Starving
The week's news at a glance.
Niamey, Niger
Nearly a million people, many of them children, face malnutrition as Niger confronts its worst food shortage in two decades. At the start of the summer, Niger’s government refused to distribute free food; instead, it sold grain at subsidized prices, hoping to stabilize the food market. But prices rose and people began to starve. Even in normal years, one child in four dies before age 5. With this year’s famine, children are dying by the thousands, according to newspaper reports and relief agencies. Niger President Mamadou Tanja insisted the reports were “false propaganda” put out by relief workers to boost donations.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Today's political cartoons - April 19, 2025
Cartoons Saturday's cartoons - free trade, judicial pushback, and more
By The Week US
-
5 educational cartoons about the Harvard pushback
Cartoons Artists take on academic freedom, institutional resistance, and more
By The Week US
-
One-pan black chickpeas with baharat and orange recipe
The Week Recommends This one-pan dish offers bold flavours, low effort and minimum clean up
By The Week UK