MDG

The continued proliferation of globalization and the Internet have produced a world economy that is more competitive now than it's ever been before. Because these trends are bound to continue, companies are desperately hunting for ways to differentiate their products and services from the pack. And the best way to do that is through their brand.

The Worldwatch Institute emphasizes need for regulation and sustainable growth in animal agriculture industry 

The global population of farm animals increased 23 percent between 1980 and 2010, from 3.5 billion to 4.3 billion, according to research by the Worldwatch Institute for its Vital Signs Online publication. These figures continue a trend of rising farm animal populations, with harmful effects on the environment, public health, and global development.

Back in 2011, I was asked to give my thoughts on what I thought would trend in mobile within between then and 2020.

One of my predictions was that: “Mobile money will shift economies on a large-scale and across borders.”

The U.S. exported more gasoline, diesel and other fuels than it imported in 2011 for the first time since 1949, the Energy Department said today.

Shipments abroad of petroleum products exceeded imports by 439,000 barrels a day, the department said in the Petroleum Supply Monthly report. In 2010, daily net imports averaged 269,000 barrels.

U.S. refiners exported record amounts of gasoline, heating oil and diesel to meet higher global fuel demand while U.S. fuel consumption sank.

Local programmers and homegrown business models are helping to realize the vast promise of using phones to improve health care and save lives.

Erick Njenga, a 21-year-old college senior wrapping up his business IT degree at Nairobi's Strathmore University, has a gap-toothed grin and a scraggly goatee. A mild-mannered son of auditors, he didn't say much as we tucked into a lunch of grilled steak, rice, and fruit juice at an outdoor café amid the din of the city's awful traffic. But his code had done the talking.

Co-ops offer democratic alternative to shareholder-owned businesses.

The United Nations has designated 2012 as the International Year of Cooperatives, providing a great opportunity to raise the profile of an important organizational tool for spreading human rights and equality worldwide. Membership in co-operative businesses has grown to 1 billion people across 96 countries, according to new research published by the Worldwatch Institute for its Vital Signs Online publication.

Brewing in Africa is on a roll. With Americans spurning beer for spirits, British pubs closing at a rate of 16 a week and Russia slapping punitive taxes on ale, the $160bn industry is increasingly looking to sub-Saharan Africa.

The country is torn by conflict. The people are hungry.

Our natural response is to send food, but in practice that can be problematic. For decades, aid workers, journalists and others have documented cases where food aid has been misappropriated by armed groups who use it to feed their soldiers and buy weapons. Convoy trucks and other equipment are often captured.

Rob Lake, Director of Strategic Development for the United Nations-backed organization Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), has years of experience in socially responsible investing.

Pinker says the world is becoming more peaceful

Steven Pinker wants you to know that violence has declined.

Despite civil wars in Africa and the Mideast, ongoing strife in Afghanistan, and the barrage of local and national crimes reported on the nightly news, people are living in a much more peaceful era than they might think.