Melting polar ice, evaporating oceans and rising temperatures influence global weather patterns in volatile ways. Climate scientists warn that even as winters gradually shrink in length, Earth’s inhabitants can expect heavier rainstorms, snowfalls and flooding. Climate-change skeptics argue that...
Click here for the article in Environmental News Service.
When 20 global leaders convened in 2008 to review the unfolding credit crisis, many anticipated a new forum for global cooperation. In meetings since, “the leaders failed to reach an agreement on any of the contentious issues that threatened economic recovery,” writes Nayan Chanda, editor of...
Two years ago, in the midst of the financial crisis, the then US President George W. Bush called a meeting of 20 leading nations to discuss action. It was seen as marking the start of a new era. French President Nicolas Sarkozy pronounced the dawn...
An influx of wealthy Chinese are snapping up high-end London properties. Representing 5 percent of buyers and growing, they are favored by brokers for paying in cash in an effort to evade Chinese capital regulations. To cash in on the influx, brokers hire Mandarin and Cantonese speakers and even...
Click here for the article in The New York Times.
Only a few years ago, some of Europe's most respected thinkers and leaders called for increasing ties between the European Union and China, championing the EU's supranational and cooperative structures as a potential attraction to China. Now, as China has proven unwilling to cooperate...
Click here for the article in The Economist.
In only five years Ecuadorean roses have become one of the most popular Valentine’s Day flowers on the international market. Born out of the anti-drug war in the US, which encouraged Central American farmers to convert to flowers rather than cocoa, Ecuador's flower industry now boasts 50,000...
Click here for the original article on The New York Times website.
Toledo, Ohio, is among the communities doing its best to welcome refugees. “Fewer than 2,000 Syrians have come to the U.S., though the war has displaced more than 12 million since it began in 2011,” reports Ari Shapiro for NPR. He describes the experiences of one of eight families settling in...
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Energy is big business, and coal is behind about 40 percent of the global electricity production and 65 percent of Indian power. Developed nations like the United States and Australia are among major coal producers and exporters. Yet political leaders and NGOs in those nations harangue emerging...
Australia is a coal country. It is big business; miners are important in politics and black gold exports dominate the country's finances. But dirty and polluting coal evokes strong emotions in environmentally concerned people. Coal-based power...
All economies depend on a steady energy supply, but the world’s second largest oil producer, the United States, has imposed sanctions on Iran, sixth largest producer. India, ranking 23rd, plans on buying more Iranian crude oil: “Realism dictates India to turn increasingly to Tehran as it faces a...
Click here for the article in The New Indian Express.