Four Under-Reported Stories Of 2013

Four Stories You May Have Missed In 2013 -- Greg Scoblete and Kevin Sullivan, Special to CNN

There was no shortage of eye-grabbing global headlines in 2013. The Catholic Church chose a new Pope. China and Russia flexed their muscles. The U.S. and Iran, meanwhile, took a step back from the brink of what looked like a potentially explosive confrontation. But while these stories commanded an ample share of media attention, we’ve found four significant stories that may have slipped under your radar.

Global poverty retreats

With Southern Europe still reeling and the anemic U.S. recovery wobbling along, good economic news has been in short supply. But if you widened the lens, 2013 actually delivered some encouraging, indeed historic, news. It came in the form of a study from Oxford University’s Poverty and Human Development Initiative that concluded that developing countries were enjoying remarkable success in alleviating the worst poverty. They’ve had so much success, in fact, that Oxford predicted that crushing poverty in many of the least developed countries in the world (think Bangladesh, Rwanda, Nepal) is actually on track to be fully eradicated within 20 years.

Read more ....

My Comment: The mass persecution of Christians in the Middle East and northern Africa is (in my opinion) the most under-reported story of 2013. But what is happening in Mexico is also an under-reported story. The press focuses on the Mexican drug cartel war, but it is the break-up of Mexico's long cherished monopolies that will have a long tern (and positive) consequence for the Mexican people.