How To Cooperate With China

China is a tough country to comprehend – even for most Chinese. But much of what makes China enigmatic – its long history, vast and varied territory, huge and diverse population, complex politics, and massive, dynamic economy – also makes understanding the country important. For better or worse, what happens in China affects everyone. Western observers tend to struggle the most in deciphering China.

25 February 2021
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No One Is Safe Until Everyone Is Safe

Recognising that “no one is safe until everyone is safe,” the G7 recently announced additional steps to facilitate globally more “affordable and equitable access to vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics” to combat COVID-19. But translating stated intent into effective action will require both bold political leadership at home and support for developing countries that goes well beyond financial aid. Getting it right won’t be easy, but the effort is essential if rich countri

24 February 2021
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Rebuilding Democracies From The Ground Up

All over the world, democracy is in retreat. In 2020, the Democracy Index, published by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) since 2006, fell to its lowest-ever global level.

23 February 2021
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Is Bitcoin About To Explode Or Implode?

On 8 February, Elon Musk’s electric-car firm Tesla announced that it had invested US$1.5 billion of its cash reserves in Bitcoin back in January. The news helped to boost the cryptocurrency’s already skyrocketing price by a further 10 percent, to a record high of more than US$44,000. But, especially in Bitcoin’s case, what goes up can just as easily come crashing down. Bitcoin was invented in 2008 and began trading in 2009.

22 February 2021
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EXCLUSIVE: Bill Gates – No Time To Waste

Connie Hedegaard sits down with Bill Gates, the American business magnate and Microsoft co-founder to talk about climate change.Connie Hedegaard (CH): Let me start with a confession: For years, I thought you were not particularly interested in climate change. I vividly recall a closed session at Davos some years back. The discussion turned to climate, instead of other sustainability issues, and you left the room.Now you powerfully and emphatically make the case for urgent climate action.

18 February 2021
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How to Save Local News

The COVID-19 crisis has confirmed, yet again, the importance of broad access to clear, reliable, and accurate information.

17 February 2021
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Trusting The Health System Again After COVID

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. So, as we wait for widespread availability and distribution of the vaccines, preventive health measures such as social distancing, mask-wearing, and hand-washing will remain critical to containing the disease. For some, following this guidance is not feasible.

16 February 2021
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Reducing Asia’s Climate Weakness

Many parts of Asia seem to be emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic relatively well. But overcoming the public-health crisis is only one challenge the region faces.

15 February 2021
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Solving The COVID-19 Prison Dilemma

Few good things will come out of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has now killed more than 2.2 million people worldwide. But one possible silver lining could be serious prison reform – including in Malaysia. In September 2020, an initially small COVID-19 cluster, centred around the Lahad Datu police headquarters and Tawau prison on the island of Borneo, quickly exploded into the biggest cluster of Malaysia’s second COVID-19 wave, infecting 1,146 people.

12 February 2021
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A Plague Year: What We Learnt

It is probably premature to offer an assessment of the COVID-19 pandemic’s possible consequences, not least because there may well be many more twists and turns to come. And once we defeat the coronavirus, some of the pandemic-induced changes to our lives might turn out to have been temporary.

11 February 2021
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The COVID Revolution

In December 1862, in the throes of the American Civil War, which pitted the norms of slavery against the norms of freedom, United States (US) President Abraham Lincoln presented his emancipation plan to Congress. “The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present,” he declared. “The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion.

10 February 2021
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