In the West, there has been staunch support for Israel since the attack on Oct. 7 by Hamas and its affiliates that killed about 1,400 people. It was no different in Africa, Asia or Latin America initially, with leaders expressing sympathy. That was then. Now, many in Europe,...
Read full story →
An economist from Goldman Sachs coined the term BRICS in 2001 as an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. As the Library of Congress described it, these developing countries were becoming more important to the global economic order at the time. Twenty-two years...
Read full story →
The Group of 20 (G20) nations reached a consensus on a number of issues to advance development in the Global South, by failing to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, CNBC reported. Under the Delhi declaration, G20 countries will seek to address a range of crucial global...
Read full story →
The BRICS group of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa will add six more countries into its ranks, as key members Russia and China seek to expand the influence of the loose economic bloc to counteract Western global dominance, the Washington Post reported. After a...
Read full story →
The World Health Organization called for countries to integrate traditional and complementary medicine into their healthcare systems, prompting online backlash from medical researchers who see the practices as pseudoscience, Politico reported Thursday. The United Nations agency made the announcement Thursday during the WHO Traditional Medicine Global...
Read full story →
The Group of 20 (G20) nations failed to agree on a deal to reduce the use of fossil fuels, the latest sign of global tensions over the role of oil, gas, and coal as the world deals with the effects of climate change, the Financial...
Read full story →
The United Nations Human Rights Council approved a resolution on religious hatred Wednesday following a backlash by Muslim nations over the burning of a Quran in Sweden last month, but amid opposition from Western nations that it might restrict freedom of speech, Reuters reported. The resolution...
Read full story →
A year-long investigation by the BBC uncovered a global monkey torture ring spanning from Indonesia to the United States that has prompted an international investigation and more monitoring efforts from social media platforms. The investigation found that customers from the US, Britain, and other countries were...
Read full story →
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) confirmed Monday that the United States is planning to rejoin the agency after leaving it almost six years ago, a move that observers said is aimed at countering China’s rising influence within the organization, Axios reported. UNESCO...
Read full story →
The World Health Organization declared an end to the Covid-19 emergency over the weekend, a move that marks the official conclusion of one of worst pandemics in modern history, the Wall Street Journal reported. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced the end of the emergency, saying...
Read full story →
Massachusetts Air National Guard Airman First Class Jack Teixeira was a Cyber Transport Systems journeyman, or an IT specialist. The 21-year-old now stands accused of making classified documents public since at least late February, potentially jeopardizing US national security, Reuters explained. He posted the secret...
Read full story →
Author Elizabeth Gilbert embraces romance and finds a partner in Bali after a life journey that she chronicled to great fame in her 2006 memoir, “Eat Pray Love.” Now residents of the Indonesian island are fed up with the increasingly large numbers of tourists who...
Read full story →
Christine Lagarde, the president of the European Central Bank (ECB) recently told European Union leaders that the banking sector on the continent was strong, reported Bloomberg. Yet on the same day Lagarde spoke, shares of Deutsche Bank plunged as traders worried that the massive German bank...
Read full story →
Three years ago, people around the world began lockdowns that shuttered businesses, schools, government offices, and other institutions that had been the hallmarks of everyone’s lives. Now, after Covid vaccines and other measures have reduced – but not eliminated – fears surrounding the virus, the...
Read full story →
The World Health Organization (WHO) will not continue its investigation into the origins of the coronavirus, citing difficulties in collaborating with China, Politico reported Wednesday. The scientific advisory group tasked with investigating the origin of the virus called last year for new studies, including audits of...
Read full story →
Protests broke out in Indonesia, Pakistan and elsewhere this week over the burning of the Muslim Holy Book at far-right demonstrations in Sweden and the Netherlands, with diplomatic repercussions especially hitting the Scandinavian country, which is up for NATO membership, the Associated Press reported. On Monday,...
Read full story →
Earth’s protective ozone layer is on its way to recovery within the next four decades, a bit of good news amid repeated and consistently dire warnings about the climate, CNBC reported. A United Nations-backed panel of researchers released a report this week highlighting how the trend...
Read full story →
The New Year will begin with two pressing crises that could upend the international order: the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, and the coronavirus pandemic in China. As the Economist noted, Ukraine has a fighting chance against Russia in 2023. Ukraine’s recent counteroffensive shocked Russia...
Read full story →
It was hard to watch Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s recent address to the US Congress and not conclude that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was the most important geopolitical event of 2022. In his address, Zelenskyy compared the war to a struggle between good democracy and evil despotism,...
Read full story →
Nearly 200 countries signed a historic agreement this week to halt the destruction of the Earth’s ecosystems, a pact that could put humanity on track to live in harmony with the environment by the middle of the century, the Guardian reported. The agreement was reached during...
Read full story →