Pyongyang tests market skills with nibbles

A year after the subprime crisis came to public attention, the rot in the financial system continues to spread, leaving the US Federal Reserve with at least one very important question to answer - should it come directly to the rescue? As the Fed and other actors dance the subprime twostep, the tune is reminiscent of the music on the Titanic as the lifeboats sailed away. - Julian Delasantellis (Mar 5, ’08)... more

Pakistan has no option, given pressure from the United States, but to continue military operations against Taliban and al-Qaeda militants in the tribal areas. Yet under a scheme devised by the new top brass, the militants were to be given an easy ride as long as they retreated to remote border areas. Militants, initially receptive, have shown through a spate of suicide attacks on the military in cities across the country that they are having grave second thoughts. - Syed Saleem Shahzad (... more

The discovery that substandard power poles exacerbated the fatal consequences of China’s brutal winter snowstorms has thrust the icy specter of provincial corruption once again into national debate. China’s vociferous websites and chat rooms are blasting official corruption and transparency, and it seems President Hu Jintao, for one, is listening. - Zhang Yi (Mar 5, ’08)... more

On the night John McCain made it official as the Republican presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton saved her campaign for the Democratic nod by doing McCain’s dirty work. (Mar 5, ’08)Muhammad Cohen puts the US presidential campaign into sharper focus from afar.... more