June 23, 2020
New Zealand’s Ministry of Health announced that the nation’s 24-day streak without new COVID-19 cases ended after confirming two new cases (NPR). On June 16th, Ashley Bloomfield, New Zealand’s director-general of health, announced the origin of the two cases (CNA). Bloomfield stated that two women arrived from the United Kingdom to Auckland and later tested […]
June 17, 2020
My friend Shaimaa leaned across the table, tears streaming down her face, “You cannot go back to America, it is not safe there. Here in Egypt it is safe.” I didn’t have enough Arabic to explain my reasons for leaving, but events in late February and early March had made it clear that my options […]
June 11, 2020
On Saturday, the Brazilian Health Ministry removed the data from a website that offered information about the progression of the virus throughout the country (Reuters 1). Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro stated via Facebook that the cumulative data did not reflect Brazil’s current situation (BI). The page was taken down Friday and reloaded Saturday, reflecting only […]
June 9, 2020
Protests rocked Mathare, a settlement in Nairobi, Kenya, after police killed a homeless man, James Mureithi, for violating the dusk-to-dawn curfew (AP News). Imposed on March 27th, Kenyan leaders introduced the curfew to prevent the spread of COVID-19 (Human Rights Watch). In the first ten days of the curfew alone, the police killed at least […]
June 8, 2020
Doctors in Nicaragua have warned of a looming crisis in the country as the result of the coronavirus pandemic (Al Jazeera). Victims’ families claim that the government is ordering “express burials” to suppress case numbers (Al Jazeera). These burials are held in the middle of the night, with few family members and within hours of […]
June 3, 2020
The Botswana tourism sector faces many threats ranging from climate change, humanitarian crisis and health issues, the current Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) being a case in point. It does not come as a surprise that the sector has not escaped the brunt of the global pandemic considering that it involves interactions among people. The United […]
June 1, 2020
Societal sustainability rests on the three interconnected pillars of water, energy and food, the WEF Nexus. Supply and demand of each must be in balance with the other two or the three-legged stool either wobbles or falls over leading to social and political instability. The ultimate driver of the Nexus is economics, and WEF interactions […]
May 26, 2020
In trying to understand the potential effects of COVID-19 on society, some commentators have looked to the Black Death – the name given to the Yersinia Pestis plague that first ravaged Europe from 1347 to 1351. The Black Death started the Renaissance, caused the end of serfdom and “feudalism,” led to the Reformation and so […]
May 20, 2020
The emergence of the Coronavirus pandemic and a collapse in oil prices have inflicted acute socioeconomic shocks across Gulf Arab states, which now confront the unenviable prospect of managing prolonged economic downturns. Policymakers must consider controversial measures to cut government expenditures and generate needed revenues. Raising taxes – such as the value-added tax (VAT) and […]
May 20, 2020
Note: Journalist Veronica Camacho wrote this opinion piece just one day before she learned she lost her job as TV Host at Ecuavisa after working there 15 years. GPII’s Katie Coronado subsequently interviewed her about how it happened and what she will do now that she has been impacted directly by this pandemic. Her responses […]
