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 (...
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...
The world confronts unsustainable population growth. Some researchers suggest that a population based on two people per arable hectare is sustainable, and with 1.6 million arable hectares, the planet can support 3.2 billion people, less than half the current population. The planet's population...
A good life: The world is on track for more than 10 billion people by the century’s end even as fertility slows – Iran halved fertility within 10 years, left, while Africa will represent half of the world’s population growth by 2050 (Source: Reuters...
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...
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has made fewer public appearances throughout 2020 than he did during the same period a year ago, and whether that is due to the Covid-19 pandemic or other reasons is unknown. “Although only 36, he could be a candidate for a health event,” writes Mike Chinoy, author...
Top secret: The Kim family has controlled North Korea since 1948 and when leaders go out of sight, global security analysts speculate on transition – Kim Jong Un met with US President Trump in 2019, left, and his sister Kim Yo Jong joined a meeting...
In the Middle Ages, spices were valued commodities, but not, as most people assume, for their ability to preserve meat. Rather, it was because medieval cuisine placed a premium on a variety of flavors. Spices were also thought to have medicinal properties, adding to their allure. These are only...
Workers harvest pepper near Quilon, south India in the 14th century: The desire for flavor fueled building of empires. (Source: Marco Polo's Livre des merveilles)
The control over gold, silver, precious metals and recently oil has been a source of...
The United States invaded Afghanistan soon after the September 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, DC. After more than 17 years of war, Donald Trump signals that the war’s end is near. The “timing appears to be based on electoral calculations rather than the security situation on the ground,...
Crises tend to identify leaders while exposing the strengths and weaknesses of organizations. The Covid-19 pandemic should have been a straightforward apolitical challenge, with societies rallying around the world’s top public health recommendations. Yet masks and social distancing have polarized...
One threat, divided response: A close relationship between World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Chinese President Xi Jinping is among the reasons for deadlock at the UN Security Council (Source: Naohiko Hatta, AP...
