Last week witnessed the hottest temperature ever recorded in north-of-the-Artic-circle Verkhoyansk, Russia. Polar heatwaves are very bad news. They accelerate global warming. Melting sea ice gives way to dark water that absorbs more heat. Melting permafrost releases huge amount of ice-trapped greenhouse gases while damaging all man-made infrastructure. These changes are often irreversible.
It has been hard to choose from what I read and listened to on Black Lives Matter. Feel free to share with me what you have found the most helpful and educational. I need it. I would suggest taking the time to listen to Nikole Hannah-Jones’ 1619 podcast series: it is personal, it has good soundtrack, it provides a whole alternative narrative on how slavery shaped the American economy and how black people’s struggles and fights paved the way for other minorities’ struggles and fights.
The Center for Global Development published their 2020 Commitment to Development Index which uses over 50 indicators to assess rich countries’ dedication to helping the poor. While the UAE features last in the list of 40 countries for the overall index, it is in the top-5 countries supporting health multilaterals – assessed through their relative aggregated contributions to WHO, GAVI and the Global Fund.

My quote this week is from Psychiatrist Julie Holland [28’53’’]: “In medicine, un-checked growth is called cancer. And to me it’s pretty much the same in business: If it’s all about growth and profit you are missing public benefits.”