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Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has roiled global food and energy markets, exposing nearly a fifth of humanity to supply disruptions and the risks of poverty and hunger, UN chief Antonio Guterres warned on Wednesday.
The UN Secretary General said the invasion was “supercharging a three-dimensional crisis — food, energy and finance — that is pummelling some of the world’s most vulnerable people”.
He spoke as Russian forces continued shelling Ukrainian towns and cities in a war that began on February 24, killing thousands, hitting exports from “breadbasket” regions and prompting harsh sanctions against Moscow from mostly western nations.
“We are now facing a perfect storm that threatens to devastate the economies of developing countries,” Mr Guterres told reporters in New York.
“As many as 1.7 billion people — one third of whom are already living in poverty — are now highly exposed to disruptions in food, energy and finance systems that are triggering increases in poverty and hunger.”
A 22-page report released on Wednesday by the UN’s Global Crisis Response Group said 36 countries import more than half of their wheat from the breadbasket regions of Russia and Ukraine, where fighting has stopped farmers from planting crops.
They include many struggling and conflict-riven economies across the Middle East and Africa, including Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Syria, as well as wealthy importers in the oil-rich Gulf, such as Qatar and the UAE.
The British charity Oxfam said this week that Palestinian stockpiles of wheat could run out in three weeks because of 25 per cent price increases.
The group's country director Shane Stevenson said many Palestinians were “struggling to meet their basic needs".
Wheat prices have jumped by 30 per cent since the start of the year and fertiliser prices have doubled, the UN report says. Oil prices have surged by 60 per cent compared with last year, while natural gas prices have jumped by 50 per cent in recent months.
“As prices climb, so does hunger and malnutrition — especially for young children,” said Mr Guterres.
The study, titled the Global Impact of War in Ukraine on Food, Energy and Finance Systems, says many developing economies are being battered a second time after the ravaging effects of the coronavirus pandemic, supply line chaos and lockdowns.
“Many developing economies are drowning in debt, with bond yields already on the rise since last September, leading to increased risk premiums and exchange rate pressures,” said Mr Guterres.
“This is setting in motion a potential vicious circle of inflation and stagnation.”
Governments need to work together on “keeping a lid” on prices with a “steady flow of food and energy through open markets” and the lifting of export restrictions, said the former prime minister of Portugal.
Countries must “resist hoarding, and release strategic stockpiles and additional reserves” of food and energy, while shifting their economies to cleaner, renewable energy and supporting debt relief plans at this month’s World Bank meetings, he added.
The report makes no mention of the crippling economic sanctions that the US, Europe and others have imposed on Russia since it invaded Ukraine, which Moscow says is really to blame for supply shocks and inflation.
“Above all, this war must end,” said Mr Guterres.
“The people of Ukraine cannot bear the violence being inflicted on them. And the most vulnerable people around the globe cannot become collateral damage in yet another disaster for which they bear no responsibility.”
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
RESULTS
Bantamweight title:
Vinicius de Oliveira (BRA) bt Xavier Alaoui (MAR)
(KO round 2)
Catchweight 68kg:
Sean Soriano (USA) bt Noad Lahat (ISR)
(TKO round 1)
Middleweight:
Denis Tiuliulin (RUS) bt Juscelino Ferreira (BRA)
(TKO round 1)
Lightweight:
Anas Siraj Mounir (MAR) bt Joachim Tollefsen (DEN)
(Unanimous decision)
Catchweight 68kg:
Austin Arnett (USA) bt Daniel Vega (MEX)
(TKO round 3)
Lightweight:
Carrington Banks (USA) bt Marcio Andrade (BRA)
(Unanimous decision)
Catchweight 58kg:
Corinne Laframboise (CAN) bt Malin Hermansson (SWE)
(Submission round 2)
Bantamweight:
Jalal Al Daaja (CAN) bt Juares Dea (CMR)
(Split decision)
Middleweight:
Mohamad Osseili (LEB) bt Ivan Slynko (UKR)
(TKO round 1)
Featherweight:
Tarun Grigoryan (ARM) bt Islam Makhamadjanov (UZB)
(Unanimous decision)
Catchweight 54kg:
Mariagiovanna Vai (ITA) bt Daniella Shutov (ISR)
(Submission round 1)
Middleweight:
Joan Arastey (ESP) bt Omran Chaaban (LEB)
(Unanimous decision)
Welterweight:
Bruno Carvalho (POR) bt Souhil Tahiri (ALG)
(TKO)
Afro%20salons
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Tightening the screw on rogue recruiters
The UAE overhauled the procedure to recruit housemaids and domestic workers with a law in 2017 to protect low-income labour from being exploited.
Only recruitment companies authorised by the government are permitted as part of Tadbeer, a network of labour ministry-regulated centres.
A contract must be drawn up for domestic workers, the wages and job offer clearly stating the nature of work.
The contract stating the wages, work entailed and accommodation must be sent to the employee in their home country before they depart for the UAE.
The contract will be signed by the employer and employee when the domestic worker arrives in the UAE.
Only recruitment agencies registered with the ministry can undertake recruitment and employment applications for domestic workers.
Penalties for illegal recruitment in the UAE include fines of up to Dh100,000 and imprisonment
But agents not authorised by the government sidestep the law by illegally getting women into the country on visit visas.
More on animal trafficking
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England's all-time record goalscorers:
Wayne Rooney 53
Bobby Charlton 49
Gary Lineker 48
Jimmy Greaves 44
Michael Owen 40
Tom Finney 30
Nat Lofthouse 30
Alan Shearer 30
Viv Woodward 29
Frank Lampard 29
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
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How Voiss turns words to speech
The device has a screen reader or software that monitors what happens on the screen
The screen reader sends the text to the speech synthesiser
This converts to audio whatever it receives from screen reader, so the person can hear what is happening on the screen
A VOISS computer costs between $200 and $250 depending on memory card capacity that ranges from 32GB to 128GB
The speech synthesisers VOISS develops are free
Subsequent computer versions will include improvements such as wireless keyboards
Arabic voice in affordable talking computer to be added next year to English, Portuguese, and Spanish synthesiser
Partnerships planned during Expo 2020 Dubai to add more languages
At least 2.2 billion people globally have a vision impairment or blindness
More than 90 per cent live in developing countries
The Long-term aim of VOISS to reach the technology to people in poor countries with workshops that teach them to build their own device
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
