All Global Issues
Cover StoryProgress watch 2012: Smart phones, jobs returning to America, and war crimes trialsThe often-slow arc of good news may not make headlines. But 2012 brought its quiet share: from extreme poverty dropping by half since 1990 to a robot with the bulky profile of an NFL player that may have a role in bringing jobs back to the US.
FocusIn 2013, possibilities for stability from Somalia to South China SeaPolicymakers in many of the world's hot spots have a common New Year's wish: for unity to usher in and consolidate political and economic stability.
- How much do you know about Christmas traditions from around the globe?
Know where the historical Santa Claus comes from? What Christmas song was written for Thanksgiving? Which Asian country celebrates Christmas with sponge cake? Test your knowledge about how the Christmas holidays are celebrated from the Philippines to Mexico.
Global sympathy for Newtown, antipathy for US gun lawsEven as observers around the world mourned the teachers and children killed in Newtown, many expressed frustration with a US political system that has left guns so easily accessible.
Global water crisis: Seen from the first Himalayan glacial trickleGlobal water crisis: Reporter William Wheeler talks about water stress from the effects of climate change high in the Himalayas where India and Pakistan's great rivers start to Haiti's fresh-water pollution.
Cover StoryGlobal water crisis: too little, too much, or lack of a plan?The global water crisis – caused by drought, flood, and climate change – is less about supply than it is about recognizing water's true value, using it efficiently, and planning for a different future, say experts.
Not just sexy Kim Jong-un: 5 times the Onion has fooled foreign media When the People's Daily, the Chinese Communist Party's official newspaper, took as straight news The Onion's declaration that stout North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un was 2012's "Sexiest Man Alive," it became the biggest foreign media outlet to be fooled by the satirical American newspaper. But it is not the first. Here are several other foreign news sites that took Onion fiction as newsworthy fact.
Baby box ban: Why the UN wants to ban the practiceBaby box ban: Eleven nations in Europe have drop boxes for unwanted babies, including Germany with 100 baby boxes. But a UN human rights group wants to ban them.
Climate change talks: What are the goals in Qatar?UN talks for a new pact to curb greenhouse emissions and slow climate change are underway in Qatar. Negotiators hope to extend the Kyoto Protocol. The concentration of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide has jumped 20 percent since 2000, according to a U.N. report released last week
How the world is reacting to Obama's reelection From China to Iran, President Obama's reelection elicited everything from celebration to doubt about his second-term agenda. Here are 11 responses:
Progress WatchCan we protect 10 percent of the oceans? Momentum is growing.An international goal is to set aside 10 percent of coastal and marine waters as protected areas by 2020. Although much work remains to reach the goal, areas are being added at an accelerated pace.
Progress WatchConfounding expectations, global hunger is downDespite sustained drought and population growth, global hunger has decreased over the past two decades. Food aid is smarter and 'host' governments are focusing more on local farmers.
Reverse brain drain: Poles circulate home and out again to EuropeIn the global reverse brain drain, migrants begin to influence a frumpy, provincial Poland in everything from toilets to insurance coverage to workplace attitude.
Cover StoryReverse brain drain: Economic shifts lure migrants homeThe tide of brain drain – from developing countries to industrialized nations – has turned. Human capital is returning home to Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and Africa, while some European professionals squeezed by the recession, turn toward developing countries for advancement.
Reverse brain drain: China engineers incentives for “brain gain”Chinese who found it hard to fit in at the water cooler abroad feel newly valued at home as China creates a reverse brain drain of financial incentives for native talent to return.
Reverse brain drain: 'African Lion' economies vs West’s fast trackOne Kenyan – like tens of thousands of fellow Africans in a new reverse brain drain – leaves a career in a foreign country for a sunny future back home. Developing nations are experiencing a 'brain gain' as the global recession makes their best and brightest see opportunity in places they once fled.
Reverse brain drain pulls Brazilians home, and Europeans with themReverse brain drain means twofold "brain gain" for Brazil as the global recession pulls native Brazilians home and, with them, a wave of European migrants leaving their austerity stricken homelands.
- Gauging poverty from Appalachia to Africa
A Monitor correspondent, who grew up in West Virginia, discusses the poverty she's seen firsthand while working as a journalist in Africa.
Cover StoryBelow the line: Poverty in AmericaOfficial figures say 46 million Americans live in poverty. Beyond that, there's little about poverty that Americans can agree on.
The 5 most educated countries in the world The Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development recently released its Education at a Glance 2012 report. Here are the five most educated countries in the world.
