In The News

Obama Visits a Mosque to Send Pointed Message to Non-Muslims

Roberta Rampton February 4, 2016
In his chapter on the "Tyranny of the Majority," Alexis de Tocqueville posed the question, "If it be admitted that a man possessing absolute power may misuse that power by wronging his adversaries, why should not a majority be liable to the same reproach?” Respect for minority rights, openness to the possibility that minorities might someday emerge as majority and will likewise...

WHO: Extremely Alarmed by Zika, Could Reach 4 Million Cases

Tom Miles, Stephanie Nebehay and Kate Kelland January 28, 2016
The World Health Organization is convening an emergency meeting on the Zika virus. Describing the virus as a threat of alarming proportions, WHO officials anticipate it could affect up to 4 million people. The virus has been linked with severe birth defects and stunted brain development. “There is no vaccine or treatment for Zika, which is a close cousin of dengue and chikungunya and causes mild...

Flint's Lead Problem Extreme Example of Chronic Global Problem

Carolyn Beeler January 25, 2016
Elevated levels of lead in a US city’s water supply have drawn global attention to the neurotoxin. To cut costs, officials in Michigan and the city of Flint shifted the public water supply from a lake to a corrosive river without applying a required treatment. The water corroded the city’s pipes and contaminated tap water, exposing 100,000 people to lead poisoning. PRI reports on common sources...

The World Is Hemorrhaging Methane, and Now We Can See Where

Christina Nunez January 19, 2016
Since late October, a natural gas storage well in California has been leaking 100,000 pounds of methane per hour. The colorless and odorless gas is hazardous to health and the environment. The Aliso Canyon leak is accidental but many companies deliberately burn off excess natural gas at energy sites, explains Christina Nunez for National Geographic. Researchers with the US National Oceanic and...

Al Jazeera America Will Shut Down Its Cable TV Network in April

Stephen Battaglio January 14, 2016
Al Jazeera America, launched in August 2013, will shut down in April. The channel, with a parent company owned by the Qatar government, was “squeezed by declining oil prices, a fiercely competitive TV landscape and a brand that American viewers never embraced,” writes Stephen Battaglio for the Los Angeles Times. He adds the channel “sought to distinguish itself by emphasizing a more serious...

In Final State of the Union, Obama Lays Out “4 Big Questions” for Future

Gregory Korte January 13, 2016
US President Barack Obama’s final State of the Union addressed trends in globalization long analyzed by YaleGlobal Online: growing global concern and support for policies to stem climate change, the threat of terrorism lurking among civilian populations, increasing reliance on technology and changing nature of work, the need for global cooperation to combat disease, the dangers and distraction of...

Irredeemable?

January 8, 2016
By the end of 2016, Brazil’s economy may be 8 percent smaller than it was during the first quarter of 2014, reports the Economist. Commodity prices are slumping, and GDP could shrink by a fifth. Some call for the president’s impeachment; legislators are under investigation for accepting bribes related to contracts with the state-controlled oil-and-gas company, Petrobras. The Economist describes...