Feature / Analysis

'Soviet-style’ wind farm subsidies to face the axe

“Soviet-style” green subsidies for wind farms must be scrapped because turbines are blighting local communities, the new Environment Secretary said on Tuesday. Owen Paterson, who took on the role last month, said wind developers should “stand on their own two feet” instead of asking for money from ...

Report: Climate change behind rise in weather disasters

The number of natural disasters per year has been rising dramatically on all continents since 1980, but the trend is steepest for North America where countries have been battered by hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, searing heat and drought, a new report say.The study being released today by Munich Re,...

Afghan addicts help run daring new restaurant in Kabul

KABUL: Inhaling deeply on a cigarette, Laila Haidari sits on the floor of a new Kabul restaurant wondering if it will one day allow her to repay an eye-watering $26,000 borrowed from friends to launch a daring project to aid Afghan drug addicts. Haidari plans to find staff for her Taj Begum ("Woma...

Navy SEALs serve as buffer between Afghans and Taliban

SHAH WALI KOT, KANDAHAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan: The use of special operations forces has been a contentious issue for Afghan leaders, who in recent years have been critical of "night raids," which Afghans say result in many civilian casualties. The helicopter landed shortly after dawn on a remote h...

Let's Leave Afghanistan; What Is the Problem?

As many readers know I have written several articles regarding Afghanistan on OEN. They have to do with our country recognizing that we have lost still another war that we caused and was a result of sheer ignorance and arrogance. Imagine my surprise when I read an article by Anna Mulrine, Staff writ...

Amid concerns about Afghan-American partnership, a story of trust

KABUL: 1st Lt. Michael Molczyk had heard stories about “insider” attacks — and the Afghan soldiers and police officers who grew to see their partners as enemies. As a platoon commander, he couldn’t ignore those assaults on American troops, which during bad weeks were reported day after day. But to...

Afghan Human-Rights Campaigner Answers Her Critics

A recently awarded Afghan human rights campaigner has found herself on the defensive as critics have questioned her organization's failure to publish its report on grave human rights violations committed in Afghanistan over the past three decades. Last week, Sima Samar was named one of four recipi...

Why B2B Portals Are So Important For Business Growth

You must be wondering what b2b means? It is an abbreviation for Business to Business. Now, let's understand what is b2b portal and how do they work?What is a B2B portal?A b2b portal is a compilation of web pages where both big scale suppliers and buyers can list themselves to initiate business activ...

Endangered eats

Chocolate, coffee, pork and fish are just a few of the foods feeling the heat of climate change. PORKLast week the UK's National Pig Association called for the world to “Save our bacon”. As droughts in the US and Europe have raised feed prices, a global shortage of pig meat is “now inevitable”, sai...

Transport turning its back on oil, study finds

The transport industry that burns over half the world's oil is wriggling free from dependence on petrol and diesel at a rate that should alarm producers, an independent research report said on Monday."The oil industry can no longer rely on its monopoly of the transport market," said the Chatham Hous...

Freeze, drought take bite out of fall tourism

INDIANAPOLIS: Devastating spring freezes and a historic drought have stripped some charm from rustic fall destinations, leaving some corn too short to create mazes, orchards virtually devoid of apples and fall colors muted.Extreme weather has forced agritourism ventures in the heart of the country t...

Portable solar device could change lives in third world countries

SIOUX FALLS, S.D.: South Dakota entrepreneur Brian Gramm was tailgating outside a college football game one sunny day when he wondered why he couldn't use that energy to plug in a radio.The first-world inconvenience led him to develop the Forty2, an all-in-one "utility in a box" that Gramm now think...

SolarWorld could win permanent tariffs on Chinese products, irking critics

SolarWorld Industries Americaappears poised to win lasting relief from Chinese competition that the company decries as illegal and unfair, shoring up employment for about 900 workers who make solar cells and modules in Hillsboro. SolarWorld managers have waged a bruising trade fight, alienating swat...

Romney’s Goals on Environmental Regulation Would Face Difficult Path

WASHINGTON: Mitt Romney vowed in a campaign appearance earlier this year to “take a weed whacker” to the thicket of federal regulations adopted by the Obama administration and promised to impose a rigid freeze and cost cap on all new government rules. He has pledged to reverse a half-dozen major Env...

Clouds are gathering over Britain's new nuclear dawn

The Government's plans to head off an impending energy crisis are shrouded in uncertainty, reports The politicians of Cumbria County Council have cooled on the idea of burying hundreds of thousands of tonnes of nuclear waste but a kilometre beneath their feet.Initially tempted by the huge economic...

Even After Rains, Facing Long-Term Water Needs

SAN ANGELO: With its pretty rivers and lakes, this city of 95,000 people is sometimes called the oasis of West Texas. But San Angelo recently came within a year of running out of water, as it faced a severe drought that produced brown lawns, dying bushes and fear. “Who wants to pull up to a hotel an...

Oceans' rising acidity a threat to shellfish — and humans

As carbon dioxide continues to build up in the atmosphere as a result of burning fossil fuels, the seas absorb much of it. The full effects have yet to be felt. Peering into the microscope, Alan Barton thought the baby oysters looked normal, except for one thing: They were dead. Slide after slide,...

The demagogue in Khan

TALIBAN Khan is back. Today, Imran Khan and his band of angry Khanistas will be in full cry. They will rail against the state. They will decry the spilling of blood in Fata. They will wring their hands and speak of peace. They will claim state policy is endangering Pakistan and Pakistanis. They will...

Iran currency crisis not yet enough to threaten regime

PARIS: The protests that have rocked Tehran over Iran’s plunging currency expose an undercurrent of tension and the effects of sanctions, analysts say, but do not yet signal a real threat to the regime.Despite hopeful talk from Israel of a “Persian Spring”, experts said the regime remains firmly in ...

Haqqani ties to Afghan insider attacks possible: US

KABUL: The Haqqani insurgent network, allegedly based in Pakistan and with ties to Al Qaeda, is suspected of being a driving force behind a significant number of the ”insider” attacks by Afghan forces that have killed or wounded more than 130 US and allied troops this year, American officials say. ...

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