The death of driving doesn’t mean the end of the suburbs. Thanks to computers and mobile devices, people are able to live richer, more social lives in more places than ever.

As you read this, I’m on a plane somewhere over the Atlantic flying back to the States. I’ve been in Budapest for most of the week completely swamped in meetings, all the while trying to meet several competing writing deadlines. As such, you’ll have to forgive me, dear readers, if my post explaining the site changes you see in front of you is a little brief.

Despite the recent arrival of French troops, there appears to be no end in sight for the violence sweeping CAR or the underlying issues—poor governance, corruption, religious divides, a badly struggling economy—driving it.

Like Vallejo before it, the city of Stockton, California is preparing to exit bankruptcy after nearly a year. Unfortunately, Stockton is also following Vallejo’s footsteps by refusing to include pension restructuring as part of the plan, despite the fact that Vallejo is again struggling with its pension burden less than five years after going through bankruptcy.

A date has been set for Iran and the P5+1 powers to work out how to implement the landmark nuclear deal. But to what extent we’re actually witnessing the prelude to a historic bargain remains something of a mystery.

Diplomatic sources have told Via Meadia that, contrary to the muddled and contradictory reporting by the international media on East Asian tension in recent days, Washington and its allies in Asia have actually been on the same page regarding China’s new Air Defense Identification Zone. The international press has, with a few exceptions, bungled this important story, which is still unfolding.

Another month, another Chinese city drowning in a sea of thick smog. This time, it’s Shanghai, the country’s largest city, where visibility has been reduced just a few meters and people walk the streets with protective masks to shield their lungs from the pollution. The situation has become so bad that the government requires schoolchildren to stay inside for protection from the dirty air.

The new Burmese government, while tackling historic political and economic reforms, is neglecting the plight of its ethnic and religious minorities. The Rohingya, a Muslim ethnic minority for the western Rakhine region, continue to suffer persecution, and for some it only gets worse after they flee the country.

Riyadh and Jerusalem have common interests that are not limited to preventing Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons. The Saudis believe Iran is leading Shiites in a religious conflict with Sunnis now engulfing the Fertile Crescent. They fear that the Islamic Republic, nuclear or not, poses an existential threat to their security as the Shiite tide rises.

Bulgaria is the latest European country to take action in cutting rising electricity costs due to the over-subsidization of green energy. The Bulgarian parliament voted today to levy a 20 percent tax on income generated from green energy production.