The tale of the Stuxnet worm is one of those seemingly good-news stories that grows more worrisome over time.Security experts first became aware of the mysterious Stuxnet malware last summer, but it wasn’t until months later that they agreed on its likely target: Iran’s secretive nuclear weapons program. The worm hid itself benignly in personal computers, spreading (often through USB drives) until

There’s a move afoot to give the states the authority to repeal measures enacted by Congress and signed by the president. It’s a bad idea. It’s also dishonorable.The measure, led by Republican Rep. Rob Bishop of Utah and taking the form of a proposed amendment to the Constitution, would allow the dis-enactment of “any provision of law or regulation” upon the vote of two-thirds of the state legisla

LUXEMBOURG ― Much dedication and energy are currently being devoted to institutionalizing a crisis-management mechanism for the euro area. This is a good and important goal. But a far more significant challenge ― largely covered in the accompanying debate ― is the need for crisis prevention.At the European Union’s pre-Christmas summit, European heads of state and government agreed in principle to

WASHINGTON ― Just like children forced to take castor oil hated the experience, millions of Americans loathed the intrusive body-scan and pat-down security measures imposed at U.S. airports last fall.Surprisingly, though, the revulsion period was briefer than first assumed as travelers realized the added security rules may, after all, be good for them.The real question is, of course, how much safe

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is apparently trying to burnish his credentials in the race for the GOP presidential nomination by encouraging states to default on their debts. Gingrich is the leading cheerleader for the idea of letting states declare bankruptcy to evade problems with unfunded public employee pensions and other benefits for future retirees. Those problems are real, but letting

President Barack Obama had been readying himself for Tuesday night’s State of the Union address since the Nov. 2 election, the electorate’s repudiation of big government and big spending. Obama had to respond to what he admitted was a “shellacking.” So he agreed to extend President George W. Bush’s tax cuts, recruited centrist Democrat William Daley of Chicago as his chief of staff and, on Friday,

China and Japan should seek strategic trust to capitalize on the mutual benefits offered by further cooperation Last year was a difficult one for Sino-Japanese relations. The strategic framework in East Asia developed two increasingly distinct features ― China’s peaceful rise and the United States’ “return to Asia” ― that, to a large extent, led to a shift in the Democratic Party of Japan’s China

Slow but steady efforts must be made to reduce the burden shouldered by residents of Okinawa Prefecture in hosting U.S. military bases there, a task that needs to be fulfilled to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps’ Futenma Air Station in the prefecture.On Tuesday, the national and prefectural governments held another round of talks on policy issues related to U.S. bases. At a section meeting on how to

Thailand is enjoying a break from political upheaval, but with reds and yellows both calling for the prime minister’s head, how long will this fragile peace last?Thailand’s Democrat Party is looking strangely isolated. For the first time in its term, the largest party in the coalition government is facing back-to-back protests by the red and yellow shirts. To add to that, the ongoing tussle over c

With startling arrogance and audaciously twisted reasoning, two appellate judges ignored more than 100 years of legal precedent, invented a new definition of “residency” and ordered Rahm Emanuel off the Feb. 22 mayoral ballot.With the election just four weeks away, the appellate panel voted 2-1 to reverse the decisions of the Chicago Board of Elections and a Circuit Court judge. It’s an adventurou

After a failure by international mediators, Lebanon’s political factions are trying to resolve a political crisis that threatens to turn violent. It’s a worthy effort, but no agreement should spare the killers of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.Lebanon’s latest crisis was precipitated by the withdrawal of the Shiite group Hezbollah and its allies from a coalition government, causing it