Newsletter Archive

Cases of the measles are spreading in the U.S. As of Feb. 5, there were 50 cases in Washington state and five in Houston. New cases are being added daily. Health officials, including the U.S. surgeon general, are urging parents to get their children vaccinated.

Rainwater is essential for life. It helps plants and food crops flourish, and it keeps grasslands green and lush. But too much of it, especially in the city, can lead to flooding, causing sewers to overflow and carry pollutants and contaminants to nearby streams and waterways. To combat the problem in urban areas of the country, a growing number of cities across the U.S. are initiating programs like rooftop gardens.

As numerous European clients of Venezuela’s state-owned PDVSA petroleum company freeze crude purchases in the face of mounting international sanctions, analysts in Moscow say all but one of Venezuela’s Russian customers had begun suspending or liquidating contracts in mid-to-late 2018.

The Institute for the Future, a nonprofit that identities emerging trends and their impacts on global society, envisions that by 2030, we’ll be living in a world where artificial assistants help us with almost every task, not unlike the way email tries to finish spelling a word for users today. The institute notes that more than two-thirds of jobs that today’s college students will have in 11 years haven’t been invented yet.

The United Nations declared Feb. 6 International Zero Tolerance Day for Female Genital Mutilation. Contrary to popular perception, female genital mutilation, or FGM, is relatively widespread in the United States as well. Indeed, according to a report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 500,000 women and girls have either undergone, or are at risk of undergoing the procedure. Most, but not all, are immigrants to the U.S.