A story in today’s FT highlights the concern felt by India’s national security leadership at what they perceive is a widening gap between the military capabilities of China and India. Indian commanders say the government’s reluctance to take decisions is severely hampering their ability to guard against a “collusive threat” from two nuclear armed neighbours […]

More sad news in Nigeria as sectarian violence intensifies in Jos, a city that has suffered recurring cycles of murderous attacks and retribution between Christians and Muslims.The FT reports that this week has seen 50 deaths and counting in the latest round of tit-for-tat violence. In this case, it looks like Christians sparked the cycle, […]

Against a backdrop of political meltdown and spiraling violence in its most populous city, Pakistan now has to deal with this year’s monsoon floods. The News reports that 300,000 people have been affected by flooding. According to an estimate, hundreds of thousands of acres of standing crops have been devastated in flash-floods across the country and […]

In the midst of criticism aimed at Angela Merkel for her apparent unwillingness to put Germany’s full economic weight behind euro rescue, the FT’s Gideon Rachman makes some important points in support of her cautious approach: First, the chancellor’s critics often fail to acknowledge the real political and legal constraints that she is operating under. […]

Here at Via Meadia and TAI, we’ve been watching as the US postal system struggles to keep its head above water. After announcing last month that thousands of post offices would be closed in an effort to save money, the USPS will warn Congress today that things are even worse than expected. From the Washington […]

In a predictable but disheartening development in the Libyan revolution, revenge attacks by rebel forces are sweeping the country. One main target appears to be migrant workers from Sub-Saharan Africa. The NYT has the story: …rebels were turning their wrath against migrants from sub-Saharan Africa, imprisoning hundreds for the crime of fighting as “mercenaries” for […]

The European Union is finally approaching a much postponed moment of decision.  Will the EU turn into a true USE (United States of Europe) or will it subside into something looser and less ambitious — a new Holy Roman Empire of loosely confederated but uncoordinated minor states?Both proponents and opponents of the euro knew that […]

Rhode Island is one of the bluest states in the country, and one where public sector unions have long worked with sympathetic politicians to create a true blue system of well paid public employees retiring comfortably on generous pensions with cost of living raises automatically thrown in. The only problem is that the state could […]

Nobody understands the tragedy of modern California better than Joel Kotkin: In its modern origins California was paean to progress in the best sense of the word. In 1872, the second president of the University of California, Daniel Coit Gilman, said science was “the mother of California.” Today, California may worship at the altar of […]

With today’s news from Europe focusing on crumbling financial markets and one fiscal crisis after another, The Atlantic’s visual retrospective of World War Two reminds us that Europe has survived much worse. September 4th’s photos are from the North African Campaign.70 years ago Libya was an Italian colony and the English had already been in Egypt […]