Russia has become the latest power to make a move in the Game of Thrones, sending a fleet to a disputed group of islands in the Pacific to strengthen their territorial claims in the Far East. Ownership of the southern Kuril Islands, which the Japanese call the Northern Territories and lie ten miles off Japan’s […]

Although the economy is far from a healthy recovery, there have been some mildly encouraging signs over the past few weeks. The housing market appears to be slowly pulling out of its slump and retail sales are beginning to perk up again. But unfortunately, things are getting worse where it counts most: small business.The Wall Street […]

There has been no shortage of recent media stories bound to embarrass the Roman Catholic Church. There has been no end of reports about priests abusing boys and girls under their care (more boys than girls, it seems), culminating in the criminal conviction of an ecclesiastical official for protecting abusive priests. And there have now […]

“Gotov je!” (“He’s finished!”) —Serb resistance slogan, directed at Milosevic An arrogant dictator grasping at power, warning of terrorists at every turn. An opposition fragmented, but growing in both coherence and strength. An uncertain future, in a region prone to violence. In some ways, Syria today evokes memories of Serbia 12 years ago, when its […]

This was not how France’s new president, François Hollande, hoped to celebrate his first hundred days in office. The town of Amiens was rocked overnight as hundreds of rioters, mostly youths, engaged in what some have called “urban guerilla warfare”, evoking bitter memories of 2005, when France was convulsed by three weeks of nationwide unrest.London’s Daily […]

There has not been a day since February 11, 2011, that Egyptian politics have ceased to surprise the world. Ever since the afternoon that Hosni Mubarak fell, the world’s most seasoned political analysts have struggled to make sense out of events. No one foresaw the fast-paced dynamic of the political game we have witnessed in […]

America and Japan may be long-term allies, but they have had their share of differences recently. In particular, Japanese-American security relations were bogged down for several years over Japan’s pledges to relocate an American Air Force base following the transition in government in 2009.That dispute is finally nearing resolution, however, and the recent White House […]

In Europe, anti-austerity sentiment isn’t just for the south anymore. If recent polls hold till next month’s elections in the Netherlands, the far left Socialist Party will become the largest party, more than doubling in size, while the nationalistic anti-EU Freedom Party will remain the third largest, reports the Wall Street Journal: As one of […]

While the unemployment rate remains stubbornly above 8 percent, some good news emerged from the Commerce Department today. From the Wall Street Journal: Retail and food-service sales increased 0.8% last month to a seasonally adjusted $403.93 billion, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. That was the biggest jump since February.Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires expected a […]

The funding crisis at the City College of San Francisco will seem like small potatoes compared to the budget problems facing the state’s public universities. The Economist has the story: CALIFORNIA’S public universities were once the envy of the world. Under the state’s pioneering “master plan” for higher education, signed into law in 1960, the top […]