Army creates new 'safe zone' in Sri Lankan war

Sri Lanka's army has disbanded the mostly ineffective "safe zone" it had established in the war-wracked north and set up a new refuge for the tens of thousands of civilians still trapped. [...] Aid groups estimate that about 200,000 civilians are trapped in the war zone. The government says the figure is about half that number.

Inflation Amidst Recession: Nepal’s Paradox

[...] Paradoxically, at a time when most of the countries in the world are bracing themselves to face the challenges of the crisis, Nepal is experiencing an all time high inflationary situation. This is extremely worrying. If the figures published by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) and the survey carried out by the World Food Programme in collaboration with other institutions are to be believed, prices are not only high but rising rapidly at the rate of 14.4 per cent. According to a survey of the market, coarse rice is being sold at Rs. 40 per kg, pulses at Rs. 85 and edible oil at Rs. 150 in Kathmandu and food items are costlier in the remote districts of the country.

NKorea tightens its economic grip, restricts market trading

North Korea has clamped down on fast-growing free markets for fear they could undermine the communist state's power over its people, analysts and observers say. The regime in late November banned general markets which sell consumer goods from early next year. It severely restricted the operations of food stalls, according to the Daily NK web newspaper and other analysts. [...] Staples such as rice and corn will be sold only at state distribution centres. [...] Kim Yong-Hyun, a North Korea studies professor at Dongguk University, said the state is trying to reassert control over distribution because sharp price rises have put basic commodities beyond the reach of ordinary people. [...] North Korea may have to ease the clampdown because it cannot solve food shortages and state stores do not have enough products to sell, he said. Chronic food shortages worsened this year, the Food and Agriculture Organisation and the World Food Programme said in a joint report last week. About 40 percent of the population -- an estimated 8.7 million people -- will urgently need food aid in coming months, they said.

Veep launches food voucher programme

Vice-President George Kunda has launched the peri-urban food voucher programme in response to increased food insecurity which has led to heightened levels of malnutrition. Mr Kunda said the food voucher programme would also be extended to other needy areas across Zambia, adding that it would be implemented on a pilot basis in Lusaka’s eight townships among them Chipata, Chawama, Chazanga and Mandevu. [...] Mr Kunda said with the support of the United Nations System, comprising the United Nations (UN), World Food Programme (WFP) and the Alliance for Sustainable Development (ASD), the programme would benefit a lot of people in the country.