Japan and several ASEAN countries have a common China problem. China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea infringe on claims made by Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, and others. The same goes for Japan in the East China Sea. So Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s recent trip to Southeast Asia makes a lot of sense and signifies Japan’s […]

It looks like Detroit may yet have competition for the distinction of America’s most poorly run city. The unprecedented triple-drop in Chicago’s bond rating and the city’s shiny new long-term debt figure—$29 billion—should have pols quaking in their boots. The Chicago Sun-Times has published some distressing numbers from Chicago’s recent audits: The number of “physical […]

An article in this morning’s FT powerfully highlights how completely sclerotic and status quo-minded the EU’s leadership has become. There’s no more talk of re-jiggering the seemingly untenable terms of the Greek bailout, no talk of setting up an EU banking union to manage future crises—nothing comes up that could possibly upset German voters. Everyone is basically sitting […]

Hundreds of thousands of Americans are undergoing unnecessary and harmful cancer treatments every year because the medical establishment has been using outdated definitions. Fortunately, the National Cancer Institute has published a paper recommending changing the definition of the disease and renaming certain conditions. NYT: They say, for instance, that some premalignant conditions, like one that […]

It’s not an apples-to-apples comparison, but it’s stunning nonetheless: an entrepreneur in India has managed to bring down the cost of a coronary bypass surgery to $1,583; the same procedure costs $106,385 in one clinic in the United States. Devi Shetty has opened a series of medical centers all across India to serve a population of […]

Cambodians went to the polls this weekend, and a surprisingly large number of them voted against the party of Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has been in power for 28 years and is a former junior commander in the Khmer Rouge. The opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, led by Sam Rainsy, a human rights activist who recently […]

As its economy founders and many sense its society changing, Jordan’s tribal violence is becoming more frequent and gruesome.  The WSJ’s Middle East Real Time blog reports in the aftermath of a violent clash Friday involving “machine guns, sharp instruments, meat cutter knives and attempts to blow up gas cylinders” that left two dead and eight […]

The first lab-grown 1/3 pound hamburger will be prepared and consumed next week in London. It will be the first test of its kind. The patty’s 3,000 strips of of muscle fiber were grown in test tubes over the course of years by scientists at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, at a cost of $325,000. Professor […]

A trade spat between China and the EU over solar panels and wine reached a turning point today as both sides agreed to back down and enter negotiations. The EU, which had accused China of dumping solar panels into the European market at exceptionally cheap prices, levied a 47 percent duty. China retaliated by launching […]

Saudi royal and billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal thinks the US shale boom is endangering his country’s economy. The WSJ reports that the prince published a letter yesterday that he wrote in May to the Saudi Oil Minister and several others, warning of the dangers to Saudi Arabia of American gas production: Saudi Arabia, the […]