From printing coupons as replacement cash to breeding ornamental black swans to eat, North Korea is being forced to innovate to handle economic woes and food shortages as anti-pandemic border lockdowns drag on, reports suggest.
Afghanistan's Taliban government is pressing for the release of billions of dollars of central bank reserves as the drought-stricken nation faces a cash crunch, mass starvation and a new migration crisis.
No-one is in a hurry to recognize the Taliban as Afghanistan's government, Russian U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said on Friday, signaling that Moscow is not ready to allow the Islamists to represent Afghanistan at the United Nations.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday to resume financing support to cash-strapped Afghanistan for reconstruction.
The European Commission has suspended funding to the World Health Organization's programmes in the Democratic Republic of Congo due to concerns over the U.N. agency's handling of the sexual abuse scandal.