After weeks of brutal tit-for-tat killings between Indian and Pakistani soldiers across the militarized Kashmiri border, the Indian government issued a stark warning today: Be prepared for a nuclear war. The AP reports: The notice, published Monday by the Kashmir police in the Greater Kashmir newspaper, advised people to build toilet-equipped basements large enough to […]

The UK is really getting under France’s skin. PM David Cameron is trying to renegotiate the terms of Britain’s EU membership and calling for a referendum on the matter. This move places him within a very rich British tradition of infuriating the French. Gérard Errera, the former French ambassador in London and now chairman of […]

China has forcefully protested Hilary Clinton’s recent remarks that the U.S., although it takes no position on the sovereignty of the disputed islands in the East China Sea, opposes “any unilateral actions that would seek to undermine Japanese administration.” There is no doubt that China owns the islands, China’s foreign ministry spokesman said, adding that the […]

Is New York City cruising for a bruising? Greg David of Crain’s New York Business reports that NYC’s debt has doubled during Michael Bloomberg’s decade-long tenure as Mayor. Recession-based spending increases did play a major role, but they cannot bear all the blame: reckless spending by the city government exacerbated the problem, and things are expected to get even […]

The French initially said it would only take weeks to eliminate the jihadist threat in North Africa; British Prime Minister David Cameron said this weekend that the West faces a “large and existential threat” from jihadis that could last a lot longer: “This is a global threat and it will require a global response. . . […]

Over the past week or so, I have had recourse to critique the American mainstream, elite press for not doing justice to the situation in the Sahel on behalf of their readers. Over the past few days, the Algerian angle of the evolving situation has come to the fore, and here the MSM has done […]

The fiscal cliff bill didn’t just raise taxes; it showered half a billion dollars on a canny Big Pharma company that knows its way around Capitol Hill. A provision in the newly-passed fiscal cliff bill allows pharmaceutical giant Amgen to sell one of its pills (Sensipar) for two more years without having to negotiate a fair […]

The Economist has embraced the Via Meadia perspective on the futility of a global climate treaty. Once a believer in the global approach, it appears to have given up: Each round of intergovernmental talks on cutting emissions and compensating victims seems to achieve less than the one before. [ . . . ][A new] study reveals […]

“A decade of war is now ending,” President Obama proclaimed today in his second inaugural address. Meanwhile in North Africa, a U.S.-assisted French surge in Mali continued into its second week. It’s not unusual for the President to be tight-lipped on the wars the U.S. is fighting, but as he moves into his second term […]

A remarkable photo taken just before dawn in Tehran on Sunday is making its way around the web. In it, a 23-year old man sentenced to death for armed robbery lays his head on the shoulder of his executioner; the hangman, masked and covered in black, embraces the condemned with his arm. The stirring scene comes […]