According to their similar global maps of economic freedom, the economically-free countries of the world are by and large the mature, well-established industrial democracies: the U.S. and Canada, the nations of western Europe and Japan. But none of these countries, including the U.S., is anywhere near a libertarian paradise. Indeed, the government share of GDP in these and similar OECD countries

Things have taken a sharp turn for the worse in Turkey and, unfortunately, it is becoming harder and harder to see how to pull back from the brink of disaster. At this moment the Prime Minister is addressing an AKP party rally in Kazlıçeşme in Istanbul. Yesterday, he gave a similar performance in Ankara. The opportunity for the Prime Minister to make a conciliatory gesture, to consider the views

More than 5,000 untrained teachers who have been allowed to work in academies and free schools under Michael Gove's education reforms will be sacked if Labour wins the next election, unless they gain a formal qualification within two years.

The proposal is one of several to be announced by the shadow education secretary, Stephen Twigg, as the opposition joins battle with Gove.

After I had been a couple of hours in the city, no one had arrived. I decided to move around the city to look for returning residents for a possible interview or package. In the center of the city, I stood in the middle of the main road as a huge, black four-wheel-drive came my way.

I stared at the man sitting beside the driver: The face was familiar, but something was missing. It was clear I

Scratched and exhausted, Damian Evans pushed through dense Cambodian jungle into a clearing where mountain villagers long ago attempted to grow rice, stepping onto a weed-covered mound.

"Bingo", the Australian archaeologist said as he picked up and examined an ancient sandstone block. "This is a collapsed temple that was part of a bustling civilisation that existed 1200 years ago . . it looks

NC: I think the Sykes-Picot agreement is falling apart, which is an interesting phenomenon. That is a century. But, the Sykes-Picot agreement was just an imperial imposition that has no legitimacy; there is no reason for any of these borders – except the interests of the imperial powers.

It is the same all over the world. it is hard to find a single border that has any justification, includin

The Government has declared war on judges, and regular Kiwis are caught in the crossfire. Family caregivers, Christchurch homeowners, Auckland neighbourhoods under the shadow of high-rise apartment blocks have all lost the chance to argue against decisions they feel are unfair.

The seizure of Qusayr restored a crucial land link between Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon and Assad's military, which is dominated by his minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam that has controlled Syria since the 1960s.

The involvement of Hezbollah fighters on the side of Assad, a fellow ally of the main Shi'ite power Iran, has galvanised Arab governments, including Egypt, behin

Attention high school graduates with dreams of becoming a doctor: That’s a bad idea. Instead, become a plumber. You’ll make more money.

If you think that sounds crazy, that’s because it is. But that’s precisely the message noted investor and Libertarian Peter Thiel intoned on CBS 60 Minutes Sunday. It was only the latest blast against college degrees from Thiel, who sees education as

Washington’s decision to arm Syria’s Sunni Muslim rebels has plunged America into the great Sunni-Shia conflict of the Islamic Middle East, entering a struggle that now dwarfs the Arab revolutions which overthrew dictatorships across the region.

For the first time, all of America’s ‘friends’ in the region are Sunni Muslims and all of its enemies are Shiites. Breaking all President Ba

The obliviousness to the impending storm is perhaps more shocking than the conditions in which people are living in Sakhour, a working class neighbourhood crumbling from gunfire where windows of upper floors of houses even far from the fighting are shattered by sniper fire.

The flyover and the nearby roundabout are in a hollow, making them hard to defend and exposing raised residential areas o

Few Japanese fear a North Korean nuclear attack. The public reaction is more of annoyance and exasperation at North Korean antics.

The key to any solution is Beijing. On the one hand, there are many costs and risks to China from the nuclear brinkmanship practiced periodically by Pyongyang. Misperceptions, miscalculations and mistakes could see a situation spin out of control and lead to a war

Qusair fell as Saudi Arabia was going through a clear stagnation at the level of its foreign policy. This may be the result of a number of reasons, including the soundness of the government itself, which, in turn, depends on the health of the octogenarian rulers, who are busy trying to accomplish a peaceful transition for the positions of power in the regime from the second generation of the son

In the 1930s, many English families sent their daughters to finishing school in Nazi Germany. Rachel Johnson, sister of the London mayor, interviewed several for her most recent book. She told SPIEGEL ONLINE about Britain's enthusiasm for Hitler's Reich.

,, China Securities Journal - an arm of the regulatory authorities - warned that capital inflows have slowed sharply and may have begun to reverse as investors grow wary of emerging markets. “China will face large-scale capital outflows if there is an exit from quantitative easing and the dollar strengthens.” it wrote.

The journal said foreign exodus from Chinese equity funds were the highes