UK regulator seeks to deflate financial sector with global tax

The head of Britain’s top banking watchdog supports the idea of new global taxes on financial transactions, warning that a "swollen" financial sector paying excessive salaries has grown too big for society.

Share

Israel hits back over Swedish organ harvesting article

Israel on Sunday withheld the press credentials of a Swedish newspaper in retaliation for a controversial piece that suggested the Israeli army kidnapped and killed young Palestinians to harvest their organs. The journalists need the credentials to report from Gaza

Share

Afghanistan Vote: Threats, Anger, Empty Polling Stations

The streets of Kabul were eerily quiet on Thursday, as polls for Afghanistan’s second presidential election since the fall of the Taliban opened to little fanfare and even smaller crowds. Children, taking advantage of the trafficless streets, flew kites. Watermelon sellers languished in the shade of their carts waiting for a sale

Share

The Afghan Age Divide

Muhammad Shafiq Popal is one of Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s more formidable opponents — yet he isn’t a chieftain, a warlord or even a candidate in the Aug. 20 Afghanistan presidential election. Just 30 years old, Popal is a rare individual in the country: a community organizer who heads the Afghanistan Youth National and Social Organization , an NGO that, in a nation marked by division, transcends religion, ethnicity and tribe.

Share