World Bank helps out China
The World Bank said last week it would lend China US$87 million to help expand the supply of renewable electricity in Asia's economic powerhouse and giant energy consumer. "China's abundant undeveloped resources of small hydropower, wind, biomass, geothermal and solar energy ... could help the country reduce some of the environmental damage from its overwhelming dependence on coal for large-scale, grid-based power generation," the global lender said.
Africans flood to cities
Sub-Saharan Africa's traditionally rural-based society is fast disappearing, with more than half its roughly 700 million people seen living in urban areas by 2030, the United Nations said Friday. The head of the UN housing project Habitat said Africa's "chaotic urbanization" was -- together with the HIV/AIDS pandemic -- the biggest threat to the world's poorest continent.
More tsunamis predicted
Scientists are convinced another giant tsunami will one day sweep across the Indian Ocean -- what they are not sure about is when. Almost six months after the deadly Dec. 26 tsunami, triggered by a magnitude 9.15 earthquake, scientists are keeping a close eye on aftershocks and the increased earthquake activity around Indonesia as they try to work out when the next big one will hit.
Blair caught in climate dilemma
British Prime Minister Tony Blair is trapped in a dilemma of his own creation over saving the planet from global warming, analysts say. Blair has put climate change at the heart of his year-long presidency of the Group of Eight industrial nations, but his efforts to get action agreed at next month's G8 summit in Scotland are being repeatedly torpedoed by the US.
Desertification a global threat
Desertification threatens to drive millions of people from their homes in coming decades while vast dust storms will damage the health of people continents away, an international report said last week. "Desertification has emerged as a global problem affecting everyone," said Zafar Adeel, assistant director of the UN University's water academy and a lead author of a report drawing on the work of 1,360 scientists in 95 nations.
Brazilians uncover `Michelangelo code'
Two Brazilian doctors and amateur art lovers believe they have uncovered a secret lesson on human anatomy hidden by Renaissance artist Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel's ceiling. Completed nearly 500 years ago, the brightly colored frescoes painted on the Vatican's famous sanctuary are considered some of the world's greatest works of art. They depict Biblical scenes such as the Creation of Adam in which God reaches out to touch Adam's finger.
Scientists look for new blood
Australian scientists say they have found a way to make blood cells in volume out of human master cells, which could eventually lead to production of safe blood cells for transfusions and organ transplants. Synthetically produced red blood cells would, in theory, overcome the concerns about dangerous infections that can be transmitted from blood donors to patients worldwide.
One of the biggest sore spots in Taiwan’s historical friendship with the US came in 1979 when US president Jimmy Carter broke off formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan’s Republic of China (ROC) government so that the US could establish relations with the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Taiwan’s derecognition came purely at China’s insistence, and the US took the deal. Retired American diplomat John Tkacik, who for almost decade surrounding that schism, from 1974 to 1982, worked in embassies in Taipei and Beijing and at the Taiwan Desk in Washington DC, recently argued in the Taipei Times that “President Carter’s derecognition
JUNE 30 to JULY 6 After being routed by the Japanese in the bloody battle of Baguashan (八卦山), Hsu Hsiang (徐驤) and a handful of surviving Hakka fighters sped toward Tainan. There, he would meet with Liu Yung-fu (劉永福), leader of the Black Flag Army who had assumed control of the resisting Republic of Formosa after its president and vice-president fled to China. Hsu, who had been fighting non-stop for over two months from Taoyuan to Changhua, was reportedly injured and exhausted. As the story goes, Liu advised that Hsu take shelter in China to recover and regroup, but Hsu steadfastly
You can tell a lot about a generation from the contents of their cool box: nowadays the barbecue ice bucket is likely to be filled with hard seltzers, non-alcoholic beers and fluorescent BuzzBallz — a particular favorite among Gen Z. Two decades ago, it was WKD, Bacardi Breezers and the odd Smirnoff Ice bobbing in a puddle of melted ice. And while nostalgia may have brought back some alcopops, the new wave of ready-to-drink (RTD) options look and taste noticeably different. It is not just the drinks that have changed, but drinking habits too, driven in part by more health-conscious consumers and
On Sunday, President William Lai (賴清德) delivered a strategically brilliant speech. It was the first of his “Ten Lectures on National Unity,” (團結國家十講) focusing on the topic of “nation.” Though it has been eclipsed — much to the relief of the opposing Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) — by an ill-advised statement in the second speech of the series, the days following Lai’s first speech were illuminating on many fronts, both domestic and internationally, in highlighting the multi-layered success of Lai’s strategic move. “OF COURSE TAIWAN IS A COUNTRY” Never before has a Taiwanese president devoted an entire speech to
RSS