This past April 30 marked the 38th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon and the end of the Vietnam War. The iconic images of American helicopters evacuating people on building rooftops in Saigon in April 30, 1975 made it unimaginable that someday Washington policymakers and Hanoi communist leaders would explore steps towards a strategic partnership between the two countries. But the unimaginable has become possible. The US-Vietnam relationship has gradually taken the shape of a strategic one, albeit with some hurdles, through enhanced economic, diplomatic and defense relations.

Venezuela's government has ordered 50 million rolls of toilet paper after a widespread shortage has left the nation — hanging out to dry.

This past weekend, the Sherpas for the group of 20 nations met for the third time in St. Petersburg to lay the ground work for the G20 Leaders’ Summit in September. Absent from any public disclosures of these meetings and the proposed fall agenda, so far, have been a newly revealed underbelly of disease and poverty in the G20 countries resulting from a group of chronic and debilitating infections known as the neglected tropical diseases or “NTDs.” NTDs are long-lasting and disabling parasitic and related infections that few people know about, such as leishmaniasis, elephantiasis, liver fluke, Chagas disease, and hookworm infection. They are the most common infections of poor people, rendering them too sick for work or productive activities and with the ability to reduce child intellect and future wage earning. The NTDs disproportionately affect girls and women.