Stories tagged "region world"

Exactly who is Santa Claus? It depends on where you are in the world. The BBC's Matt Thompson looks at "Too Many Santas."

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African lungfish, fermented shark in Iceland and porcupine are all typical Christmas cuisine. The Takeaway takes a look at some traditional (and some weird) Christmas dishes from around the world. We're joined by food writer and TV personality Andrew Zimmern.

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For 23 years The Economist has published a special issue that predicts events of the coming year. The 2009 edition has just come out and it includes an apology from the editor-in-chief because the magazine just got so much about 2008 wrong. Earlier this week we asked our listeners to provide their predictions for 2009 and tell us in on what they were wrong about in 2008. Today Daniel Franklin, Executive Editor of The Economist and editor of "The World in 2009" special issue, adds his voice to the discussion.

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Ever since 1744, The Baltic Dry Index has measured the strength of the global economy.

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Russia agrees to build four nuclear power plants in India.

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For those of you looking for hope in times of economic woe, look no further than the man who brought you Oliver Twist. University of Oxford English professor Robert Douglas-Fairhurst says no other author can encapsulate the anxiety of our current economy better than Charles Dickens.

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Feeling tired on your drive to work this morning? Frustrated by your early morning and late nights? A new study on sleep says even though you feel like you’re chronically sleep deprived, you might be getting more sleep than you think. Jim Horne of Loughborough University tells John and Adaora why we might be getting exactly as much sleep as we need.

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As medicine, technology and culture advance, we’ve gone from survival of the fittest to survival of just about everyone. Evolution is about weeding out the weak and ensuring that the strong survive. But geneticist Steve Jones thinks our advances have effectively put an end to natural selection.

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Former Wall Street trader Nassim Taleb coined the term "black swan" to refer to unpredictable events that shape history and human experience far more than we are willing to admit. His bestselling book "The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable" challenges conventional methods of economic forecasting, and has become a sort of travel guide to the current economic meltdown.

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President Bush made the final speech of his presidency to the United Nations General Assembly Tuesday amidst the chaos of a financial meltdown on Wall Street. Neil MacFarquhar of the New York Times discusses President Bush's farewell.

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President George W. Bush made the final speech of his presidential term to the United Nations General Assembly amidst the chaos of the financial meltdown on Wall Street.

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Economy troubles are reverberating across the globe and the United Kingdom is no exception. The political pressure there is being directed towards Prime Minister Gordon Brown as his Labour party threatens to split itself in two over America's finances.

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Making environmentally friendly dining decisions can be a challenging and cumbersome proposition. When it comes to responsibly choosing fish, it just got easier with the development of a phone-friendly service, Fish Phone, that advises you on the sustainability of your fish of choice.

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