Boko Haram, once merely a local terror concern, appears to be on the cusp of becoming yet another international jihadist cause celebre, drawing foreign fighters in its quest to convert Nigeria into an Islamist state. The Washington Post: Extremists from three neighboring countries are fighting in Nigeria’s northeastern Islamic uprising, according to an alleged captured […]

Have you ever dreamed of biking from Alberta to the Gulf of Mexico but been frustrated by the lack of dedicated bike lanes for the cross-country trip? Neither have we, but an architectural design firm has a $400 million plan to meet this desire you never knew you had, while boosting the appeal of a […]

Nir Barkat made headlines around the world as he won this week’s mayoral elections in Jerusalem—perhaps a surprising level of attention for a city with a population of 800,000. Yet this election campaign, waged between incumbent Mayor Nir Barkat and challenger Moshe Leon, was a microcosm of the demographic, cultural, and religious conflicts that are […]

Tariq Rahman wrote an insightful piece in the Express Tribune on Monday about the current dilemmas surrounding the language of instruction in Pakistan’s schools. Here’s an excerpt: My concern was injustice, inequality and the continuation of privilege for the elite. More precisely, I was appalled by educational practices from the dim past in the subcontinent. […]

Pemex, the state-owned oil company on which the Mexican government relies for a third of its budget, is having a bad year, even by its sluggish standards. It lost $3 billion dollars in the third quarter after the value of its foreign sales dropped nearly 10 percent. Costs rose a whopping 13 percent, underscoring the […]

Studies on the costs of commuting have been making their way into academic journals with increasing regularity, and the mainstream media is starting to take notice. The average American commutes 25.4 minutes each way to work, suffering strains on mental and physical health, relationships, civic engagement, wallet, and carbon footprint. The New York Times reports on the toll: Millions […]

The WSJ has begun a series that everyone should start following: documenting the fiscal health of America’s 250 biggest cities. The first installment came out today, and it isn’t pretty. A deadly combination of static revenue and big (and growing) liabilities is keeping many American cities from achieving the kind of recovery seen in other […]

China publicly unveiled its first generation of nuclear submarines, built several decades ago, for the first time this weekend. The subs will “gallop to the depths of the ocean, serving as mysterious forces igniting the sound of thunder in the deep sea,” the official Xinhua news agency said in a dramatic article, and be an “assassin’s […]

One of the biggest challenges military families face is ensuring the children get a solid education despite frequent moves, which require them to shift between schools that may have very different curricula and educational styles.Unsurprisingly, then, some families prefer the relative stability afforded by homeschooling. As its popularity has grown, the military has become more […]

While the decision has not been made yet, Turkey has said that it is likely to buy a new missile defense program from a Chinese firm, unnerving NATO and American diplomats. A Reuters report from earlier this month said that Turkey is “highly likely” to buy the $3.4 billion program, from a firm under American […]