Indian PM Manmohan Singh confirmed today that he will be meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif for bilateral talks on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York in the coming days. While both Indian and Pakistani peace activists will be happy to see a handshake and talks between the two leaders, […]

Angela Merkel and the CDU may have won the German election in a landslide, but due to the peculiarities of the German parliamentary system she still has more work ahead before she can get down to governing. With no other right-of-center parties in the Bundestag, she is left with the unappealing alternatives of forming a “grand” collation […]

Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have some good news for America: the most productive areas of the Barnett shale formation have even more gas to give than previously thought. This report comes on the heels of a study conducted earlier this year by the same group (UT-Austin’s Bureau of Economic Geology). That study […]

Despite all the talk of US withdrawal from world problems, last weekend’s terror attack in Kenya appears to be boosting chances that US engagement in Africa will grow: U.S. officials on Tuesday were shipping law-enforcement equipment to local police in Nairobi, two U.S. officials said. Both said they expected Kenya to formalize more-specific requests for […]

Here’s a news story Hillary Clinton won’t enjoy reading: the liberal wing of the Democratic party is getting increasingly vocal, angling to push Democratic politicians further to the left on a wide range of areas. WSJ: Strong pushback from Democrats in Congress this month threatened to derail the president’s planned military strike on Syria and […]

This is a very skeptical assessment of Obama strategy from top New York Times security reporter David Sanger. A taste: He surged forces into Afghanistan only to quickly reverse himself, speeding the withdrawal with the declaration that “it is time to focus on nation-building here at home.” He briefly joined the fight to halt a […]

You know a new technology has really arrived when the government starts regulating it. That’s why it’s big news that the FDA is going to start regulating some smartphone and tablet health apps. More: Agency officials said their goal is to oversee apps that function like medical devices, performing ultrasounds, for example, and that could potentially pose […]

New York City has just become ground zero in the national debate over charter schools, with a massive protest scheduled for next month. On October 8th, a number of charter school teachers and their students will take the day off and head to the Brooklyn Bridge, where they will protest what they see as mayoral […]

Obamacare is more unpopular than ever, and the law’s future has become increasingly uncertain. In the midst of the ongoing controversy, Politico has a fascinating retrospective on the ACA, from its almost accidental origins to its role in defining  Obama’s presidency: Soon-to-be-candidate Obama, then an Illinois senator, was thinking about turning down an invitation to […]

In the face of insolvency, many US pension funds are counting on a Hail Mary option: the high-risk/high-reward strategy of alternative investment. On average, a public pension plan now has about 11 percent of its money in alternative investments, including hedge funds, real estate, and venture capital. The Guardian offers some insight on what’s driving […]