Regime and rebel forces traded blame for a fire that raged in Aleppo’s Old City over the weekend. No matter who is responsible the end result is the same: the beautiful ancient marketplace with its network of stone archways and cobble streets has been torched, bombed, and nearly demolished. A few pictures are available here […]

Those hunting for hope that the world economy is on the road to recovery have some more bad news to digest: the grim outlook for global trade. The World Trade Organization is the latest to sound the alarm, notes the WSJ, as the WTO is projecting that the global volume of trade in goods would […]

The New Orleans Times-Picayune just went from being a daily to a thrice-weekly. The NYT has the story: In May, the parent company of The Times-Picayune, Newhouse Media, announced large-scale cutbacks as well as plans to reduce publication to three times a week in favor of an expanded Web site. Saturday’s edition represents the official end […]

Today is one of those days in which we are particularly grateful that George W. Bush is no longer the president of the United States.The news from Afghanistan is grim. With the latest round of deaths, we pass a milestone: 2,000 US combatants have died in what is now the longest war in American history. […]

In another dispatch from a war we’re not fighting, the U.S. is gearing up for a major counterterrorism push in North Africa: The government is considering additional deployments of Predator or Reaper drones to supplement those already in the region. While the pilotless aircraft carry missiles, current talks under way revolve around their utility as […]

What a surprise: The Greek economy yet again is going to be in “worse than expected” shape, shrinking almost 4 percent next year instead of staying flat like all those highly qualified, well trained economists at the IMF thought. The WSJ has the story: Greece’s economy will contract more than projected in 2013, its sixth […]

As a way to save the planet, not many policies are worse than government-backed ethanol. It’s bad for the economy, bad for the environment, doesn’t reduce greenhouse gases, and has led to rapidly rising food prices.Now a recent report links ethanol mandates to civil unrest, social upheaval, and even war.As the report shows, rising food […]

Could Azerbaijan be the key to Israel’s strategy for successfully attacking Iran’s nuclear program? A report from Reuters suggests that talks are afoot between the two unlikely allies: [Azerbaijan’s support] is a far cry from the massive firepower and diplomatic cover that Netanyahu wants from Washington. But, by addressing key weaknesses in any Israeli war […]

Usually the mainstream media is kind to President Obama, especially on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, but is that starting to change? Consider: The New York Times and the Washington Post are both thoroughly alarmed by the state of the region after 9/11/12 and the reporters if not the editorial pages have moved on from the “Blame Bush” […]

The New York Times has an interesting partial profile of ascendant Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who is slated to take over the leadership of China’s Communist Party at the upcoming party congress. The article outlines Mr. Xi’s decision as a young man to do a stint in a rural precinct as a deputy party secretary. Smart […]