Terror inCanada Losing your immunity Attacks on soldiers in a mainly tranquil land stir talk of global action against terror IT WAS a sombre Stephen Harper who addressed Canadians on October 22nd. A lone gunman had fatally shot a young soldier standi...
Lexington The politics of Guantanamo The idea of providing a home to terror suspects sparks a revealing fuss in Kansas IF AN irresponsible Barack Obama moves terrorists from Guantanamo Bay to a military prison in Kansas, he would be painting a target...
Winding down failing banks Armageddon delayed Throwing sand into the gears of the financial doomsday machine WE WILL not kick you when you are down, at least not for a couple of days: that is the gist of a putative deal struck by 18 global banks this...
Recognising Palestine A state of things to come Britain votes to recognise a Palestinian state What would Arthur Balfour say? IN HIS declaration of 1917 giving Britain's backing for the creation of a Jewish homeland, Arthur Balfour, the then foreign...
Japanese carmakers Lots of oomph Japan's small-car firms are defying the industry's get-big-or-die imperative ONE of the conundrums of the car business is that five smaller Japanese firms continue to prosper alongside three giants, Toyota, Nissan and...
Cheaper oil Both symptom and balm The oil price is tumbling. Is that good or bad news for the world economy? AFTER declining gradually for three months, oil prices suddenly tumbled almost 4 on October 14th alone. It was the largest single-day fall in...
Germany's parliament Order, order! Many Germans crave a less boring Bundestag, including its own president Gripped by question time GERMANY'S parliament, the Bundestag, has produced some memorable moments over the years. Whether they qualify as orato...
A killer in close up You can do a lot of damage with just seven genes EBOLA is a simple virus, but also a subtle one. The stringy looking particles consist of a genome wrapped up in two layers of protein. This long, thin package, along with a large p...
Monetary policy Tight, loose, irrelevant Interest rates do not seem to affect investment as economists assume IT IS Economics 101. If central bankers want to spur economic activity, they cut interest rates. If they want to dampen it, they raise them....
Bello The travails of ALBA The more successful of Latin America's populists have become more pragmatic ON THE night of October 12th, after comfortably winning a third term as the president of Bolivia, Evo Morales was in full rhetorical flow. Having d...
