'Newer drug regimens are also shorter, more effective and less toxic'

Opinion, comment and editorials of the day

A man looks out from the tuberculosis ward in a hospital in the Indian city of Jalandhar.
A man looks out from the tuberculosis ward at a hospital in India, a country with high rates of the disease
(Image credit: Shammi Mehra / AFP via Getty Images)

'We now have a chance to stop the most deadly infectious disease — if we act'

Atul Gawande at The New York Times

There are "new advances in screening, prevention and treatment" that "now make dramatic progress possible" in the fight against tuberculosis, says Atul Gawande. In countries with high TB rates, the "government, the private sector and civil society organizations must commit to financing and delivering the new tools to stop TB." There have been "advances in every aspect of TB control" that "make it possible to greatly accelerate the reduction of TB globally."

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'US policymakers should embrace MDMA'

Helene Servillon at the Financial Times

The FDA's "rejection of MDMA-assisted therapy is yet another setback in the global mental health epidemic," says Helene Servillon. "Better mental healthcare treatment is required" in the United States, so we "should continue to look backwards in order to move forwards." The country is in the "grip of a mental health epidemic," and "patients are ready to try alternatives" like MDMA. Innovations "require reimagining wellness beyond the status quo. So does psychedelic medicine."

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'Both parties got us to where we are on foreign policy'

Doug Bandow at The American Conservative

The U.S. is the "most secure great power ever," but "Washington policymakers have made the world unnecessarily dangerous for America," says Doug Bandow. Donald Trump is "right about Barack Obama and Joe Biden" on foreign policy, but "nevertheless, he also is at fault, perhaps even more than them. So is George W. Bush, the worst president in the last half-century." The U.S. "should shift course. Its ambitions should be modest, since improving relations with today's adversaries will be difficult."

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'Driverless trucks' biggest obstacles could be a jury'

Thomas Black at Bloomberg

Autonomous trucks "won't interact with the public unless there's an accident," but "that doesn't mean there won't be accidents," says Thomas Black. But "even if an autonomous truck reacted properly and was involved in an accident, the whole experiment could be strangled in its infancy by frivolous lawsuits and exorbitant jury verdicts." The "reality is that driverless vehicles will have to be drastically safer than those with human drivers or the autonomous industry won't survive."

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Justin Klawans, The Week US

Justin Klawans has worked as a staff writer at The Week since 2022. He began his career covering local news before joining Newsweek as a breaking news reporter, where he wrote about politics, national and global affairs, business, crime, sports, film, television and other news. Justin has also freelanced for outlets including Collider and United Press International.