How to beat North Korea at nuclear blackmail

“Strategic patience” is out as the US approach to North Korea, and “strategic accountability” is the new term of art. That’s according to an op-ed article by Secretary of Defense James Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. “The object of our peaceful pressure campaign,” they write, “is the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.” While I heartedly approve of finally ...

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Why bother even expecting Trump to condemn Nazis?

Briefly, before he went wildly off-script at Trump Tower, we lived in a world where the 45th president of the United States had finally managed to condemn Nazis. And let’s ask ourselves: Did that make us feel any better? Did the sight of Donald J. Trump glumly reading off a teleprompter remarks obviously written by someone else convince anyone that ...

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How technology could be getting out of control

Humanity has a method for trying to prevent new technologies from getting out of hand: explore the possible negative consequences, involving all parties affected, and come to some agreement on ways to mitigate them. New research, though, suggests that the accelerating pace of change could soon render this approach ineffective. People use laws, social norms and international agreements to reap ...

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It’s past time to bury the Confederacy for good

They may call themselves “white nationalists,” but the adjective nullifies the noun. In Charlottesville, Virginia, few of them hoisted American flags. They marched under banners the United States took up arms to fight. Their stated cause was preserving a statue of a man who committed treason against our country: Robert E. Lee. Confederate flags, statuary and memorials have defenders who ...

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The shouters win town hall battles, lose the war

I spent part of last week following a congressman around the sun-baked precincts of West Texas. I watched Will Hurd meet with constituents, deliver his stump speech, and wax lyrical about the Dairy Queen Blizzard. I listened to voters tell me how much they admired Hurd, a moderate Republican in the only competitive district in Texas. I also watched the ...

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The Dow Jones is useful, if underused, roadmap

President Donald Trump likes to tweet about the performance of stocks this year, most recently noting at the start of the month that the Dow Jones Industrial Average was on the cusp of reaching 22,000 and another record high. The implication is that the gains are a direct result of Trump’s performance and policies. But do US presidents really drive ...

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The new Virginia is a multicultural success story

The alt-right and neo-Nazi protesters seem to have chosen Charlottesville, Virginia, as a gathering point this past weekend because of the controversy over the town’s Confederate statues and memorials. Whether they knew it or not, there is another reason the state is important: If Virginia can be shown to look like a hotbed of conflict and prejudicial discontent, the message ...

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Ryanair shows interest in bidding for Air Berlin

Bloomberg Ryanair Holdings Plc said it’s “genuinely interested” in bidding for insolvent Air Berlin Plc and called on the German company to involve it in the sale process. Ryanair could buy all or part of Air Berlin but has so far been ignored by the ailing carrier, according to Chief Executive Officer Michael O’Leary, who said he’s concerned the company ...

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Saudi Arabia’s new airline to target young, tech-savvy travellers

Reuters Saudi Arabian Airlines’ low-cost carrier will start flights next month, aiming to carve out a new market among the country’s young, tech-savvy population in a region dominated by airlines from the UAE. Flyadeal, a subsidiary of the state-controlled holding company that also owns national carrier Saudia, will offer domestic services from September 23 and begin international flights before mid-2018. ...

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Wal-Mart’s Massmart profit declines in S. Africa

Bloomberg Massmart Holdings Ltd., the South African grocery and general goods retailer owned by Wal-Mart Stores Inc., said tougher control of costs wasn’t enough to prevent earnings falling during “the most difficult trading conditions in recent memory.” First-half operating profit before interest declined by 6.6 percent to $58 million, the Johannesburg-based company said. Sales increased 0.5 percent to 42.5 billion ...

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