In The News

Rescuing the European Model

Joergen Oerstroem Moeller May 2, 2013
Europe has suffered through a debt crisis, but governments are trimming, not abandoning, social welfare programs. Such modifications could become a model for economic globalization around the globe, suggests Joergen Oerstroem Moeller, a senior research fellow with the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore. Europe is reducing budgets while preserving social protections for the future...

Bacteria “Can Produce Diesel Biofuel”

Rebecca Morelle April 29, 2013
A genetically modified form of E. coli bacteria can convert sugar into diesel-like oil, UK researchers report in a journal of the US National Academy of Sciences. The development is part of “a push to increase the use of biofuels around the world,” reports Rebecca Morelle of BBC News. Currently most biofuels are not “fully compatible with modern engines” and require blending with some petroleum....

From Boston to Chechnya to Moscow: Chain of Terror Unites US and Russia

April 19, 2013
As the police continue to hunt for a suspect in the Boston marathon bombing, the long-running battle of Muslim Chechens in Russia has reemerged into focus. The US and Russia are in complete agreement on at least one foreign-policy issue, a desire to prevent and combat Islamic extremism, and reports that two suspects in the Boston marathon bombing are brothers of Chechen background will prompt...

China Targets Greenland for Mining

Will Hickey April 18, 2013
Tight profit margins in the mining industry – along with consolidation among large multinationals, huge capital investments, high-tech automation and rigid equipment maintenance contracts – have reduced job creation for nations with natural resources. Greenland, with 57,000 citizens, mostly indigenous, has vast deposits of minerals. A logical move would be for Greenlanders to rely on Danish...

US Moves Toward Teaching Climate Change; Britain Does Opposite

Christoper F. Schuetze April 12, 2013
Guidelines for US science educators in at least 40 states will emphasize climate change and the human contribution in middle school and high school. Political opposition to the notion of human influence over a warming climate is intense in the US. In the United Kingdom, administrators have urged educators to avoid the topic for students under age 14, and top scientists even suggest that students...

One Man’s Meat Is Another Man’s Poison

Nayan Chanda April 4, 2013
Advice on recipe substitutions is common in cookbooks, but diners don’t like big surprises. The food scandal in Europe exposed the ease at adding less expensive horse for beef in processed meals and the attraction of low-cost, processed foods for the poor. Europe’s horsemeat scandal won’t “reverse the global supply chain that has evolved over the last decade, bringing in efficiency and expanded...

Experimenting on Good Governance in Latin America

Humphrey Hawksley April 3, 2013
Association Agreements are trade agreements between the EU and non-EU countries on bilateral relations, progressive trade liberalization, political and economic cooperation, while emphasizing human rights and democratic principles. A region-to-region agreement between the EU and Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama was signed in 2012. Putting the eurozone crisis...