From In These Times, Fighting Corporate Copper in Bougainville: Multinational polluter Rio Tinto sued under Alien Tort Claims Act for causing deaths of 10,000 Papua New Guineans. Almost entirely dependent upon foreign aid, cash-starved countries in Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia vacillate between forming diplomatic ties with China or Taiwan based on the amount of funds involved. An essay on The Kingdom of Tonga and the Fight Against Feudalism in the Pacific Islands. Fiji has had four coups in 20 years, but Owen Sheers finds racial harmony survives despite the political tension. A review of The Fragile Edge: Diving and Other Adventures in the South Pacific by Julia Whitty. No Man is an Island: Evidence of our actions is everywhere—even on a remote Pacific atoll.
From Cosmos, Unnatural Selection: The power and beauty of the natural world is everywhere in the wilds of Africa, as is the possibility of tragedy and death; and landmines, chemical agents and hunting for bushmeat all take a heavy toll on wildlife during war, but on occasion animals can fare surprisingly well in times of conflict.
From Vanity Fair, Jeffrey Sachs' $200 Billion Dream: Extreme poverty can be eradicated, insists superstar economist Jeffrey Sachs—all it takes is determination, focus, and, well, money; and The Lazarus Effect: Aids is no longer a death sentence, thanks to miracle drugs. But millions still can't afford them. Enter the consumer-action strategy of (Product) Red. How Bono made Africa the focus of several Vanity Fair covers: First, it was The Independent. Now Bono has guest-edited the world's glossiest magazine. David Usborne tells the inside story of Vanity Fair's Africa Issue - and how its 20 stunning covers were created. Al Gore wins Spain's prestigious Prince of Asturias award for his work in defending the environment, the latest feather in the cap of the politician-turned-activist.
A vast rift yawns between the three players that matter most when it comes to stopping climate change: Europe, China, and the United States. Finding a language that speaks to ourselves: A review of Heat: How to Stop the Planet from Burning by George Monbiot. Here Comes the Heat: New research suggests climate change could be faster and more furious than anyone expects. Everybody talks about the weather; now, all of a sudden, it’s controversial. Rising seas, spreading deserts, intensifying weather and other harbingers of climate change are threatening cultural landmarks from Canada to Antarctica.
From Spectrum, a special report on A How-To Manual for the Megacity, including Engineering The Megacity: How technology can make our urban future better; How to Build a Green City: Shanghai hopes to build the world's first truly sustainable city; How to Measure a City's Metabolism: Taking stock of London's appetites; How to See the Unseen City: A veritable museum of forgotten infrastructure lies buried beneath a city's streets; How to Build a Mile High Skyscraper: Behemoth buildngs are becoming practical, thanks to new technologies and innovations in construction materials; How Not to Make a Megacity: On a good day, Lagos is exasperatingly corrupt, poverty-ridden, and dangerous; How to Design a Perfect City: Paolo Soleri imagines systems as intricate and insular as ocean liners; How to Keep 18 Million People Moving: São Paulo operates the world's most complex bus system; Made-to-Measure Mass Transit: Driverless cars aim to give each passenger a customized ride; and megacities by the numbers.
