Number of permanent workers at Nissan factory in Canton, Mississippi, who are subject to an intense and unusual campaign from the United Autoworkers to organize. In what some are calling the UAW's last stand, the union is trying to make the factory the first of a number of auto plants in the South - mostly for international OEMs such as Mercedes, BMW, Hyundai, and more - to become unionized. The unorthodox campaign, however, is more designed to put pressure on Nissan from external forces than to win over a majority of the worker vote. That includes protests at Nissan dealers in Brazil (where the next summer Olympics will be held and Nissan is a sponsor) and use of actor Danny Glover and local college students to spread the word that "Labor Rights Are Civil Rights."

Amount of foreign aid China doled out to developing countries in 2011, the most recent year for which figures are available, according to a column in the Wall Street Journal this week. But unlike similar aid from Western nations, which usually are given as pure grants, the Chinese aid program is more clearly mercantile. According to a study by Rand Corp. cited in the column, slightly over 80% of the pledged aid from China recently has been allocated for development of natural resources and, secondarily, for infrastructure. The tangible benefits for China are through the explicit consignment of production from the resource-development projects for export to China, as specified in the loan agreements that govern the programs. Western aid is for humanitarian purposes and to gain favor; China's is to lock up natural resources.