A new coronavirus emerged in 2019, attacking populations in multiple ways. One mystery is the high Covid-19 mortality rates among some of the world’s wealthiest nations. Five nations account about for two-thirds of global deaths, and the United States, with 4 percent of the world’s population...
Mystery of discrepancies: Belgium defends the transparency of its health care system, left, in posting the world’s highest Covid-19 mortality rate while US protesters reject economic lockdowns, with many shrugging about need for social distancing or...
Understanding global demographic trends is essential for government and business planners, offering insights into resolving numerous challenges. World population growth is slightly ahead of what was projected a few years ago, reports demographer Joseph Chamie. More than half the world lives in...
Planning ahead: Population predictions help governments plan education, housing, retirement and other programs; residents in Manila gather at a water distribution center during a drought, and Nigeria’s population is expected to double by 2050 (...
China’s aggression in the South China Sea poses an economic and security threat for nations with exclusive economic zones in that region along with their many trade partners. “To confront the danger, Vietnam openly begins cooperation with the Quad, ostensibly to manage the Covid-19 threat,”...
Winning friends: Vietnamese Premier Nguyen Xuan Phuc meets with Quad leader US President Donald Trump; the Chinese coast guard sprays a Vietnamese vessel (Source: Getty and VTC News)
HANOI: So far in 2020, Vietnam has succeeded in “fighting the...
Global insecurity has intensified with the gradual dismantling of protections. “Over the past 20 years, we’ve been steadily removing man-made and natural buffers, redundancies, regulations and norms that provide resilience and protection when big systems – be they ecological, geopolitical or...
The long-term future of global trade hangs in balance as the World Trade Organization struggles to reach consensus on desperately needed reform. A two-part series analyzes the promise WTO once held and how the pursuit of narrow and immediate gain by the richer nations may threaten the future for...
Beware of what you wish for: The failure of the Doha Round could be disastrous for all, including poor countries
WASHINGTON: Franklin Roosevelt, launching the first international trade negotiations in the spring of...
Out-of-wedlock childbirths have become more common worldwide since the 1960s, but with wide variations among and within countries. Inreasing economic independence and education combined with modern birth control methods have given women more control over family planning. In about 25 countries,...
Shifting culture: Women's increasing economic independence contributes to more children born outside of marriage, though acceptance varies widely among countries; throughout much of Latin America, out-of-wedlock births are the norm, left, but some...
Homelessness is a mark of failure for communities in providing basic security. Based on national reports, about 2 percent of the world’s population may be homeless. Another 20 percent lacks adequate housing, reports demographer Joseph Chamie. Such statistics come with a caveat. Obtaining accurate...
Under the open sky: Increasing numbers of people are homeless, in both wealthy and poor cities, from Russia to India
NOTE: This article was updated on 21 January 2020 to include the specific cautionary note from the OECD on using the data for...
The United States, reporting 33 percent of the world’s Covid-19 cases with 4 percent of the population, has stepped back from global leadership. A bungled pandemic response delivered a blow to US moral and intellectual standing. “After having cut off funding for WHO – a critical player in these...
