FRANCE - George W Bush and others have often emphasized that Islam is a “religion of peace.” Others view Islam as a "religion of the sword," and they include traditionalist-minded Muslims and mosques. This is evident after the French government recently raided Muslim houses of worship in the country and found “one third of the quantity of war-grade weapons that are normally seized in a year,” as Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve put it.
LIBYA - Libya’s Western-backed popular uprising officially began on February 17, 2011, resulting in the toppling of long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi. Since then, the oil-rich nation has been plagued by political instability and the growing threat of Islamic State.
LIBYA - With the west looking at military options and today’s deadline for a new unity government, the UN is playing a difficult hand very badly. Libya looks certain to be the next flashpoint in the “war on terror” – with a crucial political deadline approaching today.
USA - Harvard's Mossavar Rahmani Center for Business and Government, which I am privileged to direct, has just issued an important paper by senior fellow Peter Sands and a group of student collaborators. The paper makes a compelling case for stopping the issuance of high denomination notes like the 500 euro note and $100 bill or even withdrawing them from circulation.
UK - A pernicious cycle of collapsing commodities, corporate defaults, and currency wars looms over the global economy. Can anything stop it from unravelling? A global recession is on the way. This truism of economics holds at any point in which the world is not in the grips of a contraction. The real question is always when and how deep the upcoming downturn will be.
UK - Britain is failing spectacularly in Syria by backing the "losing side" and should follow Russia's lead by launching airstrikes in support of the Assad regime, the former head of the army has said. General Lord Dannatt, ex-chief of general staff, said defeating Islamic State (ISIS) would only be achieved through military force.
IRAN - The Russian anti-terror campaign in Syria has shifted the balance of power in the region, the Iranian Defense Minister stressed while visiting Moscow, eager to purchase billions of dollars worth of “defensive” weapons to secure its own position in the region.
ISRAEL - Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was likely satisfied by what he heard from German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday with respect to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
CHINA - If the global economy is in fine shape, then why does all of the hard data tell us that global trade is absolutely collapsing? The Baltic Dry Index has fallen below 300 for the first time ever, and export numbers are way down for almost every major exporting nation on the entire planet. As you will see below, this includes China.
UK - Sub-zero rates are becoming the "new abnormal" in a shaky world economy. With fresh panic hitting markets, are we finally hitting the limits of what monetary policy can achieve? The world's tentative experiment with negative interest rates got off to an unremarkable start.
UK - While David Cameron claims he has a new deal to stay in the EU, Peter Foster highlights the unanswered questions around a post Brexit Britain. As David Cameron announces the draft EU deal he hopes will secure a vote to stay within the European Union when the referendum is held later this year, there are a whole raft of unanswered questions about what Britain would look like if the vote went the other way and the country decided to leave.
EUROPE - The first shot in the global war on cash was just fired, by none other than the ECB, which moments ago Handelsblatt reported… and Bloomberg confirmed – ECB COUNCIL VOTES TO SCRAP EU500 NOTE: So what, big deal, eliminate it. The people will still have 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 and 200 euro bills, right?
USA - Oklahoma was struck by a magnitude 5.1 earthquake on Saturday, the third-strongest quake ever recorded in the state, which has experienced a surge in seismic activity in recent years, feeding ongoing fears about the connection to hydraulic fracturing.
USA - Scientists have used 3D-printing technology to create first-of-their-kind structures made of living tissue. The bioprinter breakthrough has shown promise with cartilage, bone and muscle, opening the prospect of creating replacement human body parts.
USA - US president urges American people to make a 'sensible' choice when they pick his successor, saying the job is harder than 'hosting a talk show or a reality show'. President Barack Obama has said he believes Donald Trump will not become president and warned the American public to consider that his successor would have access to the nuclear codes.