Russian steelmakers to focus on reducing costs

An observation point in the center of Magnitogorsk, Russia, provides a breathtaking view of the Ural River, with gray and orange smoke rising above the rows of pipes on the opposite bank.

GUEST COMMENTARY: The Arctic, melting ice and ancient issues

"What about the rest of the North?" asked McGeorge Bundy, president of the Ford Foundation, back in the 1970s while considering yet one more grant to help the troubled Native Americans of Alaska.

US wins team sprint at Nordic worlds in Italy

VAL DI FIEMME, Italy | Kikkan Randall and Jessica Diggins gave the United States its first gold medal in cross-country skiing at the Nordic world championships Sunday with a victory in the women's team sprint.

Woodworkers praise the many faces of plywood

It's not that fast or dirt-cheap, but it can be that easy, according to woodworking experts who speak fondly of plywood's many merits.

I Got Chills…

GUEST COMMENTARY: The East Asia Summit, world trade and world peace

Cambodia, scene of the killing fields of genocide less than four decades ago, has just hosted the seventh East Asia Summit, which brought together leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, plus Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea and the U.S. The summit concluded Tuesday, on a…

DOUG ROSS: Foreign policy affects more than pocketbook

If you believe George Santayana's maxim that "those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it," you might want to pay more attention to this year's elections. There could be serious consequences.

Interview with Diana of the Dunes

Sitting on a grassy sand dune one evening last summer, I was gazing over Lake Michigan at a sunset that brought to mind a 19th century religious painting: fat pink-and-gray rays shooting out from a small, tight, fiery hot-pink, ball of sun. The kind of sun that absorbs someone’s soul up to, …

Interview with Diana of the Dunes

Sitting on a grassy sand dune one evening last summer, I was gazing over Lake Michigan at a sunset that brought to mind a 19th century religious painting: fat pink-and-gray rays shooting out from a small, tight, fiery hot-pink, ball of sun. The kind of sun that absorbs someone’s soul up to, …

U.S., Russian women set for gymnastics showdown

LONDON | The Americans need Jordyn Wieber to regain her swagger in a hurry if they're going to hold off Russia for Olympic gold.

Moceanu, Boginskaya like American hopes

VALPARAISO | Dominique Moceanu’s Olympic gold medal is in its original wooden case in a fireproof box in her Cleveland home.

BRIAN HOWEY: Why I view a Lugar defeat with great reluctance

Last Monday, a steel girder rose 1,271 feet above New York City and was affixed to the Freedom Tower, making it the tallest building in the metropolis. It happened on a clear, crisp day, not unlike Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists attacked the twin towers, each a small city in and of themselv…

Few disagreements in Republican U.S. Senate debate

INDIANAPOLIS | U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar and State Treasurer Richard Mourdock spoke knowledgeably over a wide swath of domestic and foreign policy issues in a debate Wednesday that found the Republican U.S. Senate candidates agreeing far more often than they disagreed.

BRIAN HOWEY: What does it mean to be a statesman?

A letter in the mail. A sugar packet. A briefcase. A subway. A salad bar. Those who grew up during the Cold War were used to weapons of mass destruction as tips of intercontinental ballistic warheads, on Blackjack bombers or Typhoon submarines from rival superpowers. Today the tools for a te…

New Midwest gymnastics coach can't wait for the snow

ST. JOHN | Russian native Denis Belikov's initial reaction in coming to the United States was "What a country!" But later he began to wonder "Where's the snow?"

Medvedev is now escalating provocations, as is his custom

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev protests, loudly, the West continuing pursuit of the European missile shield (Poland and Czech Republic) and warns of a renewal of the Cold War.

Restrictions sought on imported steel

A group of legislators and executives from domestic steel companies is supporting the extension of duties on certain imported steel products from Brazil, Russia and Japan.

Polish leader, 95 others dead in Russia jet crash

MOSCOW | Polish President Lech Kaczynski and some of the country's highest military and civilian leaders died on Saturday when the presidential plane crashed as it came in for a landing in thick fog in western Russia, killing 96, officials said.

Obama, Medvedev sign treaty to cut nuclear arms

PRAGUE | Casting aside years of rancor, President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday signed the biggest nuclear arms pact in a generation, lacing the moment with new warnings of sanctions for an intransigent Iran.