A new report from researchers at Oxford University argues that large dams are a risky investment – soaring past projected budgets, drowning emerging economies in debt and failing to deliver promised benefits. Do they ever really make sense? A peek over the edge of the Hoover Dam’s 60-storey wall is enough to send shivers down anyone’s spine. Constructed from enough concrete to pave a motorway from New York to […]
The boxy white and grey factory of this rainy northern town makes fewer than half the washing machines it did when Italy joined the euro. It is one of the many symbols of Southern Europe’s industrial decline. Today, however, the Porcia plant is also a testing ground for the region’s industrial future. Home appliance maker Electrolux, which owns the factory, wants to cut the salaries of some 5,000 workers at […]
Tony Hawken, 57, is divorcing millionairess wife Xiu Li, 51, after 21 years Couple met on a blind date while he was a teacher and she was a student Couple suddenly became rich in 2011 when Li’s idea of building shopping centres into Chinese air-raid shelters made her £1.1billion They traded modest semi in South Norwood for £1.5million home in Surrey Mr Hawken doesn’t like being rich and ‘isn’t in […]
Malaria parasites – seen here infecting red blood cells – and mosquitoes do not like cold temperatures Warmer temperatures are causing malaria to spread to higher altitudes, a study suggests. Researchers have found that people living in the highlands of Africa and South America are at an increased risk of catching the mosquito-borne disease during hotter years. They believe that temperature rises in the future could result in millions […]
The winter storms that battered the UK caused the greatest loss of trees since the Great Storm of 1987 in some areas, the National Trust has said. More than 50 of the trust’s sites were surveyed, with some losing hundreds of trees including valued ancient specimens. Many trees were uprooted and blown over rather than snapped, due to the saturated ground. The trust said that despite the damage, the losses […]
Radical treatment helps patients’ defences against virus by replacing immune cells with genetically modified versions Scientists were cautious not to draw strong conclusions from the small scale trial, which was designed to assess the safety of the therapy, but the early signs have raised their hopes. Photograph: Geostock/Getty ImagesA radical gene therapy to combat HIV using genetically modified cells that are resistant to the virus has been declared a success […]
A Moose Mystery Moose in Minnesota are dying at an alarming rate, and biologists are racing to understand what’s behind the rapid decline. GRAND PORTAGE, Minn. — For moose, this year’s winter-long deep freeze across the Upper Midwest is truly ideal weather. The large, gangly creatures are adapted to deep snow: Their hollow fur insulates them like fiberglass does in a house. And the prolonged cold helps eradicate pests that […]
U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel makes remarks to the press on looming budget cuts at the Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia, February 24, 2014. The Pentagon unveiled a $496 billion base budget on Tuesday that looks beyond Afghanistan to future U.S. security challenges after a dozen years of war, cutting the military to afford more training and new weapons as it adapts to an era of tighter spending. The budget set […]
Glassdoor, a website that offers an inside look at employee earnings and company reviews, has compiled a report that ranks where interns are compensated most generously. The results are revealing, and pretty shocking when we realize just how much some interns take home. Of course, compensation isn’t the sole factor that drives workers to seek internships. Most interns rank career growth as their motivation to work for free. Yet, unpaid […]
What we found in the Clinton documents STORY HIGHLIGHTS Newly released Clinton papers detail health care battle of 1990s Public gets a new look at inner workings of the Clinton White House Several thousand pages of documents released in a first batch Hillary Clinton is now a potential presidential contender in 2016 More than 3,500 pages of previously secret Clinton White House documents made public Friday showed that the more […]
