An ancient Mesopotamian tale tells of a servant in Baghdad who meets Death at the marketplace. Terrified by Death’s menacing expression, he takes his master’s horse and flees to Samarra. Later, the master sees Death and asks why she made a threatening gesture to the servant. Death replies that it was only a start of surprise. “I was astonished to ...

From the price action, you’d think that fossil fuels are back in business. Since breaking above $100 a metric ton in May, the price of coal at Australia’s Newcastle port — a benchmark for Asia, which consumes about three-quarters of the world’s soot — has gone almost vertical, hitting a record $173.10 a ton. The key regional contract for liquefied ...

For many Guineans, the scenes that played out were a blast from the not-so-distant past: A military officer in dark glasses and fatigues on television dissolving the government and the constitution, unauthenticated videos of a disheveled-looking, apparently overthrown president, gunfire on the streets of Conakry. The trouble for the West African nation is that the failure to make the most ...