America and Islamic State Mission relaunched The fight against Islamic State will help define America's role in the world FOR more than three years, Barack Obama has been trying to avoid getting into a fight in Syria. But this week, with great tracts...
Arab Bank Consorting with terrorists A venerable Jordanian bank is found complicit in terrorist attacks AFTER a six-week trial it took only two days for a jury to find Arab Bank guilty of knowingly providing assistance to Hamas, the Palestinian milit...
Demography Hip and hobbling Not all towns are desperate to attract young people Nationally, an ageing population is a problem. But locally it can be a boon. The over-50s control 80% of Britain's wealth, and like to spend it on houses and high-street...
Science and technology Biometrics Clocking people's clocks Facial-recognition systems are getting better WITH some pride, the FBI trumpeted the news last month that thanks to the agency's facial-recognition system Neil Stammer, wanted for sexual assa...
The marriage market Got to have a J.O.B. Women still most want to marry men with money JANE AUSTEN'S characters took it for granted that men with money made more eligible mates. A man like that is hard to find, but I can't get him off my mind, lament...
Tesco's accounting problems Not so funny Booking revenues, like comedy, is all about timing IT IS too soon to say whether the accounting misstatement at Tesco was cock-up or conspiracy. The source of the discrepancy is already clear, however, and it...
Health care in Vietnam Limping along Ordinary folk are sick and tired of their public hospitals Full to overflowing WAS the tumour malignant? Nguyen Thi Hoat's doctors could not tell because their public hospital lacks brain-scanners. Ms Hoat's only...
Taxing corporate cash A tempting target South Korea's government tries to get firms to spend their accumulated riches SINCE becoming South Korea's finance minister in July, Choi Kyung-hwan has been busy. First came a 41 trillion won stimulus package....
Car loans in America Bad carma Borrowers, not lenders, have more to fear from the latest subprime lending boom For whom? WHAT would you rather lose: your house or your car? In America, where a car is usually essential to get to work, many borrowers w...
Insolvency Going under A lot of people are still going bankrupt GOVERNMENT ministers took a break from wooing the Scots on September 17th to crow over Britains strengthening job market. Unemployment now stands at just 6.2%down from a peak of 8.4% in...
