Group items tagged

Roman Abramovich gains control of world's biggest nickel mine Kremlin appears to endorse deal that hands biggest voting share in $30bn Norilsk Nickel to Chelsea owner

"Syria has disappeared from the internet. That's not an exaggeration either, nearly the entire Middle Eastern country has been cut off from the web. A post from research company Renesys reveals that what effectively amounts to all of Syria's internet connectivity shut down earlier today: Starting at 10:26 UTC (12:26pm in Damascus), Syria's international Internet connectivity shut down. In the global routing table, all 84 of Syria's IP address blocks have become unreachable, effectively removing the country from the Internet. We are investigating the dynamics of the outage and will post updates as they become available. A more detailed post reveals that 77 networks, representing 92% of the routed networks in the country experienced an outage. The outage comes among increasing violence in the country. According to the Daily Star, the government cut off internet as well as cell phone activity amid increasingly fierce clashes between government troops and rebels."

"Ice loss in Antarctica since 1980 - interactive More than 4 trillion tonnes of ice from Greenland and Antarctica has melted in the past 20 years and flowed into the oceans, pushing up sea levels. The revelations come from a landmark study that provides by far the best measure to date of the effect climate change is having on the planet's biggest ice sheets"

More than 4 trillion tonnes of ice from Greenland and Antarctica has melted in the past 20 years and flowed into the oceans, pushing up sea levels. The revelations come from a landmark study that provides by far the best measure to date of the effect climate change is having on the planet's biggest ice sheets

Sales of ethical goods and services have increased despite the recession, growing to more than £47bn last year. Since the onset of the economic downturn five years ago, the value of ethical markets from Fairtrade products and green energy to free-range and sustainable food has grown from £35.5bn to £47.2bn, according to a report produced by the Co-operative Bank.

Chinalco has built a new town to rehouse thousands of displaced people - but some are determined to stay in doomed Morococha

From January 2013, Tanzania will start restricting the size of land that single large-scale foreign and local investors can "lease" for agricultural use. The decision follows both local and international criticism that major investors are grabbing large chunks of land here, often displacing small-scale farmers and local communities.

A US intelligence portrait of the world in 2030 predicts that China will be the largest economic power, climate change will create instability by contributing to water and food shortages, and there will be a "tectonic shift" with the rise of a global middle class.

US drought, rain in Europe and erratic weather in Asia have reduced yields, but harvests in the far east may break records

The rise of megacities - interactive By 2025, the developing world, as we understand it now, will be home to 29 megacities. We explore the latest UN estimates and forecasts on the growth of these 'cities on steroids', and take a look at the challenges and opportunities megacities present for the tens of millions living in Lagos, Mexico City and Dhaka

Thanks largely to vehicle emissions, Mexico City was once the world's most polluted urban centre. But over the past decade, a focus on sustainable alternative transport has persuaded a growing number of citizens to leave their cars at home. A heavily subsidised underground network caters for 22m journeys daily, and conditions on the city's overcrowded roads have improved, with the metro bus system and the introduction of public bicycles contributing significantly to reduced pollution levels

Food prices: 'Bread, coffee and fresh fruit have become a bit of a luxury' Affordability is now the key factor for grocery shoppers, with ethical considerations least important

UN warns of looming worldwide food crisis in 2013 * Global grain reserves hit critically low levels * Extreme weather means climate 'is no longer reliable' * Rising food prices threaten disaster and unrest

The index has been developed by the risk analysis company Maplecroft for governments, NGOs and business to use as a barometer to identify those countries which may be susceptible to famine and societal unrest stemming from food shortages and price fluctuations. This map shows the results of evaluating the availability, access and stability of food supplies in 197 countries, as well as the nutritional and health status of populations