After two days of futile talks in Moscow between Iran and representatives of the six world powers, it appears that Tehran has no interest in striking a deal any time soon. The negotiations had been hailed by many diplomats as the best chance in years for a breakthrough that would halt Iran’s nuclear ambitions without […]

For all the hullabaloo over fancy “green jobs” programs, the traditional “brown energy” sector has created the most actual jobs during the recession. This should hardly be surprising to anyone who’s been following Via Meadia, but sometimes it helps to have a visual representation of the situation to illustrate just how clear the data really […]

Pakistan’s descent into political chaos is picking up speed. The last week has seen corruption allegations undermine the integrity of one of the country’s top television channels as well as the family of the chief justice of the Supreme Court. Now comes news that the very same chief justice has dismissed Prime Minister Yousaf Raza […]

Asians are now the fastest-growing immigrant group in America, and as the Boston Herald reports, these new immigrants are generally educated and culturally well-adjusted upon arrival: In fact, U.S. Asians, who trace their roots to dozens of countries in the Far East, the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, are arguably the most highly educated immigrant […]

Bloomberg reports that J.P. Morgan has been sued by the Louisiana Police Pension Plan for securities fraud, and this charge only scratches the surface of the company’s misconduct.FoxBusiness reports that in a “strictly confidential” report issued last year, J.P. Morgan admitted that underfunded pension liabilities amount to nearly $4 trillion—far worse than most observers believed. […]

It looks like the Banana War between China and the Philippines is finally ending. After Manilla used the convenient pretext of an approaching typhoon to order its ships to return from the Scarborough Shoal, Chinese fishing boats are likewise heading back to port, says the New York Times.As the Times also notes, however, neither side […]

The Southern Baptist Convention is about to reach an important new moment in its history—the election of its first black president. The New York Times tells the story of Rev. Fred Luter, a black pastor from New Orleans who is all but guaranteed to win election to the Convention’s highest seat. This is a major […]

George Monbiot, one of the world’s leading environmentalists and a writer for the left-leaning British Guardian has an assessment of the Rio+20 environmental summit that tracks pretty closely with my own. Writes the anguished Monbiot, We know it’s rubbish, but we allow our hopes to be raised, only to witness 190 nations arguing through the […]

Does the quality and funding of a country’s universities directly correlate with its economic prosperity? A piece in the Wall Street Journal suggests that this question is increasingly up for debate.In a report issued last week, a committee of leaders from higher ed institutions and nonprofits warned that impending funding cuts for higher education threaten to […]

If you take the media at its word, things are heating up along the border between Egypt and Israel, where several Israelis and Palestinians have been killed in recent days.The recent outbreaks are the latest in a series of incidents along what was once a quiet frontier. Israel has complained of lawlessness and cross-border terrorist attacks […]