Via Meadia has covered the high speed rail fail in China; now this ‘technology of the future’ seems to be suffering a meltdown here in the US.Since the Obama presidency began, various proposals for high-speed rail have been popping up across the country—Florida, Wisconsin, and California have each considered plans to build the “transportation of […]

FT reports more bad news in a dismal season for Hungary: Hungary cancelled a bond swap auction on Wednesday as the forint hit a record new low against the euro and fears grew about the country’s planned bid for International Monetary Fund/ European Union financial aid. […] As Benoit Anne of Société Générale wrote in […]

The financial crisis, working its way westward across Asia, reached India this week. India’s leaders are worried, really worried. In fact, they’re so worried by the dismal performance of their stock index last year that they have made it easier for foreign investors to invest directly in Indian firms. (FT subscription required) From as far […]

Via Meadia has already reported that Hamas may soon be in the market for a new patron to replace Syria (more background here). It’s no surprise that other regional powers, especially Turkey and Iran, are gearing up for a bidding war, as one can easily see by reading between the lines of this NYT story on the […]

There are few current questions about international developments as important as the ones concerning the future of what, rather optimistically, has been called the Arab Spring. Will this series of popular uprisings indeed lead to a new era of democracy and progress in the Middle East? Or will it rather lead to an era of […]

Connections between the adult Jesus and the baby in the manger aren’t easy to make. At first glance, the gospels don’t help much; whatever the gospel writers had in mind, producing complete biographies of Jesus wasn’t it. Mark omits Christmas altogether, and starts with Jesus getting baptized and launching his career. John has a short […]

News from the WSJ will dishearten bohemian Global Greens and buttoned-up Pentagon planners alike: the Chinese are coming—to Canada. Yet another Chinese state-owned oil firm has acquired rights to develop Canadian oil sands, this time with China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. securing its first wholly independent project.As regular readers of the blog will know, Via Meadia has […]

Via Meadia readers may be aware of the brouhaha surrounding the reality television show All-American Muslim. The series, which follows five Muslim families in Dearborn, Michigan, has come under fire from a fringe conservative Christian group that, along with a few others, has successfully pressured many advertisers to back out of sponsoring the show.Today, Robert […]

The new U.S. sanctions on Iran’s Central Bank are already taking their toll on Iran, reports the Washington Post: Iran’s ailing currency took a steep slide Monday, losing 12 percent against foreign currencies after President Obama on Saturday signed a bill that places the Islamic republic’s central bank under unilateral sanctions…The Central Bank of Iran […]

The opening vignette in this New York Times piece describes the truly harrowing conditions of families living in the Congolese capital: The Berboks are practicing a Kinshasa family ritual almost as common here as corrugated metal roofs and dirt streets: the “power cut,” as residents in this capital of some 10 million have ironically christened […]