Life in Iran is becoming uglier by the day, and Iranians are beginning to feel the pressure. The currency is falling, prices are rising, the economy is cratering, and to top it off, people on the street believe war is imminent. The Washington Post profiles the mood of the country: “I will tell you what […]

The Arab Spring, the Iraq withdrawal and subsequent military cuts have led some naysayers to speculate that America’s influence in the Middle East will decline. But Via Meadia thinks these predictions may be premature.  Bloomberg reports: Turkey will purchase two Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) F-35 fighter jets and and 15 helicopters from Textron Inc. (TXT) […]

Stories like Scott Walker’s high-profile battle over teacher bargaining rights in Wisconsin tends to get all the headlines, but there are more forces than just budgetary ones buffeting teachers. In Idaho, teachers are divided over a new law that mandates online instruction in classrooms: This change is part of a broader shift that is creating […]

India has canceled a military delegation visit to China on a ‘confidence building’ tour after Chinese authorities refused to give a visa to one member of the delegation.  The rejected officer is a native of Arunachal Pradesh in northeastern India; China claims that most of the territory in question is part of southern Tibet.The ability […]

The Washington Post recently reported that, based on various estimates by well-respected Mexican newspapers (the Calderon government has not released any figures recently), around 12,000 people were killed in Mexico’s drug violence in 2011 alone, bringing the total to over 50,000 since Calderon initiated a campaign against drug trafficking in 2006. That’s comparable to the […]

As a kid I always had some trouble understanding the business about the three wise men. Gold always comes in handy so I could see why you would bring gold to a baby — but what on earth were frankincense and myrrh and why would anybody give them to a child? I figured myrrh might […]

Pastor Johnson Jauro of the Deeper Life Church in Gombe, a city in northeastern Nigeria, reports that gunmen fired through the windows of his church during services, killing six people and injuring ten. The pastor’s wife was among the dead.  (The BBC has the story.)Gombe is the capital of Gombe state, one of Nigeria’s smallest […]

Christmas was hot in Nigeria last month, when the country was ablaze with church bombings, terrorism and sectarian tension. The heat will only intensify in the New Year, as oil prices spike with an end to nearly four decades of fuel subsidies. From the WSJ: Nigeria had been spending 1.2 trillion naira ($7.3 billion) a […]

With friends like North Korea, who needs enemies? That’s probably what China was thinking after yet another round of needless chest-thumping by its “ally” North Korea reminded all Asia why it might not be such a bad idea to keep the U.S. active and engaged in the region. The Wall Street Journal reports (subscription required) […]

The Navy’s 27–21 victory in last month’s annual Army-Navy game, the tenth straight win  for the Midshipmen, isn’t the only way Navy is beating Army these days. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s new military budget proposal envisions extensive downsizing in the Army, from its current 570,000 to a much leaner 490,000; the Navy, meanwhile, gets to […]