The world’s envoys just pledged to make the planet safer by reaching a pact to curtail hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). HFCs are the fastest growing greenhouse gases. They are used in air conditioners, fridges and aerosols. Cutting HFCs will reduce global warming by 0.5 degrees by 2100. However, the transition from HFC to substitutes like ammonia, water or gasses called hydrofluoroolefins, ...

  When President Mauricio Macri took office in Argentina last December, he faced two monsters that his 44 million compatriots know only too well. The first was an economy ravaged by spendthrifts, who’d driven public finances into disarray and then papered over the mess with magical statistics. The second was the quandary of how to restore sensible government without inflicting ...

  Stanford historian Ian Morris is fond of saying that “each age gets the thought it needs.” According to this maxim, ideas like the Enlightenment, communism or even Christianity are a product of the economic and political circumstances of their times. It’s easy to believe that libertarianism might have been a good fit for the late 20th century. Coming out ...

  It’s fun to imagine a world without cash.Liberated from the burden of physical currency, consumers could make purchases from the convenience of a mobile device. Every transaction would come equipped with fraud protection, reward points and a digital record of its time and location. Comprehensive tracking could help the Internal Revenue Service reclaim billions of tax dollars lost to ...

  Kigali / AFP In a major step toward curbing global warming, world envoys reached an agreement on Saturday to phase out potent greenhouse gases used in refrigerators and air conditioners. Under the amendment to the 1987 Montreal Protocol on protecting the ozone layer, rich countries are to take action sooner than developing nations. The agreement was greeted by applause ...

  Mogadishu / AFP A week of violent clashes between rival forces in northern Somalia has killed 11 people and forced more than 50,000 to flee, the UN humanitarian agency said on Saturday. Tensions between the rival regions of Puntland and Galmudug soared last month after Galmudug said 13 of its soldiers were killed in a misdirected US airstrike which ...

  Warsaw / AFP The family of Poland’s former president Lech Kaczynski, who died in a 2010 plane crash, has agreed to his exhumation as part of a new inquiry into the accident, his twin brother said on Saturday. “I have agreed with the prosecutor’s decision on the exhumations. The remains of my brother… will be among the first, if ...

  Manila / AFP At least one person was killed and three were missing as the Philippines faces what could be “the most damaging” storm this year in the approaching Typhoon Sarika, officials said on Saturday. A man was found dead on the seashore while three fishermen were reported missing in the eastern island of Catanduanes as Sarika, packing maximum ...

  Moscow, / AFP The Kremlin on Saturday slammed Washington for its “unprecedented” threats against Moscow over an alleged series of cyber attacks and vowed to respond. Last week, Washington formally accused the Russian government of trying to “interfere” in the 2016 White House race through cyber attacks on American political institutions. And on Friday, US Vice President Joe Biden ...

  Washington / AFP Donald Trump rejected claims of women accusing him of sexual misconduct, and portrayed himself as the victim of a “smear campaign” orchestrated by the media and established politicians. President Barack Obama warned meanwhile that America’s very democracy is at stake in the November 8 election because of the Republican presidential candidate. As Trump spoke at a ...