Western expertise in fracking is already well on its way to sparking an energy revolution in America. Can it do the same for an energy-hungry China?Anglo-Dutch energy giant Shell Oil is determined to find out. In March, Shell secured contracts to co-produce shale gas in China and has pledged to invest at least $1 billion […]

A fascinating piece in last Sunday’s New York Times provided a clear picture of how automation is changing the world: This is the future. A new wave of robots, far more adept than those now commonly used by automakers and other heavy manufacturers, are replacing workers around the world in both manufacturing and distribution. Factories like the […]

The dispute between Japan and China over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands continues, and Bruce Einhorn, Bloomberg Businessweek’s Asia bureau chief, explains why China may not be holding as many cards as some Western observers—and Chinese patriots—think: With a major leadership transition due to take place at the upcoming Communist Party congress, the last thing China’s rulers […]

Believe it or not, it’s come to this: A doctor from Hesse filed a criminal complaint against Rabbi David Goldberg, who serves in the community of Hof, in Upper Franconia (northern Bavaria), according to the Juedische Allgemeine weekly newspaper. The chief prosecutor of Hof confirmed that charges had been filed against the rabbi. The charges […]

After provocative messages on social networking sites incited communal tensions in India’s northeast, New Delhi is calling on Washington for help. The Times of India reports: India will seek US’ help in tracking down the origins of offensive web pages hosted on American servers which have been used to inflame Muslim sentiments here.The decision to seek the help of […]

Earlier this month, the State Department released a statement criticizing Beijing’s recent moves in the South China Sea. In an insightful reaction to this statement, Douglass H. Paal explains why Americans would be mistaken to view America’s Asia policy as a binary choice between confrontation and appeasement of China: Today, the South China Sea is not at […]

As a chilling reminder that some misguided Pakistani Muslims think God wants to see their neighbors killed, an 11-year old Christian girl, possibly suffering from Down syndrome but certainly illiterate, is facing the death penalty after being arrested by police who “rescued” her from a wild mob threatening to burn her alive. This treatment seems […]

Great news! The worst ecological disaster in the history of the United States may be about to be reversed.The American chestnut tree was once king of the Eastern forest. Its sturdy hardwood, its beautiful shape, and its nourishing nuts aided Americans’ construction, crafts, and cooking for hundreds of years. Tragically, a fungus from Asia killed […]

In a move designed to turn up the heat on Assad, President Obama signaled he was ready to intervene in the conflict if Syrian forces use chemical or biological weapons against their own people. The Wall Street Journal has the story: Mr. Obama, speaking at a news conference at the White House on Monday, said the […]

Michael Bloomberg, Rupert Murdoch, and Thomas Menino (the liberal Democratic mayor of Boston who threatened to block Chick-Fil-A from opening new stores in that city) walk into a hotel…This isn’t the beginning of a bad joke. Last week, this unlikely trinity gathered at a Boston hotel to issue a united call for immigration reform. Doing […]