Could we be witnessing the end of the “Made in China” era? According to an astute trade official in China’s Ministry of Commerce, the answer may well be yes. In an interview with the China Daily, this official explained that cheap goods are increasingly made in Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia rather than China, which is beginning to transition toward […]

Being in London for the third presidential debate changes one’s perspective; for one thing, since 9 PM Eastern Time is 2 AM in London, I slept through the actual event and read about it on Twitter and the internet before watching reruns. And the interest in the debate, though keen, is not nearly as overwhelming […]

France is sending drones to Mali while hundreds of Islamist fighters are coming in from across the Middle East, preparing to defend their safe haven.According to the Associated Press, French drones will soon be patrolling the skies above the Malian desert: A French defense official said Monday that France plans to move two surveillance drones […]

Earlier this month Via Meadia took a closer look at the rise of radical Islam in Indonesia. We now have some depressing poll numbers from a new survey by the Indonesian Survey Circle that confirm this trend among the general population. According to the survey, intolerance toward religious minorities and gays has become widespread: The […]

Last Friday China conducted a naval exercise in the East China Sea. It was a show of force aimed at Japan over the disputed (but for more than a century Japanese-controlled) Senkaku/Diaoyu islands. In yet another fiery op-ed, China’s Global Times argues that Japan “must adapt to China’s navy moves” and promises there’s more to come: This time […]

It’s no secret at this point that law students graduate with some of the highest student debt levels in the nation, only to head into a job market that can’t support their growing numbers. Even for those who do find a job, things are getting worse. The Wall Street Journal reports that clients of major law […]

The Wall Street Journal reports that San Bernardino, which filed for bankruptcy two months ago, has missed a $5.3 million payment to Calpers, the state pension fund, and is projected to miss further payments in the future. This is the first time a California city has refused to make its payments. Amid the subsequent confusion, both […]

Japan’s exports to China are significantly down this month, the Financial Times reports: According to Monday’s preliminary data from the Ministry of Finance, shipments to China from Japan dropped 14.1 per cent in September from a year earlier, accelerating from a 9.9 per cent fall in August. . . .While Japan’s imports from China were up 3.8 […]

A report put out by the Committee to Protect Journalists paints a damning picture of Erdogan’s Turkey: The government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has waged one of the world’s biggest crackdowns on press freedom in recent history. Authorities have imprisoned journalists on a mass scale on terrorism or anti-state charges, launched thousands of other […]

Yesterday I looked at how the third debate offers President Obama his best hope for a knockout victory in this series of one-on-one match ups that has riveted much of the country over the last few weeks. But Governor Romney also has an opportunity here too, and while foreign policy has helped the President more […]