My previous two posts on Greece reminded me of something I meant to comment upon the other day.  On Friday’s Morning Edition there was a story on the Greek crisis that had the following observation that struck me: Resolving this crisis has taken years, and there’s a reason: a debt crisis has never really been [...]

Also via the BBC:

Via the BBC:  Greek MPs pass austerity plan amid violent protests Greece’s parliament has passed a controversial package of austerity measures, demanded by the eurozone and IMF in return for a 130bn-euro ($170bn; £110bn) bailout to avoid default. [...] The austerity measures include: 15,000 public-sector job cuts liberalisation of labour laws lowering the minimum wage [...]

Yesterday, rumors swept the Internet, primarily via Twitter, that the new leader of North Korea had been assassinated in Beijing: The claim that Kim, supreme leader of North Korea since the death of his father Kim Jong Il in December, had died apparently stemmed from a message sent out by a man who works near [...]

Via the BBC:  Greece bailout: Coalition fails to agree cuts Greek PM Lucas Papademos has failed to secure the support of his coalition for a raft of new austerity measures, after more than seven hours of talks. [...] A statement issued by the prime minister’s office said the aim of the meeting with the troika [...]

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti admits that the fight over the eurozone crisis is opening some old wounds.

I speculated last week that, notwithstanding the American public’s rather obvious war wariness,  making the public case for military action against Iran wouldn’t be all that difficult given the three decades of antipathy between the United States and the Islamic Republic that started with the Iranian Hostage Crisis. A new poll from The Hill would [...]

With the attacks on Syrian civilians seemingly getting worse by the day, the United Nations Security Council took up a resolution that would back efforts by the Arab League to bring an end to the crackdown, an effort that collapsed in failure as both Russia and China exercised their veto power: UNITED NATIONS — A [...]

Yes, the US Constitution has been the most successful such document in human history. That does not mean it is a good template for other countries.

Andrew Exum notes that most analysts who call for military intervention fail to specify the particulars.

We need to have opinions on a subject as serious as war with Iran.

Everything the critics say about the decision is right–and so is the decision.

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta announced this afternoon that the timetable for U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan is being accelerated: BRUSSELS — In a major milestone toward ending a decade of war in Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said on Wednesday that American forces would step back from a combat role there as early as [...]

The BBC is reporting on a leaked NATO report claiming that elements of Pakistani intelligence are directly aiding the Taliban in Afghanistan even as the U.S.-led NATO forces are fighting them: The Taliban in Afghanistan are being directly assisted by Pakistani security services, according to a secret Nato report seen by the BBC. The leaked [...]

Via the BBC:  Eurozone unemployment hits new record The jobless rate in the 17 countries that use the single currency was 10.4% in December, unchanged from November’s figure which was revised up from 10.3%. Some 16.5 million people were out of work in the eurozone in December, up 751,000 on the year before. The highest [...]

The well-respected aid group Doctors Without Borders is suspending its work in the jails in the city of Mistrata based on what it calls evidence of widespread torture taking place right under the new regimes nose: BENGHAZI, Libya — Doctors Without Borders has suspended its work in prisons in the Libyan city of Misrata because [...]

Mitt Romney’s view of the ideal relationship between the United States and Israel is, at the very least. quite odd, and, potentially, dangerous.

Censorship or sound business practice?

The son of Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood is among a group of Americans who are being barred from leaving Egypt: CAIRO — The Egyptian authorities have blocked the son of a United States cabinet member and at least five other American employees of two Washington-backed nongovernmental organizations from leaving Egypt in an apparent escalation [...]

My latest for The Atlantic explains, “Why We Should Be Glad the Haditha Massacre Marine Got No Jail Time.”

One year later, Egypt’s revolution remains unfinished.

We, as a country, need to remember that do not hold levers that allow us to move events this way or that

The combined value of Apple’s stock is more than the GDP of some countries.

It isn’t often when a Presidential primary debate causes an international incident, but Rick Perry managed to do it last night when he asserted that Turkey was now ruled by “Islamic terrorists” and that it should be kicked out of NATO: BAIR: Governor Perry, since the Islamist-oriented party took over in Turkey, the murder rate [...]

Huntsman’s tactics reinforced his fellow Republicans’ natural skepticism of his candidacy.

Greg Weeks explains.

Via the BBC:  Mohamed ElBaradei will end Egypt presidency bid Mr ElBaradei, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005, said he had taken his decision in protest at the way Egypt’s military rulers governed "as though no revolution had taken place". [...] "My conscience does not permit me to run for the presidency or [...]

The Daily Mail reports that Kim Jong-Un and his underlings are punishing citizens perceived not to have sufficiently mourned the death of his father: North Korea’s hardline regime is punishing those who did not cry at the death of dictator Kim Jong-il, according to reports. Sentences of at least six months in labour camps are [...]

The United States is sending a warning to Iran not to play games with the Straits Of Hormuz: WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is relying on a secret channel of communication to warn Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that closing the Strait of Hormuz is a “red line” that would provoke an American response, [...]

Via the BBC:  Mexico drug war deaths over five years now total 47,515 That number is since 2006 and the escalation of the drug war by President Felipe Calderon. According to the piece, while the murder rate continues to increase on an annual basis, the growth rate has slowed: The PGR said that the 11% [...]

A testament to the state of the banking industry in Italy and the resilience of a criminal network declared dead many times over the years (Reuters) – Organized crime has tightened its grip on the Italian economy during the economic crisis, making the Mafia the country’s biggest “bank” and squeezing the life out of thousands [...]

At the very least, something tells me this is a really stupid thing to do when you are running a country that has no money: The Greek government is being denounced by the National Confederation of Disabled People after it added pedophiles, exhibitionists, and kleptomaniacs to the list of disabled people entitled to state benefits. [...]

This shouldn’t be at all surprising: WASHINGTON — A nearly two-month lull in American drone strikes in Pakistan has helped embolden Al Qaeda and several Pakistani militant factions to regroup, increase attacks against Pakistani security forces and threaten intensified strikes against allied forces in Afghanistan, American and Pakistani officials say. The insurgents are increasingly taking [...]

The problem with Europe may not be the Euro, but the fact that there really aren’t any Europeans.

Given the increasing tensions between the United States and Iran in the Straits of Hormuz, this is good to see: (CNN) — U.S. sailors from a carrier strike group whose recent presence in the Persian Gulf drew the ire of Iranian military officials have rescued 13 of the Middle Eastern country’s sailors from a hijacked [...]

Philip Hammond addressed the Atlantic Council this morning in advance of a meeting with Leon Panetta.

Rick Santorum has some bizarre views when it comes to the dispute between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

Bernard Finel argues that those of us arguing against war in Iran are doing it wrong. He’s right.

Via the BBC:  Colombia Urabenos ‘drug gang leader’ shot by police Officials in Colombia say the alleged leader of a powerful criminal gang has been killed in a police operation. Prosecutors accuse Juan de Dios Usuga and his brother Dairo Antonio of jointly leading the Urabenos gang, which controls much of the drug-trafficking in the [...]

Vehement disagreement with the policy views of a country and prejudice based on immutable traits are not the same.

A few people over at Reddit have discovered an odd detail from photographs of yesterday’s memorial service for Kim Jong-il: At the Wire today, Dashiell Bennett highlights the North Korean state news agency’s apparently random manipulation of an image from yesterday’s funeral procession for Kim Jong Il — a crude photoshop job done, Bennett notes, [...]

Not surprisingly, the last man to lead the Soviet Union believes we’d be better off if it still existed.

J. David Goodman and David Furst at The New York Times Lens Blog have uncovered an interesting manipulation of at least one of the photographs released yesterday from the funeral procession of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il: The funeral of Kim Jong-il on Wednesday called to mind the best stage-managed Communist state productions: the falling [...]

The official State Funeral for Kim Jong-il was held in Pyongyang earlier today, and it was about as bizarre as you’d expect something from that country to be: SEOUL, South Korea — Kim Jong-un, the designated dynastic heir to power in North Korea, walked alongside the hearse of his deceased father, Kim Jong-il, through snow-covered [...]

Via the BBC:  Russia election: Vladimir Putin rejects poll review. Who could have predicted that? All snark aside, this decision will likely further motivate the anti-Putin protests, rather than end the discussion. And this struck me as rather familiar sounding: Mr Putin dismissed the protest movement. "The problem is that they have no single programme," [...]

From China Daily by way of  Zerohedge comes word that some of China’s biggest borrowers may be approaching insolvency: BEIJING – China’s biggest provincial borrowers are deferring payment on their loans just two months after the country’s regulator said some local government companies would be allowed to do so. Hunan Provincial Expressway Construction Group is [...]

Via the BBC:  Brazil economy overtakes UK, says CEBR Brazil has overtaken the UK as the world’s sixth largest economy, an economic research group has said. [...] Brazil has a population of about 200 million, more than three times the population of the UK. Brazil’s economy grew by 7.5% last year, but the government has [...]

The United States tops the world in giving money, volunteering time, and helping strangers.

The capacity of some people to look the other way in the face of evil is astounding.

Less than a week after American forces finally vacated the country, Iraq looks to be returning to form: BAGHDAD — A wave of coordinated explosions ripped across Baghdad early on Thursday, killing at least 63 people, wounding more than 180 and jolting a country already unsettled by a deepening political crisis and the absence of [...]