In The News

Crossing a Red Line

April 26, 2013
President Barack Obama has said that use of chemical weapons in Syria would be crossing a red line triggering intervention. Satellite images, eyewitness accounts and soil analysis suggest that sarin has been used in Syria. British officials concur with the US that evidence is limited and requires further investigation; British and French officials are requesting a UN investigation. Despite...

Turn to Religion Split Suspects' Home

Alan Cullison, Paul Sonne, Anton Troianovski, David George-Cosh April 25, 2013
Investigators are scrutinizing every routine for the family of two brothers, 26 and 19 years old, who set off two homemade bombs at the Boston Marathon. The hope is to prevent a tragic repeat. The Wall Street Journal presents one of the more comprehensive reports, with attention focused on the family’s divide over religion. The mother and farther met in Elista, provincial capital of the Kalmykia...

Is Pakistan a Failing State?

Gustav Ranis April 25, 2013
Since its independence, Pakistan has had civilian rule for 25 of the past 65 years, including the last five. The ongoing struggle between the country’s military and civilian government is again in the limelight over the detention of Pakistan’s former military ruler Pervez Musharraf on a court order. The source of the country’s instability includes corruption and a flailing economy; a budget over-...

Egypt Arrests as Undersea Internet Cable Cut Off Alexandria

April 5, 2013
The pleasures and business of immediate global communications could have been threatened in Egypt. Authorities there have arrested three divers accused of cutting an underwater internet cable, which reduced connection speeds for Egypt and some other countries. Other cables were reported damaged during the previous week, though there is no evidence that the incidents are linked, reports the BBC...

Should South Korea Pursue Nuclear Arms?

Bennett Ramberg March 29, 2013
South Korea and the United States confront a dilemma in responding to erratic threats from impoverished, nuclear-armed North Korea. South Korea ranks among the top 15 largest economies, while the North is dysfunctional. In recent weeks North Korea has test-launched a long-range missile, criticized China’s response to the launch, severed all communications with South Korea, and threatened...

Moscow’s Mysterious Move on Cyprus

Owen Matthews March 28, 2013
Russian deposits may account for about one third of Cypriot bank accounts worth more than €100,000, which could be frozen and taxed by up to 25 percent as part of a EU bailout deal. Russian President Vladmir Putin has denounced such methods for rescuing the Cypriot economy and “many non-Russian commentators agree with Putin that raiding private savings risks undermining confidence in Europe’s...

In Mexico, Tweeting on Drug War to Fill the Void of Traditional Media

Justin Ellis March 22, 2013
The drug wars in Mexico have targeted traditional journalists and blocked investigations. But a research study is showing that Twitter users “are spreading the word on shootings, arrests, and clashes between the cartels and police,” reports Justin Ellis for Neiman Journalism Lab. “And, researchers say, they’ve developed a kind of media-esque ecosystem that values traits like sourcing and...