Talk About Rough Politics: Korean Lawmaker Sets Off Tear Gas Canister

Angered by the ruling party’s successful push to ratify a free trade deal with the U.S., a South Korean lawmaker “doused rivals with tear gas” earlier today during a raucous session of parliament, The Associated Press writes from Seoul. Korea’s Yonhap News agency reports that: “Rep. Kim Sun-dong of the Democratic Labor Party (DLP) was [...]

Would Romney’s Tough China Talk Survive Election?

Within the Republican presidential field, no one has talked tougher about China than Mitt Romney. He has vowed to go after that country from his first day in office, threatening to slap tariffs on Chinese imports to make up for its artificially low currency. “We can’t just sit back and let China run all over [...]

Automakers Set To Steer Customers To Hybrids

Second in a three-part series Hybrid cars will take a lot of floor space at the Los Angeles Auto Show beginning this weekend, but they still represent a tiny portion of the U.S. car market. Fewer than 1 percent of cars on the road have hybrid or electric technology. But for car companies to meet [...]

In Cambodia, Aging Khmer Rouge Leaders Go On Trial

In Cambodia this week, three elderly men are sitting in a courtroom, accused of atrocities that took place in the 1970s. The three former leaders of the radical Khmer Rouge are on trial for their role in a regime that exterminated more than 2 million people – or roughly a quarter of the country’s population. [...]

Economy Mutes A Longtime Louisville Record Shop

Part of a monthlong series In Louisville, Ky., local businessman John Timmons is trying to figure out what’s next after selling music for more than a quarter of a century. Timmons owned ear X-tacy records for 26 years here. The shop closed at the end of October. On a recent visit, dead roses, farewell notes [...]

Wal-Mart Lures Bank Customers Frustrated By Fees

The Occupy Wall Street movement has directed much of its anger at giant banks, which are no strangers to customer complaints. Some of those who have been burned by high fees in recent years are now satisfying their banking needs with a giant retailer instead, as Wal-Mart surges into the financial sector with a pre-paid, [...]

Selling Water, Health Care In The Developing World

In rural India, deep in Punjab — about 90 minutes from the Pakistani border — getting clean drinking water is a challenge. Well water often has high levels of dangerous chemicals. Surface water is contaminated with pesticides and agricultural waste. Getting adequate health care is equally challenging. Government hospitals are often far away, and lines [...]

Does Supercommittee Failure Imperil Pentagon?

The congressional supercommittee’s failure to act is supposed to trigger hundreds of billions of dollars of spending cuts for the Pentagon starting in 2013. But even cuts that large don’t come close to cutbacks in military spending in years past. The Pentagon already plans to cut about $500 billion from its budget over 10 years. [...]

Supercommittee Does Its Real Job For Its Real Bosses

It is hard to believe that Congress, already at all-time lows in public approval, could actually find a way to disappoint. Yet “disappointing” is the word heard everywhere as the monumentally misnamed “supercommittee” reported its failure to fulfill its assignment. The dozen members who served on the panel will receive the brunt of the disapproval. [...]

Four Reasons The Supercommittee Isn’t So Super

When the bipartisan supercommittee on the federal debt was formed four months ago, there was more than a little skepticism that the 12-member group could come up with $1.2 trillion in savings and avoid a severe round of automatic government budget cuts. On Monday, with the deadline fast approaching and no plan in sight, it [...]