What we're reading

69 percent of Americans this past May said they had confidence in scientists to act in the public’s best interest

Hospitals and regulators have done little to ensure ERs are ready to treat children in emergencies

What the economic statistics obscure in the averages is that there is not one but two Americas—and a clear line demarcating the division is education

After decades of progress, U.S. life expectancy—long regarded as a singular benchmark of a nation’s success—peaked in 2014 at 78.9 years

How did one of President George W. Bush’s signature triumphs become a conservative target?

New drugs to defeat ‘superbug’ bacteria aren’t reaching patients

Globally, 149 million children under 5 years of age are estimated to be stunted

Ten years after an international treaty to ban mercury, the toxic metal continues to poison. The reason might have to do with your wedding ring

India is taking urgent steps to halt the transmission of a rare but deadly virus that spreads from bats to humans

The government of Ghana is essentially bankrupt, and has turned to the International Monetary Fund for its 17th financial rescue since 1957

How rich countries’ selfish pandemic responses stoked distrust

For more than two years there have been efforts to break the lock that wealthy countries have on life-saving new vaccines