Who are the unhappiest people in the world? In Afghanistan and Lebanon, more people live in misery than anywhere else on the planet

Sadness, Stress, and Worry scores for Afghanistan, 2008-2021. In 2021, Sadness, Stress and Worry hit record-high Levels in Afghanistan. Graphic: Gallup

September 18, 2022

Who are the unhappiest people in the world? In Afghanistan and Lebanon, more people live in misery than anywhere else on the planet

By Julie Ray 8 September 2022 (Gallup) – Unhappiness continued to rise worldwide in 2021, as the world overall became a sadder, more worried and more stressed-out place. But in two countries — Afghanistan and Lebanon — more people were living in misery than anywhere else on the planet. Last year, Afghanistan and Lebanon posted […]

Electricity fed into the German power grid from conventional and renewable sources (percent) in 2021 and 2022. Graphic: Destatis

September 18, 2022

Germany generates almost one-third of its electricity from coal as it replaces Russian gas before winter – Coal-generated electricity up 17 percent in 2022 on the same period in 2021

By Zahra Tayeb 8 September 2022 (Insider) – Germany is relying more on coal to generate electricity, as Russian gas cuts force the country to seek alternative sources of fuel before winter. The European nation produced 82.6 kilowatt-hours of electricity from coal-fired power plants in the first six months of 2022, a 17.2% rise from […]

Global Human Development Index, 1990-2021. In 2021, the global Human Development Index value had declined two years in a row, erasing the gains of the preceding five years. The periods of the global financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic are indicated. Graphic: UNDP

September 17, 2022

Human Development Report 2022: For the first time, the Global Human Development Index declined for two years in a row, erasing the gains of the preceding five years – “The world is scrambling to respond to back-to-back crises”

NEW YORK, 8 September 2022 (UNDP) – The world is lurching from crisis to crisis, trapped in a cycle of firefighting and unable to tackle the roots of the troubles that confront us. Without a sharp change of course, we may be heading towards even more deprivations and injustices, warns the United Nations Development Programme […]

The carcasses of goats lie in the sand on the outskirts of Dollow, Somalia, after four failed rainy seasons have driven millions of people to the brink of famine. Photo: Hayden / ZUMA Wire / IMAGO

September 17, 2022

“Pending nightmare” in Somalia with millions at risk of starvation – “Tens of thousands of people will already have died by the time we declare a famine”

By Sertan Sanderson 14 September 2022 (DW) – A humanitarian catastrophe is imminent in Somalia and the Horn of Africa. That’s the joint assessment of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), following months of food security assessments. The number of people in dire […]

Indigenous leader Sonia Guajajara from the Guajajara ethnic group shows her hands painted in red symbolizing blood, during a protest against Violence, illegal logging, mining and ranching, and to demand government protection for their reserves, one day before the celebration of "Amazon Day," in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sunday, 4 September 2022. Photo: Andre Penner / AP Photo

September 7, 2022

Indigenous forest guardians reported slain in Brazil – “We are here to say: enough with this violence, enough with genocide against our people and our territory”

RIO DE JANEIRO, 4 September 2022 (AP) – Two members of the Brazilian Indigenous group known for its forest guardians who combat illegal deforestation have been killed according to the Indigenist Missionary Council, a nonprofit that monitors violence against native peoples. Forest guard Janildo Oliveira Guajajara was killed with multiple gunshots from behind, while another […]

Current food security outcomes, Baidoa and Burhakaba Districts in Bay of Somalia, July to September 2022 (left) and projected food security outcomes, Baidoa and Burhakaba Districts in Bay of Somalia, October to December 2022 (right). Famine (IPC Phase 5) is projected to emerge in three areas of Bay Region, Somalia, in late 2022 in the absence of urgent, multisectoral humanitarian assistance. Although levels of acute malnutrition among children and the rate of hunger-related deaths have not yet met the IPC’s technical definition of Famine (IPC Phase 5), those thresholds are expected to be reached during the October to December 2022 projection period based on currently available information that minimal humanitarian food assistance will be delivered in these areas in November and December due to funding constraints. Data: FEWS NET and FSNAU. Graphic: FEWS NET Somalia

September 5, 2022

UN Emergency Relief Coordinator says famine is at the door in Somalia – “The unprecedented failure of four consecutive rainy seasons, decades of conflict, mass displacement, severe economic issues are pushing many people to that brink”

Mogadishu, 5 September 2022 (OCHA) – The Somalia Food Security and Nutrition analysis report shows concrete indications that famine will occur in Baidoa and Burhakaba districts in south-central Somalia between October and December. Full remarks to the press by Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths I have been shocked to my […]

A rare earth mine near the Chinese border owned by a company that has no permits. On paper, Sin Kyaing Company is owned by a local militia leader named Lagwi Bawm Lang. But like other Burmese companies in the rare earth mining industry, it is really a front for illegal investment by Chinese businesspeople. Photo: Global Witness

August 14, 2022

New evidence shows massive and rapid expansion of illicit rare earths industry in Myanmar – “China has effectively offshored this toxic industry to Myanmar over the past few years, with terrible consequences for local communities and the environment”

9 August 2022 (Global Witness) – Myanmar has seen a rapid expansion of illegal mining of heavy rare earth minerals, used in green energy technologies, smartphones and home electronics, with the industry fuelling human rights abuses, environmental destruction and funding local militias linked to the brutal military regime, our new investigation reveals today. Our report shows that […]

Mehrum coal-fired power plant in Germany, with wind turbines. On 1 August 2022, the coal power station in Mehrum was the first to be reactivated. Photo: Julian Stratenschulte / DPA / Picture Alliance

August 8, 2022

Germany’s energy U-turn: Coal instead of gas – “What must not happen is that we slide into a global renaissance of fossil energy, and coal in particular”

By Sabine Kinkartz 4 August 2022 (DW) – Starting this week, German hard coal-fired power stations are restarting operations, which were being phased out because of the hugely detrimental climate impact on a world already ravaged by global warming. Germany’s goal had been to phase out all coal-generated electricity by 2038. But now, the government is swallowing the […]

An aerial photo taken on 8 July 2022 shows the widespread destruction of a wheat field near Siversk in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. Fires in dry wheat fields can easily be sparked by explosions or the red-hot fragments of artillery shrapnel. Photo: Miguel Medina / AFP

July 19, 2022

Ukrainian wheat burns as global food crisis looms – Ukrainian wheat farmers struggle to harvest their crop as Russian artillery pounds fields

19 July 2022 (U.S. Wheat Associates) – As an export market development organization, U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) represents the interests of U.S. wheat farmers in overseas markets. We are happy to compete fairly with wheat farmers in other countries on the basis of functional quality and value. Yet, working for these hard-working farm families also gives us […]

A protester stands against a water cannon as police use tear gas to disperse demonstrators near President’s residence during a protest demanding the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, amid the country’s economic crisis, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, 8 July 2022. Photo: Dinuka Liyanawatte / REUTERS

July 8, 2022

Sri Lanka police impose curfew, fire tear gas as unrest escalates – “We have seen the use of lethal weapons in protests”

By Uditha Jayasinghe 8 July 2022 COLOMBO (Reuters) – Police in Sri Lanka’s commercial capital Colombo imposed a curfew after firing tear gas and using a water cannon on student protesters on Friday ahead of a planned weekend rally, as public discontent escalates over the worst economic crisis in seven decades. The island nation has […]

Desdemona Despair

Tag: conflict