a while, he lived off …
Read More »G20 launches plan to fight poverty in Rwanda, Ethiopia
Hamburg, Germany | AFP | G20 nations launched an unprecedented initiative Saturday at the group’s summit in Germany to fight poverty in Africa, but critics called the plan half-hearted. Under German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s “Investment Compacts”, an initial seven African countries would pledge reforms and receive technical support in order to …
Read More »Gated compounds keep the rich away from Cairo’s chaos
Cairo, Egypt | AFP | Guards check drivers’ papers to keep out uninvited guests from gated compounds where Egypt’s rich can escape the chaos of Cairo’s streets in a country with a widening wealth gap. Built in the deserts around Cairo, some compounds offer amenities such as indoor and outdoor …
Read More »IN THE INDEPENDENT: Uganda’s bad economy
IN THE INDEPENDENT: Why Ugandans are poorer today than yesterday The lead stories In the Independent this week: ANALYSIS Why is the Catholic Church losing followers?: Figures from the 2014 National Population and Housing Census show that, in the last 10 years, the percentage of Ugandan identifying as Catholics has …
Read More »Rio carnival fantasy hides dirty reality
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | AFP | Rio’s Sambodromo parades are a fantasy of beautiful bodies and dreamlike costumes but the self-declared greatest show on Earth is prepared in a dirty street next to an open sewer. The contrast between what happens inside Rio de Janeiro’s specially built samba stadium …
Read More »COMMENT: Fallacy on global poverty
COMMENT: By Morris Komakech Every poverty eradication effort exacerbates it and perpetuates worse outcomes in the long term My friend Ojotre and his fiancee have travelled through many countries in Africa. They have marveled at the sight of expensive government guzzlers – four-wheel drives – emblazoned with big inscriptions such …
Read More »COMMENT: The fortunate few and the forgotten many
COMMENT: By Winnie Byanyima The global economic system harms hundreds of millions of people who are already stricken by poverty and exploitation In 2015, the 62 richest people in the world held as much wealth as the 3.6 billion poorest and most vulnerable. In 2016, a mere eight people did, …
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