"The specific barrier is capital," says Lisa George, global head of the Macquarie Group Foundation. "Without access to capital, it's very hard to get social mobility and educational mobility in life."
In late 2025, the United States shocked the world by suspending global health aid, leading experts to predict 700,000 additional deaths annually, primarily among children. This prompted the US to propose unusual bilateral health agreements with developing countries, which have drawn criticism for being exploitative.
Luna Rosado, a single mother, has seen her gas expenses rise by $40 weekly due to a 30 percent increase in prices after the war in Iran. This has resulted in $160 less for groceries and other necessities each month, forcing her to constantly adjust her budget.
"Today's vote ignores the well-documented harmful consequences of wage hikes by economists. Not only would this proposal slash up to 86,000 jobs, it would also worsen inflation for Pennsylvania workers and residents."
The study frames each of the models as 'emerging strategies' that can either complement or serve as alternatives to well-known sustainability certification schemes such as Organic, Fairtrade or Rainforest Alliance.
The labor of this kind of organizing was invisible and deeply exhausting. In a precarious workplace, where a so-called 'performance review' could amount to job loss, organizing meant building a bridge while standing on it.
We are told that the country is rich in oil. But I don't see that wealth in my daily life. Look at Pointe-Noire, formerly nicknamed as Ponton la Belle [Beautiful Pointe-Noire]. Today, the city is unrecognisable. Around the Grand Marche, the main roads are potholed, and when it rains, the streets get flooded, making it almost impossible to drive.
Campaigner Aysha Hawcutt stated that residents were 'not anti-homes', but believed the Adlington plan was 'the wrong proposal in the wrong place'. She expressed pride in the community's resilience against the development threats.
We don't get to choose how other people make use of our gifts, especially strangers. Since you don't have a relationship with Ron beyond these very generous gifts, you're not in a position to safeguard him. He's not shared this part of his life with you, and you heard about the supposed scam from others, not from Ron himself.
Since Richard Nixon was forced to resign, powerful people in both political parties have worked assiduously to ensure that their leaders would escape the consequences of their actions. Trump has evaded punishment for crimes both low (campaign-finance violations, for which he was convicted, though he will serve no time thanks to his 2024 victory) and high (his attempted overthrow of the federal government in the aftermath of his 2020 election loss, for which he was spared by the Supreme Court's decision to grant him a kingly immunity).
Cash transforms health when four particular conditions are met. Most U.S. cash-transfer pilots have lacked them. But one major American policy does come close: the federal food-assistance program SNAP. Its success offers a road map for what effective cash assistance can look like in this country, if we choose to build on it.
I've always thought it would be good to acquire an old warehouse in every town throughout the land and convert it into low-rent community workspaces for artists, local charities and small businesses getting off the ground. A kind of people's WeWork. What would others do with a humungous, but not unlimited, pile of dosh to benefit society? Roland Freeman, West Yorkshire Send new questions to nq@theguardian.com.
According to data, around three out of ten women in the Greater London area have had to choose between buying enough food or hygiene products amid the cost-of-living crisis, while a third have had to choose between purchasing products for themselves or their children; 29 per cent also say they have either missed a job interview or had to take a day off work because they are not able to afford basic products.
Already, 2026 is proving to be a challenging year for global hunger. Last year, the global development sector faced enormous upheavals, with the United States and other donor countries slashing aid budgets even as low-income countries struggled with debt burdens. Steep aid cuts have exacerbated existing food security crises-whether from Russia's war with Ukraine disrupting international food supplies or farmers losing tens of billions of dollars due to climate change.
"Are you okay?" These were Alex Pretti's last words, said to a woman after ICE agents had tackled and pepper-sprayed her. Videos from bystanders show Pretti holding up a phone, attempting to document what was happening before he himself was pepper-sprayed, wrestled to the ground, and killed by those officers. He lost his life not for committing violence, but for documenting it, and stepping in to protect someone facing it.
NPR's global health and development team tells stories about life in our changing world, focusing on low- and middle-income countries also referred to as the Global South. And we keep in mind that we're all neighbors in this global village. NPR receives financial support for this team from the Gates Foundation. NPR is solely responsible for all content. Find more about NPR's standards and practices at NPR.org/ethics, as well as a list of our philanthropic supporters in our annual report.
In the echoing expanse of a Sunnyvale food bank, Silicon Valley leaders scrambled across a warehouse floor, making a dull cacophony as they ran to different tables where they begged for work, bargained for groceries, sought housing, and bailed their loved ones out of jail. The desperate group of business leaders and public workers hadn't suddenly fallen on hard times, rather each was playing a role as part of a poverty simulation
According to Oxfam International's "Resisting the Rule of the Rich: Protecting Freedom from Billionaire Power" report this week, a billionaire boom has coincided with the rise of the richest exerting political influence, with billionaires 4,000 times more likely to hold office than less wealthy people globally. And if those billionaires aren't running for office, they're pouring money into campaigns. Per Oxfam, one in six dollars spent by all U.S. candidates, parties, and committees in the 2024 elections came from 100 billionaire families.
The Cicero Institute, created by tech investor Joe Lonsdale, has spent the past few years promoting aggressive policies targeting encampments for the unhoused and pushing cities to move away from Housing First, the U.S.'s primary model for responding to chronic homelessness. Over the summer, HUD quietly adopted several of Cicero's key recommendations. And the result was widespread panic among the local agencies responsible for keeping people housed.
A friend recently told me a story that made this reality impossible to ignore. Her elderly parents live near an elementary school not far from the nation's capital. For several years, they had been quietly raising money to provide groceries and basic supplies for families whose children were going hungry. When Republicans suspended SNAP benefits, the need surged overnight. What had been a steady act of care suddenly became an emergency response.
