Each Sunday Halcyon brings you a short, sharp and stimulating read - 7 issues that have witnessed significant change over the past 7 days.
This week, the deepening global coronavirus threat focused attention on animals and on transport. There were also worrying developments around freedom and migration, but better news on equality and on poverty and meanwhile things were rather active out in space!
Animals
- Ban China’s wild animal trade, urged Quartz, adding that if we want to thwart viral epidemics, we should be urging China to make its temporary ban permanent.
Equality
- The Government of Finland announced it would grant equal paid parental leave to both partners, whether or not they are giving birth. As of 2021, each parent will be able to take 164 days off, adding up to a combined total of 14 months. A parent can also elect to transfer up to 69 days from their own allowance to their partner. In addition, the pregnant parent will receive a month’s paid leave to use before the start of the paid parental leave. The policy applies for heterosexual, same-sex and single parents and will cost the government about EUR 100 million (USD 108 million).
Freedom
- The world has become less free for 14 straight years, according to watchdog Freedom House's latest Freedom in the World report, which ranks countries according to political rights and civil liberties. More than 60 countries are less free than they were last year, according to Freedom House's overall report and analysis by country.
Migration
- A dramatic surge of migrants arrived on Greek shores in early 2020, after Turkey abandoned a 2016 deal with the EU under which it housed some 3.7 million Syrian refugees in exchange for billions of euros in aid. Ankara took this step after a dangerous flare up in Syria, where Turkish troops tried to halt a Syrian assault on Idlib province that was driving more refugees across the Turkish border.
Poverty
- More than half the world is now middle class, rather than poor and vulnerable, according to the Brookings Institution, and the proportion is rising.
Space
- Astronomers observed the biggest explosion in the universe. The record-breaking blow up was caused by a black hole 390 million light years away from Earth.
Transport
- Roughly 80% of the goods we consume are transported on ships. Most of the time the shipping industry operates as planned. But the Covid-19 coronavirus has revealed how brittle shipping can be in the wake of a sudden black swan event. China is home to 7 of the 10 largest and busiest container ports in the world, and the outbreak has endangered our global supply chains. Ports are either closed down entirely or ships must first sit in quarantine, which has made it impossible to load or discharge goods: car parts, medical supplies, phones and consumer gadgets, and ingredients.
Timelines
Spaces