In my first article I wrote about the historic election in Myanmar in which the National League for Democracy (NLD), led by former political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi, gained seats in parliament for the first time ever. Last week NLD’s elected members took their oaths of office to officially begin serving in parliament (though […]
The European Nabucco pipeline project was first discussed in 2002 as a means of bringing the energy riches from the Caspian Sea Basin region and possibly the Middle East to the heart of Europe via a new southern corridor (via Turkey) that would bypass Russia. The opera this project was named after tells the biblical […]
Last week, I wrote about new findings on the precarious well-being of adolescents worldwide. The studies in The Lancet and UNICEF’s “report card” were released in advance of last week’s United Nations Committee on Population and Development (CPD) session, which focused on adolescents this year. On Friday, the CPD adopted a resolution affirming the sexual and […]
After much delay and intense global controversy, Britain’s Nature magazine has published online the first of two papers describing how the bird flu virus could be modified to be more transmissible from mammal to mammal through the air. The paper, “Experimental adaptation of an influenza H5 HA confers respiratory droplet transmission to a reassortant H5 […]
For the first time since 1970, not a single electron on the Japanese power grid comes from fission reactors. On Saturday, May 5, 2012, engineers began inserting control rods to bring the fission process to an end at the third and final Tomari reactor. Until last year’s earthquake, tsunami and reactor meltdown, Japan got 30% […]
GAVI’s Berkley resolved to vaccinate all kids against preventable diseases Seth Berkley recalls the work that preceded his appointment as head of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, and his goal of vaccinating every child in need against every preventable disease. “It’s only a matter of political will, a little bit of money and […]
In Part I of this blog I set the scene for the challenges ahead as societies continue to travel along the demographic highway. In this second installment I look at the novel solutions trying to add color to a greying democracy. In a letter to the The Economist in January 2011, Reiko Aoki, Director of […]
On April 20th, the Global Health Council created shockwaves in the global health community by announcing that it will close its doors in “the coming months”. This was only 1 week after announcing the cancellation of its flagship conference. As I read the reports, I kept asking myself, is this yet another casualty of recent funding […]
The US-South Africa bilateral relationship over the past eighteen months has been a diplomatic minefield. Issues include everything from military equipment and nuclear energy/weapons to oil, communication companies and the global north versus the global south. The most recent, and the most serious issue regarding US-SA relations is Iran. According to a press release sent […]
“Starvation is a brutal but little-discussed reality in India” is the summary offered to describe the impetus behind the six-part series from The Wall Street Journal’s India Real Time blog, called “Starving in India.” The series, based on research conducted by journalist Ashwin Parulkar and a colleague from the Centre for Equity Studies, profiles cases […]
I wrote the other day about how people are increasingly perceiving the connection between extreme weather and climate change. They are, in the words of the very good folks at 350.org, “connecting the dots.” In fact, 350.org is yet again marshaling its extraordinary powers of event planning and persuasion to get people all over the […]
Whether it is lack of political will or capacity, the Nigerian government has failed to address the threat that the Islamist insurgency Boko Haram poses to its country’s security. The past week has been a particularly bloody one for Nigeria. Simultaneous attacks against This Day newspaper offices in Abuja and Kaduna killed nearly a dozen […]
One year after their untimely deaths while working in Libya, a special tribute to Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros called “Liberty and Justice (for All)” features the work of 68 photographers. The tribute includes work of some of the world’s best photojournalists, and explores the concepts of liberty and justice. More information can be seen […]
As we concluded the month of April, we also brought to an end National Child Abuse Prevention Month in the United States. However in light of the fact that each year there are more than 3 million child abuse reports (often containing the abuse of more than one child) made in the United States alone (Child […]
The scandal over the conduct of Secret Service agents in Colombia seems to be receding as the media moves on to new stories and new scandals, though the politics of the scandal appears to be in no danger of going away. Opponents of President Obama have used the scandal to question his management style while […]