South Sudan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia.

Today's three stories you should know.

Jun 15, 2022

South Sudan

Food aid for about 1.7 million people in South Sudan is being suspended because funding has dried up, according to the UN World Food Programme. The agency had planned to provide food to more than 6 million people but will now focus on the hardest hit 4.5 million. “We had to decide who to keep assisting and who we can afford to suspend the assistance from – not because they’re not in need but because they can survive,” Marwa Awad, a WFP spokesperson, said. The war in Ukraine’s impact on global food prices is having a dangerous knock-on impact in some of the world’s poorest places and experts are warning the situation could get a lot worse.

More from Guardian Global Development here.

Palestine

Eighty percent of children in the occupied Gaza Strip are living in a state of depression, fear and grief, a report said today. The Palestinian enclave has been subject to a crippling Israeli blockade for 15 years, restricting movement of people and supplies in and out. More than 800,000 children have only known life under blockade and there have been five major outbreaks of conflict in that time, during which the densely-populated area has been pounded by Israeli jets, which often flatten entire buildings. The Save the Children report said 79 percent of Gaza children have suffered from bedwetting since its last study in 2018, and that others have had difficulty communicating. The report recommended the blockade be lifted.

Saudi Arabia

An absurd story out of Saudi Arabia. Authorities have raided stores in the capital Riyadh and seized rainbow-colored toys, apparently believing they could promote homosexuality. Pencil cases, hats and skirts were confiscated, according to a report on state television. A journalist in the report said the colours send a “poisoned message.”