After two months of delays, India is expected to release a much-anticipated national policy on shale gas policy any day now. It’s about time; as the Diplomat reports, there is a lot to be gained from the extraction of the resource: As the third-largest energy consumer in the world, according to a 2011 Enerdata report, and a natural gas net […]

Jefferson County, Alabama, is trying to put its terrible fiscal woes behind it after coming to a deal to exit the largest municipal bankruptcy in the nation’s history earlier this month. The county’s crushing debt load can mostly be traced back to a number of dodgy deals struck with J.P. Morgan to finance improvements to […]

One billion euros in aid that the EU gave to Egypt over the past six years has gone to waste, the EU’s spending watchdog reported today in a scathing assessment. Sixty percent of that aid—€600 million—is unaccounted for.“They do not fulfill the conditions at all—and nevertheless, the money is given,” one of auditors official who conducted […]

Relax in your room, and then head outside to play some volleyball on your private court.  Call your neighbors over to join you in a game of billiards, or practice your golf swing in the rec room. End your night with a DJ spinning beats in your backyard. No, this isn’t a resort; it’s off-campus […]

President Nieto isn’t wavering in his commitment to reform Pemex, Mexico’s national oil firm. Though he estimated the specifics won’t be sussed out for another “two to three months,” he told the FT that he remains confident the reforms “will be transformational.”A transformation is just what Pemex needs, because the state-owned oil company has proven itself to […]

Philadelphia schools might open next year without new books, art or music classes—and without thousands of current employees. The state-appointed School Reform Commission passed what critics call a “draconian” budget of $2.4 billion for Philadelphia schools last month that would drastically cut education spending across the city. The New York Times reports: Pink slips were […]

In the aftermath of the 2011 Libya intervention, the White House’s recent decision to step up aid to the Syrian uprising, and the appointment by President Obama of two so-called “humanitarian hawks” to high-level positions, the “Responsibility to Protect” (R2P) is on the lips of lawmakers, NGOs, and commentators more than usual these days.The latest […]

Ain’t no sunshine when Siemens is gone: The massive German multinational is getting out of the solar business after posting a loss of more than $1 billion in its two years of operation. The engineering company is a world leader in wind turbine development, but its foray into solar production has been a massive flop.Siemens’ […]

Just as Assad is gaining the upper hand in the Syrian Civil War, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has decided to cut ties with him. The countries that once briefly formed the United Arab Republic will no longer have diplomatic ties for as long as Assad remains in power and the bloody conflict continues, reports the […]

With the discovery of shale reserves in states like Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Indiana, a number of hard-hit cities in the Midwest have seen money and investment pour in as manufacturing companies retool themselves to cater to the oil and gas companies setting up shop nearby. Political leaders, in turn, are eager for this manufacturing revival […]