- Goldman Sachs says the economy of a reunified Korea could be larger than France and Germany by the middle of this century.
- The Brookings Institution launches a blog, of sorts.
- Superb photo essay of preparations for China's National Day parade on 1 October.
- The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology has opened. It looks a fairly liberal institution by Saudi standards, but it might just paper over the massive problems in its education sector.
- Great anecdote from a new book of interviews with Bill Clinton:
He also relayed how Boris Yeltsin's late-night drinking during a visit to Washington in 1995 nearly created an international incident. The Russian president was staying at Blair House, the government guest quarters. Late at night, Clinton told Branch, Secret Service agents found Yeltsin clad only in his underwear, standing alone on Pennsylvania Avenue and trying to hail a cab. He wanted a pizza, he told them, his words slurring.
The next night, Yeltsin eluded security forces again when he climbed down back stairs to the Blair House basement. A building guard took Yeltsin for a drunken intruder until Russian and U.S. agents arrived on the scene and rescued him.