Commentary / World Jul 17, 2020
A new way of thinking about foreign aid
by David Howell
Throughout the developing world there is a new mood of both pride and hope. Aid from the rich North is beginning to feel patronizing.
World Jun 12, 2020
Pandemic risks pushing millions more into child labor, U.N. says
Millions of children could be pushed into work by the coronavirus crisis, the U.N. said Friday as it braced for the first rise in child labor in two decades. In a joint brief, the International Labour Organization and UNICEF noted that the number of children ...
Business / Economy May 22, 2020
China abandons growth target in pandemic, shifting stimulus focus to jobs
The Chinese government abandoned its decadeslong practice of setting an annual target for economic growth amid the storm of uncertainty unleashed by the coronavirus pandemic, and said it would continue to increase stimulus. Speaking at the National People’s Congress in Beijing on Friday morning, Premier ...
Asia Pacific / Social Issues May 12, 2020
'No man's land': Delhi's urban villages face uncertain future
by Rina Chandran
Many of the landmarks of Paras Tyagi's life remain the same in Budhela village in Delhi where he grew up: the house he lived in, the school that he, his father and grandfather attended, the homes of neighbors he knew as a child. But the ...
National | FOCUS May 4, 2020
Coronavirus forces evacuation of Japanese humanitarian aid workers
Nongovernmental organizations have repatriated some Japanese workers due to tighter travel restrictions and poor health care systems in the countries where they operate.
World / Social Issues Apr 30, 2020
Cities could face 100 million 'new poor' in post-pandemic world
About 100 million people living in cities worldwide will likely fall into poverty due to the coronavirus pandemic, urban experts said on Wednesday, calling for mapping tools to identify vulnerable communities and investment focusing on slums. Densely populated cities are at the front line of ...
Business Apr 29, 2020
Copying rich world’s virus plan is big risk for emerging markets
by Ben Holland
To fight the coronavirus, developing economies from Colombia to Indonesia are turning to a playbook that’s become familiar in the rich world since 2008: Central banks are buying government debt. Since February, some 13 emerging-market central banks have started snapping up bonds or said they ...
World / Science & Health Apr 28, 2020
Virus could double food insecurity in nine African countries, U.N. says
The spread of COVID-19 risks devastating countries across East Africa, where food insecurity could more than double in just three months, the United Nations warned Tuesday. The U.N.'s World Food Programme (WFP) estimates that some 20 million people currently do not have secure provisions of ...
Business / Economy Apr 15, 2020
G7 to provide debt relief to poor nations amid coronavirus outbreak
Finance chiefs from the Group of Seven industrialized nations have agreed to provide debt relief to help developing countries finance emergency measures against the spread of the new coronavirus. The G7 finance ministers and central bank governors said after a video conference late Tuesday that ...
Business | ANALYSIS Feb 28, 2020
Coronavirus slows China's major belt and road projects in Asia
by Poornima Weerasekara
From an artificial island in Sri Lanka to a bridge in Bangladesh and hydropower projects in Nepal and Indonesia, China's trillion-dollar Belt and Road plan is stuttering under the effects of the deadly coronavirus. The outbreak that emerged in China in late December and spread ...
Asia Pacific Feb 21, 2020
An influx of Chinese that some Cambodians once resented for bringing noise, dust and chaos to the port of Sihanoukville is the cause of more pain now that it has gone into reverse. The new coronavirus has meant yet another setback for Sihanoukville after the ...
Business Feb 5, 2020
The United States and Japan have signed an agreement to jointly encourage more private investment in energy and infrastructure projects, the U.S. Treasury said Tuesday. The Treasury said the world's largest and third-largest economies "will work together to address regulatory, market, and legal barriers to ...