Jon Sustachek is a casualty of his home states drinking culture, but he also may be counted among its facilitators. He and his friends at once enabled and were influenced by one anothers drinking.

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio: The giant, crumbling steel mills sit dark and idle, their smashed windows a silent reminder of the broken dream that ordinary Americans could earn a good life working a blue-collar job.

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — As a portly woman plodded ahead of him on the sidewalk, the obese mayor of America’s fattest and unhealthiest city explained why health is not a big local issue.

Hoping to avert a future marked by recurring coastal floods and backcountry wildfires, state regulators are poised to roll out a plan to reverse climate change.

Oil money from the Gulf states is being invested in the creation of new cities – technological hubs, leisure paradises, ecological experiments – which are also attracting international speculation, says Akram Belkaïd .