Kyrgyz citizens voted in the first competitive elections for a peaceful transfer of power in Central Asia since 1991 and the end of the Soviet Union. Sooronbai Jeenbekov, with the incumbent Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan and who had served as prime minister, won the presidency with more than...
EU leaders are divided over how to handle the thousands of refugees streaming from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan and trying to reach Europe. The reception in Europe can be hostile and disorganized. Some EU leaders hope to establish reception centers along Europe’s external borders to register...
Read the article from Spiegel Online.
The advanced world is divided about whether to pay ransoms to rescue citizens kidnapped by terrorists. Author and ethicist Peter Singer suggests that the Islamic State so far has beheaded hostages from the United States and United Kingdom, as well as many Syrian, Lebanese, and Kurdish soldiers,...
Click here for the article in Project Syndicate.
China and Vietnam tussle over disputed waters in the South China Sea reached a new stage when backed by a flotilla of 80 vessels China moved a large drilling rig. Vietnam deployed 35 ships to block the Chinese rig leading to ramming and use of water cannon. The actions rattled stock markets in...
Click here for the article in The New York Times.
Iran and Saudi Arabia are rivals for influence in the Middle East. The latest clash is driving up oil prices, deepening a sectarian divide and sparking new violence in the region, reports Sam Wilkin for Reuters: “Saudi Arabia cut ties with Iran on Sunday and fellow-Sunni Bahrain followed suit on...
Iran accused Saudi Arabia on Monday of using an attack on its embassy as a pretext to sever ties in a diplomatic crisis deepening their often violent struggle for influence across the Middle East.
Saudi Arabia cut ties with Iran on Sunday and fellow...
A ceasefire in the fighting for eastern Ukraine was announced after leaders of Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine met in Minsk. But a ceasefire alone may not produce a comprehensive settlement or an enduring peace, warns David R. Cameron, professor of political science at Yale University. “That...
A ceasefire to win: In a dominant position in Ukraine, Russian president Vladimir Putin, far left, signs a ceasefire agreement with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, far right, and Germany’s Angela Merkel and France’s Francois Hollande (top...
Companies rely on stock markets to raise money by selling small shares of ownership to investors. But investors may be killing rather than boosting major private energy companies. “Once reliable market beaters, Big Oil shares are lagging,” writes economist Deepak Gopinath. “Under pressure from...
Big Oil, held down by shareholders, cedes place to others: Vladimir Putin, then prime minister, (right) and CEO Aleksei Miller of rising giant Gazprom in 2011(top); heads of US oil firms testify before Congress in 2010
CHICAGO: Lee Raymond, the...
