Category: Blog

A refugee crisis is a serious situation where large groups of people are either fleeing from their home country or living in host countries that lack the capacity to address their needs and meet human rights standards. Displaced people can be forced to seek asylum because of persecution or conflict, or they may be escaping the impact of natural disasters – floods, earthquakes and hurricanes, often caused by climate change. They are seeking safe and dignified housing, food and water. They are also seeking security and hope.

The causes of a refugee crisis are complex and the solutions require political will, cooperation and action. In the 21st century, more people are displaced than at any other time in history. Persecution and conflict are still driving the majority of displacement, but now natural disasters, poverty, gang violence and other factors are also pushing people to leave their homes. This kind of internal displacement is not addressed in the international legal instruments such as the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement.

In the early stages of a refugee crisis, hosts are usually focused on meeting basic needs and coordinating aid with neighboring states. As the crisis becomes more protracted, however, destabilization and conflict can increase. Host states may feel pressure to limit refugee protection measures or cut back on funding to help them cope with the influx, and refugees are more likely to be seen as a threat. This is particularly true if the refugees share ethnic or religious characteristics with populations in conflict.

When it comes to headlines, some advice seems universal — make them short, snappy and pique the reader’s curiosity. Other suggestions are more specific — spell out numbers, use adjectives sparingly and drop articles (a, an, the).

One key lesson is that headline best practices differ depending on where they appear — NPR story pages, homepages, social media accounts and Apple News, for example. Headlines also need to be adapted for each context because the outcomes and success criteria vary.

As NPR’s Digital Lead, John Wood has a lot of experience with headlines. His current team of reporters and editors has a process they follow to create and test different headlines for their stories, which are published on the All Things Considered website. A version of the headline that works best in print is then used as a headline for the audio version of the story, which is posted on NPR’s homepage and other places.

The headlines that perform well online are often simpler and shorter than the ones that perform poorly, and they tend to communicate more about people rather than policy. This is important because it reduces the barrier between readers and a story they might have ignored. It also helps the headlines stand on their own and satiate readers’ curiosity without making them read the full article. Headlines that have a more conversational style — with more pronouns and less prepositions, for instance — also perform better than the more academic and formal headlines.

The indisputable first objective of American policy must be to safeguard and enhance liberty, security, and prosperity for America’s citizens. That means promoting the kind of world order that America helped shape after World War II, a world in which democratic and free-market systems prevail. But it also must take on the challenge of integrating much of the rest of the world into this Western world order. That is not charity; it’s profoundly in America’s self-interest.

Today, the most significant foreign policy challenges are no longer defined by geography. Instead, many problems around the globe — terrorism, international slavery, climate change — stem from groups and issues that don’t fit neatly into friendly or enemy states. These issues require global cooperation to solve, not just between governments but with the involvement of other countries and even non-governmental organizations.

It’s a challenge that requires a complex machine, one whose many parts include the Department of State, the National Security Council, and other agencies; Congress; interest groups, think tanks, and academia; the media; and ordinary Americans. And it’s a machine that has grown in complexity and reach over the years.

But if it’s used poorly, the unquestioned power of the United States can become a liability rather than an asset. It can breed resentment in our allies, for example, as the American “way of life” is judged morally and culturally retrograde. And it can fuel the rise of new powers — Russia and China in particular — that are increasingly assertive on the world stage.

A UN resolution is a formal expression of the opinion or will of a UN body, backed by the authority of international law. They can range from recommendations on peace arrangements to sanctions, and are either binding or non-binding. A resolution may include an annex with further details and/or a series of “operative paragraphs” which direct action to be taken, such as imposing sanctions, sending envoys, or establishing missions.

Resolutions are numbered and begin with an unnumbered preamble that sets the context, sometimes using language from past actions. They also contain an operative section that lays out the body of the text, if it is binding or non-binding. While preambular clauses are usually written in a neutral tone, they can be more forceful, including invoking Chapter VII of the UN Charter and imposing obligations or authorisations to use coercive measures and force.

In this case, the operative paragraphs of the resolution call for “urgent and extended humanitarian pauses and corridors throughout Gaza to facilitate the provision of essential goods and services to civilian populations, including food, water, sanitation, medical supplies, equipment and shelter.” The Council also calls on Hamas to abide by its obligations under international law.

UN Watch opposes this resolution because it undermines the delicate diplomacy taking place to reach a true and sustainable ceasefire, draws false equivalence between Israel and Hamas, and fails to recognise the disastrous shortcomings of previous methods of aid delivery to Gaza. In addition, the performative nature of this resolution is particularly harmful at a time when serious questions are being asked about the value and utility of the Security Council and its veto privilege.

The term “late-breaking” refers to news that is deemed important enough for immediate dissemination. This can be as simple as a breaking story about a celebrity’s new relationship, as it could be as serious as the results of a medical study that has been published in a major journal.

The purpose of the late-breaking deadline is to provide a way for authors who are conducting highly relevant and potentially practice-changing research to present their work at the Congress if it will not be available by the standard abstract submission deadline. It is important to note that a submitted late-breaking abstract cannot be a revision of an abstract submitted by the regular deadline. Only a small number of late-breaking abstracts will be selected for oral presentation at the meeting.

In order to be considered for the late-breaking category, an abstract must describe a clinical trial with original investigational data that are NOT available by the abstract submission deadline. Please be sure to include a statement (on the Questionnaire submission page) explaining why your research could not be completed by the early deadline.

The submitting author must be an ASTS member (first or last author). To ensure that the appropriate author fee is charged, authors should log into the ASTS Abstract Submission system with the email address associated with their first or last author membership account. In addition, a $25 processing fee is required for each late-breaking abstract that is submitted.

A political scandal is the exposure of corrupt or unethical conduct by a politician, a public figure, or a government agency. Scholars have studied the causes of political scandal (Mandell, 2017; Tumber & Waisbord, 2019) and how alleged transgressions blur the lines between the private and public spheres (Almond, 2016). The growing body of research on scandal has paid considerable attention to news media coverage of specific scandal events, such as Watergate, Iran/Contra, and Benghazi.

This article focuses on how the news media frames specific scandal events, and how these frame discussions of the events shape citizens’ perceptions of them. It builds upon previous work examining news media representations of specific scandal events, such as the Whitewater and e-mail investigations (Entman & Stonbely, 2018; Mandell, 2017; Fogarty, 2013; Puglisi & Snyder, 2011), by examining how journalists frame a particular scandal in a given time period and how this framing influences how scandal discussion develops alongside the story itself.

This study demonstrates that the transformation of private actions into public scandal is a deeply political process that takes into account the merits and costs to respective parties. It suggests that the way in which misbehavior is transformed into a scandal is a poor proxy for the overall degree of malfeasance and that the use of scandal as a political tool is symptomatic of the rising levels of polarization in contemporary American politics. It also reveals that the more a politician engages in bad behavior, the more likely they are to become engulfed by political scandal and that it is important to understand how scandals are produced in order to reduce them.

People from around the world seek asylum to rebuild their lives in a safe place away from violence and persecution. People granted asylum can live in the United States legally, work and study, and can eventually apply for lawful permanent resident status (or “green card”). Asylum is a discretionary form of protection, but unlike refugee status, there is no numerical limit on how many people can be granted asylum each year. People who are denied asylum are eligible for more limited forms of protection, such as withholding of removal and deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture.

The asylum process is complex and involves multiple government agencies. It requires evidence proving that you have suffered past persecution or that you have a well-founded fear of future persecution. The credible fear determination is based primarily on your own testimony, but can be supplemented by other reliable information, such as documents, video recordings, and eyewitness accounts. The process can take years to complete. Backlogs of cases before immigration courts and USCIS asylum offices have increased substantially in recent years. These delays separate families, create uncertainty about a person’s future in the U.S., and make it more difficult to find pro bono lawyers who are able to commit their time to the case.

Seeking asylum is a fundamental human right, enshrined in both international law and United States laws. The principle of non-refoulement is central to the 1951 Refugee Convention and is a core international legal commitment. The United States should uphold its national and international obligations by improving the efficiency of the asylum process, including through reforms that ensure fair and timely review of claims, consistent with established legal standards.

Whether your company has stagnated or is struggling to gain ground in its industry, merging with another company could be the key to your business’s growth. By combining with a larger company, you can access new markets and increase your sales potential. However, it’s important to consider the benefits and costs of a business merger.

Mergers and acquisitions are both powerful strategic options for a business, but there are important differences between the two that you should be aware of. A business merger involves the consolidation of businesses into one legal entity, while an acquisition occurs when a company buys out another company’s shares, equity or assets.

A horizontal merger happens when companies that are in the same industry or at similar stages of production merge. This can help streamline processes, reduce production costs and expand their market reach. A vertical merger, on the other hand, combines companies that offer similar products or services to create a more comprehensive offering. This strategy can improve profitability by allowing a company to leverage its existing customer base while also gaining access to new markets without having to invest resources into research and development.

When preparing for a business merger, you must conduct due diligence to assess the target company’s finances, culture and assets. This process also includes evaluating the potential for increased regulatory scrutiny, both domestically and abroad. Once you’ve determined if the merger will benefit your company, it’s important to work with attorneys and financial experts to determine the optimal deal structure, leadership roles, ownership stakes and other key aspects of the agreement.

News coverage includes everything from the big issues such as terrorism, war, and international relations to local crime and business. It also covers personal stories such as the capture of hostages and tragedies like natural disasters. The news media is expected to cover the five Ws (who, what, where, when and why) of an event, as well as to be unbiased and avoid sensationalism.

People are interested in the world around them and want to know what’s going on, so it’s no surprise that news is one of the most popular topics online. Some of the most visited news sites include CNN, BBC, The Wall Street Journal, and Reuters, which are known for sticking to the facts and providing balanced reporting.

As news outlets have adapted to changing times, they have evolved from traditional print journalism into new formats. For example, the Cable News Network (CNN) specializes in breaking news and interviews with political figures. While this has been good for the industry, it has shifted how news is reported and consumed.

It’s important for people to understand how the news media works, and why it chooses to focus on certain stories over others. If you want to keep your audience informed, it’s a good idea to get on the record and explain your story selection process. Some examples of this can be done in a pull out box alongside the story; within the on-air or online article itself; in a social post; or in a newsletter blurb.

When it comes to assessing the economic health of a country, GDP (gross domestic product) is often the measure of choice. This is because it tells you the market value of all final goods and services produced in a nation or region over a certain period of time.

However, GDP growth alone is not the be all and end all when it comes to understanding a country’s economy. It is important to remember that GDP growth can be misleading, as it does not tell you whether the gains are being shared evenly by all citizens or if only the wealthiest are getting richer. In order to understand how much a rise in GDP actually means for the average citizen, you need to look at real GDP growth, which is calculated by dividing nominal GDP by a price deflator.

There are two main ways to calculate GDP: the production method and the expenditure approach. The former adds up the output of all industries using basic prices, while the latter sums up all expenditure on finished products and services including consumption, investment, government spending and net exports. It is through the last category that you can see how a country’s GDP grows or shrinks depending on its trade balance with other countries – imports and exports.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) releases national income and product accounts every quarter that provide the raw data used to calculate GDP in the United States. These are compiled from seven summary accounts that trace receipts and outlays for businesses, households, nonprofit organizations and the government. BEA also produces detailed GDP reports for state and industry that use the same data as these summary accounts. These reports are available in FRED, the St. Louis Fed’s signature economic database.