Agence France-Presse
BEIJING — China dismissed Japanese concerns about its defense spending as “ridiculous” on Thursday after Tokyo commissioned its biggest-ever helicopter carrier. Continue reading–>
Edison’s Bright Idea
By Emily Schwartz Greco
It dawned on Thomas Edison that sunshine could drive both his inventions and his friend Henry Ford’s horseless carriages.
“I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy,” he told Ford and Harvey Firestone, another enterprising inventor. “What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that.”
It’s starting to look like Edison’s wish could come true. Continue reading–>
Republican budget plan slashes Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps
by Patrick Martin
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives and US Senate went on record this week approving budget resolutions that would eviscerate basic social programs on which tens of millions of elderly, poor and sick Americans depend. Continue reading–>
Report: Azerbaijan Gets 85 Percent Of Its Weapons From Russia
by Joshua Kucera
Azerbaijan was the second-largest arms importer in Europe over the past five years, according to a new report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, an arms trade research group. Continue reading–>
Modernizing the Polish Military
by John Feffer
By law, Poland must spend at least 1.95 percent of its GDP on its military. That’s just a shade under the 2 percent that NATO asks its members to devote. Aside from Estonia, however, Poland is way ahead of the rest of the region in military spending. And when President Barack Obama visited Poland in June 2014, Poland committed to upping its allocation to 2 percent, with an expectation that it will rise to 2.5 percent in 2015. The situation in Ukraine – a divided country, with Russia backing separatists in the East – is fueling security concerns in Poland and the Baltic countries in particular. Continue reading–>
