Latest Poverty News

Tornado recovery tough in Mississippi, one of poorest states
ROLLING FORK, Miss. (AP) — A massive tornado obliterated the modest one-story home that Kimberly Berry shared with her two daughters in the Mississippi Delta flatlands, leaving only the foundation and random belongings — a toppled refrigerator, a dresser and matching nightstand, a bag of...
Idaho bill to provide free period products in schools fails
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A bill that would have provided free menstrual products in girls bathrooms in Idaho public schools failed in the state House, with at least one Republican lawmaker calling the proposal “very liberal.” The measure advanced earlier this month from the House...

Scotland's Sturgeon exits with pride, brickbats from critics
LONDON (AP) — Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon addressed lawmakers for the last time as Scottish leader on Thursday, expressing pride in her government’s achievements to lessen poverty and inequality – but frustrated in her quest to make Scotland an independent country. ...
Editorial Roundup: Minnesota
Minneapolis Star Tribune. March 20, 2023. Editorial: He’s right. And it’s much harder to fight back when the officials you elected to protect you don’t have your back. Gov. Tim Walz pushes for public safety and more in revised budget Revised budget plan’s most...

Could scientist Claudia Sheinbaum be Mexico’s next leader?
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico is a year away from electing its next head of state and the potential candidate getting the most attention is an environmental scientist who might become the first female leader of Latin America’s second-largest economy. One poll shows Mexico City Mayor...

Lebanon's pound hits a new low as banks go back on strike
BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon's embattled currency hit a new low Tuesday, trading at an unprecedented 100,000 Lebanese pounds to the dollar on the black market as the crisis-hit country's banks went back on strike. The pound has kept sinking since Lebanon's financial meltdown erupted in...

Argentina's initial fervor for Pope Francis has faded
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — When Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina became Pope Francis, much of his home country celebrated as if it had just won a soccer World Cup championship. A decade later, the first Latin American leader of the Catholic Church generates divided opinions and much less fervor....

Rights group says Lebanon electricity crisis deepens poverty
BEIRUT (AP) — Since the collapse of Lebanon’s state power grid, many middle and working class families have been forced to spend most of their monthly income to pay shady neighborhood businessmen running private generators. Still, they go without electricity for nearly half the...

Venezuelans still miss Chavez, want Maduro to do 'better'
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — In his last televised message before dying of cancer, the late President Hugo Chávez told Venezuelans to choose Nicolás Maduro as his successor, promising that the leftist policies that oversaw a reduction in poverty would continue under the then-vice president's...

Lebanon leans on US dollar to cope as currency, economy tank
BEIRUT (AP) — When Moheidein Bazazo opened his Beirut mini-market in 1986, during some of the fiercest fighting in Lebanon’s civil war, he didn't expect it to thrive. But several years later, he had shelves full of food and needed 12 employees to help him manage a bustling business. ...
