In The News

Democracy Will Survive Pandemic: Atlantic

Tom McTague May 14, 2020
With the Covid-19 pandemic democratic and authoritarian governments alike shut down economies and cracked down on public activities. To protect public health, large majorities in democracies acquiesce on surveillance and other controls that were once unthinkable. “Immunity certificates, mass testing, government surveillance, and a volunteer army of contract-tracing officials are no longer the...

US Colleges’ International Enrollment: Boston Globe

Deirdre Fernandes May 14, 2020
US colleges anticipate a steep drop in enrollment of international students due to the Covid-19 pandemic, travel uncertainty, global recession and job losses, anti-immigrant sentiment and visa policies. About 90 percent of US colleges and universities anticipate a decline in international students and a significant drop in revenues, reports a Institute of International Education survey. “Many...

Global Food Crisis – Prices Soar, Crops Rot: WSJ

Yaroslav Trofimov and Lucy Craymer May 14, 2020
The Covid-19 pandemic combined with protectionist restrictions has disrupted food processing and transportation, resulting in waste at farms and shortages in stores. Perishable vegetables and products like milk are at high risk, while prices for wheat, rice and other staples climb. The Wall Street Journal article offers numerous examples of food-chain disruptions and worries. The world confronts...

Terrorists Storm Hospital: Afghanistan Times

Faizi Mansour May 13, 2020
May 12 was a particularly brutal day in Afghanistan. “Terrorists stormed a maternity hospital in west of Kabul on Tuesday morning, killing at least 16 people including four women and children and injured 16 others, in a gun battle with security forces that lasted for hours,” reports Afghanistan Times. Also, “More than 24 others were killed in a suicide bombing at a funeral in eastern Nangarhar.”...

German Court Ruling on ECB Asset Purchases: FT

Martin Wolf May 13, 2020
The German constitutional court ruled against the European Central Bank’s public sector purchase program, launched in 2015. Martin Wolf argues for the Financial Times that the move contributes to EU disintegration: “It is an attack on basic economics, the central bank’s integrity, its independence and the legal order of the EU…. The court “did not argue that the ECB had improperly engaged in...

Right to Education: Dawn

Marvi Soomro May 12, 2020
Around the world, governments close schools to prevent the spread of Covid-19 and encourage teachers and parents to support ongoing studies. From primary school to university, lockdowns expose inequities in available technologies, parent capabilities and motivation, quiet spaces, books and other resources. “Major barriers like the digital divide and the weakness of education systems threaten to...

Habitat Destruction, Deforestation, Pandemics: CNBC

Emma Newburger May 12, 2020
Deforestation, climate change and other habitat destruction reduce biodiversity, bringing wild animals and humans closer along with infectious diseases. “The total number of disease outbreaks has more than tripled each decade since the 1980s,” reports Emma Newburger for CNBC. “More than two thirds of the diseases originated in animals and most of those were directly transmitted from wildlife to...