In The News

Impeachment Hearing With Legal Scholars: NPR

Philip Ewing December 5, 2019
Constitutional law experts offered context on the impeachment inquiry that investigates the Trump administration’s delay in distributing congressionally approved military aid to Ukraine while requesting that country’s president to announce investigations of a political rival. Donald Trump and his supporters deny there was pressure. Three professors testified about holding deep concern over the...

Slowed EU Expansion in Balkans: Wall Street Journal

Laurence Norman December 5, 2019
European Union member states disagree about the bloc’s enlargement in the Balkans and may add new hurdles to what is already a lengthy membership process. France has proposed changes to the accession process, suggesting that the EU should concentrate on integration for current members rather than external expansion. Proponents of enlargement, including Germany, are distracted by domestic issues...

The World Is Drowning in Rubbish: World Today

Kate O’Neill December 5, 2019
China once accepted half the world’s plastic trash, and recycled much of that. Increased waste and sloppy cleaning encouraged China and other Asian nations to reject massive shipments from wealthy nations. “Until recently, these countries had been guilty of ‘distancing’, the practice of shifting waste ‘out of sight, out of mind’, both literally and in people’s imaginations,” explains Kate O’...

¥13 Trillion Stimulus Plan in Japan: Japan Times

December 4, 2019
Governments with heavy debt loads are hooked on stimulus and low interest rates. Japan, the world’s third largest national economy, has national debt worth more than 230 percent of its GDP. The Japan Times reports that government officials could add more debt by finalizing plans for a ¥13 trillion stimulus package. The government hopes to take advantage of negative interest rates from the country...

China Warns US Over Uighur Bill: Reuters

Se Young Lee and David Brunnstrom December 4, 2019
China warns that a US bill calling for an end to detentions of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang could disrupt bilateral cooperation including trade talks. China is already sore about US passage of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act. The US House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved the Uighur Human Rights Act that includes sanctions for one politburo member. Businesses and investors are...

Limits of Russian Strategy in Middle East: RAND

Becca Wasser December 3, 2019
Russia, trying to restore its great power status, accrues influence in the Middle East. “Both the unrest in Syria and the Arab Spring presented Russia with the opportunity to increase its engagement in the region and were accompanied by a rapid uptick in Russian economic and political activities across the region,” explains Becca Wasser for RAND. Shared interest in selling fossil fuels helps, yet...

China-Russia Gas Pipeline: Wall Street Journal

Georgi Kantchev December 3, 2019
A new 1800-mile pipeline called the Power of Siberia has begun delivering Russian natural gas to China, a crucial link between the two countries. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping presided over the launch via video. The project is a tangible symbol of the Beijing-Moscow economic and trade partnership in economics as well as mutual political support for...