In The News

Short Answers to Hard Questions About Zika Virus

Donald G. McNeil Jr, Catherine Saint Louis and Nicholas St. Fleur February 2, 2016
The World Health Organization has declared the mosquito-borne Zika virus a global public health emergency, suggesting that up to 4 million people could be infected this year. The virus, spread by the common Aedes genus of mosquitoes, was identified in Africa in 1947. Brazilian researchers linked the virus with microcephaly in newborns in 2015 – and it not yet known if Zika is the only cause....

Global Trade Conflict Looms Over China's Market Status

Guy de Jonquieres January 29, 2016
Trade tensions rise as China, the United States and the European Union quarrel how far each can go with anti-dumping measures to prevent exports at low prices to control markets, reports Guy de Jonquieres for Nikkei Asian Review. “Anti-dumping laws, which are employed by many countries, including China, are a glaring exception from world trade rules that prohibit governments from unilaterally...

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...

Family Planning Is “Critical Link" in Eradicating Poverty

Zofeen Ebrahim and Liz Ford January 27, 2016
Health experts point out that access to family planning and preventing unwanted pregnancies are essential for sustainable development. Member states of the United Nations last year adopted 17 goals on sustainability, including reducing poverty and inequality, while promoting economic growth and full employment. Family planning is a critical link for each goal, notes Ellen Starbird of USAid, as...

Economists on the Refugee Path

Robert J. Shiller January 25, 2016
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was created in 1950 as a temporary measure to aid an estimated 40 million refugees after World War II. “But the problem never went away,” explains Robert J. Shiller, Yale professor of economics in an essay for Project Syndicate. The UNHCR reports near 60 million “forcibly displaced” people, including 20 million internationally displaced. As...

The Smart Way of Healing

Nayan Chanda January 22, 2016
Hospitals face challenges in preventing one patient’s infection from spreading to other patients. Nayan Chanda, founding editor of YaleGlobal Online, writes about the troubling phenomenon of patients being successfully treated before succumbing to hospital-acquired infections. “This problem is not a uniquely Indian one,” he writes. “Modern hospitals in the developed West are also struggling to...

Davos 2016: Questions About Globalization's End and What Comes Next

Paul Laudicina January 22, 2016
Each year the World Economic Forum convenes government, industry and activist leaders to offer regional and international proposals along with private-public partnerships. Uncertainty and the expectations for “fundamental, radical global shifts” have permeated the 2016 meeting, explains Paul Laudicina for Forbes. “How leaders manage this system shift in years to come will determine the course the...