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Analysis

Fallows On The News: State Of The Union, China

January 30, 2010 • From the State of the Union to a familiar diplomatic clash between the U.S. and China, host Guy Raz digs into the week's big stories with news analyst James Fallows from The Atlantic magazine.

Tai Shan on his first birthday. The panda was conceived in 2005 through artificial insemination in a procedure performed by National Zoo scientists and veterinarians. Ann Batdorf/Smithsonian Institution via AP hide caption

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Ann Batdorf/Smithsonian Institution via AP

Animals

How To FedEx A Panda

January 30, 2010 • The star resident of the National Zoo is leaving Washington next week. Four-year-old Tai Shan will board the "FedEx Panda Express" to Chengdu, China. Where will they find a mailer large enough for him?

Envoy: Pakistan Seeks Technology To Strike Militants

January 28, 2010 • Pakistan's ambassador to the U.S. says his country wants technical expertise with which it can tackle militants on its border with Afghanistan. Husain Haqqani says U.S. missile strikes that kill civilians inflame Pakistani public opinion.

Sri Lanka's President Wins Re-Election

January 27, 2010 • President Mahinda Rajapaksa was in a hard-fought race with his former army chief. Both men had worked together to defeat the Tamil Tiger rebels in a conflict that lasted about 25 years. The challenger rejected the official results and troops have surrounded his hotel.

Housing Bubble Fears, And Prices, Soar In China

Pedestrians pass a high-rise building being constructed in Beijing in December. New figures show that property sales in China jumped 75 percent last year, as record levels of bank loans boosted purchases. Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images

Housing Bubble Fears, And Prices, Soar In China

January 27, 2010 • New figures show that property sales in China jumped 75 percent last year as record levels of bank loans boosted purchases. Concern that the country is in the grip of a housing bubble is growing, and in the meantime, official figures show 85 percent of Chinese can no longer afford to buy properties.

The Future Of Coal Power Will Require Hard Choices

Workers ride past cooling towers at a coal-fired power plant on the outskirts of Beijing. Such power plants are at the center of a debate about the future of energy production in China and the U.S. Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images

Energy

The Future Of Coal Power Will Require Hard Choices

January 27, 2010 • As China and the United States promise emissions cuts, coal consumption takes center stage. By Monday, as many as two dozen countries will have listed their emissions targets. Experts say countries need to weigh the costs and benefits of continuing to use a technology that produces the largest amount of greenhouse gases.

Sri Lanka Election Down To The Wire

January 26, 2010 • Sri Lanka's Tamil minority may hold the key in Tuesday's election, held in the aftermath of the decades-long civil war with Tamil rebels. When President Mahinda Rajapaksa called the election, it seemed like a shoo-in for him, but as former army chief Sarath Fonseka joined the fight, the campaign turned bitter.

Post Civil War: Sri Lankans Vote For President

January 26, 2010 • Sri Lankans went to the polls Tuesday to cast their ballot in a hard-fought president campaign between the incumbent and his former army chief. For decades the country dealt with a civil war. The war ended when Sri Lanka's government defeated the Tamil Tiger Rebels last May. In a surprising plot twist, it may be the Tamils who decide the winner of the presidential election.

In Okinawa, Elections Renew Debate Over U.S. Bases

Local residents protest against a U.S. military base in Kadena on Japan's Okinawa island, Nov. 5, 2009. Most U.S. bases in Japan are on the southern island and have been the source of tensions for decades. Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/Getty Images