News analysis and views

Reports of Blu-ray’s death are greatly exaggeratedAMONG the few things capable of raising a smile in these dismal days are the plummeting prices in big-box stores. Still, with what promises to be t...

Iceland faces a long road to recoveryFinal IMF approval of a US$2.1bn loan to Iceland marks only the first step in restoring the country's credibility in international markets. Supported by additio...

Snooker, piranhas and a hotline to MoscowPEDALLING to work each day, I spend most of the journey looking out for London’s deadly, articulated “bendy buses”. The 60-foot beasts can happily scissor a...

Ireland's economy faces three years of declining outputThe Irish economy is already in a deep recession and it now appears almost certain that activity will continue to contract over the next two y...

A jump in mentions of “deflation” in news storiesONLY a few months ago, inflation was the main concern of central banks as the price of oil and other commodities soared. Deflation was not only unth...

It’s official (nearly): Iraq’s government wants America’s army out by the end of 2011WHEN General David Petraeus, now America’s most celebrated military commander, arrived in Iraq in 2003 at the he...

If Detroit’s disintegrating carmakers are bailed out, Europe’s will be next in lineIT IS not just in Washington, DC, that a fierce debate is being conducted about whether to provide state aid to th...

Relations between Angola and France remain troubledThe trial in Paris of 42 individuals accused of involvement in illegal arms deals to Angola is threatening to upset efforts by the French presiden...

How countries' greenhouse-gas emissions have changed since 1990BARACK OBAMA said on Tuesday November 18th that his presidency will “mark a new chapter in America's leadership on climate change”. Ac...

The significance of the latest attacks by Somali piratesPIRATES do not win every encounter. On the evening of Tuesday November 18th an Indian warship attacked and destroyed a suspected Somali pirat...