The new edition of Longitude, the magazine edited by Pialuisa Bianco will be on sale at news-stands from 4 May 2012.
Using data from the World Bank, the analysts at Longitude show that in spite of the economic crisis in the West poverty is decreasing exponentially, even when the population is growing. A reversal of trend that gives grounds for hope in the future of the world’s economy.
Under the headline “Joining the club – teeing off from global poverty”, the slightly surreal front-page photo shows a Vietnamese father teaching his son the rudiments of golf. Teeing off as a metaphor for escaping poverty, therefore, in a geographical region where the poor continue to exist.
A map inside the magazine shows that the percentage living under the $1.25 cents threshold has fallen from 42% to 22%, while in 100 years the population has grown exponentially and the area of absolute poverty has diminished. Of a global population of 7 billion, 1 billion are poor. By the time the population reaches 9 billion, there will be hardly anyone under the poverty threshold, although the generational change will mean that poverty as a concept will never be eliminated.
Difficult times for the conservatives in the USA
The other cover feature is devoted to the difficulties experienced by the conservatives in the United States: as a result of their loss of identity and their quest for a feasible candidate to stand against Obama.
A by no means negligible element of their “crisis” is related to demographic change: the Hispanic-Latino and Catholic vote. The feature includes a reconstruction of the many, and repeated, crises experienced by the conservatives, who may have been written off but who keep on going.
The leading article features the NATO summit taking place on 20 and 21 May in Chicago: the current state of the Alliance, the commitment in Afghanistan, the outlook and the weak points.
The French presidential “run-off”
Topical as always, Longitude is casting its eye on France and the second round of voting in the presidential election campaign: a major event in a day of voting that also includes the general election in Greece and local elections in Italy.
Images of civil war in Syria
Unique and dramatic pictures provide a powerful testimony to everyday life during Syria’s “civil war”. Families fleeing from bombed cities, children wearing soldiers’ uniforms as they play, refugees on the border with Turkey, their faces hidden for fear of being recognised. This feature shows the human side of the conflict – a side that does not emerge from the regime’s communications.
