Hayao Miyazaki is famous worldwide for animated films like “Porco Rosso,” the story of a chauvinistic, pig-faced pilot in inter-war Italy, and “Spirited Away,” which won the Oscar for best animated film and is the top-grossing film in Japanese history. Critics are already calling the 72 year-old’s latest (and possibly last) film, “The Wind Rises,” […]

Whatever military and economic rivalries the two most populous countries in the world may have with one another have been put aside to combat a pressing threat they both have in common: terrorism. In a follow up to Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Beijing to last month, both countries began a joint 10-day […]

The African God wars continue to expand. In March 2013, Michel Djotodia, Muslim rebel leader in the Central African Republic, took control of Bangui, the country’s capital city, and overthrew the country’s President, Francois Bozize. The CAR is a Christian majority country, but after the rebel group gained power, the Christian citizens have felt increasingly threatened. BBC: More than […]

Old King Coal has seen better days. In June, President Obama outlined his intention to stop financing coal plants abroad, and to set emissions limits on coal-fired power plants at levels low enough to essentially prevent new plants from being built. The World Bank followed Obama’s lead and announced that it would cease financing coal […]

Democrats’ irritation with the Affordable Care Act rose this week as politicians and staffers associated with the law tried to distance themselves from the fallout. Leaks from within the Obama administration suggest that groups who helped design and implement the law are eager to place the blame for the implementation on rival factions.Take for example, […]

Germany’s rapid renewables expansion has been made possible by extensive government support. Berlin paid for these green subsidies by levying a renewables tax on consumers, which has raised the cost of electricity for households and industries alike. Concerned about the effect such costs might have on the competitiveness of its much vaunted heavy industry, Germany […]

Watching academic lectures is rarely much fun. But what if the lectures were delivered by Matt Damon? As odd as it may seem, a number of MOOC providers are asking this question, given that the format allows anyone to deliver the lectures professors prepare. Slate reports: One for-profit MOOC producer, Udacity, already brings in camera-friendly […]

Peering at the intricacies of Chinese political decision-making can be like trying to see through the thick smog that frequently hangs over many of its cities. Analysts and journalists are frequently left with nothing to do but speculate on what actions Chinese leaders might take when big decisions loom, and there’s plenty of speculation swirling […]

Retail health clinics and nurse practitioners could together dramatically lower the costs of US health care, according to a new study published in Health Affairs. Allowing nurse practitioners to work autonomously in retail clinics could amount to big savings: It is estimated that retail clinics will account for about 10 percent of outpatient primary care visits in 2015. If NPs do […]

Obama made many mistakes in the rollout of his healthcare law, but one of the biggest may be that he overestimated the quality of our country’s public service system. As Frank Fukuyama notes elsewhere on the site, Obama turned responsibility for creating an extremely complicated website to a civil service that has been in decline since […]