Ethiopia, Niger, Haiti.

Today's three stories you should know.

Aug 18, 2023

Ethiopia

More than 1,400 people have starved to death in Ethiopia’s Tigray region since food aid was suspended because some of it was being stolen, the BBC reported today. The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) and the US government’s aid arm halted their aid to Tigray about four months ago when it started showing up for sale in local markets. But, in what one would have thought a predictable eventuality, people in dire need have been left without help. A local official in Tigray, Gebrehiwet Gebrezgabher, told the BBC that 1,411 people had starved to death in three of the region’s zones but that data had not yet been collated from three other zones. WFP said last week that it had slowly started distributing some aid to Tigray again.

Niger

A standoff is continuing between military coup leaders in Niger and West Africa’s main regional bloc. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) said today that it had decided on a “D-day” by which if democracy is not restored it could take military action. “Let no one be in doubt that if everything else fails the valiant forces of West Africa, both the military and the civilian components, are ready to answer to the call of duty,” Abdel-Fatau Musah, an ECOWAS commissioner, said.

Haiti

Thousands of Haitians are fleeing their homes in the capital Port-au-Prince as rampant gang violence spikes again. The country has been torn apart by conflict between gangs, and between the gangs and police, since the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in 2021. At least 3,120 people poured out of the Carrefour-Feuilles district after a gang took control, according to the Haitian Civil Protection Department. A staggering 80 percent of the capital is now controlled by gangs.