Iraq’s death toll is pushing into record territory. On Sunday, a cafe bombing in Baghdad killed almost 40, while at least 12 more were killed in suicide bombings elsewhere in the country. On Wednesday, at least 19 policemen were killed in another rash of suicide bombings, this time in the western province of Anbar. The BBC: The […]

After eight years of “Cowboy” Bush, Europe thought it had in Barack Obama a President who could understand them and could talk to them. Five years on, they’re worried that they’re stuck with a cyber-stalker in the White House.Earlier this week, Germany announced that the US may have been regularly listening in on Chancellor Angela […]

It seems odd to think that the legalization of the letters “W”, “Q” and “X” in Turkey is a sign of democratic reform, and not a subplot to an episode of Sesame Street. But issues of language and culture loom large in Turkish politics, so the newly legal letters represent an important step in the […]

There are many imitators out there, but only one region currently enjoying a genuine shale boom: North America. China, Australia, Poland, Lithuania, and Ukraine, amongst others, have all tried to emulate the North American shale bonanza. But as the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reminds us, the US and Canada remain the world’s only producers of significant […]

Britain’s leading politicians are racing to jump ship from the country’s green energy policies as electricity prices continue to rise. Prime Minister David Cameron and Labour opposition leader Ed Miliband sparred during the PM’s questions in the House of Commons today. The exchange was as heated as one expects at these events, but was striking […]

For the second year in a row, the Illinois state legislature begins a new session with pensions at the top of the agenda. This isn’t because lawmakers have an overflow of ideas, but because all past attempts to fix the state’s pensions have gone nowhere despite strong pressure from the governor and single-party control of […]

City governments around the US have been making a mess of retiree benefit funds for too long now, and in some cases the bungling is downright unethical. It’s a problem that ought to attract bipartisan concern. After all, if Democrats are serious about meaningful, competent government regulation and Republicans prioritize fiscal responsibility, both should advocate […]

Add Moldova to the list of countries shunning Russian attempts to establish a customs union to rival Europe’s. And Moscow, appearing increasingly weak in its near-abroad, is furious.Larger and more prosperous countries like Ukraine and Belarus are well on their way to choosing Europe over Russia, despite relentless Russian strong-arming. Armenia looked set to join […]

With a consensus now more or less formed that the Obamacare implementation faces serious challenges, pundits are increasingly pivoting towards discussing solutions, both short and long term. Short term, there’s increasing bipartisan support for delaying the penalty for not complying with the individual mandate, under the logic that you can’t punish someone for not getting […]

Tuesday was a big day for Russian-Chinese relations. The two countries signed deals to build refineries, coordinate efforts to explore Siberia’s oil and gas reserves, and send Russian liquified natural gas (LNG) and oil China’s way. Reuters reports: Medvedev hailed Rosneft’s outline agreement to pump 200,000 barrels per day of crude oil over 10 years […]