Jordan is a long way off from securing enough doses of COVID-19 vaccine for the majority of its people. Yet the resource-poor country has decided to vaccinate its most vulnerable, no matter their country of origin, and refugees are among the first. Seeing the common good as dependent on the good of everyone, Jordan is emerging […]
Progress: Māori new year now a public holiday in New Zealand, and more
1. United States The U.S. Senate confirmed the first openly gay Cabinet secretary. Former mayor and presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg is officially leading the Transportation Department following an 86-13 vote. He is tasked with managing the country’s aviation, highways, pipelines, and railroads. Mr. Buttigieg will play a key role in allocating government assistance to struggling […]
Teacher in Greece offers hope to prison inmates through TV classes
Avlona, Greece Setting up a television channel from scratch isn’t the most obvious or easiest thing for a math teacher to do – especially without prior technical knowledge, and when it’s to be used inside a prison. But that is exactly the task Petros Damianos, director of the school at Greece’s Avlona Special Youth Detention […]
China’s Communist Party at 100: Vilified abroad, popular at home
A year ago Feb. 7, China’s brave coronavirus whistleblower Dr. Li Wenliang died after treating patients in Wuhan, triggering an unprecedented online torrent of grief and anti-government rage along with calls for freedom of speech. The widespread public outrage over the government’s initial mishandling of the virus outbreak and suppression of Dr. Li’s warnings amounted to […]
British, but also European: Brexit strains a nascent identity
Despite the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the EU, many Britons still feel a sense of interconnectedness with the continent. For those like university student and campaigner Alex Agnew, being in the EU meant being part of a “shared cultural identity” that “genuinely worked to bring down artificial travel and work barriers.” And anti-Brexit journalist […]
Nuclear deal? In Iran, the economy drives the debate.
Banking on the 2015 nuclear deal and engagement with the West, President Hassan Rouhani once raised Iranian hopes of openness and prosperity, only to watch them dissolve as more U.S. sanctions crippled the economy. He was pilloried for trusting the United States. Now, with only months left for Mr. Rouhani’s time in office, an American […]
Who is Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, first woman and first African to lead WTO?
Frankfurt, Germany Nigerian economist Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was appointed Monday to head the World Trade Organization (WTO), becoming the first woman and first African to take on the role amid rising protectionism and disagreement over how the body decides cases involving billions in sales and thousands of jobs. Ms. Okonjo-Iweala was named director-general by representatives of […]
Is Biden’s curb on Saudi aid enough to bring peace to Yemen?
Cairo Buthaina al-Raimi was 5 years old when a Saudi airstrike destroyed her home in the Yemeni capital and killed her parents and all five of her siblings in August 2017. Ever since, she still breaks into tears for seemingly no reason. When planes fly overhead, she shouts to her uncle, “They’re going to hit […]
Child soldiers: Why do some recover and not others?
Sierra Leone’s civil war spawned a generation of child soldiers and war-affected youth. Some fell into chronic depression and unemployment, while others became lawyers, doctors, and entrepreneurs. For Ishmeal Alfred Charles, a former child recruit in Sierra Leone’s brutal civil war, trauma has given way to a fulfilling adulthood as a humanitarian worker. Why did […]
Myanmar’s military coup creates dilemmas for China
Hundreds of protesters demonstrated outside the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar’s largest city Thursday, denouncing the military coup earlier this month and accusing Beijing of supporting the generals’ move. China’s staunch support for Myanmar’s military rulers over the decades, coupled with its immense economic sway, has led some observers to conclude Beijing must have given at […]