World

China and India have long been the epicenters of cheap, rapid production for companies in the industrialized world looking to keep costs down. According to a new report from the digital newspaper The Establishment Post, however, both countries are quickly losing their grip over the globalized manufacturing sector, with Vietnam looking increasingly attractive to foreign investors and multinational corporations. The last five years have seen a growing number of companies move their manufacturing from the Middle Kingdom into Vietnam. The move has been so pronounced that manufacturing has boomed, and now accounts for 25% of Vietnam's economy. Cooling Chinese Economy, ASEAN Boom Play a Big Role The loss of manufacturing is particularly noticeable for China. Vietnam offers far more competitiv...

Mali is making changes to its artisanal mining practices, boosting funding for the independent miners, and policing the sector that produces about a third of the country's gold exports. At a mining reform meeting on Thursday, Abdoulaye Pona, president of Mali's chamber of mines, and mine minister, Boubou Cisse, said the government was negotiating with banks to give miners easier access to financing for equipment, and that newly formed cooperatives would be supervised and revenues distributed equitably. Artisanal miners are also known as subsistence miners, as they are not affiliated with a mining company, but rather work independently, mining or panning for gold. More than 100 million people, primarily in developing countries, rely on this sector for income. Unfortunately, monitoring an...

A routine flight out of Virginia's Dulles Airport on Sept. 4 turned into an international kidnapping case instead. United Airlines Flight 897, a Boeing 777 with 180 passengers, was on its way to Beijing when it was ordered back to Dulles by the FBI. A woman on board, Wenjing "Linda" Liu, was on the flight with her 4-year-old son. But the problem stemmed from the specifics of the incident: Liu and her husband had separated and, through an attorney for child custody disputes, had reached an agreement that prohibited either partner from taking their son outside of the country. The boy's father, fearing that Liu was taking their son to China permanently, alerted authorities to the incident. The flight, which had departed at 12:39 p.m., was in Canadian airspace when the call was mad...

In small towns all over the United States, people are "rollin' coal," the hot new way to kill the environment. Dropping hundreds or thousands of dollars on the projects, diesel drivers are modifying their cars or trucks to make them spew toxic, black soot, and then posting pictures of the vehicles at work to the Internet. "Rollin' coal" has become so popular that it's now an Internet subculture. The environmentally destructive pastime's page on Facebook has accrued more than 16,500 followers and the hashtag for "rollin' coal" has gotten more than 175,200 posts on social media. As one meme reads, "Roll, roll, rollin’ coal, let the hybrid see. A big black cloud. Exhaust that’s loud. Watch the city boy flee." As Slate's David Weigel puts it, people are rollin' coal because it "doubles as a po...

A concrete company based in Christchurch, New Zealand will soon be paying $130,000 in fines and damages after the forklift-related death of one of its workers. According to a 3 News article published on September 16, Anthony Wells, 47, died after being run over by a defective forklift that was being operated by a trainee with "no formal qualifications" at Busck Prestressed Concrete. Busck Prestressed Concrete will have to pay $70,000 in fines and $60,000 in reparations for failing to take the needed steps that could have prevented the February 2013 incident, according to 3 News. An MSN New Zealand article reports that when Worksafe New Zealand examined the forklift, they found the forklift's headlights, front indicators, brake lights, front hazard lights, horn, screen washers and front ...

The idea is as simple as their name. Povertees is a not-for-profit organization that creates and sells stylish t-shirts, putting their proceeds towards helping Los Angeles' homeless rebuild their lives. Soon, the Povertees team will be taking their mission on the road.“I began to think about starting up during a time when social justice was becoming fashionable, especially among college students, and I happened to be a college student with an idea for T-shirts,” says Tyler Patterson, CEO of Povertees."T-Shirts are a great fundraising opportunity because when designed properly they will provide a huge return on investment," says Eric Uzelac of The Shirt Printer. Back in their college days, Patterson and his friend Hughie Hughes, who'd later go on to become the president of Povertees, wou...

The faulty air conditioning system in the Galleria Borghese isn't just a burden on visitors: now it's damaging the paintings as well, including Raphael's Desposition, a priceless High Renaissance painting from 1507. The masterpiece, which was one of the highlights of the Rome museum's collection, has been severely damaged by the overwhelming heat, possibly past the point of repair. According to reports from the Independent, the extreme heat of the Italian summer warped the wood panel behind the painting. Director Anna Coliva described the air conditioning system as "completely worn out" and said there was little they could do other than open windows and use fans and dehumidifiers to encourage the painting straighten itself out. These efforts weren't enough to restore the painting ...

Most naval tasks are difficult. Most tasks performed in the Arctic are difficult too. Combine the two, and it becomes a true challenge. Naval tasks performed in Arctic have always been difficult and required additional effort to perform, and not just because of the cold. The region is one of the most remote in the world with extremely limited infrastructure. Even very basic communication from other units deployed north of the Arctic Circle (66 degrees 33 minutes north latitude) are tough. Luckily however, Lockheed Martin is lending a hand with their new five-satellite MUOS, or mobile user objective system. The MUOS is satellite communication constellation that was specifically developed for the Navy as a partial solution to Arctic communication, according to Paul Scearce, Lockheed Marti...