Condemnation of the state of US infrastructure in the wake of recent flooding of the Mississippi River overlooks the political and financial obstacles facing big-spending projects. The problem is one of US economic structure, and it urgently needs to be
The US Federal Reserve's optimism in regard to the inflation outlook masked a fear of a continued slide in the dollar, even if it raised rates. And with foreign currency reserves less than those of Poland, and allies with no
Ancient Romans knew all about excessive indulgence in life's pleasures, but where for the Romans death was preferable to abandoning a lifestyle they could no longer afford, today's gorgers at the government trough will elect politicians to continue the feast,
Senator Barack Obama is in celebratory mood as the White House appears within his and the Democratic Party's reach. Yet tackling and even resolving the US and global economic crisis over the next four years may cast any eventual victor
Thanks to a late surge of votes from his countrymen, Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen beat out Mario Vargas Llosa, the Peruvian novelist, and chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov, to win a British magazine poll to name the world's number one
A first-ever nationwide assessment has found that the use of torture is blatant and widespread in India's prisons and police custody, with an average of four persons dying each day. In the broader sense, says the report, torture reduces the
Direct flights will begin this week across the Taiwan Strait, but decades of political wrangling have placed turbulence in the path of more progress. As long as China and Taiwan remain at odds over the "one-China policy", political ties will
Last month's US$11 one-day spike in oil prices is the most spectacular suggestion yet of a relationship between threats against Iran and the price of oil. With three out of four voters in the United States saying gas prices will
Hardline Muslims are confronting moderates over the existence of Ahmadiyya, a 100-year-old sect in Indonesia that does not accept Mohammad as the last prophet of Islam. Religiously moderate President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his government are caught in the middle,
A new line of thinking being put forward by influential analysts in the US suggests that Iran should be attacked not because it is a threat, but for precisely the opposite reason. Far from being an "existential threat" to Israel,
An Iranian general warns that work has started on digging 320,000 graves for American soldiers should they fight in Iran. This can be dismissed as just another salvo in the psychological warfare between Tehran and Washington. But should the United
