Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia.
Today's three stories you should know.
Today is the 250th edition of Proximities. Thanks to all of you for subscribing to this little newsletter that aims to burst the Western news bubble! It’s been really rewarding to write every day and to hear from so many of you along the way. Here’s to another 250.
Barry.
Afghanistan
As mentioned in several previous newsletters, Afghanistan is in dire straits and hundreds of thousands of people are on the brink of starvation. Driving this disaster is the withholding of much-needed funds by the US and international financial institutions. The World Bank and the IMF suspended aid when the Taliban took over, and $9bln in Afghan central bank reserves, which are held in the US, were frozen. The BBC’s Quentin Sommerville filed an important and moving report today.
More from BBC here.
Ethiopia
More drone strikes in Ethiopia, more civilians killed. This time 17 people, most of them women at a flour mill, were the victims. Tigrayan rebels had closed in on the capital Addis Ababa last month but the Ethiopian government has managed to push them back, primarily through the use of air attacks from drones and war planes. Aid groups say the strikes often kill civilians. Ethiopia’s brutal war - marked by atrocities and weaponized rape - has been grinding on for more than a year.
More from AP here.
Saudi Arabia
In the first sentencing of its kind, a Saudi man has been named and shamed for sexual harassment. Yasser Al-Arawi was found guilty of harassing a women with obscene comments. An anti-harassment law was amended last year to allow for publishing the names of offenders in newspapers at their own expense.
More from the Saudi Gazette here.