Pipeline approved
The week's news at a glance.
Lake Baikal, Russia
The Russian government this week approved a plan to build an oil pipeline close to the shore of Lake Baikal, the world’s largest freshwater lake. At 400 miles long and 30 miles wide, the lake holds more than 20 percent of the planet’s nonfrozen fresh water, and is the sole home of hundreds of species. International scientists had opposed the plan, saying that an earthquake in the seismically active region could rupture the pipeline and send oil gushing into the lake. But the Kremlin said Russia sorely needs a route to move Siberian oil to Asian markets.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
5 tit-for-tat cartoons about Trump's trade war
Cartoons Artists take on Canada, Mexico, and more
By The Week US Published
-
The catastrophic conflict looming in the heart of Africa
In the Spotlight Showdown between DR Congo and Rwanda have been a long time coming
By The Week UK Published
-
Generation Z: done with democracy?
Talking Point Allure of authoritarianism is no surprise when young people have grown up in a democracy 'that seems unable to deliver its basic functions'
By The Week UK Published