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"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."

You need to read this one . Might be an idea to print it off and add to your notes

"China is pushing ahead with a sweeping plan to move 250 million rural residents into newly constructed towns and cities over the next dozen years - a transformative event that could set off a new wave of growth or saddle the country with problems for generations to come."

"In a paper published Thursday in Science, demographers from several universities and the United Nations Population Division conclude that instead of leveling off in the second half of the 21st century, as the UN predicted less than a decade ago, the world's population will continue to grow beyond 2100. (Read "Population Seven Billion" in National Geographic magazine.)"

"Measures relaxed on Monday night after cars were ordered off streets of Santiago, businesses shut and 7 million residents told to stay indoors"

"A bad reputation can be hard to shake off and takes concerted efforts over the long-term - just ask Nike, Nestlé and Asia Pulp and Paper"

"Off-shoring used to be a buzzword for British industry - with company after company shifting its production to lower cost countries. But now there are signs that the opposite is happening as some businesses re-locate production to the UK, in a process some are calling "re-shoring""

"The deaths of around 300 migrants off the small island of Lampedusa on 3 October has brought the issue of migration in the Mediterranean sharply back into focus."

"Brazil has announced that it will cancel or restructure almost $900m (£600m) worth of debt with Africa. Oil- and gas-rich Congo-Brazzaville, Tanzania and Zambia are among the 12 African countries to benefit. The move is seen as an effort to boost economic ties between the world's seventh largest economy and the African continent."

These images show the varying levels of light pollution on Earth, as seen from space. Canadian scientist Felix Pharand-Deschênes created the images to highlight our waste of energy.

Really good article

A shocking Peta video of a Chinese angora farm, showing live rabbits having their fur ripped off, has prompted retailers to halt orders of angora wool. So is it possible to farm these rabbits commercially and be kind to them?

"The gardens are home to one of a growing number of azoteas verdes - or green roofs - that are springing up around Mexico City as part of the metropolis's efforts to purge its air of the pollution that has long been among its least-desired claims to fame."