In The News

Brazil to Break Merck AIDS Drug Patent to Lower Price

Katia Cortes May 17, 2007
Brazil’s president signed an order to override the patent of Merck and Company’s signature AIDS drug, thereby opening the field to lower-cost producers to sell generic versions of the drug. Citing a 2001 World Trade Organization ruling permitting countries to overrule drug patents in cases of national health emergencies, Brazil rejected Merck’s offer to reduce the price of Efavirenz, part of an...

Fury at Zimbabwe UN Role

Tracy McVeigh May 16, 2007
A major environmental group of the United Nations, in a secret ballot, has chosen Zimbabwe as its leading member. The post typically rotates among nations, and developing countries rejected concerns from the West by choosing the environment and tourism minister of the troubled African nation to lead the Commission on Sustainable Economic Development. One commission goal is to integrate social,...

Deforestation: The Hidden Cause of Global Warming

Daniel Howden May 15, 2007
Trees absorb carbon dioxide, and governments should take steps to protect forests in the battle against global warming. The practice of cutting and burning tropical forests to clear land accounts for about 25 percent of carbon emissions, second only to the energy sector, according to a report from the Global Canopy Programme, an alliance of rainforest researchers. Governments could put a dent in...

Wolfowitz Saga Exposes Structural Flaws of the World Bank

Devesh Kapur May 15, 2007
Reactions to the conflict-of-interest allegations against Paul Wolfowitz, president of the World Bank, have been muted: Europe won’t criticize Wolfowitz much for fear of losing its monopoly over the IMF; countries that depend on World Bank funding may regard the scandal as leverage against strict expectations about corruption within their borders; and up-and-comers such as India and China seek...

21 Solutions to Save the World: A Global Magna Carta

Garry Kasparov May 14, 2007
The world must develop a global treaty aimed at protecting political and civil rights, to which all nations should be held accountable, argues Garry Kasparov in “Foreign Policy.” Such a treaty would be similar to the Magna Carta, the foundation of constitutional freedom, signed by an abusive British king after his defeat in 1215. A global institution that harnesses the military and technical...

Bush and Democrats in Accord on Trade Deals

Steven R. Weisman May 11, 2007
After weeks of negotiation, the Bush administration and congressional leaders have worked out an agreement on how to include environmental and worker protections in trade deals. “The unusual agreement, which came after weeks of negotiations, would guarantee workers the right to organize, ban child labor and prohibit forced labor in trading-partner countries,” writes journalist Steven Weisman. “...

If They're Alive, You'll Read About Them Here

Jeremy Manier May 11, 2007
“Constantly reconfiguring, morphing, decaying, the natural world is at once confounding, sublime, brutal and unspeakably elegant.” These words welcome viewers to a new online “Encyclopedia of Life” that will list and describe all species of life – 1.8 million known and some of the millions more yet unknown. Museums, universities, philanthropists and researchers from around the world are teaming...