Inflation approaches 1 million percent. The minimum wage will rise 3,500%.Venezuela...

The nation’s currency — the bolivar — will be devalued, sales taxes increased and minimum wages hiked more than 3,500%, drastic adjustments that President Nicolas Maduro said he hoped would jump-start the economy.

Critics, though, predicted the worst, saying the measures are bound to fail because of rampant corruption in the country, low productivity and crippling U.S. sanctions. Business owners said they can’t possibly afford the 3,670% increase in minimum wages that Maduro requested, and trade groups immediately called for a nationwide strike Tuesday to protest the measures.

http://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-venezuela-economy-20180820-story.html#nws=mcnewsletter

Venezuelan women sell hair to buy food El Cezire says

Hair thieves called "piranhas"

"You have to see it to believe it," Maracaibo resident Egmari Villarreal said in a video posted on the Panorama newspaper's website. "We're not going to be able to have long hair anymore. As a woman, this is something traumatic."

Resident Sarai Madrid said she's seen it throughout the city.

"It's happening downtown, at the beach or at the mall, where you find a lot of young women," she told Panorama. "The thieves grab them by the hair, pull out some scissors and cut their hair. Then they sell it at beauty or hair salons."

Mariana Rodriguez told CNN affiliate Globovision that she was walking through a popular mall when she saw two women coming toward her.

"I thought they were going to steal my cell phone, because I had it in my hand at the time, but they took out scissors," she said. "They did not give me a chance to think or to run or anything. And when I looked, I no longer had any hair."

 From Rafael Romo, Senior Latin American Affairs Editor Updated 1659 GMT (0059 HKT) August 7, 2013 

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/08/07