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Funding shortfalls have forced the World Food Programme to cut rations for up to a million people in Afghanistan, an early sign that aid money may dwindle as the international combat mission winds down. They need $30 million to close the gap. “We have had to cut down the rations of the people we are assisting, just so that we can buy some time so we don’t stop altogether,” said country director Claude Jibidar.” (Guardian http://bit.ly/1EUcbTl)
The Rich Keep Getting Richer…The richest 1% of the world’s population are getting wealthier, according to a Credit Suisse report which warned growing inequality could be a trigger for recession. “Taken together, the bottom half of the global population own less than 1% of total wealth. In sharp contrast, the richest decile hold 87% of the world’s wealth, and the top percentile alone account for 48.2% of global assets,” said the annual report, now in its fifth year. (Guardian http://bit.ly/1EUcKwG)
Rather discouraging news on ebola…The death rate in the Ebola outbreak has risen to 70 percent and there could be up to 10,000 new cases a week in two months, the World Health Organization warned Tuesday. (AP http://yhoo.it/1EU7Q2H)
Legitimately encouraging news on ebola…The WHO may declare the outbreak over in Nigeria and Senegal in the coming week, demonstrating that traditional epidemeological methods to contain the outbreak can work, (UN Dispatch http://bit.ly/1nkPja3)
Quote of the Day: “He is really the first World Bank president who thinks of the bank as being primarily about relief rather than development,” — Bill Easterly, from an otherwise glowing article about Jim Kim. (NYT http://nyti.ms/1pafNXn)
Africa
MSF says that despite promises from various countries to help stem the spread of Ebola, to date, few pledges have translated into concrete action on the ground. (VOA http://bit.ly/1EUbKIS)
The Ebola outbreak in West Africa has exposed major gaps in development aid, prompting a rethink of the balance between building health systems and tackling specific diseases like AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1trraRZ)
France said it agreed to set up new treatment centres for Ebola in Guinea after the United States asked for further assistance to fight the deadly epidemic in West Africa. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1trrdND)
The US and UN leaders called for “more robust” international efforts to tackle Ebola, after medics in Liberia demanded danger money to treat patients in what officials termed the worst health crisis of modern times. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1EU4Bbt)
The head of the United Nations’ Mali mission is to quit to take up a new job as the Netherlands’ foreign minister, the Dutch government said on Tuesday, opening up a vacancy in the west African nation at a time of growing instability. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1r32d7O)
Mozambique’s upstart opposition vowed to take on the two traditional political heavyweights by offering a non-violent alternative in polls taking place this week amid low-level conflict. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1EU5DEo)
German hospital says UN medical worker infected with Ebola in Liberia has died. (AP http://yhoo.it/1EU5Wiy)
JFK Hospital is Liberia’s largest and one of its oldest medical facilities. The hospital had to close temporarily following the deaths of two leading doctors from Ebola. It is now getting back on its feet, with the maternity ward being the first section to reopen. (VOA http://bit.ly/1r39Mvg)
MENA
War against Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq threatened on Tuesday to unravel the delicate peace in neighbouring Turkey after the Turkish air force bombed Kurdish fighters furious over Ankara’s refusal to help protect their kin in Syria. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1EU7bOz)
Shiite rebels who recently overran Yemen’s capital on Tuesday seized control of a key port city on the Red Sea and a province south of Sanaa in a stunning new blitz that is certain to deepen the country’s turmoil, security and military officials said. (AP http://yhoo.it/1r30YWq)
The U.N. chief visited Gaza on Tuesday to give a push to international reconstruction efforts following a devastating summer war, saying the destruction was “beyond description” as Israel allowed the first shipment of construction materials to enter the coastal strip since the fighting ended in August. (AP http://yhoo.it/1r2Xy5M)
Despite a highly-symbolic British vote to recognize Palestine as a state, the road to official recognition is still fraught with obstacles, experts say, with the hoped-for two-state solution a long way off. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1r35ST7)
In Zarzis, a small port city of some 70,000 in southeastern Tunisia, fishermen plying the Mediterranean have become inadvertent saviours, rescuing boatloads of illegal migrants to Europe setting out from the shores of Libya. (IRIN http://bit.ly/1EUaBkB)
Asia
Inspectors hired by a group of Western clothing brands found 80,000 safety problems at all the Bangladesh factories they visited as part of an initiative launched after a building collapse last year killed more than 1,100 workers. (GlobalPost http://bit.ly/1r35q7t)
Despite worsening U.S.-North Korean relations, an American charity is ramping up efforts against an epidemic of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in the isolated country, where it says it is making inroads in fighting the deadly disease. (AP http://yhoo.it/1EU41KT)
Thai authorities have arrested two men charged with human trafficking, police said on Tuesday, following the discovery of 134 suspected victims in southern Thailand at a time when the military government is under international pressure to tackle the crime. (VOA http://bit.ly/1EUbDgq)
The Americas
Bolivian leader Evo Morales says he will not run for a fourth term as president in 2020, as exit polls suggest he has been re-elected for a third time. (BBC http://bbc.in/1EU9ilv)
A magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck late on Monday off the coast of El Salvador and Nicaragua and was felt across Central America, killing at least one person, but there were no immediate reports of major damage. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1EU3QPF)
One of Colombia’s most violent cities is successfully using science to combat crime. (BBC http://bbc.in/1EUdnWT)
Corruption and tax evasion are flagrant violations of human rights in Latin America, where they contribute to inequality and injustice in the countries of the region, according to studies and experts. (IPS http://bit.ly/1r3f4ad)
Opinion/Blogs
Why I am Afraid of the African Disease of Ebola (Africa is a Country http://bit.ly/1r42AiE)
With Ebola Crisis Looming, Where is the Surgeon General? (Global Information Network http://bit.ly/1r3eKrO)
The majority of Burkinabé favor progressive change on gender rights (Africa is a Country http://bit.ly/1r3WS09)
We can no longer ignore Ebola’s wider impact particularly on women (Guardian http://bit.ly/1r379tk)
Cuba’s Aid to Ebola-Hit Region Overlooked (SACSIS http://bit.ly/1r3gdhX)
Does the introduction of ambulances improve access to maternal health services in rural Ethiopia? (Development Policy http://bit.ly/1r407og)
Money Transfer via Twitter Coming Soon (CFI http://bit.ly/ZYhH7R)
The Guardian view of new thinking on global inequality http://bit.ly/1EUawNE)