May 28, 2020 | Politics & Society
By Haggai Porat Shortly after the U.S. Senate acquitted President Clinton in 1999, he apologized for triggering the impeachment process. President Trump, in contrast, declared that his acquittal called for “a day of celebration,” and immediately started firing White...
May 28, 2020 | Business & Economics
By Ilan Noy Since the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004, disaster recovery plans are almost always framed with aspirational plans to “build back better”. It’s a fine sentiment – we all want to build better societies and economies. But, as the Cheshire Cat tells Alice when...
May 27, 2020 | Politics & Society
By Genaro Oliveira When Brazil’s COVID-19 death toll passed China’s some days ago, a local reporter asked Jair Bolsonaro his thoughts on the morbid figures. The president’s first answer “E daí?” (“So what?” in Portuguese) shocked even those who thought they had become...
May 27, 2020 | Business & Economics, Politics & Society
Change is happening quickly in the New Zealand media sphere as companies try to adapt to a new world post-COVID. Already Bauer Media has closed its operations in New Zealand, while Stuff’s CEO bought the company off Australia’s Nine Network for just one...
May 26, 2020 | Business & Economics, Politics & Society
By Ayca Arkilic Turkey announced its first case of coronavirus on 11 March 2020. According to the Turkish Ministry of Health, as of 25 May 2020, Turkey has 156,827 confirmed cases and 4,340 casualties due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Even though Turkey is among the...
May 26, 2020 | Business & Economics
By Gavin Ellis There is an emerging dichotomy in the attitude of governments on either side of the Tasman toward social media companies. New Zealand treats these transnationals with kid gloves while Australia is pulling on the boxing gloves. The contrast is...
May 25, 2020 | Science & Technology
By Philip Hill One of the interesting features of the COVID-19 pandemic is the different incidence rates of the disease and the different mortality percentages, across countries. There are several possible reasons for this. Firstly, the capacity and policies around...
May 21, 2020 | Science & Technology
By Michael Grose & Julie Arblaster Climate scientists use mathematical models to project the Earth’s future under a warming world, but a group of the latest models have included unexpectedly high values for a measure called “climate sensitivity”. Climate...
May 21, 2020 | Business & Economics
By Stefano Riela In the last weeks Venice has been unusually quiet even in its canals, now revealing a multichromatic sea life. That is the perfect location for the romantic loneliness we have dreamt of while immersed in our pre-lockdown polluted and noisy routines....
May 20, 2020 | Politics & Society
By Cristina Cornejo The United States uses an indirect voting process called the Electoral College to elect the president. In this system, which is mandated by the Constitution, each state is assigned a number of “electors” based on the number of representatives the...