More than 900 million people in developing countries face starvation as food prices soar, a new report from Oxfam finds. Spiraling inflation in the cost of basic foods, such as rice and cereals, have pushed an extra 119 million people… Read moreOxfam: 900 million face starvation worldwide
Oil prices posted the biggest one-day dollar gain ever Monday Sept. 22 as the dollar fell in response to Washington’s $700 billion Wall Street bailout plan. October oil contracts surged in afternoon trading, reaching $130āa more than $25 gain. It… Read moreOil soars as dollar plunges
The price of crude oil dropped below $100 per barrel for the first time in six months Sept. 15, closing at $95.71 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. With Lehman Bros. heading into bankruptcy and Merrill Lynch agreeing to a… Read moreOil prices fall āgasoline prices jump
Our August issue featured the story “Hokkaido: The Anti-Climate Summit” by Walden Bello of Foreign Policy in Focus, arguing that the G8 nations derailed meaningful efforts to address global climate change at the July summit in Japan. Bello protests that… Read moreClimate change and economic growth: our readers write
Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva said Aug. 4 he hopes an agreement may still emerge from the Doha round of World Trade Organization negotiations. “I don’t believe the round has failed. We still have enormous possibilities to negotiate,”… Read moreLula: give Doha a chance
Seattle Post-Intelligencer blogger Monica Guzman writes that local voices are calling for the Seattle Critical Mass to be banned following a violent incident at the last ride. For a study in contrasts, let’s compare corporate and alternative media accounts of… Read moreSeattle: curtains for Critical Mass after cyclists bash back?
There’s a lesson here. But how many people are going to get it? From AP, July 23: COLUMBUS, Ohio – Rising prices at the gas pump appear to be having at least one positive effect: Traffic deaths around the country… Read moreTraffic fatalities down āthanks to oil shock!
The US Interior Department July 16 opened 2.6 million acres of potentially oil-rich territory in northern Alaska to exploration, but deferred for ten years a decision on opening 600,000 acres north of Teshekpuk Lake that is the summer home of… Read moreInterior Department opens Alaska North Slope to oil biz; enviros applaud
The insidious thing about Al Gore is that he superficially sounds pretty good to environmentalistsāso much so, that his ideas are even blasted as extremism by right-wing idiots. But if you scratch them, there is always less there than meets… Read moreAl Gore’s pseudo-ecology strikes again
Is this satire? Please tell us this is satire. From AsiaOne News, July 12:
Japan’s fishing industry, one of the world’s largest, will stage a mass strike July 15 to protest soaring fuel costs. Some 200,000 fishing boats will cancel their trips for one day to demand government action. “Many fishermen cannot make ends… Read moreJapanese fishermen strike over fuel costs
In the new “Failed States Index” compiled by Foreign Policy magazine and the Fund for Peace, Somalia has displaced Sudan at the top of the list. Sudan is number two, followed by Zimbabwe and Chad. Iraq, which ranked second last… Read moreSomalia tops “Failed States Index”
