Bloomberg London’s delivery companies are experimenting with electric vehicles to curb the smog spewed by vans distributing parcels packed with goods purchased on the Internet. The UK capital’s transport authority is catalysing the transition from diesel to battery-powered vehicles by funding Gnewt Cargo Ltd., which operates London’s largest all electric delivery fleet. Gnewt is part owned by shipping DX ...

  Madagascar / AFP The sweet flavours of vanilla are taking on a bitter edge for buyers in Madagascar as prices have almost quadrupled but quality has declined, with experts blaming speculation, money laundering and a poor harvest. Madagascar, producer of 80 percent of the world’s vanilla, has seen the spice’s price jump from about $60 per kilogramme (2.2 pounds) in ...

  Chile / AFP Every morning at dawn, a thick mist known as “The Darkness” blows in from the Pacific to the edge of the Atacama Desert, the most arid place in the world. After tantalizing the northern Chilean desert with the promise of moisture, the mist evaporates in the sun, leaving the heat to bake the stark lunar landscape. But ...