Deforestation – its adverse impact on the economy
In December 2015, governments from around the world came together to sign the Paris Agreement, agreeing to tackle climate change and keep global warming under two degrees centigrade. They committed…
Rubber plantation brings both work and worries to Gabon
When one of the world's biggest traders of agricultural commodities went to Gabon's government with a multi-million-dollar plan to produce rubber, the authorities jumped at the chance to diversify an…
BLM and us
The killing of an Afro-American man, George Floyd, by police in Minneapolis, USA, has proved one of those historic tipping points no one could have predicted. The tragic US history…
Decolonisation in consciousness and fact
The US and subsequently many parts of the world have been in turmoil since the tragic death of George Floyd in the US, the emergence with renewed force of the…
How US history is whitewashed
This June, like so many over the past three decades, small armies of graduate students, high school teachers and college faculty descended upon US cities throughout flyover country to score…
Martinique’s water woes drive anger at French rule
In Martinique, a French territory in the Caribbean, tourists flock to crystalline waterfalls nestling in the tropical rainforests. But the water that comes out of Christelle Marie-Sainte’s tap at home…
Merged areas: livelihood dilemma
THE former Fata districts of Pakistan have some of the worst economic indicators and highest unemployment rates of any region in the country. Historically, these areas have never been very…
Battling smog
Lahore’s battle with smog has gone literal. For weeks, Lahore’s 14 million residents have found themselves shrouded in a dense, toxic haze – a lethal blend of fog and pollutants…
After the bailout
As Pakistan battles multiple pitfalls, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government hopes to oversee a period of stability following today’s approval of a new IMF loan worth $7 billion. It is…
There’s something in the air
When one returns from a foreign country to Karachi, s/he is met with garbage issues and an assault on one’s olfactory senses. The city of Karachi today is not only…
