A new privately funded model to finance high-speed train projects is drawing bipartisan support and inspiring other initiatives across the country. 

When California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced in February that the state was scrapping plans for a high-speed rail system between Los Angeles and San Francisco, it seemed like the latest nail in the coffin for superfast trains in America. The country’s fastest train, Amtrak’s Acela Express, reaches 150 mph, well below the 160-mph mark at which trains are considered high speed in Europe, Japan and China. But a project in Texas is offering an alternative model that’s at the heart of a quiet revival of high-speed rail plans.

Environmental activist Isabel Zuleta is fighting Colombia’s biggest-ever dam project to protect her people.

Ten days after one of Colombia’s most important rivers nearly dried out, hundreds of people gathered in front of the headquarters of the public utility Empresas Públicas de Medellín (EPM), blocked the road and threw dead fish on the steps, chanting, “EPM murdered the Rio Cauca.”

The company behind Colombia’s largest-ever hydroelectric dam project, long mired in corruption and mismanagement, had been forced to stop the flow of the river and flood the machine room to ensure that the dam would not collapse, sending a tidal wave from the center of Colombia to the Caribbean coast that would displace thousands and kill hundreds. The likely culprit was a design change executed without regulators’ approval.

The Japanese emperor is abdicating today, having atoned for his father’s violent legacy to find a new — and lasting — role for the throne.

In the shrinking global community of royal families, the Japanese Chrysanthemum Throne stands out as the oldest continuing monarchy in the world — and one of the most volatile in modern history. Citing his declining health, 85-year-old Emperor Akihito, whose reign began in 1989 upon the death of his father, Hirohito, steps down on April 30 in favor of his son Naruhito, the first abdication of the Japanese throne since 1817. While his willful decision to abdicate is remarkable, there is little about Akihito’s life that has precedent in Japanese history.