South Africa’s efforts to tackle its energy crisis lack urgency and coherence

South Africa’s electricity infrastructure has been degrading in the past decade, with both scheduled and unscheduled power outages on the increase. Despite slowed economic activity due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the country experienced 1130 hours of planned power cuts in 2021, the highest ever.

Food insecurity soaring across 20 hunger hotspots

Food insecurity is soaring across 20 countries and regions – “hunger hotspots”, where conflict, economic shocks, natural hazards, political instability, and limited humanitarian access, are putting millions of lives at risk, UN agencies highlighted on Thursday.