Over at the Daily Beast the erudite and incisive Les Gelb wonders if the US is being too soft on China. Beijing’s ADIZ announcement, he writes, was just its latest antagonistic action. Notably, on a recent visit to the country, Vice President Biden carefully avoided stepping on anyone’s toes. Some people take this to be an American acquiescence to China’s belligerence and, less visibly, another sign of declining American influence abroad.

The lowest-priced plan on the Affordable Care Act exchange could increase deductibles by 42 percent over the pre-ACA individual market average. Without other cost-saving measures, this increase could cause a lot of financial distress for those affected. This is a feature, not a bug, of any health care reform that expands access before tackling costs.

China’s omnipresent toxic smog isn’t all bad. It obscures potential missile targets, bolstering the country’s military defense, and it…helps affected citizens’ sense of humor? OK, you lost us. Both of those odd claims were championed by Chinese state-backed media on Monday, in what, if we’re being charitable, could be seen as some misguided attempt to make the best out of an untenable situation.

A recently-negotiated project will bring water from the Red Sea via a pipeline to the Dead Sea, and in the process generate electricity from the falling liquid to be used to desalinate some of the water for agricultural and drinking purposes. The agreement exists only in principle thus far. But it could be promising.

Tech companies are beginning to hire programmers based largely on their completion of MOOCs in computer science. In particular, employers are graduating toward courses that let prospective employees prove their knowledge through specific projects. This is a smart approach, but will it help MOOCs break into the mainstream?

Looking dazed and despondent, Jang Song-thaek was hauled out by the armpits from a ruling party meeting in Pyongyang by two uniformed guards a few days ago. Jang was the uncle and mentor to Kim Jong-un, revered in North Korea. His extraordinary and humiliating downfall stunned observers in South Korea, the US, and beyond. But it is in China that Jang’s dismissal will reverberate most strongly.

One way or another, we appear to be headed for some kind of climax in Ukraine fairly soon. Though Yanukovich had said he would speak to opposition leaders yesterday, his announcement was accompanied by a heavy buildup of security forces around Kiev. The offices of jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko’s party were raided, and police started to tear down protestor barricades around town.

After the provincial government bluntly refused to partake or even endorse Imran Khan’s anti-drone protests, his party resorted to thuggery and sabotage to make sure that crucial NATO supplies both to and from Afghanistan are halted in their tracks. If his objective was to block NATO supplies, then yes, he can call it a success, but it has come at a tremendous cost not only to slowly improving Pak-American relations, but Khan’s own political ambitions.

Wind farms are now free to kill eagles. That’s according to the Department of the Interior, which on Friday outlined a process for issuing 30 year permits for wind farms to allow the accidental deaths of federally protected eagles at the hands of wind turbines.

College enrollment is down across the board, but small private schools are feeling the pinch especially hard, and the changing demographics of college students are doing them no favors. How many of these schools will still exist in 20 years?