• The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly describes a week in her life as a freelance writer.
• The Dragon's Tales notes how the Indus Valley Civilization did, and did not, adapt to climate change.
• Language Log reshares Benjamin Franklin's writings against German immigration.
• The NYRB Daily follows one family's quest for justice after the shooting by police of ( Read more... )

• Apostrophen's 'Natha Smith talks about his tradition of the stuffed Christmas stocking.
• Beyond the Beyond's Bruce Sterling talks about the decline of the Pebble wearables.
• blogTO lists some of the hot new bookstores in Toronto.
  
• The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly talks about some of her family's traditions.
• The Dragon's Tales looks at the ancient ( Read more... )

• Bloomberg notes the closure of Poland's frontier with Kaliningrad, looks at how Google is beating out Facebook in helping India get connected to the Internet, notes British arms makers' efforts to diversify beyond Europe and examines the United Kingdom's difficult negotiations to get out of the European Union, looks at the problems of investing in ( Read more... )

• Bloomberg notes Venezuela's hopes for an oil price at $US 50, looks at Labour keeping the current London mayor's seat, observes the vulnerability of Afghan refugees in Pakistan, and warns of a possible drought in the US Corn Belt.
• Bloomberg View notes the continuing fragmentation of the Orthodox Church, and suggests Putin might accept a partial ban ( Read more... )

• The Associated Press notes the hostility in many American communities to Muslim cemeteries.
• Bloomberg explores the revival of watchmaking in East Germany's Saxony, and touches on the new two-day public work week in Venezuela.
• Bloomberg View notes Japan's rising levels of poverty, looks at the politicization of the Brazilian education system, and ( Read more... )

The extent of China's economic penetration of Pakistan and wider Central Asia is the subject of Faseeh Mangi's Bloomberg article.

Chinese trucks may become a more common sight than Japanese rigs on Pakistan’s roads as rising infrastructure investment creates demand for cheap and durable commercial vehicles ( Read more... )

• The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly talks about what it means to be an international migrant or refugee.
• Centauri Dreams considers ways to detect nitrogen in the atmospheres of exoplanets.
• Crooked Timber notes the importance of being a teacher.
• The Dragon's Tales observes reports that China is building a third aircraft carrier.
• Geocurrents considers the ( Read more... )

The Inter Press Service shares an interview with an Iranian Baluchi leader who argues that Baluchis, like other Iranian minorities and like their co-ethnics in neighbouring Pakistan, face an oppressive state.

You once said that Iranian Balochistan has become “a hunting ground”. Can you explain this?It´s a hunting ground for the Iranian security ( Read more... )

Strange Maps' Frank Jacobs considers if the survival of the Taliban, and the collapse of state authority in much of Pakistan and Afghanistan, means a new country is set to form.

In 2001, a U.S.-led coalition threw the Taliban out of Kabul, their removal from power the price they paid for the sanctuary they had provided to al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. ( Read more... )

The Globe and Mail carried Hamza Hendawi's Associated Press article reporting on the new grouping.

Arab leaders meeting this weekend in this Egyptian Red Sea resort are moving closer than ever to creating a joint Arab military force, a sign of a new determination among Saudi Arabia, Egypt and their allies to intervene aggressively in regional ( Read more... )