Topic: China

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6 factors that will determine concessions from Iran

Can war with Iran can be avoided? In recent talks with the West in Baghdad, Iran showed some greater flexibility about its nuclear program. But Iran has a history of trickery in the nuclear arena. Whether Tehran will cooperates with Western demands depends on the following six factors.
3 ways the US can start an economic 'reset' with Russia

After Russian President Vladimir Putin canceled his trip to Camp David for the G8 Summit this weekend, tensions between Russia and the US are running high. The United States must design a new relationship with this often difficult leader and his country. Washington needs a new reset that includes these three key components:
College rankings: Which countries have the best education systems?

A new higher education ranking focuses on evaluating quality by countries as a whole, rather than specific academic institutions. Here are some of the findings:
Briefing
Five things to know about Freedom House's latest global rankings

A look at the 2012 Freedom House ranking of 197 countries according to their relative freedom.
6 famous dissidents in China

The surprising escape of a blind legal activist from house arrest is buoying China's embattled dissident community, even as the government cracks down on those who helped him.

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Latin America Monitor
Should Argentina remain a member of the G20?

Argentina's history is a continuous series of economic and political crises and they'll probably face another before the decade is out, but they still deserve a seat at the G20, writes a guest blogger.
Iran nuclear talks: negotiators cite progress ahead of Baghdad meeting

Two days of UN-IAEA talks in Vienna signal some flexibility on both sides ahead of key nuclear meeting in Baghdad next week.
Terrorism & Security
Philippines feels the economic cost of standing up to China

The South China Sea dispute between China and the Philippines is beginning to take its toll on the Philippine economy, which is heavily dependent on Chinese demand for its exports.
Oil prices remain below $95 a barrel

Oil prices in Asia are near a five-month low. Concerns that Greek election chaos could undermine confidence in Europe are behind sagging oil prices.
Cover Story
CSI Tornado: Decoding – and chasing – supercells with the experts

CSI Tornado: Chasing supercells, interviewing a homeowner sucked off his front porch in an Oklahoma tornado outbreak, and examining the path of a destructive funnel, an expert expedition shows how science is close to decoding the way a tornado works.
Brazil, Venezuela, and Mexico: three ways to nationalize oil

Argentina's renationalization of its biggest oil company, YPF, recently caused an outcry. But the cases of oil nationalization in Brazil, Mexico, and Venezuela show that outcomes can vary widely.
Global News Blog
Italian museum sets its art on fire to protest lack of government funding

Contending that it would be 'destroyed anyway' because there is no money for preservation work, the Casoria Contemporary Art Museum is burning a piece of its contemporary art collection every day.
North Korean women sold into 'slavery' in China

Like the thousands of women who fled North Korea before her, Kim Eun-sun made it into China and paid a woman to help her, only to discover she'd traded one form of captivity for another.
The Daily Reckoning
Will taxing the rich really fix the economy?

The rich are roundly blamed for the country's economic woes. But the problems the economy faces run deeper than tax code matters.
China's standoff with the Philippines heats up with travel warnings, oil drilling

Analysts say the oil-rich waters around Scarborough Shoal and the Paracels are but one factor in the increasingly prickly relations between China and the Philippines.
Activist Chen Guangcheng: China targets lawyers trying to help

Officials have confiscated the license of a lawyer who volunteered to defend blind activist Chen Guangcheng's nephew. The nephew has been charged with 'homicide with intent.'
Russian, French, Italian jobs hang on Sukhoi Superjet crash probe

No survivors have been found at the crash site of the Russian Sukhoi Superjet in Indonesia. A key question: Was it pilot error or equipment malfunction?
Oil prices fall below $96 a barrel

Oil prices in Asia fall on concerns about slowing economic growth. Oil prices have fallen about 10 percent since last week.
Green accounting of economic growth

A World Bank study offers a new attempt to reconcile growth-oriented economics with Earth-oriented environmentalism. But can economists put price tags on nature?
Exclusive: Cyberattacks on US natural-gas pipeline companies, evidence points to China

Those analyzing the cyberspies who are trying to infiltrate natural-gas pipeline companies have found similarities with an attack on a cybersecurity firm a year ago. At least one US government official has blamed China for that earlier attack.
Plane crash in Indonesia upends strategy to put Russian aviation on stronger path (+video)

The Russian Sukhoi SuperJet 100 that went down over Indonesia is seen as the struggling aviation industry's greatest hope. The crash will cast a shadow, even if human error is the cause.
International adoption rates plummet, domestic numbers rise

International adoption rates are plummeting because of a crackdown on baby-selling, tighter international regulation, an under-peformoming global economy, and backlash from various kidnapping scandals. Domestic adoptions – around the globe – are increasing.
The New Economy
As Chinese wages rise, US manufacturers head back home

By 2015, Chinese wages will be high enough that it will be just as cheap to manufacture goods for the US market in America. Some US manufacturers aren't waiting.
China tightens restrictions on Chen Guangcheng's family

As blind activist Chen Guangcheng waits in a Beijing hospital for travel documents to leave for the US with his family, his extended family is coming under pressure over his escape, he said.
Iran nuclear talks: Are sanctions on the table?

A senior Iranian figure stated that Iran's 'minimum expectation' for the upcoming negotiations was a lifting of some sanctions, but sanctions are notoriously hard to remove.
Tax evasion: Is IRS tough? Try Brazil's 'Lion.'

Tax evasion is relentlessly sought out by Brazil's tax agents, known as 'The Lion.' Brazil is counting on the crackdown on tax evasion to fund ambitious government spending.
China urges the Philippines to ensure citizens' safety

The monthlong standoff between China and the Philippines over a South China Sea shoal is snowballing. Ahead of anti-Chinese protests in Manila, China cancelled flights to the Philippines.
In Gear
Ferrari damages ancient wall in China. Tire marks. Red faces.

Ferrari damages ancient wall in ill-conceived PR stunt. After the Ferrari damages ancient wall in Nanjing, Italian carmaker apologizes. Chinese unable to remove burnt rubber residue.
Vidal Sassoon remembered for pioneering women's hairstyles

Vidal Sassoon, who passed away Wednesday, was a veteran of Israel's 1948 war for independence and opened hair salons and styling academies on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.
Keep Calm
Does a military solution for Somali piracy work?

Somali pirate attacks have dropped, from 45 in 2010 to 24 in 2011, but there's no evidence that more naval patrols and aggressive private security firms are actually keeping pirates ashore.