2 million Yemeni children starving

MORE than two million Yemeni children under the age of five are expected to endure acute malnutrition in 2021, four United Nations agencies have said, urging stakeholders to end the years-long conflict that has brought the Arab world’s poorest country to the brink of famine.

The UN report warned that nearly one in six of those children – 400,000 of the 2.3 million – are at risk of death due to severe acute malnutrition this year, a significant increase from last year’s estimates.

The report also said a lack of funds was hampering humanitarian programmes in Yemen, as donor nations have failed to make good on their commitments. Compounding the crisis, around 1.2 million pregnant or breastfeeding women in Yemen are also projected to be acutely malnourished this year.

“These numbers are yet another cry for help from Yemen, where each malnourished child also means a family struggling to survive,” said David Beasley, executive director of the World Food Programme, which jointly issued the report with the Food and Agriculture Organisation, Unicef and the World Health Organisation.

“The crisis in Yemen is a toxic mix of conflict, economic collapse and a severe shortage of funding,” Mr Beasley said.

PEOPLE are being encouraged to look upwards and tour the night sky during lockdown by taking part in the Winter Skywatch.

The Society for Popular Astronomy (SPA) says the coming week will be a great time to see the stars, planets and craters on the moon.

It is running the campaign from today until next Saturday.

The SPA, an organisation for beginners to stargazing, wants families or individuals of all ages to take the opportunity to travel into space and tour the universe without having to leave home.

It has produced a free downloadable guide to the winter stars and planets that can be seen from people’s gardens, or even from their windows.

They include the famous and easily recognisable constellations of Orion the Hunter and Leo the Lion.

Some may even take the opportunity to identify the bright planet Mars.

Binoculars and dark skies mean people can look for Uranus, which is not far from Mars in the sky, and the brightest of the asteroids, Vesta, in the constellation of Leo.

Over the coming days, a crescent moon will grow from night to night in the evening sky, revealing dark “seas” and numerous craters through binoculars or a telescope.

Leading astronomy author Robin Scagell, the SPA’s vicepresident, said: “You can’t travel anywhere at the moment, due to Covid-19, but you can tour the night sky with just your eyes, and binoculars will help you see more.

“This winter has been pretty chilly.

“But if you wrap up warm, you will be rewarded by some splendid sights, such as Mars, pretty star clusters, and the Orion Nebula, a cosmic nursery where stars are being born.”

The Winter Skywatch project fulfils one of the SPA’s founding roles to promote astronomy among members of the general public.