Before and during the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, two different visions of the city emerged, at least partly from portraits in the foreign press. There was a glamorous Rio with its well-to-do sports fans, elegant neighborhoods and nightclubbers fired up by Samba and caipirinhas. And there was a Rio of the slums or favelas, with their poverty, drug gangs and killings. To be … [Read more...] about Crime, Inequality and the Rio Olympics
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Can Good Parenting Make an Olympic Star?
She barrels down the mat like a sprinter, pivots, soars into the air backwards with two somersaults and a half twist, and lands blindly and perfectly on her feet, with arms outstretched and an irrepressible smile. It is an acrobatic feat of such difficulty, grace and poise by the 19-year-old, four feet eight gymnast Simone Biles, that it has come to be known as “the Biles.” And … [Read more...] about Can Good Parenting Make an Olympic Star?
Can Women Change Politics?
Hillary Clinton’s June 14th victory in the Washington D.C. Democratic Party primary brings an end to a primary season that will see her coronated as the first woman to lead a major political party in the United States since George Washington assumed the presidency 227 years ago. If she wins —still a big “if”—she will become the first female president of the United States next … [Read more...] about Can Women Change Politics?
Keeping Kids in School
Over the last 25 years, Latin America has ramped up investment in education in a full-fledged effort to reduce poverty and spur economic growth. Today, primary school attendance is nearly universal, with three out of four children finishing primary school on time. At the secondary school level, meanwhile, the rate of on-time graduation has soared from an average of 30% in 1990 … [Read more...] about Keeping Kids in School
Preparing for Climate Change Migrants
In recent days, climate change has surged back into public consciousness with a disturbing report of rapid melting in the West Antarctic ice sheet. According to the report, the disintegration of the massive block of ice, larger than Mexico, could combine with other ice melts to raise sea levels by as much as six feet by the end of the century. That could eventually threaten … [Read more...] about Preparing for Climate Change Migrants