By Conor Dougherty and Ben Casselman, Wall Street Journal,
HEADLINE STORY (5 columns in the paper 's weekend edition) August 18-19, 2012
Americans are gaining confidence in the nation's economy, a new report Friday said, but remain wary that threats could wipe out recent modest progress after three years of fitful recovery.
A stream of encouraging economic data in recent weeks—following a slow start to the second half of the year—has eased recession fears while underscoring the recovery's slow and uneven pace [....]
By Isabel Kershner, New York Times, August 16/17, 2012
JERUSALEM — Shimon Peres, Israel’s president and elder statesman, spoke out Thursday against the prospect of a lone Israeli military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, a message that contradicts the hawkish, go-it-alone line emanating from the offices of Israel’s prime minister and defense minister [....]
By Jim Yardley, New York Times, August 17/18, 2012
BRAJAKHAL, India — Like a fever, fear has spread across India this week, from big cities like Bangalore to smaller places like Mysore, a contagion fueling a message: Run. Head home. Flee. And that is what thousands of migrants from the country’s distant northeastern states are doing, jamming into train stations in an exodus challenging the Indian ideals of tolerance and diversity .
PITTSBURGH — In a surprising turnaround, the amount of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere in the U.S. has fallen dramatically to its lowest level in 20 years, and government officials say the biggest reason is that cheap and plentiful natural gas has led many power plant operators to switch from dirtier-burning coal.
Guard shot at conservative group's office in Washington
By Ian Simpson, Reuters, August 16, 2012
A gunman shot and wounded a guard on Wednesday at the Family Research Council, a conservative Christian lobbying group, and he was taken into FBI custody, authorities said.
By Dominic Evans and Hadeel Al Shalchi, Reuters, August 15, 2012
BEIRUT/ALEPPO -Saudi Arabia has told citizens to leave Lebanon after a mass kidnapping in retaliation for events in Syria raised fears that violence may be spilling across a region riven by sectarian rancor and great power rivalries.
By Pablo Gorondi, Associated Press, August 14, 2012
BUDAPEST, Hungary — As a rising star in Hungary's far-right Jobbik Party, Csanad Szegedi was notorious for his incendiary comments on Jews: He accused them of "buying up" the country, railed about the "Jewishness" of the political elite and claimed Jews were desecrating national symbols.
By Isaac Stone Fish, Foreign Policy, August 13, 2012
[....] The cookie-cutter approach is such that even someone like Zhou Deci, former director of the Chinese Academy of Urban Planning and Design, told the paper he has difficulty telling Chinese cities apart.
It's an annual MENA tradition I look forward to — analysis of the major Ramadan soap operas, TV serial, and overall programming choices on Arab national and satellite television. Here's a few links:
PARIS — [....] President François Hollande is vowing to impose a 75 percent tax on the portion of anyone’s income above a million euros ($1.24 million) a year. “Should I be preparing to leave the country?” the executive asked Mr. Grandil.
The lawyer’s counsel: Wait and see. For now, at least.
WASHINGTON — The United States and its Arab allies are knitting together a regional missile defense system across the Persian Gulf to protect cities, oil refineries, pipelines and military bases from an Iranian attack, according to government officials and public documents.
[....] Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, among the first to raise the need for the missile shield three years ago, sought to spur the gulf allies on during a recent visit to Saudi Arabia [....]
By Jim Rutenberg and Allison Kopicki, New York Times, August 8/9, 2012
Quinnipiac University/New York Times/CBS News polls found that Mitt Romney held his advantage among the white working-class while President Obama kept the support of women.
By William Neuman, New York Times, July 26/27, 2012
LA MACANILLA, Venezuela — The Venezuelan government has trumpeted one major blow after another against drug traffickers, showing off barrels of liquid cocaine seized, drug planes recovered, cocaine labs raided and airstrips destroyed.
