A World Food Program review of the global hunger situation in 2016 finds conflict emergencies in the Middle East, Africa and elsewhere are hampering United Nations efforts to achieve zero hunger by the year 2030. In its review 2016: A Year in Fighting Hunger, the World Food Program reports that 795 million people in the world went hungry last year. The organization’s spokeswoman Bettina Luescher tells VOA the Sustainable Development Goal to eliminate hunger by 2030 does not, for now, appear realistic. “As you know, the world is a mess,” she said. “We have more emergencies than ever. We have more refugees than ever and we are struggling on all fronts to help the people be able to feed themselves.” (VOA http://bit.ly/2sirbwS)
Venezuela on Edge…The Venezuelan government hunted for rogue policemen who attacked key installations by helicopter, but critics of President Nicolas Maduro suspected the raid may have been staged to justify repression. In extraordinary scenes over Caracas around sunset on Tuesday, the stolen helicopter fired shots at the Interior Ministry and dropped grenades on the Supreme Court, both viewed by Venezuela’s opposition as bastions of support for a dictator. Nobody was injured. (Reuters http://reut.rs/2tqrm9A)
Stat of the Day: Ending child marriage could add more than $4tn to the global economy, curb population growth and transform the lives of millions of young women worldwide, claim researchers. (Guardian http://bit.ly/2smZDlo)
Top Stories
Egypt’s Cairo airport started screening passengers arriving from Sudan for signs of cholera because of a reported outbreak there, the head of airport quarantine said on Wednesday. (Reuters http://bit.ly/2tpOODZ)
The arrests of three journalists who visited a ceremony held by the Ta’ang National Liberation Army in northern Myanmar this week are part of a deliberate attempt to block information about the conflict, a spokesman for the group said, alleging that dozens of similar cases have occurred this year with civilians. (VOA http://bit.ly/2sn4Rh3)
The leaders of neighboring Chile and Argentina pledged to further integrate the countries’ economies and expressed mutual concern about the unrest in Venezuela. (VOA http://bit.ly/2shWQP8)
Kenya is set to be the first African country to introduce better HIV treatment for people living with the disease that causes AIDS. In partnership with the Kenyan government, UNITAID and the World Health Organization have introduced a generic first-line drug for people living with HIV. (VOA http://bit.ly/2tlFY9K)
Thousands of Ethiopians are still stuck in Saudi Arabia after a 90-day amnesty for undocumented migrants expired on Tuesday without all of them leaving , the Ethiopian government has said. (BBC http://bbc.in/2siznNN)
Syria: UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein expressed grave concern for the fate of civilians caught up in the anti-ISIL offensive in Al-Raqqa, where up to 100,000 civilians are effectively trapped as the air and ground offensive intensifies. Civilian casualties continue to be reported and escape routes are increasingly sealed off. (UN Human Rights Commission http://bit.ly/2snhfNN)
The World Bank is accused of funding agricultural projects in Uzbekistan that are linked to state-sponsored child labor and forced labor in the cotton industry. (Guardian http://bit.ly/2tpzGGE)
UNICEF raised the alarm that the nurses’ strike, now in its 23rd day, will fuel more casualties in the disease outbreaks being reported in several parts of Kenya. (Daily Nation http://bit.ly/2sRVucq)
Liberia’s future as a stable democracy hinges on successful presidential and legislative elections in October and broad acceptance that they are free and fair followed by a smooth transfer of power, the U.N. envoy to the West African nation said. (VOA http://bit.ly/2siv6tE)
Opinion/Blogs
$800 Million Later, Joseph Kony Is Still a Threat (Foreign Policy http://atfp.co/2ujakqB)
Southern Africa: Is the Region Facing a Food Security Disaster? (ISS http://bit.ly/2t1I8Jo)
Social protection, migration and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (ODI http://bit.ly/2sS372G)
Two cheers for UN transparency (IRIN http://bit.ly/2sROaxJ)
In South Sudan, preparing young generation for young country’s future (CSM http://bit.ly/2sndRm3)
There’s a new Ebola vaccine — but the fight is far from over (PRI http://bit.ly/2tYHXP5)
With Human Trafficking Report, Tillerson Rebukes China on Human Rights (Foreign Policy http://atfp.co/2snbFv9)
Visiting Boko Haram territory (IRIN http://bit.ly/2uj6SMu)
