Scottish Canary
Spain to Catalonia: Don’t Expect to Follow Scotland’s Example

Spain is taking a hard line against a planned referendum on Catalonian independence, while warning of the bad example that Scottish independence would set.

Reforming Delivery
Virtual Doctors’ Visits Go Mainstream

UCLA’s health system is normalizing telemedicine by giving patients 24/7 access to online consultations. Reforms like this are desparately needed, because they save the health care system money as well as saving patients time

Rise of Xi
China’s Anti-Corruption Purge Hits Energy Projects Hard

The anti-graft campaign has so reduced the leadership of CNPC, China’s biggest state-owned energy company, that operations have ceased at many drilling sites in shale-rich Sichuan province.

Putin & Al-Baghdadi
Genocidal Murders and Ordinary Thuggery

There is no moral equivalence between the Islamic State and Putin’s Russia—the first is a genocidal totalitarianism while the second is brutally authoritarian, but not genocidal. But both want to carve out new or enlarged states across internationally recognized borders, both threaten international stability, and both ultimately legitimate themselves in religious terms.

Asia's Game of Thrones
China Woos Sri Lanka, Wins New Port City

China is paying for a host of Sri Lankan infrastructure and developing projects as part of Xi’s plan to secure a “maritime Silk Road” for Chinese trade. China’s economic might gives it lots of leverage in the Game of Thrones.

Energy Weapons
Sanctions Threaten Future of Siberian Shale

Russia claims the most recent round of energy sanctions—targeting partnerships with foreign companies to extract unconventional oil and gas reserves—won’t have an effect on future production. Moscow’s creation of a crisis fund for sanctions-hit companies suggests otherwise.

Great Scot!
Scottish Devolution Pledges Provoke a Conservative Party Backlash

Backbench MPs promise a “bloodbath” even if the “No” vote succeeds. David Cameron has promised more to Scotland than some Conservatives will tolerate.

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Jordan & Israel
Pay Attention to this Gas Deal

Israel is shaping up to be an unexpectedly important energy player in the Middle East, providing the promise of collaboration and economic growth in a part of the world in which both are in very short supply.

The Brotherhood in Flight
The Muslim Brotherhood in Exile Finds a Potential Home in Turkey

In a slight to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said Turkey would welcome senior members of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Abortion in America
Reneging on an ACA Abortion Compromise

When the ACA was first passed, President Obama offered a compromise on federal abortion funding to pro-life Democrats whose votes he needed. Now a new GAO report suggests that compromise is lapsing in implementation.

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