Opinions
China wields patriotic education to tame Hong Kong's rebellious youth
Cua Chiu-fai is on a mission to rid Hong Kong's classrooms of what he sees as poisonous anti-China bias. His soldiers: mainly parents. He has recruited hundreds of mothers and fathers to monitor and report on teachers deemed guilty of filling their students with hate for China and urging them… Read
'Infodemic' risks jeopardising virus vaccines
As early as February, with the global pandemic spreading fast, the World Health Organization issued a warning about an "infodemic", a wave of fake news and misinformation about the deadly new disease on social media. Now with hopes hanging on COVID-19 vaccines, the WHO and experts are warning those same… Read
Carbon pricing rises as world's weapon of choice in climate fight
Can you put a price on pollution? Some of the world's biggest economies are doing just that as they wrestle with how to make good on grand pledges to tame planet-warming emissions. Matters are coming to a head. China, Japan and South Korea have all followed the European Union in… Read
Biden's pick for U.N. envoy will find waning American influence
President-elect Joe Biden's pick to be his ambassador to the United Nations in New York will have to tackle Washington's waning leadership at the world body in the face of a more assertive China, diplomats and analysts said. Biden nominated veteran U.S. diplomat Linda Thomas-Greenfield and restored the post to… Read
COVID and pollution: Intimately linked, compound threat
Lockdowns may have temporarily cleared up the skies above big cities this year but experts warn that air pollution remains a COVID-19 threat multiplier, as well a health hazard that will far outlast the pandemic. As governments ordered temporary confinement measures to battle multiple virus waves, several studies have charted… Read
COVID toll turns spotlight on Europe's taboo of data by race
Many European countries avoid breaking down data along racial or ethnic lines out of concern over privacy or discrimination, but COVID-19's outsized impact on Black and Asian people has exposed flaws in the approach, some scientists and activists said. They want more comprehensive data collection across the continent to improve… Read
Denying defeat, Trump offers fodder for world's strongmen
The United States has long championed democracy around the world, pushing persistently, if not always consistently, for leaders to give up power when they lose. President Donald Trump is now establishing a new American model -- refusing to concede, making unsubstantiated claims of fraud and seeking the intervention of courts… Read
Who needs Russia? Loudest attacks on U.S. election are from Trump
Russia didn't have to lift a finger. In the weeks before the U.S. presidential election, federal authorities warned that Russia or other foreign countries might spread false information about the results to discredit the legitimacy of the outcome. Turns out, the loudest megaphone for that message belonged not to Russia… Read
Can first COVID-19 vaccines bring herd immunity? Experts have doubts
Governments and officials are voicing hopes that COVID-19 vaccines could bring"herd immunity", with some calculating that immunising just two-thirds of a population could halt the pandemic disease and help protect whole communities or nations. But the concept comes with caveats and big demands of what vaccines might be capable of… Read
For Trump, sowing post-election chaos is the goal
President Donald Trump is trying to turn America's free and fair election into a muddled mess of misinformation, specious legal claims and baseless attacks on the underpinnings of the nation's democracy. The resulting chaos and confusion that has created isn’t the byproduct of Trump’s strategy following his defeat to Democrat… Read
