Narendra Modi’s government has launched numerous initiatives to speed up the country’s development, but many areas continue to lag behind – with employment scarce.

The United Nations migration agency says 38 migrants are dead, and 22 others have been rescued from a shipwreck off Djibouti on a popular route to Yemen.

Most of them are shut out of the formal economy and survive as buskers and sex workers, occupations that rely on them being able to solicit clients outdoors.

Experts say rice-hungry Indonesia should diversify its sources of carbohydrates to help people be more resilient to rice price fluctuations.

Afghan women have been relying on their handicraft skills to feed their families, making products like dresses, carved furniture and jewellery to sell.

Readers propose a framework the government can use to assess poverty, and point out a barrier to those who want to buy second-hand homes.

Experts believe Nigeria’s economic crisis is driving a rise in kidnappings, as desperate people turn to crime for income.

The country’s farms rely on millions of workers from Bangladesh, Indonesia and Nepal, who return home every year to observe Ramadan with their families.

Left unchecked, more than 6 million Malaysians could be left with less than US$9 a month to survive on in their old age, according to government estimates.

Analysts blame structural problems for the plunge and say PM Anwar needs to make long-term economic reforms – and find the political support for these measures.

A minister has been ridiculed for his suggestion that marketing palm oil plantation workers as ‘professional harvesters’ could help solve chronic labour shortages.

New ‘community living rooms’ expected to cater to more than 1,000 households living in cramped conditions in To Kwa Wan, Hung Hom and Nam Cheong.

Residents say they are still being overcharged for utilities and have ongoing conflicts with landlords over repair and maintenance issues.

At least three men were promised well-paying jobs in the Middle East, only to be led to Russia, where their families claim they have been forced to fight in the Ukraine war.

Many people in rural regions lack access to financial institutions and bank loans, leaving them at the mercy of ‘predatory’ money lenders.

Every year, poor fishermen in coastal India and Pakistan are arrested for venturing into the other nation’s maritime boundary lines while looking for better catch.

Way poverty is measured in city is to change, with more sophisticated formula to replace median household income drawn up before year-end.

Whether in Nepal or Hong Kong, families in poverty sacrifice girls’ education, says Jennifer Lin, director of Ani Choying Drolma: Mission Impossible, about Nepali nun who founded a school for poor girls.

But some Indian workers view working in Israel as a chance to escape poverty and improve their economic outlook, despite the risks.

Thieves took 133 tonnes of chicken – said to be a month’s ration for a medium-sized province – from a facility in Havana and sold it to buy refrigerators, televisions and air conditioners.

Lawmakers are debating the removal of a 40 per cent restriction on foreign ownership of public utilities, educational institutions and the advertising industry.

The popular Vollpension Cafe in Austria is staffed mostly with people above 60 and offers home-made cakes and traditional recipes while making a statement against elderly poverty and loneliness.

The presidential front runner denied making a ‘very cruel’ comment on voters’ intelligence, as he fended off questions about women’s rights and his multibillion-dollar plan to provide free meals.