The vanishing bluefin
The fate of the giant bluefin tuna is another example of the way our oceans are being plundered to satisfy gourmet tastes.
Society
Sailing Toward a Storm in China: U.S. Maneuvers Could Spark a War
Quietly and with minimal coverage in the U.S. press, the Navy announced that from mid-July through August it would hold exercises dubbed Operation Summer Pulse ’04 in waters off the China coast near Taiwan.
Zimbabwe ‘returning to stone age’
The introduction of ox-drawn ambulances is a sign that President Robert Mugabe is taking Zimbabwe back to the stone ages, the opposition says.
Fast decline of magnetic field hints at reversal
The collapse of the Earth’s magnetic field, which both guards the planet and guides many of its creatures, appears to have started in earnest about 150 years ago.
US: Postponement of the November election?
The Bush administration has asked for legislation enabling it to postpone the November election as a result of a terror attack.
Blackout Hits Athens Month Before Olympics
The worst blackout in more than a decade hit Athens and southern Greece on Monday, leaving millions sweltering in a heat wave and raising concerns about whether the lights will go out at next month’s Olympics.
America stuck in Iran policy
Whoever wins this November’s presidential elections, the United States faces an urgent question that the Bush administration has not resolved: What is America’s strategy for coping with the rising power of Iran?
Pressures at home bedevil Opec ministers
Behind the debate among Opec members on a reasonable price for their oil lies the urgent need among many of these oil-dependent nations to finance growing government expenditure in the face of rising unemployment and population growth.
Endgame in Iraq
The installation of the Ayad Allawi government in Baghdad may only increase the chaos in the country, which faces the prospect of internal conflicts and balkanisation.
OPEC to reverse its decision?
The OPEC may postpone implementation of its own decision taken at the extraordinary 131st conference in Beirut on June 3, where its members agreed to raise quotas on crude oil production and export by 0.5 million barrels daily.
Saudi castle of sand
Caught between the U.S. war on terror and its own militants, the House of Saud tries to cut deals to survive.
Don’t blame the Arabs: Oil faces new threats beyond the Gulf
The United States’ drive for energy security, one of the dominant elements in its tough-guy foreign policy, is running into trouble around the globe, making US control of Iraq’s oil wealth ever more necessary. And that is sure to stir up more trouble, unsettling a market that has become volatile and unpredictable.
