A precarious geological bargain

Apr 18, 2016 14:21 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature

The landscapes of the Xinjiang province of western China are very special. It is here the ancient trade routes of the Silk Roads skirt the great mountains and deserts of central Asia, weaving a magic thread through a...

Catholicism's multi-billion dollar brand is struggling despite Pope Francis

Apr 18, 2016 13:20 pm UTC| Insights & Views Life

When the chief executive of Goldman Sachs, Lloyd Blankfein, told a newspaper the firm was doing Gods work, his appeal on behalf of higher powers was an attempt to rescue the tainted reputation not only of his own...

With Dilma Rousseff impeached, Brazil is set for years of political turmoil

Apr 18, 2016 13:15 pm UTC| Insights & Views Politics

The lower house of Brazils National Congress has voted overwhelmingly to impeach President Dilma Rousseff for allegedly covering up the scale of the countrys budget deficit, sending the case to the upper house. As the vote...

Positive inflation numbers take pressure off the RBNZ to act at April 28th meeting

Apr 18, 2016 12:09 pm UTC| Insights & Views Economy

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand is scheduled to review its OCR on 28th April. Falling commodity prices and a recently stronger NZD have meant continued or increasing downward risks for New Zealand inflation. In the final...

Briferendum Series

Government pro-Europe leaflet didn't swing voters in 1975 – and probably won't in 2016

Apr 18, 2016 11:49 am UTC| Insights & Views Politics

Back in 1975, when Harold Wilsons Labour government wanted to persuade voters of the merits of staying in the European Economic Community (EEC), they sent out a pamphlet Britains New Deal in Europe to every household in...

Migrant Crisis Series

The damning case against private providers of housing for asylum seekers

Apr 18, 2016 11:45 am UTC| Insights & Views Law

For four years, the Home Office has held a series of contracts with three private providers G4S, Serco and Clearel to procure and operate housing for asylum seekers in the UK. These contracts, known collectively as...

Why the Internet isn't making us smarter – and how to fight back

Apr 18, 2016 08:28 am UTC| Insights & Views Health

In the hours since I first sat down to write this piece, my laptop tells me the National Basketball Association has had to deny that it threatened to cancel its 2017 All-Star Game over a new anti-LGBT law in North Carolina...