- Leading climate activist released from Vietnam jail
- Ethiopians struggle with bitter pill of currency reform
- Sri Lanka votes in first poll since economic collapse
- Feminist author warns of abortion disaster if Trump wins US election
- US city of Flint still reeling from water crisis, 10 years on
- Arsenal's mean defence faces acid test to shut out Man City again
- Late surge lifts Thailand's Jeeno to LPGA Queen City lead
- DeChambeau says PGA's Ryder Cup decision 'just the start'
- Alcaraz defeated on Laver Cup debut
- Postecoglou embraces 'struggle' to make Spurs a success
- Nice hand 'ashamed' Saint-Etienne 8-0 Ligue 1 mauling
- Boeing CEO says ending strike 'a top priority'
- Stock markets mostly fall after Fed-fueled rally
- Harris slams Trump for hypocrisy on abortion as US starts voting
- Academy to host first overseas ceremony to honor young filmmakers
- No doctor necessary: US okays nasal spray flu vaccine for self-use
- Gurbaz, birthday boy Rashid lead Afghanistan to 177-run rout of South Africa
- Former delivery man Baldwin leads star names at PGA Championship
- Trump shooting: Secret Service admits complacency
- Can an ambitious Milei make Argentina an AI giant?
- Haiti, its suffering growing, in 'race against time': UN expert
- Ibrahim Aqil, the Hezbollah elite unit commander wanted by the US
- Chinese forward Cui signs NBA contract with Brooklyn Nets
- US Fed dissenter calls for 'measured' pace of rate cuts
- Guardiola tells players to lead change over workload as Kompany demands cap on games
- Norway limits wild salmon fishing as stocks hit new lows
- Top Hezbollah commander killed in Israeli strike on Beirut
- Rotterdam fatal knife attacker suspected of 'terrorist motive'
- First early votes cast in knife-edge US presidential election
- Top-ranked Swiatek out of Beijing due to 'personal matters'
- Hard-right Reform UK looks to the future after vote success
- Embiid agrees to NBA contract extension with 76ers
- Joshua aims to complete road to redemption in Dubois bout
- World champion Bagnaia sets pace with lap record at Misano
- Biden says 'working' to get people back to homes on Israel-Lebanon border
- Pope criticises Argentina's crackdown on protesters
- Court limits screenings of videos in France mass rape case
- Gurbaz century takes Afghanistan to 311-4 in 2nd ODI
- Central banks face 'difficult balancing act': IMF chief
- McLaren's Norris sets Singapore pace as struggling Verstappen 15th
- Guardiola tells players to lead change over workload fears
- Paris Olympics sports equipment moves to new homes
- 'Happy' Kinghorn relishing life at Toulouse
- Norris sets Singapore pace as Verstappen only 15th
- 8 dead in Israeli strike, source says Hezbollah commander killed
- Germany to bid to host women's Euro 2029
- Portugal brings deadly forest fires under control
- Postecoglou defends Solanke after slow start to Spurs career
- US nuclear plant Three Mile Island to reopen to power Microsoft
- Arteta urges Arsenal to take next step in Man City showdown
Muslims face frugal Ramadan as Ukraine war drives up food prices
Russia's Ukraine invasion, which has already exacerbated food woes in parts of Africa and the Middle East, is marring preparations for the holy month of Ramadan and forcing a turn to frugal iftar sunset meals.
From Lebanon to Tunisia and Somalia, Muslims who traditionally break a dawn-to-dusk fast with lavish family meals, are now struggling to secure even the most basic staples in light of skyrocketing food and fuel prices.
"High prices affect and spoil the spirit of Ramadan," said Sabah Fatoum, a resident of the Israeli-blockaded Gaza strip, where consumer goods prices have climbed by up to 11 percent, according to Palestinian authorities.
"We hear that prices will rise even more... it's a burden for people," the 45-year-old told AFP ahead of the holy month that starts this weekend with the sighting of the crescent moon.
Russia and Ukraine, with vast grain-growing regions that are among the world's main breadbaskets, account for a huge share of the globe's exports in several major commodities such as wheat, vegetable oil and corn.
The disruption in export flows resulting from Russia's invasion and international sanctions has spurred fears of a global hunger crisis, especially across the Middle East and Africa, where the knock-on effects are already playing out.
The toll is most evident in countries such as Yemen, the Arab world's poorest, where a devastating war since 2014 has sparked one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
Food prices there have doubled since last year and the fact that Ukraine supplies nearly a third of Yemen's wheat imports has heightened fears of a deepening famine.
Mohsen Saleh, a resident of the capital Sanaa, said that every year prices shoot up ahead of Ramadan, "but this year, they have increased in a crazy way, people can't take it".
"The economic situation is very difficult," the 43-year-old told AFP. "Most people in Yemen are poor and exhausted."
- 'One dish' -
In Syria, where a conflict since 2011 has plunged nearly 60 percent of the population into food insecurity, Ramadan to many has become a painful reminder of better, bygone days.
Cooking oil has more than doubled in price since the start of the Ukraine war and is sold in limited quantities.
The Syrian government, not spared by its status as a staunch Moscow ally, is also rationing wheat, sugar and rice.
"I thought last Ramadan was going to be our most frugal," said Basma Shabani, a 62-year-old Damascus resident, looking back at a year also marred by the Covid pandemic.
"But it seems that this year we will remove even more dishes from our spread.
"We can't afford more than one type of dish on our table anymore and I am worried that in the future even this one dish will be beyond our reach."
In Tunis, Ramadan traditions have also been put to the test.
Food donations, a common custom during the holy month, have dropped to a trickle, with former benefactors now struggling to source basics for themselves.
Mohamed Malek, a 20-year-old student volunteer, has been collecting Ramadan food donations for years.
"Our donation cart is usually full within the hour but this year this is not the case," he told AFP.
"Some people are even telling us 'let us find food for ourselves first'."
In Lebanon, too, local charity networks are unravelling as the Ukraine crisis piles more pressure on a population hit hard by an unprecedented economic crisis since 2019.
"The strong solidarity which comes into action especially in months like Ramadan will be dramatically tested this year," said Bujar Hoxha, Lebanon director for Care International.
"Hyperinflation and soaring food prices in local markets make the long-awaited Ramadan month for many Lebanese challenging," he told AFP.
Many will "struggle to bring iftar meals to the table".
- 'Big problem' -
In Egypt, a leading importer of wheat from the former Soviet states, Muslims are tightening their purse strings ahead of Ramadan -- a time when spending usually rises.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in March ordered a price cap on unsubsidised bread after the Russian invasion triggered a 50 percent rise.
The local currency also lost 17 percent of its value that same month.
"If someone used to buy three kilos of vegetables, now they're only buying one," said Om Badreya, a street vendor in western Cairo.
Somalia, which is grappling with an Islamist insurgency and its worst drought in 40 years, is also gearing up for a grim Ramadan as rising prices slash the purchasing power of the 15-million strong population.
Ramadan "will be much different as fuel and food prices are skyrocketing", said Mogadishu resident Adla Nur.
Even oil-rich Saudi Arabia is feeling the pinch.
"Everything is getting more expensive... every time I pay around 20-30 riyals ($5-$8) more for the same products," said Ahmad al-Assad, a 38-year-old private sector employee.
Qatar, however, has emerged as an exception with the government decreasing food prices ahead of Ramadan in a symbolic gesture.
"Prices of more than 800 commodities have been reduced in coordination with major outlets in Qatar, starting from Wednesday, March 23 until the holy month of Ramadan," said Qatar's commerce and industry ministry.
burx-ho/jmm/fz
E.Schubert--BTB