Two million children in DRC are acutely malnourished

UNICEF: Two million children in DRC are acutely malnourished. The UN children’s agency says at least two million children in the Democratic Republic of Congo face death from malnutrition unless aid reaches them.

Al Jazeera went to Kitwit where about 25,000 displaced people live with either host families or in camps without enough food to go around. Around 8,000 children in Kitwit show signs of malnutrition, but many more still live in remote conflict zones. Humanitarian budget cuts have made it difficult for aid workers to get to them.

Zimbabwe: Wheat Supply Remains Critical

Zimbabwe's wheat supplies remain critical due to logistical challenges arising from failure by the National Railway of Zimbabwe to speedily move the grain from Beira, Mozambique. Zimbabwe is faced with inconsistent supplies of bread as flour millers have cut on production due to wheat shortages. This has seen some unscrupulous retailers taking advantage of the situation by raising bread prices by as much as 50 percent

The Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe, the apex representative body of grain milling industry procured 30 000 tonnes of imported wheat to ameliorate the current bread shortages. In order to immediately stabilize the bread supply, NRZ committed to bring at least 50 wagons a day into Harare.

The reasons said by NRZ,

• The rail operator only service routes starting at Machipanda Border into different parts of Zimbabwe.
• NRZ only picks goods from Machipanda to anywhere in the country and delays from Beira are not our issue.
• This is an issue of effectiveness by the player who services the Beira to Machipanda route.
• Another factor to consider in the transportation of wheat from Beira is the volatile weather there. If it is moist, it becomes difficult to load because it will get spoilt.

The country needs at least 400 000 tonnes of wheat per year to meet its demand. On a monthly basis, wheat consumption is estimated at 38 000 tonnes for the production of bread, confectioneries, biscuits and other flour-related products.

Unscrupulous- not showing any moral values or not honest
Ameliorate- make something better

Experts blame perfume, hair gel for fuelling smog in Beijing

Beijing experts blame volatile organic compounds (VOC's) in hairspray, perfume and air fresheners in the city's air pollution problem, saying these compounds comprise 12% of PM2.5 in Beijing. VOC's are concentrated in aerosols like perfume, hair gel, insecticide and clearing agents as well as kitchen and gas stations. These VOCs do not directly produce PM2.5 but generate particle pollutants through a series of physical and chemical reactions.

A Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau report released in May said that life emissions account for 12 percent of the city's total emissions, which equal industrial emission sources. The ratio will decline in winter when coal burning increases and urban areas will see a higher concentration than the suburbs. Policies should be made to deal with indirect pollution sources since strict measures have already been taken on vehicles and coal burning which contribute to almost half of the total PM2.5 in Beijing.