In Pakistan, corruption and floods are keeping al Qaeda fat and happy

By Haider Ali Hussein MullickBest Defense chief Pakistan correspondent Monday, October 25, 2010 – 10:53 AM I just got back from my third trip to Pakistan this year, where I examined the scope and scale of its counterinsurgency strategy and al Qaeda’s response. The bottom line is that al Qaeda’s big plans for world dominance […]

CIA seeking wider role in Pakistan

The Nation of PakistanPublished: October 24, 2010 NEW YORK – The United States is pressuring Pakistan to allow more CIA officers into the country to expand US secret operations aimed at eliminating militant havens near the Afghan border, a prominent American newspaper reported Saturday. “The US asked Pakistan in recent weeks to allow additional Central […]

Winds slowing around the world

By Ker Than for National Geographic NewsOctober 18, 2010 Around the world, surface winds are slowing down, a new study says. Strangely enough, the alleged culprits aren’t new buildings but new trees. The easing breezes—if also detected higher up—could affect movements of air pollution but may not necessarily give the wind power industry a case […]

Graph of the Day: Sea Surface Temperature and Salinity on Canada North Coast, 1930s–2000s

Long-term records of sea surface temperature show a period of colder surface waters from the period 1945–1978, switching to a long period of warmer surface waters from 1978–2006. The zooplankton community composition and several fisheries time series (e.g. salmon marine survival and sablefish recruitment) are correlated with large-scale climate signals (i.e. El Niño Southern Oscillation […]

Global warming ‘destabilises aquatic ecosystems’

By Mark Kinver Science and environment reporter, BBC News 22 October 2010 Last updated at 05:53 ET Future warming could have “profound implications” for the stability of freshwater ecosystems, a study warns. Researchers said warmer water affected the distribution and size of plankton – tiny organisms that form the basis of food chains in aquatic […]

Pakistani flooding inflames divisions

By Karin BrulliardSaturday, September 11, 2010 IN KARACHI, PAKISTAN Even in the best of times, Pakistan is a tenuous federation riven by regional, ethnic, sectarian and class rivalries. These are not the best of times. The South Asian nation is struggling to cope with cataclysmic floods that inundated every province, destroying infrastructure and leaving millions […]

Kenya issues one-week quit notice to Mau forest ‘invaders’ — PM reassures evictees

By NATION CORRESPONDENTPosted Friday, October 8 2010 at 10:35 Efforts to restore the Mau Complex were intensified on Friday when a one-week quit notice was issued to those who have encroached on the Maasai Mau Forest. The notice, according to Narok South DC Chimwaga Mongo, has been given to fresh encroachers who had gone deeper […]

Winter closes in on flood-devastated Ladakh

By Megha Sandhu, TNNOct 23, 2010, 03.57am IST LEH: As an unforgiving winter waits to descend on the mountainous desert of Ladakh, its people face the grim possibility of spending the bitter months without a proper roof on their heads. Having suffered due to the August cloudburst, residents of Leh’s many villages have been banking […]

Republic of Benin under water

By Daniel SellenWed, 2010-10-20 12:26 I’ve written before about floods in Niger and Abidjan, but these experiences left me poorly prepared for what I saw in Benin a few days ago. Half the country is under water, and it’s still raining. We recently received a request from the President of Benin to assist with recent […]

Invasive species and climate change a ‘deadly duo’

By David Fogarty, Climate Change Correspondent, AsiaSINGAPORE | Fri Oct 22, 2010 3:25am EDT (Reuters) – Climate change is set to drive the spread of invasive plant and animals species, threatening forests, fisheries and crops, in a double blow to nature and livelihoods, a World Bank-funded report [UPDATE: Archived here: pdf] said on Friday. The […]

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