The Obama administration hoped it could walk away from Iraq without consequences. Unfortunately, this has been far from the case. Nouri al-Maliki’s ever closer ties with Iran have pushed him to support Assad in Syria despite Assad’s earlier support for Sunni and Baathist insurgents in Iraq. At home, Maliki has stoked sectarianism by purging Sunnis […]

For all of its many benefits, full-time telework can be lonely. One study identified 2.5 days a week to be the telework sweet spot, after which the solitude becomes oppressive. For those who for whatever reason have to telework even more frequently than that, there’s now a new option—co-working: This was supposed to be the […]

Turkey and Israel are finally close to a reconciliation deal. Officials from both sides are meeting in Jerusalem to hammer out the details of Israeli compensation to the families of those killed in the Mavi Marmara clash of 2010, hoping to finally thaw relations between the once friendly and cooperative countries. The Times of Israel reports: The […]

There’s a prospect that the murky events surrounding the tragic death of Ambassador Stevens on September 11, 2012, in Libya are about to make a comeback as a major storyline. Three witnesses advertised as “whistleblowers” are set to appear in front of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee this week, and the Beltway media and its assorted […]

A dispute over solar panels may be sparking a minor trade war between Europe and China. The EU’s trade commissioner is proposing a 40 percent levy on cheap Chinese solar panels in a bid to save Europe’s struggling domestic production. The Financial Times reports: [One struggling German solar panel producer] contended that Chinese competitors used illegal government […]

“Tuition discounts” (grants and scholarships) at private colleges have been steadily rising for the past seven years, reports the WSJ. In 2012, the average discount rate hit 45 percent off of the total tuition bill—the highest it’s ever been.The downward pressure on prices comes because colleges have been finding it difficult to hit their enrollment targets. Desperate […]

Three weeks ago Chinese troops ventured 19 kilometers inside Indian territory and set up camp, prompting frantic Indian officials to insist they withdraw or face the consequences. Yesterday, finally, India and China agreed to end the Great Himalayan Standoff of 2013…for now.The Indian military apparently had retaliated against the Chinese invaders by setting up its own camp […]

If there’s a contest between California and Texas, it ain’t even close when it comes to energy. California’s anti-fracking policies, says the WSJ‘s editors, are depriving the state’s poor and unemployed of high-paying jobs and social services; meanwhile Texas is riding the shale energy wave to a low unemployment rate, higher public revenues, and an […]

In Pakistan’s Punjab province, a region populated mostly by poor farmers, the run-up to this weekend’s elections has taken on a decidedly sectarian tone.Maulana Abdul Khaliq Rehmani is the leader of a political group that is fielding 130 candidates, can count on as many as 12,000 votes—not enough to win a seat, reports Declan Walsh […]

The statistics that open Richard Epstein’s WSJ review of Steven J. Harper’s The Lawyer Bubble paint a depressing picture of the state of the legal profession. Top firms are cutting back, wages are down, and tens of thousands of young law grads are looking for work in a competitive marketplace. As a result, law schools are feeling the pinch. […]