For three decades Western governments and lending institutions bankrolled a corrupt regime in Egypt that trampled human rights and stifled democracy. Now they appear ready to do it again, say critics of the military council that has ruled since removing president Hosni Mubarak last February. 'Foreign aid should not be used to support a repressive regime,' says Amr Adly, political economist at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR). 'It’s in nobody’s interest to throw Egypt’s economy into a deeper crisis, but international creditors have to be quite strict when it comes to transparency.'

In the early hours of 5 January, a 21-year-old man from Guinea-Conraky, died in Barcelona's immigration detention centre after complaining of chest pains or (according to another report) breathing problems. The young man was the second person to die in a Spanish migrant detention centre in less than three weeks. On 19 December 2011, an unnamed woman, aged 41, believed to be from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, died of meningitis hours after her admission to hospital from the Aluche detention centre, in the suburbs of Madrid.

Aid agencies and donors are failing to take into account the relief and security needs of women displaced by disasters and conflicts, according to Elisabeth Rasmusson, Secretary-General of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). For example, in Pakistan's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkwa province, cultural practices mean Pashtun women cannot be seen by men who are not family members. So when the worst floods in the country's history devastated their homes in July, they faced serious problems. Unless the aid agencies on the ground had female assessment teams and other staff in place, these women were 'invisible' and could not even visit the toilets during the day, Rasmusson told AlertNet in an interview.