In the past month, we’ve seen the United States’ worst outbreak of West Nile Virus, Ebola in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and cholera in Sierra Leone that’s spread to its West African neighbors. What lessons can be learned from these three epidemics? West Nile, which has only been endemic to […]
Recently, important new developments have occurred in Romania and Ethiopia in relation to topics I have recently written about: the impeachment of Romanian President Traian Basescu, and mysterious disappearance of Ethiopian President Meles Zenawi. Here’s a rundown of the aftermath of those stories. The future of democracy in both nations appears unclear. Romania On Aug. […]
While a bit outdated, this documentary addresses the practice of spinning acts of war to be more palatable for citizens of the United States in the last half century. Every United States president has said he wants peace and that war is only used as a final option. That couldn’t be further from the truth. […]
A mother breastfeeds one of her twin babies at Jose Fabella Medical hospital in Manila, Philippines © Jason Gutierrez/IRIN Filipino breast milk bank gives babies a chance A state-run breast milk bank in the Philippines is helping to fend off infant mortality in Manila, the capital, and elsewhere as breastfeeding rates differ among the […]
In East Asia and the Pacific, the number of children who face maltreatment is shockingly high. Roughly 10% to 30% of the 580 million children –one quarter of the world’s children — in the East Asia and Pacific regions are victims of forced sex and other physical abuse according to a report by UNICEF. The […]
There was a brief moment in time, back in the early 1990s, where the idea of Russia becoming a real democracy did not seem ridiculous. By now, that illusion has passed. Corruption passes for governance, civil society functions albeit under strict scrutiny, and elections are less than free and fair. Needless to say dissent is […]
As we approach World Humanitarian Day, there’s something I’d like to note. Something very interesting that happened last week, something the U.S. did to help another country, but something so scarcely reported it almost flew beneath the mainstream news radar. As you may know, Iran recently suffered two large earthquakes. Amid continuing American concerns about Iran’s suspected nuclear […]
Only in December 2011 did Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s ruling Labor Party vote to overturn a long-standing ban on Australian uranium exports to India in order to strengthen diplomatic ties between those two countries, thus elevating the relationship to a more strategic level while boosting Australia’s resources-dominated economy. Australia, holder of the world’s biggest known […]
In an editorial this week prompted by renewed saber-rattling by Israel’s leadership, The New York Times argues for giving Iran sanctions time to do their work and for intensified diplomacy. Though the editorial may be slightly confused in matters of detail, not to mention grammar, there is a case to be made not merely for […]
The Olympics have finally concluded. These 2012 London Olympics will be remembered in many ways: NBC’s recorded coverage, Michael Phelps, Gabby’s 10,000 watt smile, 100 foot tall Voldemort, Usain Bolt, and British rock band after British rock band performing with strange props. It was an inspiring couple of weeks, and I enjoyed watching these amazing […]
Posted by contributor Andres Santamaria. The recent drought that has been spreading throughout the Midwest portion of the United States could now potentially create another global food crisis like the one in 2008, according to an article by Suzanne Goldenberg, U.S. environment correspondent for the Guardian. Why is there such a danger now? Extreme heat […]
The consensus about Fukushima’s nuclear disaster holds that human error caused the partial meltdown. Failure to anticipate what went wrong is at the heart of the matter. Over the weekend, a reactor at the the Millstone nuclear power plant in Waterford, Conn., closed down because its designers back in the 1960s failed to anticipate […]
Recent concerns have sparked as child marriages spike among Syrian refugees in Jordan. Difficult conditions in Jordan have many parents pushing to have their daughters married at an earlier age. The issue has created a concern among many international aid organizations that the rise in child marriage has been brought on as a sort of coping […]
Ethiopia, the second-most populous country on the African continent (behind only Nigeria), is looked to as a relatively strong and stable presence in a volatile region. Its cooperation is vital to security concerns in the region, especially as a barrier to the spread of radical Islamism and terrorism from neighboring Somalia. The U.S. has collaborated […]
Recently, the European Union and India have been in the news for a near-final free trade agreement, as have the United States and the 10 other countries who are hammering out the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). While these agreements could bolster economies that were weakened by the recession or that are struggling to emerge, they also […]