- A damning report from the UN on its South Sudanese peacekeeping force has resulted in the sacking of their Kenyan commander, Johnson Mogoa Kimani Ondieki. Kenya has responded by withdrawing its 1000 troops from the peacekeeping force of 13,000.
- Zimbabwe is becoming a cashless society, but not out of choice. It is simply running out of cash.
- The Washington Post has produced an analysis of the US foreign assistance budget, showing how much of it is tied up in security partnerships around the world (particularly in the Middle East).
- The Centre for Global Development has released a US Presidential Transition Memo on what to do differently in development, citing three big ideas and three smart reforms.
- According to a new report, more than 30% of women and girls in eastern and southern Africa are now using a modern method of contraception, with the number of women in the world’s poorest countries using modern forms of contraception jumping by more than 30 million in the past four years.
- Matthew Dornan takes a look at the evidence of whether unskilled migrants push down living standards when moving into OECD countries.
- Planet Money has a podcast detailing how Venezuela imploded, a cautionary tale for other natural resource-dependent nations.
Photo: Flickr/UNMISS
