In The News

Japan Times: Sense of Crisis Over Depopulation

Hisakazu Kato September 6, 2018
Japan’s aging population has been in decline since 2008 – the country has 126 million people today and that could sink to 88 million by 2065.The culprit is a fertility rate of 1.43, well below replacement levels. Japan is not alone. “A declining fertility rate has also been observed in many other Asian countries in recent years,” writes Hisakazu Kato for Japan Times. “The rate in South Korea,...

Al Jazeera: Rohingya Refugees Made Permanent, a Cycle Repeated

Linah Alsaafin September 2, 2018
As the United Nations invests in improved infrastructure and living conditions for refugees, risk emerges that temporary homes become permanent and discourage a return home. Camps housing 1 million Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, are overwhelming, writes Linah Alsaafin, and she compares the experiences with those of Palestinian refugees. The Rohingya camps confront challenges...

The Conversation: How Globalization Transformed Mecca Pilgrimage Market

Seán McLoughlin August 22, 2018
Islam requires adherents to travel at last once for the annual Hajj to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Modern transportation made the journey more feasible, and the number of pilgrims increased from 100,000 in the 1950s to more than 3 million in recent years. Saudi Arabia has imposed restrictions in recent years: Muslim-majority nations are subjected to a Hajj quota of 1,000 pilgrims per million of...

Stratfor: War on Drugs – A Conflict as Old as Humanity

Ian Morris August 17, 2018
Drug addiction as a security issue threatens workplaces, communities and individual health. Archeologists have found evidence of societies throughout history embracing and battling certain drugs, explains Ian Morris. Ancient Peruvians used cacti for mescaline and Ice Age cave painters may have used hallucinogens. “When Greek traders started showing up in the West Mediterranean, only one thing...

The Economist: Refugees as Pawn in the Struggle for Syria

August 14, 2018
Syria’s Assad regime seemed destined for collapse at the start of the rebellion that began seven years ago. However, the Syrian leader is on the verge of victory over the rebels that attempted to institute a change in governance. The Economist notes: “the only rebels left are boxed into a corner of Syria’s north-west, in Idlib province. Regime forces are mustering at its edge, having recently...

Globe and Mail: Saudi Arabia Breaks Ties With Canada

Steven Chase August 7, 2018
Canadian officials called for the release of civil-rights and women’s rights activists being held in Saudi Arabia and expressed concern about a crackdown on dissidents. “In response, Saudi Arabia expelled Canada's ambassador Sunday, recalled their ambassador and frozen new trade dealings with Canada, decrying what they called foreign interference in their domestic affairs,” reports Steven...

ENS: Indigenous Peoples Own/Manage ¼ of Earth’s Land

Environment News Service August 3, 2018
Indigenous people own or have management rights over at least 25 percent of Earth’s land, which in turn overlaps with 40 percent of all protected lands, according to Stephen Garnett of Charles Darwin University who leads an international mapping research team. The team emphasizes that understanding land ownership is essential for developing and monitoring international conservation and climate...