In The News

As Western sanctions try to punish and isolate Iran, China has surged to become its largest trading partner, with $22 billion in trade in 2009, predicted to grow to $50 billion by 2016. China supplies a range of goods, trying to replace Western expertise in infrastructure construction, energy plants, and oil and gas management. Still, some Iranians complain that Chinese firms use their position...

Japan is finalizing plans to mine rare-earth metals in Vietnam, a bid to reduce its dependence on Chinese production accounting for 97 percent of the world’s supply. Rare-earth metals are crucial for many high-tech manufacturing processes, and a recent disruption in Chinese supply rattled Japanese companies. Japan alleges a Chinese ban on exports in retaliation for the arrest of a Chinese fishing...

President Barack Obama had two years to turn around a struggling economy before the mid-term elections. Voters expressed dissatisfaction, shifting control of the US House of Representatives, one of two legislative bodies, over to the Republicans. Republican leaders signal that reducing unemployment and taxes are priorities. But global onlookers fear tax reduction will aggravate deficits, widening...