Section: News & Summaries
Surrogates feel hurt by India’s ban
It’s said to be intended to protect the women from exploitation, though some who have worked as surrogates say the ban actually hurts them. ||| New Delhi – For thousands of childless couples the world over, India has been the go-to destination to fulfil their dreams of becoming parents, thanks to its well-trained doctors,...
Paris siege: woman blows herself up
Two suspected jihadists were killed, including a woman who blew herself up, in a shootout with police in Paris. ||| Paris – Two suspected jihadists were killed, including a woman who blew herself up, in a shootout on Wednesday in north Paris with police hunting the mastermind of last week’s attacks on the French capital, sources said....
Paris siege: woman blows self up
Two suspected were killed, including a woman who blew herself up, in a shootout with police hunting Paris attacks mastermind. ||| Two suspected jihadists were killed, including a woman who blew herself up, in a shootout on Wednesday in north Paris with police hunting the mastermind of last week’s attacks on the French capital, sources...
UN chief ‘will not visit North Korea’
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will not visit North Korea, a UN spokesman said denying reports by China’s news agency. ||| United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will not visit North Korea next week, a UN spokesman said in a statement on Wednesday after China’s Xinhua news agency reported that he will visit the North on Monday...
Victoria Nuland about Ukraine, Russia, Paris attacks and US Security Policy – remarks at the Berlin Security Conference
Thank you, Reimer for that introduction. Thank you to: Mr. Uwe Proll; BSC Congress President, Ambassador Jiri Sedivy; Behorden Spiegel; and of course, Ambassador Emerson and the U.S. Embassy staff in Berlin for hosting us today. Ambassador Philippe Etienne, thank you for joining us today. Our deepest condolences go out to your country and your...
Putin Transformed from Stubborn Holdout to Star at G20
At the G-20 meeting in Antalya, Turkey, on November 16, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin proposed that Russia could restructure the $3 billion Eurobond that he lent former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in December 2013. It comes due on December 20.This was a sudden change of policy. Until that moment, the Kremlin had insisted on...
US delivers artillery-locating radars to Ukraine
US delivers artillery-locating radar to Ukraine. Can locate artillery, rocket and mortar attacks. pic.twitter.com/RY8Wjb2jFL — Carl Bildt (@carlbildt) November 15, 2015 Ukrainian armed forces receive advanced radar systems from the U.S. capable of stopping rocket and artillery attacks, states Reuters. “The U.S. is handing over two...
The Economics of Rebellion in Eastern Ukraine
New research demonstrates why the conflict has not spread beyond Donetsk and Luhansk In April 2014, angry mobs and armed men stormed administrative buildings and police stations in eastern Ukraine, waving Russian flags and proclaiming the establishment of “Peoples’ Republics” in Donetsk and Luhansk. At the time, some observers...
Winning Energy Battle Just as Important as Fight in Eastern Ukraine
The West has focused on Ukraine’s two existential crises: the war in the east and Ukraine’s troubled economy. It’s understandable, but now is the time for Ukraine to press hard on energy reform because Russia uses energy to exert influence over Ukraine and the energy sector has been a black hole of corruption in the country.Gas...
Slowly But Surely Kyiv Comes Around
How has Ukraine changed since the Euromaidan Revolution?In attempting to answer this question, I’ve used the governance-related categories in Freedom House’s Nations in Transit study, which tracks the reform record of post-Communist countries in Europe and Eurasia, and supplemented them with a few of my own. (Full disclosure:...