Commentary / World Dec 9, 2019
Macron eyes European leadership
by Hal Brands
If the U.S. declines play a uniting role in the democratic world, more parochial, divisive visions will come to the fore.
World / Social Issues Apr 4, 2018
Bowing to right-wing pressure, Netanyahu scraps African migrant relocation deal with UNHCR
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday he was cancelling an agreement with the U.N. refugee agency to relocate thousands of African migrants, bowing to right-wing pressure to scrap the deal. The agency, the UNHCR, said it hoped Israel would reconsider the decision soon ...
Asia Pacific Feb 28, 2018
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his late father, Kim Jong Il, used fraudulently obtained Brazilian passports to apply for visas to visit Western countries in the 1990s, five senior Western European security sources told Reuters. While North Korea's ruling family is known to ...
World / Politics Sep 22, 2017
Trump doesn't embody Western values, unlike JFK and Obama: German envoy
Donald Trump doesn't embody Western values in the way that previous presidents such as John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama did, according to Wolfgang Ischinger, a former German ambassador to the U.S. who now heads the Munich Security Conference. "We are losing that symbol of ...
Commentary / World Jan 6, 2016
Russia can use U.S. as an excuse for only so long
by John Lloyd
The Putin regime has helped create enmity with the West because it needs enemies for its legitimacy.
Asia Pacific / Crime & Legal Dec 22, 2015
China poised to pass anti-terror law this month with West-opposed cyber-provisions
China's controversial anti-terrorism law could be passed as soon as the end of this month, state news agency Xinhua said on Monday, legislation that has drawn concern in Western capitals for its cyber-provisions. The draft law, which could require technology firms to install "backdoors" in ...
Commentary / World Nov 20, 2015
Putin wants victory against IS, not detente
by Leonid Bershidsky
Putin wants to win the war against Islamic State and be acknowledged as the leader who brought about victory.
World / Politics Jul 2, 2015
As nuclear talks enter final stretch, IAEA chief Amano gets set to fly to Tehran
The global nuclear watchdog said on Wednesday its boss would fly to Tehran to discuss one of the biggest sticking points that need to be resolved so that Iran and world powers can reach a breakthrough final nuclear deal by a new deadline of ...
Business Jun 29, 2015
Islamic State peddling looted art on eBay, Facebook for cash flow
The Whatsapp message appeared on his iPhone: photos of an ancient Mesopotamian vase worth $250,000, part of a highly valued set, is waiting to be extracted. The recipient, Amr Al Azm, replied that he was interested. How to proceed? A message from a different account ...
World Mar 31, 2015
Iran, powers rush for nuclear deal as clock ticks toward deadline
Iran and six world powers ramped up the pace of negotiations on Tuesday ahead of a deadline for a preliminary nuclear deal that was less than 24 hours away, as both sides warned it was crucial to overcome differences that could wreck an agreement. For ...
National Mar 18, 2015
West's first Buddhist mission was in London
by William Hollingworth
Buddhists in Japan — aided by an Irishman — established the religion's first Western mission in London, according to research by a team of academics in Ireland and Japan. The recent discovery overturns the long-held assumption that the first Buddhist mission in the West was ...
World Feb 17, 2015
Moscow carries out snap check of paratroopers in western Russia
Russia's defense ministry started a snap inspection of its paratrooper units in western Russia on Monday, Interfax news agency quoted the ministry press office as saying. Russia has carried out several unannounced military drills since relations with the West deteriorated over the Ukraine crisis, with ...