In The News

The World Is Drowning in Rubbish: World Today

Kate O’Neill December 5, 2019
China once accepted half the world’s plastic trash, and recycled much of that. Increased waste and sloppy cleaning encouraged China and other Asian nations to reject massive shipments from wealthy nations. “Until recently, these countries had been guilty of ‘distancing’, the practice of shifting waste ‘out of sight, out of mind’, both literally and in people’s imaginations,” explains Kate O’...

Accelerationism Inspires White Supremacism: Vox

Zack Beauchamp December 1, 2019
Due to their own failures and insecurities, white supremacists emphasize otherness, resenting minorities and trends toward greater equality. While some of the most extreme have views that overlap with the alt-right movement, they express impatience and embrace an ideology of accelerationism, which “rests on the idea that Western governments are irreparably corrupt,” explains Zack Beauchamp. The...

41 Percent of World’s People Under Age 24: Guardian

Simon Tisdall November 30, 2019
More than 40 percent of the world’s population is under age 24, and many hold concerns about globalization, rising inequality, corruption, fewer democratic protections and a warming climate. So the young, like so many from history hungry for change, are protesting. “Yet while younger people, in any era, are predisposed to shake up the established order, extreme demographic, social and political...

The Bitter Side of Sugar: Manila Times

November 29, 2019
Wonderful confections are plentiful and affordable due to trade, industry and marketing practices. Chefs no longer limit sugar to desserts and add the ingredient to sauces, salads, coffee and more. “Even non-sweet carbohydrates like pasta, bread, rice, oatmeal, corn, peas and potatoes become the simple sugar glucose once eaten and processed by the body,” explains the Manila Times. Glucose is...

Is Crisis of Capitalism a Crisis of Democracy? DW

Alexander Görlach November 26, 2019
Protests are breaking out worldwide: over corruption in Lebanon and Egypt, rising fuel prices and cuts in subsidies in Chile and Ecuador and France, sectarian power-sharing in Iraq and Lebanon, worries about housing prices and Chinese control in Hong Kong, separatist movement in Spain, and failure to enact climate-change regulations in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Austriaand New...

80 Percent of Teens Do Not Exercise Enough: WHO

November 26, 2019
Exercise is essential for good physical and mental health, both short and long term. But the World Health Organization reports that 81 percent of teenagers, aged 11 to 17, report not engaging in the recommended one hour of exercise, sports or other physical activity daily. “The health benefits of a physically active lifestyle during adolescence include improved cardiorespiratory and muscular...

Global Pension Crisis: Financial Times

Josephine Cumbo and Robin Wigglesworth November 26, 2019
Since the financial crisis in 2008, many central banks have implemented easier monetary policies and other tools to stimulate economic growth. Due to those efforts, the interest rates have dropped in many countries, in turn reducing investment gains and swelling debt of pension funds. In some extreme cases, such as Sweden and Switzerland, the central bank policy rate falls below zero, or negative...