Emmanuel Tsigbey on why Ghana’s MPC kept rates unchanged

Amid falling prices of raw materials, recession, and now COVID-19, Africa is in serious trouble as debt burden grows. Zambia is on the brink of defaulting on its foreign debt as a so-called grace period expires. 

Here are a few reasons to pick up a copy of The Guardian on Tuesday. Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Tuesday.⁣

French charity Secours Catholique recently published its annual report on poverty. The NGO, which helped around 1.4 million people in 2019, estimates that their median income is €537 per month, well below the poverty line in France. Due to the Covid-19 crisis, people across job sectors have been left with little or no work, with many households slipping into poverty as a result. Our colleagues at France 2 report, with FRANCE 24's James Vasina.

The brewer Heineken is cutting 8,000 jobs around the world, around 10 percent of its current workforce. The Dutch company reported losses of €204 million for 2020, as Covid-19 restrictions shut down much of the hospitality sector over the past year. Also today, we look at President Joe Biden's efforts to win support from business leaders for his $1.9 trillion economic rescue plan. He hosted several top CEOs for a meeting in the White House on Tuesday, along with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

A recent report by the Economist Intelligence Unit on the state of democratic freedoms has downgraded France to a "flawed democracy", as civil liberties in rich and poor countries alike come under attack amid Covid-19 restrictions. We discuss the delicate balancing act of protecting individual freedoms in the midst of a global health crisis with the report's author Joan Hoey, Europe Editor at the Economist Intelligence Unit. She says that although "nobody has put forward a convincing alternative to the policy of lockdowns and social distancing", checks and balances remain essential.

Rich countries need to share their Covid-19 vaccines evenly amongst the entire global population, or else the coronavirus will never go away. That's the message from the organisation The ONE, which campaigns to end extreme poverty and preventable disease. The NGO has created a series of films called "Pandemica" to highlight the argument that if Covid-19 is not tackled universally, it will continue to mutate and cross borders. We spoke to the deputy director of The ONE in France, Maé Kurkjian.

The Entertainment industry world over has taken the biggest hit since the world was forced to shut down because of the Covid-19 pandemic and Nigeria is not exempted. Estimated to worth over 2 Billion Dollars, GuardianTV takes an exclusive look at the massive impact it has on the Nigerian entertainment and event industry.

People walk down Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles as California -- the first US state to enact a stay-at-home order just under 15 months ago -- celebrates its "reopening day" by lifting almost all pandemic-related social distancing and capacity limits. "It's not up to individual businesses and companies owners to decide if we wear it", regrets a Los Angeles resident reacting to mask mandate exceptions.

A new report on terrorist activity in the EU has highlighted the threat of online propaganda during the pandemic. The research shows Islamist and far-right extremists have posed the greatest threat.

Amnesty said that many governments had used the pandemic as an opportunity to further restrict freedom of expression. It also cited the role of social media in the spread of misinformation.

With one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, Spain is looking at an exit strategy from the pandemic. Its government says it's time to start treating COVID-19 like any other endemic seasonal respiratory disease. DW's Jan-Philipp Scholz reports.

Baky Meïté is a former captain of the Ivory Coast rugby team. Back in the spring of 2020, he put his rugby career on hold to work as a janitor in a geriatric hospital in Paris. He has now published a book, "Les Chiffons Bleus", as a tribute to his former colleagues who appear somewhat forgotten today. He joined us for Perspective.