In global health news this week, I have updates to previously covered topics. World leaders have committed money and support to family planning, spearheaded by the Gates Foundation. The CIA’s fake vaccination program, part of efforts to ferret out Osama Bin Laden, has contributed to a ban on polio vaccinations by the Taliban controlling the […]
Yesterday’s Review section of the Sunday New York Times carried an “analysis” piece by journalist Scott Shane, “The Moral Case for Drones,” which was really more in the nature of a news story reporting that a group of political scientists and moral philosophers believe there is in fact a strong moral case to be made […]
This last week I watched part of Niall Ferguson’s “Civilization: The West and the Rest” series, one of two video segments exploring aspects of Western culture that have set it apart from others. The show is visually rich, with splices of early 20th century footage and modern cityscapes, with Ferguson himself often on camera and […]
Housing nearly half a million people, the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya been a growing haven for those fleeing drought, famine and chaos in neighboring Somalia, albeit one with problems of its own. This past week, aid agencies reported that funds needed to keep servicing the camp are falling short by nearly $25 million. “The […]
Been off the blogosphere for the last month because of a project I was working on. Thought I’d get back into the saddle by looking into the latest on Afghanistan. On July 10th in response to a reporter’s question, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said the surge had been a success. In response to some […]
London Summit offers crucial opportunities for women, health The London Summit on Family Planning opened today and aims to prioritize and fund family planning globally. It aims to give women “the tools to make critical decisions about the size of their families and the spacing of their pregnancies,” writes Nafis Sadik, whose United Nations roles […]
I went back to Haiti, where I lived last year, to reconnect with a country I love and report on how things were progressing. It was amazing to see some of the public parks open instead of covered with tents. But as I followed people moving out of those camps, and met the people still […]
Posted by contributor Andres Santamaria. It has been said by some that the recent Rio+20 Conference was needed but did not deliver. Some criticized the many meetings where no real concrete plans or timelines were adopted. Others claimed that there is no substantial international driving force behind several of the abstract goals. Many believe it […]
This week, the State Department held a “virtual ribbon cutting” for a new initiative, Leaders Engaged in New Democracies (LEND). LEND will help leaders in fledgling democracies connect with leaders who have experienced democratic transition in their own countries. As Voice of America reports, the initiative will facilitate conversations between leaders “by leveraging voice, video and […]
On Monday, the Republic of South Sudan celebrated its first anniversary and independence from now-neighboring Sudan. Following decades of civil war, the nation separated from Sudan one year ago. Leaders of Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda attended an official ceremony; meanwhile, thousands of people danced and waved flags during official celebrations of the newly formed nation in the capital city […]
By James Stafford World markets appear to be hovering over a precipice as Europe’s sovereign debt crisis, slowdowns in India and China and further bank downgrades threaten to send stocks and commodities down even further. Falling oil and gas prices may offer some respite to consumers but are they enough to help the economy or […]
Some of the provisions in 2011 Budget Control Act, meaning the failure of the 2011 “supercommittee” to find $1.2 trillion in cuts, are sweeping the media back into a fury of preemptive Armageddon terror. The rapidly approaching sequestration (a procedure by which automatic spending cuts are implemented)–which will hit both defense and non-defense spending if Congress […]
It appears Paraguay (as I covered last month) is not the only country embroiled in an impeachment scandal. Last Friday July 6 Romania’s parliament voted to impeach President Traian Basescu, who has violated the Constitution and acted as a dictator according to opponents (note: all news-related information and quotes in this article derive from […]
This week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration finally approved a rapid, over-the-counter, and at-home test for HIV. The test, called OraQuick and made by OraSure, allows people to check their serostatus in the convenience and privacy of their own homes and illustrates the change in perception around HIV ever since it became an epidemic […]
The United Nation’s most recent report on progress on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) shows that Pakistan’s food security has declined in the last four years. “The report expressed fears that Pakistan was lagging behind the target of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger and indicators show that the target would not be achieved by 2015, […]