‘Abject failure’ as UK homeless deaths rise
New figures reveal that at least 1,611 homeless people, including 11 children, died in the UK in 2024, a 9% increase from the previous year. The Museum of Homelessness, which compiles annual data…
Zimbabwe: ban on street vendors and second-hand clothes
The government has ordered the immediate removal of street vendors from Harare’s central business district and reaffirmed a national ban on the import and sale of second-hand clothes. Local government minister Daniel Garwe…
Struggling families need grants for school uniforms
As the back-to-school season approaches, a major debt advice charity is urging the Government to introduce a statutory school uniform grant for England. While families in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland receive support…
Cuba: minister resigns after saying there are no beggars in the country
Labour and social security minister Marta Feito Cabrera has resigned following widespread backlash over her comments denying the existence of poverty and homelessness in Cuba. Speaking in the National Assembly, Feito claimed that…
Foreign aid cuts ‘will leave an extra 369,000 children to starve’
Cuts to foreign aid by Western governments could result in 369,000 additional child deaths from severe malnutrition annually, according to a study in Nature. The reduction in overseas development budgets by the UK,…
Key changes to benefits in welfare shake-up
The Government has announced major welfare reforms aimed at cutting costs and encouraging work. The changes include stricter eligibility for Personal Independence Payments (PIP), reduced incapacity benefits, and new work incentives. From November…
Myanmar: a desperate way of battling poverty
Struggling with debt and rising costs after the 2021 coup in Myanmar, farm worker Zeya decided to sell his kidney, believing it was his only way out of poverty. He found a broker…
Cuba: misery caused by prolonged blackouts
Cuba has had one of its toughest weeks in years, with a nationwide blackout leaving its ten million citizens powerless for days, alongside devastation from Hurricane Oscar. For many, energy shortages have become…
Scottish Labour stunned by rebellion on winter fuel payments
Two Scottish Labour MPs have surprised their leader Anas Sarwar by voting against the party line in support of a non-binding motion urging the UK government to reverse cuts to the winter fuel…
Axing winter fuel payments will hurt everybody, warns pensioner
Millions of pensioners in the UK are facing a challenging winter after the Government voted to cut automatic winter fuel payments to pensioners. The decision, supported by nearly 400 Labour MPs, addresses a…
