November, while usually the month of the turkey—but often overshadowed by overzealous Christmas fanatics (read: all department stores)—was a little different this year. This is why: J’aime Paris and the World Several coordinated terrorist attacks ravaged the city of Paris on the 13th, killing 130 people and injuring nearly 400 others. The tragedy has brought to […]
The world average fertility rate has fallen to approximately 2.5 children per woman, while the world population is expected to increase to over 11 billion by 2100. These two facts tell a layered tale of global population trends that is split by economic development. The least developed countries will see the greatest population increase, while […]
November 6th marked the end of Daylight Saving Time (DST) 2016, which began in the springtime. Clocks were set back an hour nationwide and worldwide, in at least 70 other countries. The practice of DST in the U.S. was first established in 1918, but then repealed the following year. It then started again during World War […]
Dispatches from Dubai: Dubai 101 *Please don’t kick me out of the country!* As you all may or may not know, I am spending a semester in Dubai, United Arab Emirates at the American University of Dubai. There are a lot of words to describe the Dubai and United Arab Emirates (UAE for brevity’s sake). […]
One of the prominent global environmental issues is the lack of clean drinking water in underdeveloped countries. Although water covers over 70% of the Earth, only 3% of the world’s water is freshwater – what we drink, bathe in, and irrigate farms with. Water is currently a scarce resource for 1 billion people in the […]
President Xi Jinping of China made an historic announcement to introduce a cap-and-trade system at the United Nations General Assembly meeting this week. Cap-and-trade, an idea that President Obama failed to implement in the United States, is a market-based system designed to curb carbon emissions and fight climate change. It provides carbon-emitting corporations a number […]
A cloudy, calm day greeted Kathmandu on April 25, 2015. A cool 62 degrees reigned over the day as a Saturday passed, giving way to what was supposed to be another regular Sunday. 07:09:08.90 UTC, Apr 26, 2015 The ground cracked and separated beneath feet. Buildings crashed to their doom. Chaos reared its manic head […]
The New Silk Road is China’s latest and most ambitious attempt to foster economic relations: two proposed trade routes, one sea-based and one land-based, that seek to integrate Central and South Asian economies with China and Europe. The Maritime Silk Road makes stops in South Asia before it circles over to Nairobi and then, throughout Europe. […]
In what is supposed to be the nation’s house of compromise, consistent discord and legislative procrastination seems to prevail. The upcoming 2016 election season has already begun leaving most politicians in a frenzy with prominent members of Congress seeking the Presidential nomination off on their personal campaigns. That leaves us with really just one ace in […]
The two main political parties of Bangladesh are in an open war with each other. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of the Awami League leads a campaign of suppression against the opposition, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), arresting several prominent BNP members and placing BNP leader Khaleda Zia under house arrest. (The Awami League won the […]
