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...
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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...
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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,...
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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...
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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...
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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,...
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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...
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When Twitter first launched, it was celebrated in India as a new kind of town square where free speech, productive dialogues and the exchange of ideas were possible. “What we didn’t realize – because we took it for granted for so long – is that most...
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In the late 18th century, British economist Thomas Malthus posited that humankind’s population would outstrip the planet’s capacity to feed everyone. So far, he has been wrong. Many people may not have noticed that the total population of their planet passed the 8 billion mark recently....
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Reducing carbon emissions that cause climate change is possibly the struggle of our lifetime. Telling developing nations that they can’t use fossil fuels to grow their economies is unfair and unrealistic, however, as Time magazine explained. Developed nations in North America, Europe and elsewhere have...
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Representatives of nearly 200 countries wrapped up this year’s United Nations climate summit in Egypt with a landmark deal to set up a “loss and damage” fund that would help vulnerable nations handle climate disasters – but little else, CNN reported. The 2022 United Nations Climate...
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Countries around the globe agreed this week to significantly lower emissions from airplanes by 2050, a landmark deal aimed at curbing the effects of climate change, the New York Times reported. The agreement follows nearly a decade of climate talks among member countries in the International...
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The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian human rights campaigners on Friday in a slap to Russia for its invasion of Ukraine in February, NBC News reported. Ales Bialiatski, a jailed human rights advocate from Belarus, the Russian human...
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A senior US official was elected with an overwhelming majority to head the United Nations body that establishes international standards for telecoms and tech infrastructure, Politico reported Thursday. US candidate Doreen Bogdan-Martin became the first female secretary-general of the International Telecommunication Union after nearly 140 countries...
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A global research panel released a report this week blaming the World Health Organization (WHO) and governments worldwide for serious failures in tackling the coronavirus pandemic, while also reviving disputed and controversial claims about the origins of the virus, the Washington Post reported. The Lancet Covid-19...
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Nearly 50 million people around the world were living in some form of slavery last year, according to a recent United Nations study which highlighted how the problem has been growing in recent years, The Hill reported. The new report found that in 2021, roughly 28...
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World leaders gave their final farewells to Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union whose reformist national and international policies helped end the Cold War but also resulted in the collapse of the USSR, CBS News reported Wednesday. Russian media said the former leader...
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United Nations member countries failed to reach a global agreement to protect the world’s oceans and marine life in what would have been a landmark deal to address growing environmental and economic challenges, Agence France-Presse reported. Since Aug. 15, nations have been negotiating a legally binding...
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What’s in a name, Shakespeare once wrote. Well for monkeys these days, everything. Since May, monkeypox has been spreading exponentially around the globe, with countries that have never seen a case now reporting surges. Unfortunately, fatigue and anger stemming from the Covid pandemic, along with fear,...
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The World Health Organization declared monkeypox a public health emergency of international concern Saturday, as cases of the virus increase worldwide and countries scramble to secure enough vaccines, Politico reported. WHO has recorded more than 16,000 cases of monkeypox in dozens of countries since May. Monkeypox is...
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