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Boko Haram crisis pushes poor of western Chad to brink of hunger, says UNICEF – TRFN

By Magdalena Mis LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Under the shade of a wooden shack in the western Chadian town of Bagasola, heavily pregnant Zara Gayi sells mangoes and vegetables, hoping to earn enough money to feed her four children. “My husband used to ride boats to Nigeria. In the past, he could earn 100,000 Naira ($500) a month,” she told the United Nations children’s agency UNICEF. Disruptions to trade

South Sudan defends law that aid agencies say could be "catastrophic" – TRFN

By Magdalena Mis LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – South Sudan has defended a law limiting the number of foreign aid workers that can work in the country despite concerns from relief groups that the move could have “potentially catastrophic effects” for the millions of people who need help. The law, which is awaiting President Salva Kiir’s signature after being passed on Tuesday, requires non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to limit foreign employees,

Meningitis cases triple in two weeks in Niger, more than 400 dead -WHO

By Tom Miles GENEVA (Reuters) – An outbreak of meningitis with “unprecedented features” is spreading rapidly in Niger, with a tripling of cases in the past two weeks, hundreds of deaths so far this year and vaccines in short supply, the World Health Organization said on Friday. Vaccines against this form of the disease were in short supply and the outbreak was of particular concern because it was affecting more