In The News

Vandalism Against Multilateral Systems: El País

Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León June 29, 2020
The United States has withdrawn from many global organizations, reducing its own leadership role while enhancing influence for China and Russia. Latin American governments could respond to the Trump administration’s efforts to place a US citizen in charge of the Inter-American Development Bank, disrupting traditional governance. The administration often selects individuals who reject the mission...

Chile’s Constituent Assembly: La Tercera

June 27, 2020
Chile has formed a Constituent Assembly, charged with proposing a new constitution. Bruce Ackerman, constitutional law professor of Yale University, offers guidance and maintains that the assembly should not include delegates who are members of the existing government. “If you allow the existing regime to control half of the seats, these members won’t be very interested in correcting the status...

Saharan Dust Plume Hits US: Washington Post

Andrew Freedman, Matthew Cappucci and Jason Samenow June 26, 2020
Storm winds have pushed a thick, 5,000-mile long dust cloud from the Sahara Desert to the United State, deteriorating air quality even as the region struggles with the Covid-19 pandemic. “Although plumes of Sahara Desert dust are routinely ejected from Africa’s west coast during June, the ongoing event is extraordinarily rare, scientists said,” reports the Washington Post. “This event stands out...

China Offers to Free 2 Canadians: Globe and Mail

Steven Chase and Robert Fife June 25, 2020
Canada arrested a Huawei executive in December 2018, based on an extradition request from the US, accused of bank fraud and violation of US sanctions against Iran. Days later, China charged two Canadians with espionage. “China has repeatedly rejected suggestions there is any connection between its detention of former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig and entrepreneur Michael Spavor and Canada’s...

US to Suspend New Foreign-Scholar Visas: Nature

Nidhi Subbaraman and Alexandra Witze June 24, 2020
The US president issued a proclamation expanding limits for foreign workers, including a suspension on new H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign scholars and employees for tech firms. The block will not extend to current visa holders, but that does not ease their uncertainty. “The Trump administration characterized the decision as a plan to stave off the economic impact of the coronavirus...

Tech Didn’t Stop Covid-19: MIT Technology Review

David Rotman June 23, 2020
The world received early warnings about Covid-19’s high transmission and mortality rates in early January, weeks before the disease took beyond China where it originated. Muddled communications, slow development of tests, fragmented data collection systems and equipment shortages compounded the spread. “In an age of big data in which companies like Google and Amazon use all sorts of personal...

Europe Pursues Digital Tax After US Pulls Plug: FT

Sam Fleming, Jim Brunsden, Chris Giles and Victor Mallet June 18, 2020
The United States walked away from global negotiations led by the OECD on a digital tax for multinationals, claiming an “impasse,” and threatened tariffs against nations that impose such taxes. “The move heightens transatlantic tensions, with the threat of more trade disputes as individual countries pursue their own taxation plans,” reports a team for Financial Times. “Robert Lighthizer, US trade...