Governments are working to protect their own populations first. But they risk potentially dire consequences in doing so, says Erik Berglöf

As Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil negotiators met again yesterday to resume policy discussions, the Green Party continues to insist that what is most urgently needed is a Government of national unity to deal with the Coronavirus crisis.

The economic analysis of the potential impact of Covid 19 remains up in the air, combining the maths of infectious disease with speculation about the efficacy of health system responses.

The OECD has told world leaders they can’t sit back and let the coronavirus ravage their economies, warning that the world is in “its most precarious position since the global financial crisis”.

In 2020, the world will mark the 75th anniversary of the liberal international order, writes Klaus Schwab.

Castor oil has been used as a laxative since ancient times, but it may assume new importance as a jet fuel in the age of climate mitigation.

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has written to Noel Grealish denouncing Dáil comments in which Mr Grealish singled out money being sent home by Nigerians living here.

Two separate reports have revealed the level of abuse and harassment suffered by women in Ireland, and raise further concerns that there is an under-reporting of the violence they face.

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has written to Noel Grealish denouncing Dáil comments in which he singled out money being sent home by Nigerians living.

A global carbon market is key to tackling the climate crisis, replacing fossil fuel energy with renewables while maintaining growth, write Graciela Chichilnisky and Peter Bal

A number of violent incidents in the past few years have culminated in the Justice Minister’s appeal to Ireland to be tolerant, writes Neil Michael

The influenza pandemic of 1918 killed 50m people. It would spread much more rapidly today, and recent outbreaks of ebola and yellow fever are a warning to us all, say Gro Harlem Brundtland and Elhadj As Sy.

The decisions by the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis to shed 320 of the 550 jobs at its Cork campus over the next three years and by Koch Industries to close its Molex manufacturing facility in Shannon, with the loss of 500 jobs, may be the tip of the manufacturing industry closures’ iceberg in Ireland.

Governments worldwide must start thinking ahead and increase funding at community, national, and international levels to shore up health systems and prevent the spread of outbreaks, writes Gro Harlem Brundtland

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe will stress the need to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland when he meets key White House officials.

London faces a high stakes diplomatic balancing act going forward given its desire to form closer post-Brexit economic ties with Beijing, writes Andrew Hammond

Around 15% of agricultural emissions come from methane-producing micro-organisms in rice paddies, according to the

Violence is on the rise globally, but it doesn’t have to be. The world has the knowledge, tools, structures, legal instruments, and data-collection capacity to halve violence, in all its forms, within a decade, write

When high levels of inequality are pointed out, a common response is that the “politics of envy” are being deployed. I heard the phrase myself when I tweeted recently that the share of income going to the richest 0.01% of adults in the UK was almost at a record high, based on my new analysis of UK tax data, writes Mike Brewer of the University of Essex

Property values have moved on since Dutchman Peter Minuit bought Manhattan Island from unnamed Native Americans for 60 guilders in 1626.

Since the United Kingdom’s Department of International Development (DFID) was created 22 years ago, it has lifted millions out of poverty, sent millions of children to school, and saved millions of lives through vaccination programmes and other innovative initiatives.

Migration cannot be addressed through stricter immigration laws. Policymakers must tackle underlying causes — beginning with a broken global food system, writes Danielle Nierenberg.

Humans generated 1.8 billion tonnes of solid waste in 2016, including 220 million tonnes of plastic, according to the World Bank.

Britain under Boris Johnson will lack the status to lead in important global multilateral development efforts, argues former British Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown.

Germany’s KfW Group is pulling out of loans for new coal projects, joining other European development banks that have already followed orders of their governments to minimise exposure to the world’s most widely used power-station fuel.

An Irish insect farming company has made it onto the Mission Innovation 100 Global High Impact Solutions list of innovators selected for having a climate mitigation potential of over 10 megatons, or having strategic importance for limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Centigrade.

In 1991, the Temple Bar Architectural Framework Plan was welcomed as a visionary approach to creating a new “cultural quarter” for Dublin in one of the most historic areas of the city.

Algeria’s economy is on its knees and the electorate is fed up of paying obeisance to an elderly demagogue, writes Zaki Laidi

Tackling inequality needs to be the cornerstone of the work to be done by the new president of the World Bank, writes Kevin Watkins.

The first week of the second quarter brought more bad news for the global economy and further evidence that central bankers are hitting pause — or even rewind — on their tightening plans.

Countries ‘missing’ 15% of economic activity on average

Ozone-related deaths have risen by 150% since 1990, while premature deaths cost the equivalent of 7.6% of GDP, says Shashi Tharoor.

Some 270m people there live below the poverty line, many of them without running water or proper shelter, and thus unable to protect themselves from the heat, says Gulrez Shah Azhar.

Pre-school children need to be taught IT skills or Ireland will fall well behind emerging digital economies such as Vietnam, a world-renowned economist has warned.

The international community’s ambition for aid must go beyond keeping people alive, to offering migrants a future, says Jorge Moreira da Silva.

Because of low wages, Africans already spend a huge amount of their income on food, but the absence of consumer protection is resulting in a crisis, writes Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli.

Fiji is entering a "frightening new era" of extreme weather, the leader of the Pacific island nation said after flooding from a cyclone killed at least four people.

Unlike other animals, humanity has voluntarily limited its reproduction, meaning the Earth and its people will survive as fertility rates fall across the globe, writes Noah Smith.

Cyril Ramaphosa’s victory in December’s contest to lead South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) was a resounding repudiation of President Jacob Zuma, writes Anne-Marie Slaughter.

Eighteen climate scientists from the US and elsewhere have hit the jackpot as French President Emmanuel Macron awarded millions of euros in grants to relocate to France for the rest of Donald Trump's presidential term.