As many as 150 million people globally, roughly the combined population of Canada, France, and the United Kingdom, may have fallen into pandemic-induced extreme poverty over the past year.

The 17 members of the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate generate around 80 percent of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. That means they have the power to pull the brakes on the climate emergency.

The Covid-19 pandemic has not been the west’s finest hour. Most western governments failed to contain the deadly outbreak and the resulting economic damage effectively.

n the early 1930s, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt introduced the New Deal in an attempt to combat the effects of the Great Depression. The programme had three main pillars: relief (for the unemployed), recovery (of the economy and job creation), and reform (through new regulations and social-welfare programmes).

The lack of representation of marginalised groups in the corridors of power—political, financial, and cultural—is a growing source of global concern.

As countries scramble to secure Covid-19 vaccines, ugly expressions like “vaccine race” and “vaccine nationalism” have entered the global lexicon.

Even before the passage of the latest stimulus bill in the United States, governments around the world have offered almost USD 12 trillion in financial aid to businesses and households affected by Covid-19, equivalent to 12 percent of global GDP. But how well have they delivered that unprecedented amount of assistance to the intended recipients? And what lessons do these efforts hold for the future?

Today, 270 million people—equivalent to the combined population of Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy—are on the brink of starvation. This number has doubled over the last 12 months. And it is the world’s children who are suffering most.

As the world enters the second year of the coronavirus pandemic, vaccination has moved front and centre in policymakers’ responses.

The arrival of Covid-19 vaccines is giving the world hope of ending the pandemic, but many countries remain consumed by the virus’s spread.

In December 1862, in the throes of the American Civil War, which pitted the norms of slavery against the norms of freedom, US President Abraham Lincoln presented his emancipation plan to Congress.

Throughout Donald Trump’s single term as president of the United States, his opponents in both the Democratic and Republican parties frequently portrayed him as a would-be fascist dictator.

Until recently, the last time Myanmar’s military supervised a general election whose outcome it didn’t like was back in 1990.

If the Covid-19 pandemic has taught us anything, it is that the speed of government decision-making can be just as important as the decisions themselves.

The toxic cocktail of climate change, conflict, and Covid-19 is making itself felt most intensely in the world’s poorest and most vulnerable countries.

With Covid-19 vaccinations underway in some countries and efforts to expand access still ongoing, world leaders will soon shift their attention from crisis response to pandemic recovery.

For most people, the #MeToo movement has become synonymous with campaigns against sexual harassment.

The year 2020 changed everything. The world now faces interconnected health, economic, and climate crises that have no historical parallel. These converging threats affect everyone, but are especially devastating for vulnerable developing countries.

The insurgency that overran the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, just as Congress was certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election, was a wake-up call for business in America. And yet, most sectors and companies have looked the other way.

Preterm birth compli-cations are the leading cause of death globally for children under five. Of the 15 million babies born before the 37th week of pregnancy every year, approximately one million will die.