Melbourne isn’t the only place suffering under a second lockdown. It’s happening across the world as the virus surges in countries that were initially successful in flattening the curve.
Joshua Aizenman, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Over the first 100 days of the pandemic, countries that quickly implemented strong policies successfully lowered their death rates faster. There were also some surprises in the successes and failures.
While some authoritarian governments have won early praise, research shows that democratic countries with a balance of power between central and regional bodies are best able to succeed.
A scholar who has reviewed the efforts of nations around the world to protect their citizens from foreign interference says there is no magic solution, but there’s plenty to learn and do.
A quirk of mathematics gives voters in some small states, like Rhode Island and Nebraska, an extra edge over voters in other states. This happens not only in the US, but in other countries, too.
Federica Ravera, Universitat de Vic – Universitat Central de Catalunya
In the Catalan Pyrenees, women shepherds and cattle ranchers try to valorise the ancestral agropastoral culture to save the mountains from climate change.
European states have the legal and moral obligation to resume search-and-rescue operations in the Mediterranean. Spain’s Salvamento Maritimo should lead the way.
Kirby Farah, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
The holiday honors a 19th-century battle between the French and the Mexican armies that, strangely enough, may have influenced the outcome of the US Civil War.