Niger
“They were little so they weren’t able to run.”
Horrible, horrible story out of Niger today. Twenty pre-school children, aged three to five, died in a fire at their school. The tragedy has restarted a debate about whether it’s safe to use straw huts as classrooms, something many schools say they need to do.
Al Jazeera has the full story here.
Brazil
Brazil has been hit particularly hard by the coronavirus pandemic and it is currently dealing with an especially vicious resurgence of the virus. And now, with the economy in tatters, millions of people are struggling to find food. From Reuters:
“The Getulio Vargas Foundation estimates that 12.8% of Brazil’s population — some 27 million people — are now living below the poverty line of 246 reais ($43) a month, the most since the data series began a decade ago.”
Full piece here.
Ethiopia
Ethiopia has been in a state of conflict since November of last year, when the central government launched a war against a former regional government that had defied it by holding unsanctioned local elections. The forces of neighbouring Eritrea entered the war on the side of the government almost immediately, according to numerous credible reports, and were responsible for widespread atrocities, according to similarly credible reports. Both Addis Ababa and Asmara denied the presence of the Eritrean military until last month, when Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed promised they would withdraw. Today, though, Amnesty International said that they are still there - and that they are still attacking civilians. The war in Ethiopia is a big deal and it’s not getting enough attention. Violence is now breaking out in other parts of the sprawling nation and an unstable Ethiopia risks destabilising the entire Horn of Africa region.
BBC has an explainer here.