The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is calling for urgent humanitarian assistance and protection for 210,000 people on the move by land northwards through Central America and Mexico.

The irregular migration has increased an 85% in Panama, 689% in Honduras, and 108% in Mexico. If this upward trend continues in the coming months, an estimated 500,000 people would require humanitarian assistance.

Along migratory routes, many people suffer accidents and injuries, face extortion and sexual violence, or disappear and are separated from their families. Others are killed or die from disease or environmental conditions.

Roger Alonso, IFRC Head of Disaster, Crises and Climate Unit, said:

“We are especially concerned for women, children, disabled, the older people, and LGBTQI migrants. They are at extreme risk and need medical and mental health assistance, access to food and water, information, connectivity, and resources to cover vital expenses such as paying for safe places to sleep.”

Most of migrants and refugees in transit through the region are from Cuba, Venezuela and Haiti. Nationals from Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Mexico also continue heading north. Main reasons for migrating include improving their income, escaping violence, reuniting with family members, and recovering from the impact of recurring disasters and extreme weather events.

Martha Keays, IFRC Regional Director for the Americas, said:

It is unacceptable that migrating continues to cost people their dignity and their lives. This is why we are scaling up our current response and standing up our vital emergency support along migratory routes. We call on governments, our partners, and donors to join this humanitarian action. Protecting people migrating in a desperate situation and defending their rights, disregarding their status is a humanitarian imperative and a collective duty. The devastating socioeconomic effects in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, continuing political crises and disasters will continue to ramp up exponentially population movements. The challenge ahead of us is titanic.”

IFRC: 210,000 migrants need urgent life-saving assistance and protection in Central America and Mexico – Honduras | ReliefWeb

 Two-thirds of all UK households will be trapped in fuel poverty by January with planned government support leaving even middle-income households struggling to pay their bills, according to research.

It shows 18 million families, the equivalent of 45 million people, will be left trying to make ends meet after further predicted rises in the energy price cap in October and January.

An estimated 86.4% of pensioner couples are expected to fall into fuel poverty, traditionally defined as when energy costs exceed 10% of a household’s net income, and 90.4% of lone parents with two or more children.

The new study by the University of York also shows huge regional variation in the cost of living crisis with 57.9% of households in the south-east predicted to be struggling with energy bills by January, compared with 70.9% in the West Midlands and 76.3% in Northern Ireland.

Two-thirds of UK families could be in fuel poverty by January, research finds | Fuel poverty | The Guardian

     While the media focus on the one-year anniversary of the US-NATO retreat from Afghanistan, the country’s people prepare for the coming winter.

Simultaneous crises in the country have caused some of the worst suffering in recent generations. Disasters have battered the country for more than a year now, with new shocks worsening conditions that were already dire. In late June, an earthquake struck south-East Afghanistan killing more than 1,000 people and destroying or damaging homes of 60,000 households leaving them exposed to the elements. Starting July into August, off-season rains brought floods that washed away livelihoods and aggravated humanitarian needs across more than 20 provinces.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is renewing its call for increased global solidarity with the people of Afghanistan who continue to face immense humanitarian need.

Mawlawi Mutiul Haq Khales, Afghan Red Crescent Acting President, said:

“The past 12 months have been extremely difficult for our people as economic hardship, exacerbated by sanctions-related limitations to access income, piles pressure on millions who were already battling acute food insecurity, poverty, and many other shocks…”

Necephor Mghendi, IFRC’s Head of Delegation for Afghanistan, said:

“The people of Afghanistan cannot be forgotten. This is now one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, with over 20 million people remaining in need of urgent assistance.”

The IFRC and Afghan Red Crescent are ramping up preparedness for a potentially harsh winter, which will be upon the country in a few months. The greatest concern is high-altitude areas where temperatures are very likely to drop below minus-10 degrees.

Afghanistan: Unending crises driving millions to breaking point – Afghanistan | ReliefWeb

 Sickle cell disease changes the shape of blood cells into crescents,  These cells then stick together, causing blood clots, intense pain and anaemia, hindering blood flow. Sufferers experience severe painful episodes, which can require hospital admission. The drug Hydroxyurea can reduce the number of episodes, but the only cure is a bone marrow transplant. Life expectancy can be 20 to 30 years shorter than the general population.

About 5% of the global population carry the gene and some 300,000 babies are born with the disease each year. The majority with the disease in low-income countries will die before they are five. The condition mainly affects people of African or Caribbean heritage.  In Kenya, where nearly 14,000 children are born with the condition every year.

The drug hydroxyurea is commonly used to prevent sickle-shaped blood cells from forming and is the most affordable option to manage the symptoms, although it does not work for everyone and the term ‘affordable’ is a stretch.

Manjusha Chatterjee, from NCD Alliance, said sickle cell and other non-communicable diseases are more than a health issue.

“They are a major human rights and equity issue, as they disproportionately burden the poorest and most marginalised populations. In countries everywhere, this includes ethnic minorities. Urgent steps need to be taken so that health systems are inclusive and no one is left behind,” she said. “Although millions of people around the world live with sickle cell disease, it is still considered a rare condition. Simply getting a correct diagnosis of a rare disease is difficult – on average, it takes seven years.”

Kenyan, Lea Kilenga, explains “My message to people with sickle cell is there’s no saviour coming. We’ve had 100-plus years to wait for them, they have not shown up to make significant change for us. So we must make this change for ourselves and others like us.”

Sickle cell disease: nearly 50% of patients receive poor care, says global study | Global development | The Guardian

 ‘Real’ pay – adjusted for inflation – fell by a record 3% in the quarter to June as the cost of living crisis deepened.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics showed average total pay, including bonuses, grew by 5.1% between April and June while regular pay excluding bonuses grew by 4.7%.

However, when adjusted for inflation (which reached a 40-year high of 9.4% in June), total pay fell 2.5% and regular pay fell by 3%, the fastest decline since comparable records began in 2001.

Ben Harrison, director of the Work Foundation at Lancaster University, a think tank for improving work in the UK, said: “Ahead of next week’s energy price cap announcement, there is more bad news for workers as real wages fell by a record 3% on the year. With inflation at 9.4%, and the Bank of England predicting it will peak at 13% in early 2024, people across the UK are facing more tough decisions as their regular pay fails to keep pace with rising prices. The six million workers in severely insecure jobs will be hardest hit and are already running out of options. Many have already tried to find more hours work and cutback spending but continue to face great uncertainty.”

The average household’s annual grocery bill is now set to soar by £533 to £5,128, the equivalent to £10.25 every week.

(1) UK real pay falls by record 3%, as job vacancies also decline – business live (theguardian.com)

 As with Covid, corporate interests are taking priority over getting monkeypox vaccines to people.

Britain expects to run out of vaccines in the next couple of weeks, with no further deliveries planned until late September. The sole supplier of the only approved vaccine for monkeypox is a Danish pharmaceutical company called Bavarian Nordic. In a case of almost unbelievably unlucky timing, the company’s bulk production line has been closed for refurbishment. Even more, ironically, the company has millions of doses in the freezer, but getting them into vials and ready to go isn’t a small job. The company is looking for other factories to help with this. 

But even when it does happen, the overwhelming bulk of the doses have been bought by the US, with a trickle going to other high-income countries. Africa is so far the only continent to suffer more than a couple of deaths from monkeypox to date, yet it hasn’t received a single dose of vaccine so far.

The vaccine – known as Jynneos, Imvamune or Imvanex – was developed as a safe immunisation for smallpox, and was being kept on hold in case of a biological terrorist attack. It was funded, to the tune of $2bn, by the US government, but like most medicines, it was patented. Bavarian Nordic, which holds the patent, dictates who can make the vaccine, how many doses are made, who gets to buy them and at what price.

 Bavarian Nordic will make a huge windfall, producing and selling as much as the company can manage. Its shareholders have already seen the price of their stock triple.

With monkeypox, profits are once again being put ahead of protecting life | Nick Dearden | The Guardian

 The attainment gap between poorer pupils and their better-off classmates is just as large now as it was 20 years ago.

The study found that disadvantaged pupils start school behind their better-off peers, and those inequalities persist through their school years and beyond – eventually having an impact on earnings.

There is overwhelming evidence that the education system in England leaves too many young people behind, and despite decades of policy focus, there has been little if any shift in the gaps in educational attainment between children from different backgrounds.

The report said: “Despite decades of policy attention, there has been virtually no change in the ‘disadvantage gap’ in GCSE attainment over the past 20 years. While GCSE attainment has been increasing over time, 16-year-olds who are eligible for free school meals are still around 27 percentage points less likely to earn good GCSEs than less disadvantaged peers.”

At the start of their educational journey, just 57% of English pupils eligible for free school meals reached a good level of development at the end of reception in 2019, compared with 74% of their better-off peers, the report notes.

Fewer than half of disadvantaged children reached expected levels of attainment at the end of primary school, compared with nearly 70% of their better-off peers. Of those who do achieve the expected level, just 40% of disadvantaged pupils go on to receive good GCSEs in English and maths, compared with 60% of better-off students.

Perhaps the biggest failure of the education system, the report suggests, is that for those leaving school with poor GCSEs, there is a lack of a clear path and “second chances”, leaving millions disadvantaged throughout their lifetime.

The report finds the relationship between family background and attainment is not limited to the poorest, but educational performance improves as family income goes up. Just over 10% of young people in middle-earning families gained at least one A or A* grade at GCSE, compared to a third of pupils from the wealthiest tenth of families.

These inequalities lead to vast gaps in earning, the report says, pointing out that by the age of 40 the average UK employee with a degree earns twice as much as someone qualified to GCSE level or below.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, added: “Government policy is in a rut of meaningless targets, empty rhetoric and pitiful levels of funding”

No improvement in school attainment gap in England for 20 years, report says | Education | The Guardian

 More than 5 billion people would die of hunger following a full-scale nuclear war between the U.S. and Russia. Under this largest war scenario, more than 75% of the planet would be starving within two years.

 Even a localized India-Pakistan war would also reverberate worldwide, resulting in possibly two billion deaths from lack of food.

“The data tell us one thing: We must prevent a nuclear war from ever happening,” said Alan Robock, a Distinguished Professor of climate science in the Department of Environmental Sciences at Rutgers University and co-author of the study. “If nuclear weapons exist, they can be used, and the world has come close to nuclear war several times.” 

Nuclear war would cause a global famine and kill billions, study finds (phys.org)

 Aramco reaped a half-year income of $48.4 billion in profits between April and June this year, compared with $25.5 billion last year. The company enjoyed a similar surge in profits for the first three months. Half-year-earnings reached nearly $88 billion.

Aramco President Amin Nasser said the results reflected “an increasing demand for our products,” and predicted that the trend would continue. “In fact, we expect oil demand to continue to grow for the rest of the decade…”

Saudi oil firm Aramco profits skyrocket amid global instability | News | DW | 14.08.2022

Eight of the 14 areas of England are now classified as being in drought, with hosepipe bans being implemented across increasing areas of the country.

The Environment Agency recently called for water company bosses to be jailed for serious pollution, after finding the water firms’ performance on pollution had declined to the worst seen in years.

 The bosses of England’s water companies have been criticised for banking £58m in pay and benefits over the last five years. Since privatisation, shareholders have been paid £72bn in dividends. The cash came from big debts, with companies borrowing £56bn, and big bills, with prices rising 40%.

Stuart Singleton-White, head of campaigns at the Angling Trust, said: “The profits being made by water companies, who are in effect private monopolies, the dividend payments to shareholders, the inflated salaries and bonuses to the CEOs, and the debts that have been run up by these companies, mostly to support dividends and inflated salaries, rather than finance investment, is a clear sign this is a broken market.”

He pointed out that no new reservoirs have been built in England since water companies were privatised, and that years of underinvestment had led to “unacceptable levels of leaks”. Water companies currently leak around a quarter of their supply through old pipes, with 2,954m litres a day seeping away last year.

“When the crisis hit, our water system was not ready”, Singleton-White said, blaming “the greed of the water companies, the weakness of the regulators and the complacency of the government”.

Former Conservative environment minister Rebecca Pow said, “These salaries are unacceptable if they can’t with a clear conscience provide clean, plentiful and sustainable water.”

Thames Water

Area: Greater London, parts of Kent, Essex and Gloucestershire

Chief executive: Sarah Bentley

Pay: £2m

Tenure: September 2020-present

Bentley landed £2m in pay and bonuses last year. She held senior roles at the telecoms giant BT, the consultancy Accenture and Severn Trent Waterbefore joining Thames Water with a £3.1m “golden hello”, including two £727,000 one-off payments. Last year, the firm was fined £4m for discharging raw sewage in two Oxford streams.

Anglian Water

Area: East of England including Norfolk and Cambridgeshire

Chief executive: Peter Simpson

Pay: £1.3m

Tenure: 2013-present

Last month he had landed a £337,651 bonus despite the company notching up one of the worst pollution records in the industry.

Severn Trent

Area: Stretches from the Bristol Channel to the Humber, and from mid-Wales to the east Midlands

Chief executive: Liv Garfield

Pay: £3.9m

Tenure: 2014-present

 The firm was fined £1.5m for dumping sewage in Worcestershire last year.

Pennon

Area: South-west England

Chief executive: Susan Davy

Pay: £1.6m

Tenure: 2020-present

 South West Water has faced criticism over pollution levels affecting the Cornwall and Devon beaches.

Wessex Water

Area: Parts of south-west England including Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire

Chief executive: Colin Skellet

Pay: £975,000 last year

Tenure: 1988-present

Wessex Water has issued a warning about “non-essential” water use and he has a 40ft swimming pool at his home in a village outside Bath, thought to be worth more than £3m. Wessex Water paid out £975,000 over raw sewage spills in Dorset in 2018.

United Utilities

Area: North-west England

Chief executive: Steve Mogford

Pay: £3.2m

Tenure: 2011-present

Northumbrian Water

Area: North-east England, Essex, Suffolk

Chief executive: Heidi Mottram

Pay: £648,000

Tenure: 2010-present

Southern Water

Area: Hampshire, West Sussex, Isle of Wight, parts of Kent

Chief executive: Lawrence Gosden

Pay: Undisclosed

Tenure: 1 July-present

Last year Southern was fined a record £90m for deliberately pouring sewage into the sea.

Yorkshire Water

Area: Yorkshire, north Lincolnshire, Derbyshire

Chief executive: Nicola Shaw

Pay: Undisclosed

Tenure: 9 May-present

The former National Grid UK executive director, who was also boss of High Speed 1, is likely to receive similar pay to her predecessor, who received £1.4m.

Scottish WaterArea: Scotland

Chief executive: Douglas Millican

Pay: £558,000

Tenure: 2013-present