In The News

Viewed From Chinese Border, North Korea Is More Curiosity Than Threat

Lauren Keane November 9, 2006
Beijing has declared its official opposition to the nuclear tests conducted by North Korea and even responded to international calls to impose partial economic sanctions on its historic ally. Despite their government’s seemingly forceful reaction, however, the Chinese people seem largely unconcerned about a nuclear North Korea. Many cite the historically friendly relationship between the two...

Small Islands’ Migration Drama

Dominic Bailey September 28, 2006
Sunbathing tourists have discovered unexpected company on the beaches of the Canary Islands lately, as boatloads of West African migrants wash up on the shores of this Spanish possession just off the Moroccan coast. These migrants make the life-threatening crossing to flee political upheaval in regions like Senegal’s separatist Casamance province and to seek better lives in the schools and labor...

China Puts Price on Head of Rare Animals

Jonathan Watts August 24, 2006
The economic law of supply and demand makes no exception for endangered species: Price goes up as the population declines. The Chinese government is selling permits to foreign tourists, giving them the right to hunt yak, wolves and argali in five of the nation’s poorest provinces. Chinese are not eligible for the permits. The government suggests that the expensive hunts will aid conservation...

US Cuts in Africa Aid Said to Hurt War on Terror

Mark Mazzetti July 27, 2006
The US government has ended military aid for several African countries with governments that refused to sign an “Article 98 agreement” that exempts American soldiers from the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The 2002 “American Servicemembers’ Protection Act” is a keystone of US opposition to the ICC, but the aid cutoffs have angered some military officials who say that...

The Village That Refused to Die

Jonathan Watts July 19, 2006
Hydro-engineers making their way to the Chezhou village in rural China didn’t expect a warm welcome, but never imagined they would be held hostage by villagers angry about the construction of a dam that will force them to abandon their homeland. The government has proposed a dam for one of China’s most ecologically diverse and beautiful areas – the Tiger Leaping Gorge. While villagers have staged...

Last Stop, Lhasa: Rail Link Ties Remote Tibet to China

Joseph Kahn July 6, 2006
In terms of engineering, there is no doubt that the completed railway connecting Beijing to Lhasa, the remote capital of the Tibetan Autonomous Region, is a great feat. It traverses a total of 710 miles, much of it over unstable permafrost at astonishing altitudes. Chinese officials hailed the $4.1 billion project, expecting it to increase the flow of tourism, information and development to the...

Desert Cities Are Living on Borrowed Time, UN Warns

John Vidal June 9, 2006
Desert cities all over the globe move closer to becoming completely unlivable. Rising temperatures and lack of rain in such areas from Phoenix in the US to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia are affecting as many as 500 million people worldwide with rising water tables beneath irrigated soils, leading to increased salinization. This phenomenon affects large tracts of land all over central and south Asia,...