When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Helena Rodriguez

See more by Helena Rodriguez

Can we imagine a planet without meat?
Sources

100% Vegan: A Tempting But Misguided Recipe To Save The Planet

It is necessary to drastically reduce our beef consumption for both sanitary reasons and to fight against climate change, yet livestock will remain indispensable for their contributions to the environment.

PARIS — By now, we have heard over and over again that we need to lower meat consumption. But by how much? According to an academic study by France's Nutrinet, one is advised to consume at most 500 grams of red meat per week, while according to the "Eat" study published earlier this year by Lancet magazine, the advise is to eat no more than 200 grams per week. The consumption of meat is the center of concern for nutrition specialists and environmentalists.

Fundamentally, a diet rich in animal products, such as red meat, makes one more prone to obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. In France, as of recently, 21% of overweight people consume red meat, while only 12% are vegetarian. Similar trends are recorded abroad. "We associate a more plant-based diet with the reduction of risk for certain cancers," says Benjamin Allès, a researcher at the Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team located in Paris, France.

Watch VideoShow less
From checkbook to Facebook?
Future

Currency And All: The Facebook State Is A Menace To Democracy

Though seductive as pure financial innovation, Facebook's crypto currency project risks a concentration of power that must be stopped at all costs.

PARIS — While top Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren is calling for the break-up of Facebook and other would-be American tech monopolies, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has announced the creation of a new currency.

This is no PR gimmick. Facebook's team has been secretly working on the project for a year. A subsidiary, "libra," has been established in Switzerland to develop the blockchain technology needed to create the cryptocurrency. Exchanges have already taken place with the governor of the Bank of England as well as with other crypto-markets such as Gemini that was ironically founded by the old nemeses of Zuckerberg: the Winklevoss Brothers, from their days at Harvard.

Watch VideoShow less