The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency has issued a report which indicates that Iran unilaterally slowed down its enrichment processes right after President Rouhani was elected last August. The report substantially boosts hope for a negotiated settlement between the P5+1 and Iran since it suggests that Iran made a good faith first step even before the negotiations began. The real question right now is whether the US COngress will interpret the IAEA report in the same way, or decides to increase the sanctions against Iran anyway.
Researchers from the University of Maryland have released an interactive map of the processes of global forest change. The map is quite detailed and one can zoom in on areas as small as 30 meters. The map charts changes in forested land on the planet from 2000-2012, and it shows that the globe has lost forests the size of Mongolia in that time period. But the map shows where progress in protecting forests is occurring as well, giving researchers a good handle on the policies that seem to be effective in stopping deforestation.
There is a continuing protest in Bulgaria that has received little attention in the West. The protests have been spearheaded by students, but they are supported by a wide segment of Bulgarian society. The issues are similar to the protests in other areas of the world: concerns about corruption, the growing inequalities in society, and the general sense that the government has lost touch with the concerns of ordinary citizens. The protests in Bulgaria have become somewhat routine, so it is hard to see an end game. But it is more than likely that the government will at some point try to extinguish the movement.
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