Depending on who you ask, “hundreds” or “thousands” of people marched on the streets of Kunming, China, today to protest the construction of a chemical plant owned by CNPC, the national oil company. This is the second such protest in the past month, and representatives from many world news organizations were on the scene to […]

There’s a scandal brewing in the Netherlands that could weaken support for the European welfare state. A well-organized crime ring in Bulgaria has been rounding up villagers and putting them on buses to Rotterdam. When they arrive there, they are sent to fill out welfare forms using forged rental contracts to prove that they have […]

China’s unprecedented growth has brought millions out of poverty and made the country a geopolitical heavyweight, but its environment is footing the bill for this growth. Beijing’s citizens are choking on the city’s toxic smog, and the country spends an estimated 5.8 percent of its GDP on health care costs, premature deaths, and material losses […]

Can Egypt turn the corner? Ashraf Swelam, currently the senior adviser to the Egyptian National Competitiveness Council and previously an adviser to presidential candidate Amr Moussa, thinks so. Writing in the FT, he points to Mohammed Morsi’s inability to transform Egypt’s economy from a rent-seeking, clientilist model to a more broadly inclusive, entrepreneurial one. Morsi’s mistake, he says, […]

For the first time in a decade, California is expecting a budget surplus. Governor Jerry Brown has a plan for this extra $1.1 billion: Put it all into a reserve fund, lock it up, and throw away the key. “Everybody wants to see more spending—that’s what this place is, it’s a big spending machine,” said […]

Up to one-third of independently practicing physicians in the US may soon stop using health insurance as we have come to think of it. Kaiser Health News reports on attempts by health care practices to change how they do business as a result of shifting industry patterns, the uncertainty created by the ACA, and the public pressure on them to […]

A new battleground opened in Asia’s Game of Thrones today when the Arctic Council, an organization of the eight countries adjacent to the Arctic region, agreed to admit observer states, including five from Asia: China, South Korea, India, Japan, and Singapore.“There is nothing that should unite quite like our concerns for both the promises and the […]

Georgia Tech announced yesterday that it is teaming up with Udacity, one of the leading providers of massively open online education, to offer a full graduate program in computer science. For a mere $7,000 dollars—or 1/6 the cost of the equivalent program offered on campus—students who meet the prerequisites can fulfill the requirements of a master’s degree […]

Good news for fans of salt: a new study has found that there are no health benefits to cutting down on salt. Though national dietary guidelines have set recommended salt levels for many Americans at just half a teaspoon a day, levels that low can actually increase the risk of heart attack. The NYT reports: [T]he new […]

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is sending an unusual message to investors: His state’s bonds may be no good. NJ.com reports that potential investors have been informed that in the future New Jersey may not make its required pension payments, which are estimated to explode from $1.7 billion next year to about $5.5 billion in […]