Ramadan during the COVID-19 pandemic

When Osama Abu El Hosna found himself amidst volleys of bullets shot in Vienna, he didn't hesitate to risk his life to safe others. Now, the 23-year-old fast food restaurant employee from Gaza, who has experienced discrimination in his new home of Austria, is being celebrated as the Muslim antipode to the terrorist who killed four people with a Klashnikov.

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.

As a sexual minority within a conservative religion, LGBT Muslims in South Asia are supporting each other on social media platforms in a climate of fear and discrimination.

Recent surveys indicate strongly that across the Middle East and Iran, almost half the population is loosening their ties to Islam. Governments have reacted differently to calls for reforms of institutional religion.

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.

Sri Lankan Muslims say that a government move to prevent Muslim women from wearing a burqa or niqab is a new act of discrimination against their community, which accounts for 10 percent of the 21 million, Buddhist-majority population.

The use of hijaab by female students in schools founded by Christian mission is currently causing controversy in one of Nigeria's states. Muslim groups in Kwara State want the use of hijaab in all public schools, including those of missionary origins.

Facebook has said it blocked a group of Chinese hackers that used the platform to target Uyghur activists living abroad and compromise their security by using surveillance software.

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.