Taunting the United States on its birthday, North Korea fired seven missiles into the Sea of Japan early Saturday in a provocative move that some experts said might have been intended to discourage deployment of new missile defenses against the communist state. ...more

July 5, 2009

"Settlement," by Christoph Hein; translated by Philip Boehm (Metropolitan, $26) ...more

January 25, 2009

Fifty years ago, a bearded guerrilla marched triumphantly into Havana and declared victory over a departing dictator. Then he became a despot himself. ...more

January 1, 2009

Here are excerpts from editorials in newspapers in Florida: (Melbourne) Florida Today, on how the devastation in Cuba caused by hurricanes Gustav and Ike should lead to open ties with the island: ...more

September 10, 2008

President Bush moved Thursday to drop North Korea from a list of countries that sponsor terrorism and lift some trading sanctions after the isolated totalitarian state turned over a long-delayed report that includes details of plutonium production in its nuclear program. ...more

June 27, 2008

Elvis. ...more

May 25, 2008

The United States deploys far too many troops in too many places around the world. More worrisome to taxpayers are its plans to keep huge numbers of troops in distant, quiet outposts forever. ...more

January 21, 2008