Sunday, Aug 30, 2026

• Two months after India's revamped rural jobs scheme, the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission-Gramin (VB-GRAM G), replaced the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), 57 lakh active workers are still waiting on electronic Know Your Customer (e-KYC) verification, and July 2026 person-days generated (7.67 crore) are down nearly 50% on July 2025 levels under the old scheme, according to Right to Information (RTI) data cited by a National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI) activist. The Wire
• Gujarat's women-led cooperatives received just Rs 1.01 crore in National Cooperative Development Corporation funding over five years (2021-26), against a national disbursal of Rs 4,926.49 crore in 2025-26 alone, with Andhra Pradesh alone getting Rs 4,200 crore that year. The Wire's investigation points to weak application facilitation as a likely cause. The Wire
• A parliamentary standing committee on social justice and empowerment found a free coaching scheme for Scheduled Caste and Other Backward Class students enrolled only 2,790 students against a three-year target of 10,500, and spent well under its allocated budget each year (Rs 9.87 crore of a sanctioned Rs 20 crore in 2025-26, for instance). The panel's action-taken report was tabled in Parliament on 10 August. The Wire
• Union minister Jitendra Singh laid the foundation for 110 rural road projects spanning 598 km under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, phase four (PMGSY-IV), across Kathua, Udhampur, Ramban, Doda and Kishtwar districts in Jammu, at a sanctioned cost of Rs 1,503.53 crore expected to benefit nearly 47,000 people. Tribune India
• Ten newborns died in a single day and 60 over three weeks at the government-run Malda Medical College in West Bengal, raising questions about oversight of public hospital neonatal care. Scroll
• A Mumbai metro viaduct built at a cost of Rs 250 crore may need to be demolished because of a planning error, pointing to lapses in urban infrastructure oversight. Scroll
• The design of Census 2027 has raised concerns it could function as a backdoor National Population Register and undercount caste data, a question with direct bearing on how welfare eligibility and reservation data get compiled. The Wire

• Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding the Lok Sabha's strength stay fixed at 543 seats for the next 25 years, and asking for an all-party meeting before any delimitation exercise (the redrawing of constituency boundaries) proceeds. He also pressed for one-third women's reservation in the Lok Sabha starting with the 2029 elections; the government's Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill on this failed in April 2026, losing a two-thirds majority vote 298 to 230. Scroll
• 3,404 Special Intensive Revision (SIR, the Election Commission of India's ongoing electoral roll revision exercise) enumeration forms were found at a private photocopy shop in Kharghar, Navi Mumbai, tied to the Panvel assembly constituency's 11 polling stations. Five Booth Level Officers were suspended and a First Information Report (FIR) was filed against a Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha office-bearer after Shiv Sena (UBT) flagged the breach; the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has denied involvement. The Wire
• In Haridwar's Jhabrera constituency in Uttarakhand, 35 people, including 31 BJP booth-level agents, say their identities were used without consent to file roughly 1,657 objections seeking deletion of voters, most of them Muslim residents, from the Special Intensive Revision rolls. The Election Registration Officer has voided the objections after affidavits were filed, but says investigating the alleged identity misuse is outside its mandate and has referred complainants to the police. Newslaundry
• Congress minister B. Nagendra resigned as Karnataka's tribal welfare minister under BJP pressure over financial irregularities at the Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribe Development Corporation, a case in which he was reinstated to the cabinet on 3 August after D.K. Shivakumar became chief minister. Nagendra, who is Dalit, said the BJP refused his repeated requests to debate the allegations on the floor of the assembly. Scroll
• Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Jitu Patwari has asked President Droupadi Murmu to dismiss the state cabinet, accusing it of shielding BJP minister Vijay Shah from prosecution over his 2025 remarks widely read as targeting Army spokesperson Colonel Sofiya Qureshi. The state cabinet decided against sanctioning his prosecution despite a Special Investigation Team's request, after the Supreme Court had earlier criticised the delay and ordered a probe. Scroll
• Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram alleged a coordinated campaign by rivals, including leaders who defected to the BJP from other parties, to remove him from the cabinet, and threatened to "chop off the hands" of those responsible. The remarks followed the arrest of his aide Prakash Paswan on charges of harbouring criminals; opposition parties criticised the language as inappropriate for a minister. The Wire
• Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee and Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien have been booked, along with unnamed others, after a clash when Kolkata Police and municipal officials arrived to remove a party signboard at the TMC's Camac Street office. Three FIRs under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita cite unlawful assembly, obstruction of public servants and use of force against a woman; police say 13 arrests have been made, while the TMC alleges officials trespassed and assaulted staff. Scroll
• An unidentified attacker set off a bomb at the Imphal West residence of BJP Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) and government spokesperson Sapam Ranjan Singh in Manipur, damaging the compound but causing no injuries. The chief minister visited the site and condemned the attack, which comes amid ethnic conflict in the state that has displaced over 59,000 people and killed at least 217 since May 2023. The Wire
• Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi condemned an on-stage "purification" ritual performed in Haldwani, Uttarakhand after Kharge addressed a rally there, calling it untouchability and demanding the prime minister ensure an FIR and Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe Act action against those responsible. The Wire
• Ganesh Singh, the BJP chair of the parliamentary committee on welfare of Other Backward Classes, said the "creamy layer" income-test criteria remain stuck between the personnel ministry and the social justice ministry, each deflecting responsibility, months after the Supreme Court ruled in March that post and status, not income alone, must factor into creamy-layer determination. The Wire
• The Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Committee holds its next scheduled meeting on 5-7 October 2026, the fourth of the 2026-27 financial year. The repo rate has stood unchanged at 5.25% through four consecutive reviews, including August's. Forbes India
• The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) is scheduled to release Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for August 2026 on 12 September 2026, per its advance release calendar. July 2026 CPI inflation was 4.45%. MoSPI

• Nine of the Opposition United Democratic Party's (UDP) twelve MLAs are set to travel to Delhi on 30 August for talks with the BJP ahead of a possible mass switch. UDP president Metbah Lyngdoh says he was not informed, and two of the party's MLAs are not part of the group. Meghalaya Monitor
• UDP and Trinamool legislators are also travelling to Delhi amid unconfirmed talk of a "major political development." Leader of the Opposition Mukul Sangma said any change of government must come through a fresh "people's mandate" at the 2028 elections, not floor-crossing. Hub News, The Shillong Times
• The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) found Meghalaya has parked Rs 4,322.52 crore of state capital in 11 public sector undertakings for almost no return (just one returned Rs 0.06 crore in 2024-25), against an average state borrowing cost of 5.31%. The CAG has recommended a mandatory dividend policy and a viability review. The Shillong Times
• On the final day of the Assembly's Autumn Session, Opposition Leader Mukul Sangma criticised the government for not introducing its own resolution on the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill 2026, saying that would have let the state formally record its concerns. The Shillong Times
• Chief Minister Conrad Sangma declined to answer questions on Advocate General Amit Kumar in the House, calling the matter sub judice. Lawyers' associations want Kumar removed over his remarks on the bar's handling of complaints from law interns and women advocates, and over the use of Delhi-based lawyers on public funds; the government has not taken a position on the removal demand. Meghalaya Monitor, The Shillong Times
• Sangma also asked the government to keep the SF-10 special police unit "fighting fit" and curb its diversion to VIP security duty. The Shillong Times
• UDP MLA Paul Lyngdoh used an Assembly discussion to call for an Education Reforms Commission, saying Meghalaya now ranks lowest among Northeast states on learning outcomes, citing poor Meghalaya Board of School Education (MBOSE) textbook quality, clashing exam schedules, and over 2,200 schools with fewer than 10 students. Meghalaya Monitor
• The Meghalaya Linguistic Minority Development Forum held a silent gathering at the State Central Library on 28-29 August for peace, following the 19 August vandalism of the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Swami Vivekananda statues. Arts and Culture Minister Sanbor Shullai pledged state-funded restoration, and Chief Minister Sangma separately sanctioned Rs 5 lakh to renovate the Netaji bust in RR Colony, Shillong. The Shillong Times, Meghalaya Monitor
• Tourism Minister Paul Lyngdoh called the ongoing "hate campaign" targeting the state over the recent unrest "toxic" and pushed back on the negative publicity, while separately saying talks between the government and the Khasi Students' Union over the unrest were showing "light at the end of the tunnel." The Shillong Times, Hub News
• Health Minister Wailadmiki Shylla said the state wants to raise institutional deliveries to 95% within three years, up from a National Family Health Survey (NFHS-6) baseline of 65.6% and current levels of around 81%, through free transport, transit homes for pregnant women, and specialist recruitment. He told the Assembly Rs 750 crore has gone into health infrastructure over five years and maternal deaths have fallen 56%, while Opposition Leader Sangma sought a probe into rising C-section rates. The Shillong Times, Hub News
• Shylla also acknowledged a specialist doctor shortage and confirmed newly recruited medical officers failed to report to three primary health centres, and flagged that private hospitals in Assam are allegedly demanding under-the-table cash from patients seeking reimbursement under the Meghalaya Health Insurance Scheme. Meghalaya Monitor
• Chief Minister Sangma said Rs 36.61 crore has been sanctioned under the District Mineral Foundation for East Khasi Hills district over 2021-2026, with Sohiong block receiving the largest share at Rs 7.12 crore. Hub News
• Deputy Chief Minister Sniawbhalang Dhar said the Nonghali scientific landfill project has entered its final environmental-clearance stage after a High Court ruling on 14 July cleared a legal challenge dating to the project's 2022 tender; the government is now preparing the Environmental Impact Assessment and Detailed Project Report for submission to the state-level authority. Meghalaya Monitor
• Chief Minister Sangma released the first installment of the Umbrella Post-Matric Scholarship to 96,812 Scheduled Tribe students, and Special Intensive Revision hearings are set to resume in East Khasi Hills district from 31 August, with hearings already completed in 47 polling stations across North Garo Hills. meghalaya.gov.in
• Sports Minister Shylla said Meghalaya's sports budget has grown from Rs 40 crore in 2018 to Rs 840 crore now, and raised the National Games gold-medal cash award to Rs 2 lakh (from Rs 7,500), with silver and bronze set at Rs 1.5 lakh and Rs 1 lakh. Hub News
• On the standing search terms: no update found on the Government Innovation Lab or the State Capability Enhancement Project in the past three days. statecapability.org's Activities page carries no August-dated items, though its "Global Insights" page could not be reached (404), so this should be treated as an incomplete check rather than a confirmed quiet period. No new item on Sampath Kumar beyond his standing role as Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare.
• On the six named NGOs and philanthropies working with the state government: no dated news in the window for the Foundation for Responsive Governance, Indus Action, the Centre for Policy Research, IDinsight or Inclusion Economics. Rocket Learning has one substantive item, Meghalaya's Early Childhood Development Mission partnering with it to deliver Anganwadi worker training via WhatsApp, but it is dated 12 August, outside the three-day cutoff.

Bangladesh

• Prime Minister Muhammad Yunus pledged to fulfil the aspirations of those killed and injured in Bangladesh's democratic movements, speaking at a government event. The Daily Star
• The home minister said there have been no enforced disappearances or extrajudicial killings in the last six months, addressing rights concerns raised since the interim government took office. The Daily Star
• Men identified as belonging to Chhatra Dal, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party's student wing, allegedly assaulted a Daily Star journalist in Jhenaidah. The Daily Star
• A man detained in Jashore over a cartoon depicting the prime minister was released. The Daily Star
• Lawyer and politician Kamal Hossain said extremists have created a climate of fear in Bangladesh through mob culture. The Daily Star
• Bangladesh has confirmed a deal to buy Chinese J-10 fighter jets. Dawn
• India's foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said New Delhi is monitoring developments around Bangladesh's potential membership of the Gulf security arrangement known as the Mecca Pact. Prothom Alo
• Malaysia has agreed to recruit 10,000 Bangladeshi workers at zero recruitment cost, the labour ministry said. Prothom Alo
• A gas supply crisis is cutting into factory workers' incomes as production slows. The Daily Star
• The prime minister ordered the relocation of Dhaka's Karwan Bazar wholesale kitchen market to Gabtoli. The Daily Star
• Five children drowned in a river in Chapainawabganj. Prothom Alo

Pakistan

• Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered the suspension of, and criminal action against, eight officials after an inquiry panel's interim report on the fire at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) hospital in Islamabad, which killed 14 newborns. Dawn
• The government apologised for "temporary" night-time loadshedding caused by a shortage of regasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG). Dawn
• The information ministry rejected what it called misleading foreign media reports on the imprisonment conditions of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan, saying his detention is lawful and he has access to family and medical care. Dawn
• Twenty-five Pakistani prisoners returned home after release from Indian jails, crossing via the Wagah border. Dawn
• Islamabad residents held a candlelight vigil for Hina Javed, spotlighting the rise of femicide in Pakistan. Dawn
• Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi pledged tougher child protection laws after the rape and murder of a five-year-old girl in Haripur, including renaming the province's child protection law after the victim. Dawn
• Balochistan's home minister said security forces rescued two minor girls, aged 12 and 16, who were allegedly being prepared by the banned Balochistan Liberation Army for suicide attacks after relatives of theirs were killed. Dawn

Sri Lanka

• Sri Lanka will have to pay more for vaccines after being reclassified as an upper-middle-income country, affecting its eligibility for concessional pricing. Daily Mirror
• Opposition politician Namal Rajapaksa questioned the government over delays in rolling out Sri Lanka's digital ID system. Daily Mirror
• Former minister Ravi Karunanayake failed to appear before the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) for the fourth time; separately, Bribery Commission officers visited his residence. News First
• An opposition member of parliament questioned whether a referendum is being planned, after President Anura Kumara Dissanayake announced rally plans. Daily Mirror
• Police said they will shut down Facebook groups found to be abusing women and children online. Daily Mirror
• Minister Nalinda Jayatissa spoke on a possible date for a parliamentary debate on the 22nd constitutional amendment. News First
• Police said they seized assets worth Rs 6 billion linked to organised crime and drug trafficking. News First
• The government allocated Rs 80 billion to introduce electric trains in Sri Lanka, and separately plans to declare 1,500 hectares in Nuwara Eliya as protected zones. News First, News First
• Wheat flour prices rose by Rs 17. Daily Mirror
• The Colombo Crimes Division arrested two more Chinese nationals in connection with the Port City murder case. Daily Mirror

Nepal

• The government said relief is its priority while it continues to assess damage from the Bhotekoshi floods, a glacial lake outburst disaster on the Nepal-Tibet border. The Kathmandu Post
• Indian, Chinese and South Korean rescue teams have been deployed to flood-hit areas to support Nepal's search and rescue effort. The Kathmandu Post
• Authorities have identified 20 of 669 flood victims and are preparing mass burials for the unidentified dead. The death toll is still moving: other outlets on 29 August reported figures between 616 and 675, and police separately said 2,362 people remain missing, a count also still being revised. The Kathmandu Post, The Kathmandu Post
• Prime Minister Sushila Karki said the government will preserve DNA samples before burying unidentified flood victims. The Kathmandu Post
• Nepal's foreign minister said the country has not rejected foreign rescue aid, responding to criticism over the pace of accepting international assistance. The Kathmandu Post
• Local governments in flood-affected areas have lost the capacity to lead their own rescue and relief operations, leaving response efforts dependent on central authorities and outside teams. The Kathmandu Post
• Flood survivors face a second crisis as medicine and drinking water supplies run short in relief camps. The Kathmandu Post

Bhutan

• Bhutan's King and Queen led prayers for victims of the Nepal and China floods, and mental health officials, separately, said the Nepal disaster has exposed gaps in Bhutan's own early warning systems, prompting a review of preparedness. Kuensel, Kuensel
• Officials said mental health is a national responsibility and should not rest solely with the PEMA Centre, Bhutan's dedicated mental health facility. Kuensel
• Samtse district is struggling to absorb its growing workforce amid limited local job creation. Kuensel
• Bank of Bhutan's top management stepped down following problems with a core banking system migration. Kuensel
• Bhutan faces a shortage of engineers as several large infrastructure megaprojects get underway, even as government travel allowances have failed to keep pace with rising costs, officials said. Kuensel, Kuensel
• The High Court overturned an acquittal and sentenced a doctor to 10 years in prison for raping a minor patient. Kuensel

Asia Pacific

• Cambodia's claim to have shut down its online scam compounds is being met with scepticism from researchers and rights groups, who say operations have simply relocated. Al Jazeera
• Indonesia set up shelters for babies and young children affected by toxic wildfire smoke, days after protesters marched on parliament in Jakarta demanding a corruption crackdown. Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera
• Singapore's plan to clear forest land for housing has triggered rare public protests, unusual in a country where organised demonstrations are uncommon. Al Jazeera
• Malaysia charged former prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob with concealing assets, part of an ongoing corruption case against him. Al Jazeera
• Pakistan signed a new defence agreement with Kuwait, extending its security relationships further into the Middle East. Al Jazeera
• Pro-Palestinian and human rights groups protested in the United States during a visit by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat, objecting to what they called his Hindu nationalist politics. Al Jazeera

Africa

• Guinea-Bissau's military government put a referendum to voters on 30 August that would sharply expand presidential powers; the opposition urged a boycott. Al Jazeera
• Sustained gunfire and explosions hit sites near Niamey's airport and the Base 101 military installation in Niger's capital. The government blamed "terrorists" it said were linked to regional Islamist insurgencies; no independent casualty count has been confirmed. Al Jazeera
• Tuareg rebel fighters in Mali freed more captured Malian soldiers in a prisoner exchange, according to sources cited by Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera
• The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Ebola outbreak in Uganda over after 42 days without a new case; the Bundibugyo-strain outbreak infected 20 people and killed two. The Democratic Republic of the Congo's separate, larger Ebola outbreak continues to grow, with two new affected zones bringing the total to 60, and the country has begun vaccinating front-line healthcare workers as case numbers climb. WHO Africa, Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera
• United States aid cuts are threatening to reverse gains in child immunisation in Ghana. Al Jazeera
• Kenyan police fired tear gas at protesters in Nairobi demonstrating against a hike in import duties. Al Jazeera
• A Dutch court sentenced a Rwandan man to life in prison for his role in the 1994 genocide. Al Jazeera
• Zambia's opposition leader was questioned over treason allegations amid continuing fallout from the country's recent election. Al Jazeera
• An armed raid on a cattle camp in South Sudan killed at least 49 people. Al Jazeera
• Chad accused Sudan of carrying out an air strike near their shared border that killed 12 people. Al Jazeera

Latin America

• Haitian gang members released 13 people captured in a mass kidnapping in the Kenscoff area near Port-au-Prince, days after Haitian police confronted public anger over a separate gang attack that killed 47 people, with residents accusing authorities of failing to protect them. Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera
• President Donald Trump announced what he called the "biggest oil deal in world history" with Venezuela, under which the United States is reported to be nearing a stake in Venezuelan oil fields. Al Jazeera
• Ecuador sentenced former president Lenín Moreno to five years in prison in a bribery case. Al Jazeera
• Colombia's new conservative president is facing backlash over a deportation policy critics call inhumane, after ordering immigration raids and mass deportations of migrants without legal status. Al Jazeera
• Brazil sued the chat platform Discord, alleging it failed to protect child users on the service. Al Jazeera

Middle East

• Board of Peace envoy Nickolay Mladenov warned that Gaza's ceasefire risks collapse and that the territory could be "gone for good" without sustained intervention. Al Jazeera
• An Israeli strike killed three Palestinians in Jenin in the occupied West Bank, and separate Israeli strikes killed five people, including three members of one family, in Gaza. Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera
• Gaza residents are being forced onto unreliable digital payment systems amid a severe cash shortage. Al Jazeera
• An Al Jazeera investigation found the United Kingdom holds billions of pounds in contracts with firms tied to illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Al Jazeera
• Qatar pledged support for efforts to end Libya's political division, with a visit by Qatari officials to the country's east. Al Jazeera

Europe

• Norway's King Harald V died at age 89. Al Jazeera
• Iceland held a referendum, described as a knife-edge vote, on whether to restart talks to join the European Union (EU). Spain, separately, asked the EU for help processing roughly 5,000 migrants who arrived in the enclave of Ceuta, amid unrest among local residents. Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera
• Convicted Bosnian Serb war criminal Ratko Mladić, known as the "Butcher of Bosnia" for his role in the Srebrenica genocide, died in custody at 84. Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić criticised the United Nations (UN) tribunal for not releasing him to die at home, and tribute gatherings were held across Bosnia's Republika Srpska. Al Jazeera, Washington Post
• Members of the pro-Palestinian group Palestine Action face "terror"-related charges over a protest that vandalised Trump's golf resort in Turnberry, Scotland. Al Jazeera

North America

• United States officials revised earlier statements that had suggested Chinese state-linked hackers breached federal agency networks. Al Jazeera
• A US federal judge rejected Donald Trump's bid to move his hush-money criminal case from state to federal court, and a separate US judge denied an injunction against Trump's new executive order narrowing birthright citizenship, allowing it to remain in effect for now. Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera
• Walmart settled a lawsuit brought by the US government over its role in the opioid crisis. Al Jazeera
• Thousands took part in a March on Washington to promote voting rights. Al Jazeera
• US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) plans to spend $16.7m on electric shock gloves, drawing criticism from rights groups, and separately detained far-right British provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos. Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera
• The United States and Canada remain locked in a trade dispute, with economists warning of recession risk even as Canada's economy grew sharply in the second quarter. Al Jazeera

No new artificial intelligence (AI) policy movement turned up in this window. The most recent development remains the European Union's AI Act transparency and enforcement obligations that took effect 2 August, which falls outside the recency window.

Centre for Global Development (CGD)

• CGD argued that randomised controlled trials testing artificial intelligence interventions in development are growing fast but need better methodology to produce durable, generalisable results rather than findings that go stale as models change. CGD (published 27 August)
• CGD examined how low- and middle-income countries can procure AI products and services, noting public procurement in these countries averages 13% of gross domestic product, roughly $5.4 trillion a year, and set out three paths: buying off-the-shelf tools, building custom systems, or stimulating domestic AI markets. CGD (published 25 August)

Coefficient Giving (formerly Open Philanthropy)

• Coefficient Giving announced its largest single grant ever: $212 million toward a combined $276 million commitment, co-funded with GiveWell's $64 million, to the Against Malaria Foundation for roughly 90 million insecticide-treated bed nets across all 26 provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo between 2027 and 2029. GiveWell estimates the campaign will avert about 67,000 deaths, mostly among children under five. Coefficient Giving (published 24 August)
• Coefficient Giving reviewed its first open call for grants supporting high-impact career transitions, reporting it awarded $13,075,301 through the round. Coefficient Giving (published 27 August)

GiveWell

• GiveWell's monthly roundup confirmed its side of the Against Malaria Foundation bed net grant above, and flagged ongoing work on family planning access and vitamin A supplementation as it scales grantmaking toward $1 billion a year. No change to its top charity list was mentioned. GiveWell (published 28 August)

International Growth Centre (IGC)

• IGC published a working paper on a community-based waste management pilot in Uganda, finding household waste sorting rose from 42% to 76% and participation in income-generating recycling activities rose from 18% to 44%. IGC (published 27 August)

Ford Foundation

• Ford Foundation published a first-person feature on disability inclusion in systems design, profiling Rasak Adekoya's work in Nigeria, alongside two stories from a Civil Rights Corps site visit on access to justice and reflections from a South Africa museum visit. Ford Foundation (published 25-26 August)

World Bank (research and data only)

• A World Bank Data Blog post on the Human Capital Index Plus found that girls outperform boys in school outcomes but the gap reverses later, and examined why. World Bank (published 27 August)
• A World Bank blog post covered the Pacific Islands rejoining the International Comparison Program after 15 years, and what that means for regional price and economic data. World Bank (published 26 August)
• A World Bank blog post by Daniel Gerszon Mahler, Christoph Lakner and Umar Serajuddin defended the continued use of an extreme poverty line as a measurement tool. World Bank (published 25 August)

Nothing was found in the seven-day window for GiveDirectly, BRAC, Teaching at the Right Level, Gates Foundation or Agency Fund. For GiveDirectly, BRAC and Teaching at the Right Level this reflects a genuinely quiet week (their news listings loaded cleanly with no items dated after mid-to-late July or 18 August). For the Gates Foundation and Agency Fund, coverage is incomplete rather than confirmed quiet: their pages returned only navigation metadata with no visible publication dates.

• A glacier collapse at roughly 5,200 metres in the Himalayas triggered a glacial lake outburst flood that raised Nepal's Trishuli River by 9 metres in 30 minutes, devastating Rasuwa, Nuwakot and Dhading districts and parts of Tibet; see the South Asia section above for the death toll and relief response. Rescue efforts were briefly halted over fears a new debris-dammed lake at the collapse site could give way. Al Jazeera
• Europe is facing record drought, with rivers at record lows from sustained extreme heat, disrupting agriculture, shipping and river-cooled nuclear plants. Al Jazeera
• Negotiators at the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, meeting in Ulaanbaatar, failed for a second time to agree a global drought framework, with the United States blocking both binding and voluntary versions over sovereignty and budget concerns. Drought was made a permanent standalone agenda item for future talks, and the Riyadh Global Drought Resilience Partnership continues funding countries with drought management plans. Down To Earth
• Pacific Island nations are pushing for a dedicated climate finance window and for the 1.5°C target to survive, ahead of COP31 (the 2026 UN Climate Change Conference, to be co-hosted by Turkey and Australia in partnership with Pacific states), citing the particular vulnerability of small island developing states. Pacific Islands News Association
• Wildfires driven by drought and El Niño conditions are burning across West Kalimantan, Indonesia, forcing school closures and causing respiratory illness, with emergency crews reporting equipment and water shortages as blazes spread through dried peatland. Al Jazeera

A California cap-and-invest carbon market auction on 26 August raised $870 million and linked the state's system with Washington and Québec, but falls one day outside the three-day window, so it is flagged here rather than run as an item.