Luxury sector meets the humanitarian sector: ‘La Bouche Rouge’ takes action in Togo

For the ninth edition of FIMO228, Togo's international fashion festival, the event's founder Jacques Logoh is training the spotlight on a diverse cast of models. Larissa Solim Amelete, the face of this year's event, has succeeded in getting her family to support her modelling career, while Cathy Crussy, a TV producer, is in her 50s. Then there's Rebecca Attiogbé, who drives a forklift truck for a day job, and Alex Sef, the androgynous muse for Ethiopian label Afropian this season. FRANCE 24 went to meet them.

They are set up to avert humanitarian catastrophes and provide relief for civilians. But they also can be abused. How can humanitarian corridors help and how can they harm?

Ukraine has said the humanitarian corridors out of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Mariupol and Sumy that lead to Russia and Belarus are "immoral." Meanwhile, negotiators were expected to meet for talks later. Follow DW for the latest.

The war in Ukraine has provoked a massive humanitarian and economic crisis. The International Monetary Fund unblocked 1.4 billion dollars in emergency aid for Kyiv this week - and says it's ready to help neighbouring countries that request further assistance. The IMF's First Deputy Managing Director, Gita Gopinath, has been speaking to France 24's Kate Moody about the need for financing, the impact on regional and emerging economies, and how the global economy might change.

"Today the key task is Mariupol," he said, adding that a humanitarian supply convoy was now only 80 kilometers (50 miles) away from the besieged port city, where more than 400,000 people are trapped.

In Ukraine the destruction continues and the death toll increases. Tonight we are focusing on the humanitarian situation. This Monday, day 19 of the Russian invasion, there have been strikes on residential buildings on the outskirts of Kyiv. A Russian vice squeezing the Ukrainian capital.

Tigray fighters have agreed to uphold a cease-fire in the war-ravaged Tigray region to allow for the delivery of aid. Hundreds of thousands of people in Tigray face starvation.

The 9th edition of FIMO, Togo's international fashion festival, didn’t open with a series of fashion shows, but instead with a science symposium organised by the University of Lomé. The theme of the discussion: how to pursue ethical fashion production while Africa continues to be the recipient of thousands of tonnes of the rest of the world’s unsold merchandise? And how to make the most of the rich pool of African design talent? We get some insightful answers from designers, fashion students and academics.

Relief supplies for Ukraine are collected in the German city of Dresden and taken to northern Romania, where they are picked up by volunteers from Chernivtsi in Ukraine. It is a special aid route.

After a devastating locust invasion, the negative economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing drought, the war in Ukraine is worsening the situation in East Africa.

The war in Ukraine is worsening food insecurity in East Africa after a devastating locust invasion, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the ongoing drought. In Somalia alone, 6 million people are food insecure.

The Commonwealth has admitted Gabon and Togo as its 55th and 56th members respectively. Both countries are former French colonies.