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Cuba has been experiencing a new record of tourism. Ever since Cuba slowly started letting outsiders briefly in more people have felt compelled to go. Cuba has always been a very private country. Cubans are struggling with access to food. They are competing with the tourist for food. This is part of Castro's government plan fail to limit food supplies. Tourists are literally eating the lunch of another person.
Cubans agreed that all though this is hurting them that tourists are still good because they being an increase to the economy.

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Tourists are quite literally eating Cuba's lunch. Thanks in part to the United States embargo, but also to poor planning by the island's government, goods that Cubans have long relied on are going to well-heeled tourists and the hundreds of private restaurants that cater to them, leading to soaring prices and empty shelves.

Without supplies to match the increased appetite, some foods have become so expensive that even basic staples are becoming unaffordable for regular Cubans.

"The private tourism industry is in direct competition for good supplies with the general population," said Richard Feinberg, a professor at the University of California, San Diego, and specialist on the Cuban economy. "There are a lot of unanticipated consequences and distortions."

There has long been a divide between Cubans and tourists, with beach resorts and Havana hotels effectively reserved for outsiders willing to shell out money for a more comfortable version of Cuba. But with the country pinning its hopes on tourism, welcoming a surge of new travelers to feed the anemic economy, a more basic inequality has emerged amid the nation's experiment with capitalism.

Rising prices for staples like onions and peppers, or for modest luxuries like pineapples and limes, have left many unable to afford them. Beer and soda can be hard to find, often snapped up in bulk by restaurants.

It is a startling evolution in Cuba, where a shared future has been a pillar of the revolution's promise. While the influx of new money from tourists and other visitors has been a boon for the island's growing private sector, most Cubans still work within the state-run economy and struggle to make ends meet.

President Raúl Castro has acknowledged the surge in agricultural prices and moved to cap them. In a speech in April, he said the government would look into the causes of the soaring costs and crack down on middlemen for price gouging, with limits on what people could charge for certain fruits and vegetables.

"We cannot sit with our hands crossed before the unscrupulous manner of middlemen who only think of earning more," he told party members, according to local news reports.

But the government price ceilings seem to have done little to provide good, affordable produce for Cubans. Instead, they have simply moved goods to the commercial market, where farmers and vendors can fetch higher prices, or to the black market.

Havana offers stark examples of this growing chasm.

At two state-run markets, where the government sets prices, the shelves this past week were monuments to starch - sweet potatoes, yucca, rice, beans and bananas, plus a few malformed watermelons with pallid flesh.

As for tomatoes, green peppers, onions, cucumbers, garlic or lettuce - to say nothing of avocados, pineapples or cilantro - there were only promises.

"Try back Saturday for tomatoes," one vendor offered. It was more of question than a suggestion.

But at a nearby co-op market, where vendors have more freedom to set their prices, the fruits and vegetables missing from the state-run stalls were elegantly stacked in abundance. Rarities like grapes, celery, ginger and an array of spices competed for shoppers' attentions.

The market has become the playground of the private restaurants that have sprung up to serve visitors. They employ cadres of buyers to scour the city each day for fruits, vegetables and nonperishable goods, bearing budgets that overwhelm those of the average household.

"Almost all of our buyers are paladares," said one vendor, Ruben Martínez, using the Cuban name for private restaurants, which include about 1,700 establishments across the country. "They are the ones who can afford to pay more for the quality."

By Cuban standards, the prices were astronomic. Several Cuban residents said simply buying a pound of onions and a pound of tomatoes at the prices charged that day would consume 10 percent or so of a standard government salary of about $25 a month.

"I don't even bother going to those places," said Yainelys Rodriguez, 39, sitting in a park in Havana while her daughter climbed a slide. "We eat rice and beans and a boiled egg most days, maybe a little pork."

Mrs. Rodriguez's family is on the lower end of the income ladder, so she supplements earnings with the odd cleaning job she can find. With that, she cares for her two children and an infirm mother.

Trying to buy tomatoes, she said, "is an insult."

Another mother, Leticia Alvarez Cañada, described what it was like to prepare decent meals for her family with prices so high. "We have to be magicians," she said.

The struggle is somewhat easier now that she is in the private sector and no longer working for the government, she said. She quit her job as a nurse to start a small business selling fried pork skin and other snacks from a cart. Now she earns about 10 times more every month.

"The prices have just gone crazy in the last few years," said Mrs. Cañada, 41. "There's just no equilibrium between the prices and the salaries."

While many Cubans have long been hardened to the reality of going without, never more than during what they call the "Special Period" after the collapse of the Soviet Union, a new dynamic that has emerged in recent months threatens the nation's future, experts warn.

"The government has consistently failed to invest properly in the agriculture sector," said Juan Alejandro Triana, an economist at the University of Havana. "We don't just have to feed 11 million people anymore. We have to feed more than 14 million."

"In the next five years, if we don't do something about it, food will become a national security issue here," he added.

The government gives Cubans ration books to help provide staples like rice, beans and sugar, but they do not cover items like fresh produce. Tractors and trucks are limited and routinely break down, often causing the produce to spoil en route. Inefficiency, red tape and corruption at the local level also stymie productivity, while a lack of fertilizer reduces yield (though it keeps produce organic, by default).

Economists also argue that setting price ceilings can discourage farmers and sellers. If prices are set so low they cannot turn a profit, they argue, why bother working? Most will try to redirect their goods to the private or black market.

"From the point of view of the farmer, what would you do?" asked Dr. Feinberg, the California professor. "When the differentials are that great, it requires a really selfless or foolish person to play by the rules."

Paladares sometimes go directly to farms to buy goods, and even provide farmers seeds for specialty products that do not ordinarily grow in Cuba, like arugula, cherry tomatoes and zucchini.

Most acknowledge that they distort the market in some ways, and this year the government stopped issuing licenses for new restaurants in Havana. But some restaurant owners argue that it is the government's responsibility to create better supply.

"It's true, the prices keep going up and up," said Laura Fernandez, a manager at El Cocinero, a former peanut-oil factory converted into a high-priced restaurant. "But that's not just the fault of the private sector. There is generally a lot of chaos and disorder in the market."

On the outskirts of Havana, Miguel Salcines has cultivated a beautiful farm. Rows of tidy crops stretch toward the edge of his modest 25 acres, where he employs about 130 people.

Though he grows standard products on behalf of the government, there is no product he is more excited about than his new zucchini. A farmer for nearly 50 years, he had never grown the crop before, but planted a batch two months ago.

Now, the vegetables are coming into shape, the spots of bright orange flowers visible amid the green plumage. He knows this crop is not for the regular market, or for the government. It is like the arugula he grows.

It is for the tourist market and, by extension, the future.

"We are talking about an elite market," he said. "The Cuban markets are a market of necessity."

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Cuba's Surge in Tourism Keeps Food Off Residents' Plates

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Tourists are quite literally eating Cuba's lunch. Thanks in part to the United States embargo, but also to poor planning by the island's government, goods that Cubans have long relied on are going to well-heeled tourists and the hundreds of private restaurants that cater to them, leading to soaring prices and empty shelves.

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Young illegal immigrants are in great fear of being deported now that Trump is president. Over 750,000 immigrants are protected to stay in the U.S., an action plan made by Obama in 2012. Dreamers are illegal students who have the right to stay here as long as they achieve an education.
With immigration come re-remittances, it is money that immigrants send back home to their families. Re-remittances benfit the country. They will also spread social re-remittance through out the knowledge they will have gained in the U.S..

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Carlos Roa, who was a toddler when his parents brought him to the United States from Venezuela and is now training to be an architect, fears deportation under the Trump administration. Credit Credit Alyssa Schukar for The New York Times

Brought to the United States from Venezuela as a toddler, Carlos Roa was among the first young undocumented immigrants to be protected from deportation under a program President Obama set up in 2012 by executive action.

Since then Mr. Roa, now 29, has put himself through college and is training to be an architect, drafting blueprints at a Chicago firm.

But with the election of Donald J. Trump as president, Mr. Roa and 750,000 other immigrants in the program, who came to the United States as children, have been swept up in a wave of anxiety, worried about losing the progress they have made and being forced back underground or even deported. Mr. Trump has promised to "immediately terminate" Mr. Obama's executive actions on immigration, including the youth initiative.

With deep roots in the United States, and with many supporters in civil rights groups, universities and city governments already mobilizing to shield them, many who came here as youths said they were prepared to fight efforts to end the program or expel them from the country.

"I have been here for 27 years, and I am not going anywhere," Mr. Roa said, in between strategy sessions at Casa Michoacán, a gathering place in Chicago where immigrants planned moves to resist.

Young immigrants, who call themselves Dreamers, are already protesting at many colleges, and they have called for a march from New York to Washington starting Tuesday. They are pressing universities and employers to organize to defend the program and are making plans for havens on campuses and in churches.

Canceling the program is one move Mr. Trump could make to satisfy his supporters, who reject Mr. Obama's executive actions as illegal amnesties and examples of presidential overreach. A larger program for undocumented parents of American citizens and legal residents was halted this year by the Supreme Court.

Among Latinos and immigrants, the program, called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or DACA, is very popular, the only gain that Mr. Obama has achieved for undocumented immigrants.

Most young people in the program are Latinos, and Latino organizations place a priority on protecting them, said Daniel Garza, the president of the Libre Initiative, a conservative Latino advocacy organization.

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Protesters demonstrated in Foley Square in New York in June after a United States Supreme Court ruling upended President Obama's immigration policy. Credit Sam Hodgson for The New York Times

"These kids are going to be exposed if DACA is rescinded and that's so unfair," Mr. Garza said. "We should be keeping families together, not tearing them apart."

Mr. Trump has not provided details of his plans and his transition team did not respond to emails requesting comment.

But the program was set up through policy guidelines written by the secretary of Homeland Security at the time, Janet Napolitano - there is not even a formal presidential order - so it can be terminated with a stroke of a new secretary's pen.

Immigrants are taking Mr. Trump at his word when he said he would eliminate the program: He has selected Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, a Republican who is one of its most vigorous opponents, as attorney general.

Another Trump adviser, Kris Kobach, the Republican secretary of state of Kansas, brought a federal lawsuit against the program in 2012; it did not succeed.

Mr. Trump's pledges are chilling for the immigrants because when they signed up to the program, they provided identity information - including the names of their parents, home addresses, utility bills and school transcripts - to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. The authorities deferred any action to deport them and gave them two-year renewable work permits, but no official immigration status.

Administration officials said the citizenship agency could be asked to turn over that information to Homeland Security enforcement agents, who could track down the immigrants to deport them or their parents.

Mr. Trump could also take a less harsh approach by allowing existing work permits to lapse and not approving new ones, but not initiating deportations.

Advocacy groups have been inundated with calls from people afraid or despondent.

Ruben Rivas, 27, a Mexican immigrant, said he had vacillated from fear to sadness to denial. In 2012 Mr. Rivas, the son of undocumented immigrants who spent their lives working minimum-wage jobs, graduated from San Jose State University with a degree in business finance.

He applied that year for DACA, never stopping to worry about offering the government details about his life. Now he works as a financial consultant and co-owns a small income tax firm.

"The first thought I had is that I have done everything right and it is all going to be taken away from me," he said of his fears for the future of the program. "It feels a little bit like a betrayal. I've been here since I was 4 years old. I'm an American."

Carlos Roa attended a meeting in Chicago this month to discuss social movements in light of the election of Donald J. Trump as president. Credit Alyssa Schukar for The New York Times

Jennifer Marin, 29, a legal assistant, was brought to California from Guatemala when she was 1 year old. As a student at California State University, Dominguez Hills, she worked at a check-cashing store to pay her tuition. She applied for the program to get her driver's license, worried that one missed stop sign could send her to jail and deportation, a prospect she could not face with two children.

Now she has a license, a car and a home in a Los Angeles suburb she bought with her savings.

"It feels like a step backward, to be back in this insecure place where you don't know what the next step might be," she said, her voice breaking with tears. She has tried not to cry in front of her children and to assure them that she is safe.

Last week, Mr. Obama appealed to Mr. Trump "to think long and hard" before scrapping the program.

Dick Durbin of Illinois, the second-highest Senate Democrat, said on the floor and on Twitter that he would do "everything in my power" to save the program and protect "Dreamers who have stepped forward to contribute" to the country.

Rights groups have been encouraging immigrants up for renewal on the program to reapply quickly. But they are generally urging newcomers not to apply.

"The risk for everyone feels much larger than the potential benefit right now," said Daniel Sharp, the legal director of the Central American Resource Center, a nonprofit legal aid organization in Los Angeles. Groups are pressing the Obama administration to speed up approvals to eliminate any backlogs before Mr. Trump takes office.

On Thursday three House Democrats, including Representative Luis V. Gutiérrez of Illinois, asked Mr. Obama to issue a pardon to immigrants in the program. But White House officials said the president did not have the authority for a pardon that would provide lasting protection.

If their work permits are canceled or expire, immigrants could face cascading consequences - losing jobs, driver's licenses, professional certificates and the chance to pay in-state tuition for college. The impact would vary by state. In places like California - home to half of all DACA recipients - and New York, additional protections are enshrined in laws. But in the South and Midwest where there are fewer protections, "people might find they really stand out and are targeted," said Roberto Gonzales, a Harvard professor who has studied young people in the program.

Yet there were signs that young immigrants, who have been battling for a legal foothold in the United States for more than a decade, would not go back underground quietly.

United We Dream, a national organization of young immigrants, said it would work with Voto Latino, a voter mobilization group, to encourage colleges to create havens for students who become undocumented once again. At the University of Houston, students organized a walkout on Monday and are working with local activists to designate the city as a sanctuary for undocumented immigrants.

Mr. Roa, in Chicago, recalled that a decade ago he was afraid to confess his undocumented status to other students or have his photograph published in a newspaper.

"Do you really think we are going back in time?" he asked. "I am going to be kicking and screaming."

A version of this article appears in print on , Section A, Page 18 of the New York edition with the headline: Young Immigrants Fear Deportation by Trump. Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe

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Immigrants Who Came to U.S. as Children Fear Deportation Under Trump

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Brought to the United States from Venezuela as a toddler, Carlos Roa was among the first young undocumented immigrants to be protected from deportation under a program President Obama set up in 2012 by executive action. Since then Mr. Roa, now 29, has put himself through college and is training to be an architect, drafting blueprints at a Chicago firm.

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Bulgaria's prime minister, Borisov has stepped down from his position. He stated earlier in the year that he would step down if Russian-friendly socialist, Radev won the election. Radev won 59% of the popular vote compared to his right- centre opponent Tsachev who won 35% of the popular vote.
Bulgaria is the poorest country of the EU. They have been in an ongoing battle of a social or capital government. Many are surprised with Bulgaria's decision to have a socialist presidential representative.

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Bulgaria's centre-right Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has tendered his resignation, after a Russia-friendly Socialist candidate defeated his nominee in the presidential election.

Former air force commander Rumen Radev, a political novice, won Sunday's election with about 59% of the vote.

He wants the EU to drop its sanctions on Russia and seeks closer ties with Moscow to help Bulgaria's struggling economy. It is the EU's poorest state.

Bulgaria used to be in the Soviet bloc.

Mr Borisov had backed the centre-right speaker of parliament, Tsetska Tsacheva, who won just over 35% of the vote.

The Bulgarian president has a big role in defence and foreign policy, but most key decisions are taken by the government. He has the power to send legislation back to parliament.
Bulgaria country profile
Mr Radev's triumph reflected widespread discontent with the government's poor record on tackling corruption and poverty.

His success came on the same day as that of Igor Dodon, a pro-Russian Socialist elected president of Moldova.

New coalition talks

The coalition that Mr Borisov formed upon re-election in 2014 relies on the support of centre-left and nationalist parties.

Outgoing President Rosen Plevneliev is expected to chair negotiations to form a caretaker government, but early elections are expected as soon as March.

Mr Radev, 53, launched his presidential bid as an independent candidate, supported by a group of citizens, and only later got Socialist Party (BSP) backing. He will be sworn in as president in January.

He reached out to nationalists by opposing the EU's resettlement policy for refugees. That policy is also rejected by some other ex-communist EU member states in Eastern and Central Europe.

Mr Radev spent 27 years rising through the ranks of the Bulgarian air force. He also received training at the US Air War College in Alabama. Bulgaria joined Nato in 2004, along with other ex-Soviet bloc countries.

"Until recently, I flew a Soviet jet fighter. I graduated from a US academy. But I am a Bulgarian general. My cause is Bulgaria," he said.

A Bulgarian political analyst, Dimitar Bechev, says Mr Radev's socially conservative platform is not far removed from Mr Borisov's.

"His message will be that Bulgaria can have its cake and eat it - i.e. be a loyal partner in the EU and Nato, while reaching out to Russia," he said in the London School of Economics Europp blog.

"That is not very different from the position advocated by Borisov." The departing prime minister was formerly Bulgaria's police chief.

Mr Bechev says tensions may emerge between Mr Radev and Vice President-elect Iliana Iotova, who is a Bulgarian MEP and a BSP insider.

Media see gains for Russia, by BBC Monitoring:

Media across Europe see the election of Igor Dodon and Rumen Radev as the Moldovan and Bulgarian presidents, respectively, as a victory for Russia.

Romanian TV describes Mr Dodon as "pro-Russian and anti-EU" while a headline on Romanian website Hotnews.ro reads: "Romania gripped more tightly in Russian vice."

Ukraine, which lost the territory of Crimea to Russia in 2014, is concerned. The popular channel, One Plus One TV, notes that Mr Dodon "says Crimea belongs to Russia".

Ukrainian fears are also reflected in social media. Prominent journalist Vitaly Portnikov suggests Russia is the winner in Moldova and Bulgaria. "Sunday belonged to the Kremlin," Portnikov tweeted.

In Germany, the public broadcaster ARD commented: "Political landslide in Bulgaria: More Moscow, less Brussels."

Belgium's L'Avenir newspaper has a headline reading: "Bulgaria comes closer to Russia". And in France, the headline in L'Express simply says: "Bulgarians and Moldovans elect pro-Russian presidents."
BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook.

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Bulgaria's centre-right Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has tendered his resignation, after a Russia-friendly Socialist candidate defeated his nominee in the presidential election. Former air force commander Rumen Radev, a political novice, won Sunday's election with about 59% of the vote.

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There is a housing crisis in the UK right now. Working families are considered to be poverty. Although the economy is good many employees are having trouble keeping up with their expensive rent. The cost of rent is expected to be higher than buying a house within the next year.
The U.S. went through something similar in 2008 with the housing market crashing. This also reminds me of the Geoff article we read stating that GDP is not an accurate representation on how a country is doing.

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Poverty among people who are working has risen despite a recovery in the UK economy, a study has suggested.

High rental housing costs mean an estimated 3.8 million workers - one in eight - are in poverty, according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF).

It said in-work poverty was up by 1.1 million since 2010-11, and 55% of those in poverty were in working families.

People with less than 60% of median income are classified as poor. Overall poverty was down, the government said.

Its figures suggested poverty numbers had been falling compared to six years ago.

"Since 2010, the number of people living in poverty has fallen by 300,000 but we know there is more to do. We are increasing the National Living Wage and taking millions of people out of income tax, to make sure it always pays to be in work," a government spokesman said.
Ahmed: Theresa May's poverty headache
The government has vowed to focus on those facing the financial squeeze despite being in work - dubbed the "just about managing" families.

In her first statement as Prime Minister, Theresa May, said: "If you're from an ordinary working-class family, life is much harder than many people in Westminster realise. You have a job but you don't always have job security."

'I am dreading Christmas'

Amelia Graham, a mother-of-two from Liverpool, works for 30 hours a week but says she has no long-term guarantee of work. Her wage is topped up by Universal Credit.

The charity worker says that after paying rent and utility bills, she has just £66 a week left.

"I feel like I am constantly begging and borrowing off my family just to keep things ticking over. I am absolutely dreading Christmas," Ms Graham says.

"There is no movement in my budget to be able to save and put away."

Visiting a food bank for help was "embarrassing", she adds.

Yet, the JRF said that the economy "is not working for low-income families".

Its report suggested 7.4 million people, including 2.6 million children, were living in poverty despite being in working households. There was growing insecurity underneath the positive economic picture, including rising levels of employment, it said.

"The economy has been growing since 2010 but during this time high rents, low wages and cuts to working-age benefits mean that many families, including working households, have actually seen their risk of poverty grow," said Helen Barnard, head of analysis at the JRF.

"As it negotiates Brexit, it is vital that the government does not allow its focus to slip from the domestic concerns that make a huge difference to people who are just about managing. This report shows that people on low incomes cannot rely on economic growth and rising employment alone to improve their financial prospects.

"Families who are just about managing urgently need action to drive up real-term wages, provide more genuinely affordable homes and fill the gap caused by cuts to Universal Credit, which will cost a working family of four almost £1,000 per year."

There is better news in the report on pensioner poverty and the number of people in workless families in poverty, which are both improved compared to 10 years ago. Attainment levels among young people have also risen compared with 10 years ago and five years ago.

The lone parent employment rate is improved, but workers in poverty was worse than 10 and five years ago.

Analysis of the recent Autumn Statement by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) suggested workers would feel the squeeze on pay for more than a decade - earning less in real terms in 2021 than they did in 2008.

The Resolution Foundation also suggested that the biggest losers between now and 2020 would be lower income families, with the poorest third likely to see incomes drop.

The JRF study suggested that in-work poverty was driven by housing costs, especially in the private rented sector, where the numbers living in poverty had doubled to 4.5 million in a decade.

This was the key factor behind London recording the highest poverty rate at 27% - 6% above the UK average, according to the study.

A recent report by property agent Savills forecast that rents across the UK would rise considerably faster than house prices over the next five years. It predicted that rents will go up by 19% between now and 2021, while house prices will only rise by 13%.

The charity called for more affordable housing to be built, alongside the reversal of various cuts to welfare and the end of the freeze on working-age benefits.

TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said: "A fair day's work should mean a fair day's pay. But wages are simply too low, and millions are struggling to afford the basics, even when they are working hard.

"After the financial crisis, UK wages fell further than in any other developed country except Greece. It is time for employers to give their staff fair pay and decent hours, while the government should lift the public sector pay cap and invest in our economy."

The chief executive of Child Poverty Action Group, Alison Garnham, said: "Since 2010, the poverty gap - the distance below the poverty line that the typical family living in poverty finds themselves - increased by 13%.

"A typical family under the poverty line is now £57.40 per week short, after housing costs, of the official poverty line. Parents in poverty are more deprived than they were at the start of the financial crisis."
Where can I afford to live?

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Housing crisis 'creates in-work poverty'

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Poverty among people who are working has risen despite a recovery in the UK economy, a study has suggested. High rental housing costs mean an estimated 3.8 million workers - one in eight - are in poverty, according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF).

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Yemen has been in a desperate state for a while now. It lacks clean water and many of the children are starving. Many of Yemenis have been relocating in fear of being bombed. The UN is not interfering and only half of their international fund has been delivered.
Transitional governments are institutions that promise to govern the global economy and policy in cases of emergency. The UN is not doing its job and turning a blind eye on Yemen. International non-government organizations, like Save the Children are instead stepping in and are doing what they can.

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In the hands of the doctor, baby Ibrahim's head seems impossibly small. He cradles the child gently, conscious of his fragility. Everything around him seems improbably large.

The nappies Ibrahim wears are the smallest available but are still too big. With his large eyes and hollowed-out face, with ribs which press against his skin, the baby looks as if he is shrinking back into himself.

It seems perverse to describe a child in this state as "lucky". But Ibrahim has survived 21 days and doctors are hopeful he will endure. His twin brother died soon after he was born.

His mother, Wafaa Hatem, sits on the bed with her son, stroking his fingers when he cries.

Read more:

How bad is the humanitarian crisis?

Terror of life under siege

Dying in silence in Yemen

The man who lost 27 relatives in an air strike

Practising medicine under fire

Like three million other Yemenis, the family was displaced by the war. Their daily existence is circumscribed by the challenge of finding food to eat.

Ibrahim's father is a taxi driver but with a collapsing economy, he struggles to find customers.

"Sometimes my husband gets work," says Wafaa, "sometimes he can't find any. We eat sometimes, and sometimes we cannot provide anything."

System disintegrating

It is one testimony from a war that has caused child malnutrition rates to jump by 200% in two years.

Fifty per cent of medical facilities no longer function. Some have been bombed by the Saudi-led coalition, others have ground to a halt because there is no funding.

Key roads and bridges are frequently attacked, making the delivery of assistance even more difficult.

The flow of aid is frequently held up by rebels who want to control its distribution. Many civil servants, including those in the health sector, have not been paid in at least four months.

Charities like Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) try to alleviate some of the distress but it is a huge task with such limited resources.

I met the MSF head of mission, Colette Gadenne, at the overburdened al-Jumhouri Hospital in Hajjah, one of the areas worst affected by the conflict.

"There is a system in place - feeding centres, nutritional programmes, but it is very difficult to monitor those programmes, and I fear that many families cannot just afford to even go, to even reach the facility, to be screened and to be admitted in the programme," she said.

"The whole system is really collapsing, hospitals are closing regularly, so it's very frightening to see how this country, which was already affected by poverty and poor governance, is going deeper and deeper every day."

Walk the corridors of the hospital and the war reveals itself.

You see farmers who were on their way to market, shredded by the high explosives and shrapnel of a Saudi air strike; the children emaciated from malnutrition and disease.

'Blind eye'

Out in the villages, among those too poor to afford the transport to hospital, people approach foreign visitors in the hope that they bring aid.

A boy brought his sick baby sister and crouched in front of us. An old man, not begging but looking at us with hope, had gathered his four hungry grandchildren.

Aisha Ali, who lost one child to malnutrition five months ago, presented her chronically ill four-month-old daughter Asma. The child's eyes were yellowed from liver problems brought on by malnutrition.

"We need treatment, if you have. What do you have? Any treatment, any medicines? We need anything, we need medicines. If you can give us any, thank you," she pleaded.

Local workers from the Save the Children charity run mobile health clinics in the area but they too are simply overwhelmed by the scale of demand.

The lack of clean water has deepened the crisis with a recent outbreak of cholera. There are countless cases of pneumonia and acute diarrhoea, which are devastating to vulnerable young lives.

The crisis in Yemen has been overshadowed by the wars in Syria and Iraq. Barely 50% of the funding promised by donors has actually been delivered.

The senior UN official in the country, Jamie McGoldrick, is clearly exasperated at the international response.

"The politics of the situation has overcome the humanity," he says.

"The humanity doesn't work anymore here. The world has turned a blind eye to what's happening in Yemen... right now we are so under-resourced for this crisis, it's extraordinary."

On the waterless, baking plain at Al Manjurah in Hajjah governorate, 17,000 people live in shelters made of tarpaulin, straw and mud.

Mahdi Ali Abdullah exists here with his wife and nine children. "We are scared of the air strikes. We move from one place to another," he tells me.

I struggle to hear his voice. His words make sense. They are formed in proper sentences. But all energy has been drained out of him. Only the war has any vitality left, trampling over the life of the nation.

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In the hands of the doctor, baby Ibrahim's head seems impossibly small. He cradles the child gently, conscious of his fragility. Everything around him seems improbably large. The nappies Ibrahim wears are the smallest available but are still too big.

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It is well known that Japanese workers are the most devoted and loyal to their jobs than any other nation. This can be proven through statistics that show their unhealthy amount of over time worked and the result that they turn down their paid leave vacation days. The excess amount of work hours has caused many to stress and become depressed causing them to commit suicide often. This also has an effect on the economy which shows that the loss of motivation in workers is causing GDP to decrease. This is more a result because of their culture, committing to work.

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No workers in the world are as loyal to their employers as the Japanese. Physical health, family life, and spare time are all subordinate to the success of the company. But the socioeconomic costs of such strong work ethics are now outweighing its benefits, and the government knows it. After reshuffling his government in August, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has put "work style" reforms at the top of his policy agenda, with a focus on capping Japan's chronically long work hours. "We'll tackle this issue with a strong will," Abe stated in a recent press conference, "no matter what." His determination makes sense: as odd as it may sound, to boost a stagnating economy, Japanese workers should work less and sleep more.

Japan is a sleep-deprived nation. Statistics from Sleep Cycle app users show that the Japanese spend, on average, 5.52 hours in bed per night-the lowest level in a ranking of 50 countries and below the seven hours of minimum sleep recommended by doctors. Further, according to the World Sleep Federation, Tokyo workers sleep 36 minutes less than New Yorkers and 54 minutes less than Parisians. As a result, it's not uncommon to see Japanese workers sleeping while standing in the metro or napping at work- inemuri-where, according to the OECD, 13 percent of Japanese workers spend more than 50 hours each week. Only about four percent of their Italian and German counterparts do the same. And roughly 30 percent of Japanese employees clock more than 40 hours of overtime per month, with some professionals in the IT industry doing even more than 80 hours of monthly over work.

According to current law, overwork should not exceed 45 hours a month, but in practice, workers are asked to exceed the ceiling so often that the cap is meaningless. A recent survey released by the Health Ministry reported that illegal overtime work was confirmed at 4,790 of 8,530 workplaces surveyed. To make things worse, overwork is considered to be proof of attachment to the firm and is seldom financially

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No workers in the world are as loyal to their employers as the Japanese. Physical health, family life, and spare time are all subordinate to the success of the company. But the socioeconomic costs of such strong work ethics are now outweighing its benefits, and the government knows it.

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Donald Trump, the Republican nominee has stated that he wishes to put a high tariff on Mexican trade, up to 35% and is even considering to get rid of NAFTA completely. Results and statistics show that thus will actually have a negative effect for both countries. America is the biggest provider of goods for Mexico and U.S. companies in Mexico are more beneficial to the economy based on engineering factory jobs. Trump wants a closed off economy where the U.S. can provide for themselves, he thinks this would bring jobs back but realistically it will just hurt our economy.

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ASKED what he thought of Donald Trump's plan to build a wall on the border, a Mexican official smiled and reached for his smartphone. He called up a map of Mexico in 1824, when it included California, Texas and most of what is now the southwestern United States. We'll gladly pay for a wall on that border, he joked.

For most Mexicans, the prospect of a Trump triumph-however unlikely-is less amusing. The Republican nominee says he would slap a 35% tariff on Mexican goods and maybe scrap the North American Free-Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Just the tariff would hit Mexico like a hurricane, says the central bank's governor. Other economists think it would quickly knock 5% off Mexican GDP. The Peterson Institute, a think-tank in Washington, DC, predicts that Mr Trump's protectionist policies would spark a trade war, push America into recession and destroy 4.8m American jobs by 2019.
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A visit to the sunny sister cities of Tijuana (in Mexico) and San Diego (in California) gives a sense of what is at stake. The border that bisects them is the busiest in the Western hemisphere. Mexicans cross it to work, shop and visit friends. Americans head south for beaches and cheap dentistry. Kevin Faulconer, San Diego's Republican mayor, is keen to encourage cross-border business. "My job is to take away roadblocks," he says.

Such trade has risen more than sixfold since NAFTA passed (see chart). Mexico is America's second largest export market; America is Mexico's largest. The two countries "no longer simply sell finished products to one another. Instead, they build things together," note Christopher Wilson and Duncan Wood of the Wilson Centre, a think-tank; they pool their comparative advantages to create an "ultra-competitive" regional economy.

In a gigantic factory in Tijuana, for example, hundreds of blue-uniformed workers assemble headphones and headsets. Many stare at screens that magnify the tiny components, so they can see what they are fiddling with. Plantronics, the American firm that owns the factory, is consistently voted one of the best employers in Mexico.

It illustrates a trend that makes Mexico especially useful for American manufacturers: mass customisation. Consumers increasingly want to personalise purchases-from made-to-measure golf clubs to cars with cool gadgets-and have them delivered straight away. This is easier when they are made nearby. Plantronics lets customers choose colours and designs ("power blue" and sweat resistant, for example), and ships them to America and Canada within 48 hours. "Today's production goes across the border tomorrow," says Jorge Ruvalcaba, a vice-president of the firm. "We couldn't do that from China."

Manufacturing in Mexico has become more attractive since wages for factory workers in China started to soar around 2010. (Mr Ruvalcaba adds that intellectual property is safer in Mexico, too.) The most sophisticated work tends to be done in the United States. But companies do not simply marry American brains with cheap Mexican brawn. Mexico produces more engineering graduates, relative to its population, than the United States, and has strong vocational training. Thermo Fisher Scientific, an American medical-technology firm, uses geeks in Tijuana to write software that helps doctors make sense of data generated by medical devices.

Mexico cannot match China's scale when it comes to mass-producing cheap goods. But it is well placed to offer services that are often more profitable. For example, 3DR, a firm based in Berkeley, California, sells aerial drones that are used to survey construction sites. The machines are assembled in China but the firm has a tech-savvy, English-speaking workforce in Tijuana to test them, repair them and offer technical support to customers. The real value is not the drone itself but the software and services that come with it, says Chris Anderson, the boss of 3DR (and a former journalist for The Economist).

The employment machine

Cross-border trade boosts jobs. Theodore Moran and Lindsay Oldenski of the Peterson Institute find that between 1990 and 2009, a 10% increase in employment at US firms' Mexican operations was associated with a 1.3% increase in their US workforce. Granted, the new jobs tend to be for skilled workers, and some unskilled ones lose out. But everyone benefits from lower prices. If an American family saves $100 buying a washing machine made in Mexico and uses that money to go to the cinema, it supports the jobs of the ticket-seller, the cinema manager "and maybe even Brad Pitt", argue Mr Wilson and Mr Wood.

Border businessfolk offer varying views of Mr Trump's plan to disrupt this delicate ecosystem. Some are sure he will lose. Some are scared to speak up-unsurprisingly, given Mr Trump's habit of chastising named firms for making things in Mexico. Others are openly aghast. "We'd have to shut down," says one manager. The effect on the region would be "horrific", says Mark Cafferty, head of the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation, a trade body. Cristina Hermosillo, his counterpart from Tijuana, agrees. This month the San Diego Union-Tribune, a conservative daily, endorsed Hillary Clinton-the first time in 148 years that it has backed a Democrat for president.

Mr Trump has already hurt Mexico. "Integration has been put on hold for a year," says Sárah Martínez Pellégrini of the College of the Northern Border in Tijuana. "Just the possibility of a Trump victory makes Mexico less attractive for foreign investors." And Mrs Clinton, fighting off Mr Trump and Bernie Sanders, her Democratic primary rival, has grown more protectionist (at least, in public). So a trans-Pacific trade deal, which would boost both Mexico and the US, is on hold. On the plus side, by depressing the peso, Mr Trump has made remittances from Mexicans in the US more valuable. Gracias, Señor Trump.

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What Trumponomics means for the border region

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ASKED what he thought of Donald Trump's plan to build a wall on the border, a Mexican official smiled and reached for his smartphone. He called up a map of Mexico in 1824, when it included California, Texas and most of what is now the southwestern United States.

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Britain has left the European Union recently. There was a conference held to discuss the next steps and the possibilities of possible opportunities from Brexit.

Britain left the unions but this does not completely mean they are closing their borders, like Cuba. Though this does make things more complicated, now the rest of Europe has to come to an agreement of trade, currency and possible difficulties that result from this.

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Leaders of 27 European Union countries meet in the Slovak capital Bratislava on Friday - without the UK - to discuss a post-Brexit EU.

Some believe the meeting could reveal an ideological split between old and new, between the established order of Europe's more federalist west and a "counter-revolution" spearheaded by conservative nationalists and populists in the east.

Divisions over the migrant crisis, observers say, could show the true depth of the schism.

Poland's Beata Szydlo has two roles. As Poland's prime minister, she represents 40 million people, many - like herself - devout Catholics.

But Poland also holds the rotating chair of the Visegrad Group, an informal alliance of four Central European countries. So in a sense she speaks for the whole region.

Visegrad, says Mrs Szydlo, has "enormous potential" and "a recipe for the EU" to bring it closer to its disenchanted citizens in the wake of Brexit. That recipe, she says, will be unveiled in Bratislava.

But what is that recipe? What binds these four countries, beyond a penchant for smoked meats and sour cream?

Pressure for change

In a sense Mrs Szydlo is merely the waitress. She takes her orders from the master chef toiling away in the kitchen; Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the frosty head of Poland's ultra-conservative Law and Justice Party (PiS).

He is adamant that neither Poland nor the rest of Europe should take orders from Germany, especially on the migrant crisis. Instead, he says, more power should be devolved to the EU's national parliaments.

"Should we wait for the strongest to act? But as a matter of fact there is only one such strongest," Mr Kaczynski told a recent economic forum in the Polish town of Krynica, in a veiled reference to Poland's western neighbour.

"Or should we take the initiative? I am in favour of taking the initiative.

"For this counter-revolution to be conclusive, there must be some changes in the EU itself, its structure, its decision-making process," he went on.

Many EU colleagues will bridle at that suggestion; Warsaw has received a formal warning from the European Commission over judicial reforms seen as a threat to the rule of law.
Brexit vote revives dream of EU army Migrant vote sparks Hungarian poster war The castle where a Central European bloc was born
Fiery goulash

Sitting beside Mr Kaczynski was Viktor Orban, Hungary's outspoken, firebrand leader. If Mr Kaczynski is the sous chef of the "cultural counter-revolution" being cooked up in Warsaw and Budapest, Mr Orban is very much the chef de cuisine.

"Brexit is a fantastic opportunity for us," said Mr Orban, who has expressed his wish for Hungary to become an "illiberal" state and speaks openly of hordes of Muslim migrants besieging Christian Central Europe.

"We are at a historic cultural moment," said Mr Orban. "There is a possibility of a cultural counter-revolution right now." Hungary will hold a controversial referendum on 2 October, when voters will be asked whether the country should reject binding EU refugee quotas.

Pork and dumplings

In Prague, the menu is stodgy at times, but less likely to induce heartburn. The Czechs also reject EU migrant quotas, and agree with their Visegrad colleagues on the need to increase security and strengthen the EU's external borders.

But the Czech tone is far less confrontational (with the exception of the openly Islamophobic President Milos Zeman). There is little appetite here - at least inside the cabinet - for abandoning liberal democracy just yet.

"We know very well things we agree on - and these we defend vigorously. But from the very beginning, 26 years ago, we also agreed to disagree," the Czech State Secretary for EU Affairs, Tomas Prouza, told the BBC.

"So we never draw bad blood by trying to force any of the Visegrad Four countries to accept something they are not comfortable with. This makes us strong, because we focus on things we consider crucial for the region. And then we are free to pursue other issues separately if needed," said Mr Prouza, the prime mover behind Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka's EU policy.

Banquet host

Which brings us to Slovakia's Robert Fico. It is his restaurant - at least until Christmas, when his country relinquishes the presidency of the EU. He called this informal EU meeting (it is not a "summit" because not everyone has been invited), and it is the first outside Brussels in many years.

Prime Minister Fico too often reaches for the hot sauce. He thundered that Slovakia would not accept "one single Muslim migrant" and has mounted a legal challenge to the EU refugee quota scheme.

But like his Czech counterpart, Mr Fico is a pragmatist - acutely aware of the risk of angering or alienating big, powerful countries and the European Commission. Weakened by political scandal at home and a recent double heart bypass, he is keen for Friday's banquet at Bratislava Castle to be a success.

"The Slovak EU presidency will not associate itself with anything like that [the Orban-Kaczynski 'counter-revolution']", said Milan Nic, research director at Bratislava's Globsec Policy Institute.

"The Czechs are neighbours of Germany, and they're very worried by the rhetoric coming out of Budapest and Warsaw," he told the BBC.

"Also, remember, Mr Orban will be alone in Bratislava. The partner on the Polish side will be the very weak PM, Mrs Szydlo.

"Messages were passed behind closed doors at the Visegrad summit... not to disrupt Bratislava. I think it is now understood."

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Eastern leaders offer new menu at EU crisis talks

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Leaders of 27 European Union countries meet in the Slovak capital Bratislava on Friday - without the UK - to discuss a post-Brexit EU. Some believe the meeting could reveal an ideological split between old and new, between the established order of Europe's more federalist west and a "counter-revolution" spearheaded by conservative nationalists and populists in the east.

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Luxemburg’s Foreign minister took it in his hands and opinionated that Hungary should be expended or suspended for the European Union. He states that they have violated many regulations and are too dangerous to keep, society is taking a risk by keeping them on board.

This reminded me of various of theories. How one country can exclude and decide to under develop another country by cutting them off from national trade and ties.  �

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Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn has called for Hungary to be suspended or even expelled from the European Union because of its "massive violation" of EU fundamental values.

He cited the Budapest government's treatment of refugees, independence of the judiciary and freedom of the press.

"Hungary is not far away from issuing orders to open fire on refugees," he suggested.

Hungary said Mr Asselborn "could not be taken seriously".

EU leaders meet in Slovakia on Friday to discuss the union's future.

Mr Asselborn's interview with German daily Die Welt is likely to inflame passions ahead of the summit.

The EU could not tolerate "such inappropriate behaviour", he said, and any state that violated such basic values "should be excluded temporarily, or if necessary for ever, from the EU''. It was "the only possibility to protect the cohesion and values of the European Union,'' he said.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto hit back, saying that his Luxembourg counterpart had "long left the ranks of politicians who could be taken seriously". Mr Asselborn was a "frivolous character", he said, adding that he was "patronising, arrogant and frustrated".

Mr Asselborn's remarks also drew condemnation from Latvia's foreign minister, who spoke of "megaphone diplomacy".

And German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a personal friend of the Luxembourg minister, said while he could understand some in Europe were "becoming impatient, it is not my personal approach to show a member state the door".

Hungary's migrant referendum sparks poster war

Central European states plan new recipe for EU

Hungarian police recruit 'border-hunters'

Hungary deploys army to push back refugees

Hungary joined the EU in 2004 and while the European Union can reject or delay a candidate from joining, it is not thought to have the power to expel an existing member state.

When the far-right Freedom Party joined Austria's government in 2000, EU member states responded by freezing bilateral diplomatic relations with Austria. Later that year the EU ended Austria's diplomatic isolation.

Hungary was caught up in an enormous influx of migrants and refugees a year ago as more than a million people headed through central Europe from the shores of Greece towards Germany and other Western European countries.

Eventually, it sealed its borders with Serbia and Croatia and built a 175km (110-mile) razor-wire fence to stop people crossing on their way to Austria. Some 10,000 police and soldiers have been deployed to guard the frontier.

Hungary's diplomatic fallout - BBC's Nick Thorpe

Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has reacted with fury.

The head of Hungarian diplomacy described his Luxembourg counterpart as a "classic nihilist" who worked tirelessly to destroy Europe's security and culture. By way of contrast, Hungary was defending not only its own territory, but that of the EU as well, the foreign minister insisted.

"Only Hungarians have the right to decide who they wish to live with."

The number of migrants trying to enter Hungary has fallen dramatically in recent weeks.

At the Horgos Transit Zone on the Hungary-Serbian border, only 80 were waiting on Monday, down from 800 on some days in July.

Beside the Kelebia Transit Zone there were about 60, mostly from Syria and Iraq. Some had been living in atrocious conditions next to the razor wire fence for more than 10 weeks.

Approximately 4,500 migrants are currently in camps in Serbia. Most are now trying alternative routes to Europe through Croatia, Montenegro and Bosnia.

A referendum takes place on 2 October when Hungarians will be asked to decide on an EU quota to take in refugees. Prime Minister Viktor Orban has strongly criticised the EU's plans to relocate 160,000 refugees across the bloc and his government has campaigned vigorously for a No vote.

Mr Asselborn, whose country is a founder member of the EU, complained that Hungary's border fence was getting higher, longer and more dangerous.

His remark that Hungary was not far from ordering live fire is likely to refer to a decision by police earlier this month to recruit 3,000 "border-hunters". The new force will carry pepper spray and pistols with live ammunition as part of their task to keep migrants out.

What are the EU's fundamental values?

In the Treaty on European Union (Article 2) EU values are spelt out as "human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities".

The EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights became legally binding on national governments as well as the EU's institutions, as part of the 2009 Lisbon Treaty.

Those rights and freedoms range from freedom of thought and expression to the right to asylum, a fair trial and fair working conditions.

As a condition of membership of the EU, a candidate country has to fulfil 35 separate chapters of requirements including an independent judiciary.

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Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn has called for Hungary to be suspended or even expelled from the European Union because of its "massive violation" of EU fundamental values. He cited the Budapest government's treatment of refugees, independence of the judiciary and freedom of the press.

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This article basically states the increase of wages in America in 2015. This was the biggest increase that helped many racial groups and low income workers to receive a fair paying wage that helped rise them to the median working wage. Wages allow employees to recover from the recession from 2008, this allows the economy to start flowing again.

This reminds me of the statement to whether or not the world is flat. The U.S. is fortunate enough to be able to recover easily from the recession by just rising wages. Other countries are not able to easily just rise up again. iVuxoU35e3r��� �q�

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Average American incomes rose by 5.2% in 2015, in the fastest increase ever recorded by the federal government.

The annual report from the Census Bureau also found that the poverty rate fell for all racial groups, in the steepest decline found since 1968.

Low income workers received the largest boost, bringing median income levels back to before the recession.

This was the first recorded rise in American household incomes in eight years - or since the Obama presidency.

Figures for Americans who lack healthcare also dropped, as did the poverty rate.

In 2015 there were 43.1 million Americans living in poverty, 3.5 million fewer than in 2014.
Angry US middle classes feel the squeeze The 40-year hurt
Real median household income was $56,500 (£42,900) in 2015, the Census Bureau reported, up from $53,700 (£40,700) the year before.

About 2.4 million more Americans have found full-time year-round work in 2015, according to Census officials.

But median incomes only rose for workers in US cities, and not for rural or farm workers.

There is still a large disparity between white and black workers' incomes.

The median household income for black Americans in 2015 was $36,898 (£28,000). The median household income for white Americans was $63,000 (£47,770).

Income inequality has been a major issue throughout the 2016 campaign.

Hillary Clinton has promised equal opportunities to all American workers, while Donald Trump says he will be the "the greatest jobs producing president that God ever created".

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Average American incomes rose by 5.2% in 2015, in the fastest increase ever recorded by the federal government. The annual report from the Census Bureau also found that the poverty rate fell for all racial groups, in the steepest decline found since 1968.