We can re-engineer the system to create a new political centre, says Charles Wheelan of Dartmouth College and a former candidate for Congress Democracy has always been an imperfect way to govern. But today we are pushing the system to breaking point. It is like expecting a sturdy wooden bridge built for horse carts to carry endless streams of heaving lorries. We need to reform democracy substant..
Withdrawal from the European Union is the legal and political process whereby an EU member state ceases to be a member of the Union. Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) states that "Any Member State may decide to withdraw from the Union in accordance with its own constitutional requirements". As of February 2019, no member state has withdrawn from the EU (or the EC); however, the Go..
Parliament starts the process of seeking to extend the Brexit deadline beyond March 29th A busy Brexit week in the House of Commons finished on March 14th with a series of votes on asking for more time. By a large majority of 412 to 202 votes, MPs agreed to authorize the government to ask the European Union for an extension of the Article 50 Brexit dealine beyond March 29th. Along the way the go..
And much of that has to do with agriculture If the world is to reduce its use of water, the most obvious area in which to look for savings is where most water goes: agriculture. How much water this accounts for varies enormously from country to country. In Britain, which is a huge importer of embedded or "virtual" water (that consumed in producing any crop or product) accounting for as much as t..
The Korean independence movement was a military and diplomatic campaign to achieve the independence of Korea from Japan. After the Japanese annexation of Korea in 1910, Korea's domestic resistance has peaked in the March 1st Movement, which was crushed and sent Korean leaders to flee into China. In China, Korean independence activists built ties with the National Government of the Republic of Ch..
How to cross-check Elon Musk Go straight to the source" is a useful rule for anyone seeking accurate information. It suggests that equity investors can best glean insight into a firm by quizzing it chief executive. But bosses are not always reliable narrators. Their position encourages them to be overly optimistic about their company's outlook. Sometimes they are clueless. And occasionally they ..
It is a microcosm that reveals how much China is master of its own fate 1. The global centre The world's biggest building got off to a bad start. On the eve of its opening, Deng Hong, the man who built the mall-and-office complex, disappeared. For years Mr Deng had received tributes in local media for turning farmland into glistening conference centres and hotels. The billionaire "conference kin..
Even if they do, this will not fix what ails the border A few hours after Donald Trump tweeted about "the attempted Invasion of Illegals, through large Caravans, into our Country," Carmen sat in a church office in suburban Maryland, quietly sobbing. Five years ago she and her son, who was then three, fled from El Salvador and her violent husband. "It's difficult to leave your country," she says...
Rich-world scientists conduct questionable experiments in poor countries The announcement in November of the editing of the genomes of two embryos that are now baby girls, by He Jiankui, a Chinese DNA-sequencing expert - brought much righteous, and rightful, condemnation. But it also brought a lot of tut-tutting from the outside world about how this sort of things was to be expected in a place l..
Howard Schultz's presidential bid has got off to a bad start Mulling a run for the presidency has become something of a fad among American billionaires. Michael Bloomberg, Oprah Winfrey and Mark Zuckerberg have all been mentioned as potential challengers to President Donald Trump in 2020. On January 27th, Howard Schultz, former CEO of Starbucks, said he was considering a run - as an independent...
The social media network has endured endless scandals, but deeper problems lurk January has been a bad month for Facebook. First came a story showing that the social network has spent years in intentionally profiting from, and refusing to refund, accidental purchases made by children. Kids as young as five were spending hundreds or even thousands of dollars on Facebook, according to the Centre f..
It will pit the world's big powers against each other "SATISFACTION GUARANTEED!" promises the seller of "The Law and Policy of the World Trade Organization" (WTO). The magic of e-commerce means that the doorstopper can be exported from America to Tajikistan for a cool $35.95 (plus shipping). A new initiative on digital trade at the WTO strives to add to the laws and policies described within. Bu..
Discovery Hut was built by Robert Falcon Scott during the Discovery Expedition of 1901-1904 in 1902 and is located at Hut Point on Ross Island by McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Visitors to Antarctica, arriving at either the US Base at McMurdo or New Zealand's Scott Base are likely to encounter Discovery Hut as both are located on Hut Point. Discovery Hut is just 300m from McMurdo Base. The hut has b..
Identity and personal data will be vital aspects of living in the future, says will.i.am, a musician and entrepreneur At a lunch at the World Economic Forum five years ago, guests were asked to predict what people would care about around 2019. My mind raced through thoughts about identity and data. When the host, Marc Benioff, the founder and chairman of Salesforce, turned to me, I stated: "idat..
Solving the crisis will need time - and a second referendum No plan by any modern British government has been so soundly thrashed as the Brexit deal thrown out by Parliament on January 15th. The withdrawal agreement, the centrepiece of Theresa May's premiership, which she has spent nearly two years hammering out with the European Union, was rejected after five days' debate by 432 votes to 202. H..