New Scientist: US fertility has been declining steadily since 2008, according to a reportpublished last week by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). The report was compiled from birth certificates registered across the US.In 2008, the average number of children per woman was 2.1, roughly the figure needed […]

Iraq is shipping critical fuel oil to Syria, the FT reports: Iraq is quietly shipping vital supplies of fuel oil to Syria in a deal that has triggered concern in Washington and exposes Damascus’s difficulties keeping its economy afloat in the face of a growing civil war and economic sanctions.In June and July, Baghdad’s oil ministry delivered […]

The usual grumblings attend the day on which we commemorate the most famous illegal immigrant in the history of the Americas, an undocumented wanderer from Spain who brought plagues, fire and the sword from the Old World to the New.Columbus Day is our most confused holiday celebration, one in which the public understanding of the […]

GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney made his most significant public appearance since last week’s presidential debate. You can read the whole thing here. It was for the most part a frank and brave speech, but it defended some unpopular points of view even as it sharpened the contrast between the two men vying to lead […]

The border artillery battles between Syria and Turkey keep heating up, though Syria keeps making loud noises about wanting to end the violence. It’s not entirely clear whether this represents duplicity at the top or chaos on the ground; Syria’s central command may not be able to hold its local commanders on a tight leash.Turkey […]

The beautiful and shiny new democracy in Libya continues to experience teething troubles; today the designated prime minister has been forced to step aside after his second failure to get a slate of ministers approved by a fractious parliament.Mustafa Abu Shagur, who spent the last few years in the United States as an optical engineer […]

Speaking of Latin American democracies shooting themselves in the foot, Hugo Chavez was re-elected to the presidency of Venezuela for the third time yesterday with a solid margin of 10% of the vote in his favor. Whether there was significant fraud is not yet being discussed—Henrique Capriles made no mention of it in his concession […]

It’s the oldest trick in the book: when your polls are in the dumps, try to drum up nationalist fervor over a foreign conflict and watch the voters forget what a terrible job you’re doing domestically. With growth forecasts down to as low as 1.5% for this year after holding at almost 8% in 2011, […]

A new Brookings study is cautioning that the global economy is on the verge of another slump. The only bright light? The United States. FT has the summary: The Tiger index shows momentum in the global economy dissipating despite action by the Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, Bank of Japan and Bank of England to […]

The biggest story this week was Mitt Romney’s stellar debate performance. WRM assessed the likely impact on the race: Governor Romney didn’t win the election last night, he just stopped losing it. That may not last; the road to the election is still very long and we are more likely than not to see momentum […]