The remains of a fertilizer plant burn after an explosion at the plant in the town of West, near Waco, Texas early April 18, 2013. The deadly explosion ripped through the fertilizer plant late on Wednesday, injuring more than 100 people, leveling dozens of homes and damaging other buildings including a school and nursing home, authorities said. REUTERS/Mike Stone (UNITED STATES - Tags: DISASTER ENVIRONMENT AGRICULTURE TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

Poor planning left Texas firefighters unprepared

By M.B. Pell, Ryan McNeill and Janet Roberts

WEST, Texas - The fertilizer-plant explosion that killed 14 and injured about 200 others in Texas last month highlights the failings of a U.S. federal law intended to save lives during chemical accidents, a Reuters investigation has found.  Full Article 

U.S. acknowledges killing four Americans in drone strikes 7:49pm EDT

WASHINGTON - The U.S. government formally acknowledged for the first time on Wednesday that it had killed four Americans, including militant cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who died in drone strikes in Yemen and Pakistan.
A U.S. flag from the Plaza Towers elementary school is erected on poles in front of the school in Moore, Oklahoma, May 22, 2013. REUTERS/Rick Wilking
Natural Disasters

Tornado victims astounded at how they survived

By Carey Gillam and Ian Simpson

MOORE, Oklahoma - Tornado survivors thanked God, sturdy closets and luck in explaining how they lived through the colossal twister that devastated an Oklahoma town and killed 24 people, an astonishingly low toll given the extent of destruction.  Full Article | Video 

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad talks during a news conference at the end of his visit to Cairo, February 7, 2013. REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih
Iran

Moving ahead with a plant that worries the West

By Fredrik Dahl

VIENNA - Iran is pressing ahead with the construction of a research reactor that Western experts say could offer it a second way of producing material for a nuclear bomb if it decides to make one, a U.N. report showed.  Full Article 

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke testifies before the Joint Economic Committee in Washington May 22, 2013. Reuters/Gary Cameron
Markets

Bernanke suggests Fed not ready to pull back

By Pedro da Costa and Alister Bull

WASHINGTON - The Federal Reserve's monetary stimulus is helping the economy recover but the central bank needs to see further signs of traction before taking its foot off the gas, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said.  Full Article 

Musicians from the military bands of China's People's Liberation Army and the U.S. Army take photos during a rehearsal for their joint concert at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, in this October 29, 2012 file photo. REUTERS/China Daily/Files
China

U.S. and China deepen military ties

By Peter Apps

WASHINGTON - Even as the United States accuses China of military espionage and worries about Beijing's more strident posture in the Asia-Pacific region, the ties between the armed forces of the two nations have been getting closer.  Full Analysis 

Ireland's Prime Minister Enda Kenny talks to his Croatian counterpart Zoran Milanovic (L) and his Estonian counterpart Andrus Ansip (R) during a European Union leaders summit in Brussels May 22, 2013. EU leaders met in Brussels on Wednesday with growing concern in European capitals about aggressive tax avoidance by high-profile corporations expected to top their agenda. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir
Technology

Ireland says will not be 'whipping boy' on taxes

By Carmel Crimmins and Padraic Halpin

DUBLIN - Ireland's finance minister said the country would not be the "whipping boy" for what he called a flawed U.S. Senate report that said Irish loopholes helped technology giant Apple shrink its tax bill.  Full Article 

Army soldiers open a road that was blocked by supporters of Sunni Muslim Salafist leader Ahmad al-Assir during the funeral of Hezbollah member Saleh Ahmed Sabagh in the port-city of Sidon in southern Lebanon, May 22, 2013. REUTERS/Ali Hashisho
Syria

U.S. may help rebels if Assad won't talk peace

By Arshad Mohammed and Erika Solomon

AMMAN/BEIRUT - The United States and its allies are ready to increase support for Syria's rebels if President Bashar al-Assad refuses to discuss a political solution to his country's civil war, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said.  Full Article 

Opinion

Michael O'Hanlon and Sean Zeigler

Civil wars and Syria: lessons from history

Removing Assad would no more end the Syrian conflict than overthrowing Saddam Hussein in 2003 brought stability to Iraq. The U.S. must create a more integrated overall strategy, argue Michael O'Hanlon and Sean Zeigler.  Commentary 

Opinion

David Rohde

Prosperity without power

By David Rohde

Across the BRIC nations, frustrated members of the middle class are demanding change, but traditional power holders from Russia’s Vladimir Putin to India’s large political parties remain entrenched.  Commentary 

Opinion

Edward Hadas

Apple, hypocrisy and stakeholder tax

By Edward Hadas

Politicians are hypocrites when they complain about the cross-border tax strategies of Apple and other multinationals. But "hypocrisy is the tribute vice pays to virtue." It’s high time that companies admit taxes on profit are fair payments for the help that governments give them.  Commentary 

Opinion

Bethany McLean

How much does Jamie Dimon matter?

By Bethany McLean

To his supporters, he’s the personification of everything that’s best about the financial system. But to detractors, he’s the personification of all that’s wrong with modern banking — the arrogance, the resistance to new regulation, the astronomical pay in the face of obvious mistakes.  Commentary 

Opinion

Gary Regenstreif

What Hollande can learn from Queen of Hearts

By Gary Regenstreif

So far there has been little to show for his economic policies. Some actions have backfired and others have not gone far enough.  Commentary 

Opinion

Glenn Hubbard and Tim Kane

U.S. power: Down but still unrivaled

By Glenn Hubbard and Tim Kane

Beijing does not threaten to counterbalance U.S. power as gravely as America’s economy threatens to become imbalanced on its own.  Commentary 

REUTERS TV

Apple CEO Tim Cook laughs during a Senate homeland security and governmental affairs investigations subcommittee hearing on offshore profit shifting and the U.S. tax code, on Capitol Hill in Washington, May 21, 2013. REUTERS/Jason Reed

It's time for iTax

Rob Cox and his Breakingviews colleagues discuss why Apple’s minimalist approach to devices should be applied to the overcomplicated U.S. tax code.   Video