Section: Indonesia
Russia’s central bank to help companies meet debts
Russia’s central bank has made another move to shore up the ruble, offering hard currency loans to help companies and banks service their debts.The bank said Wednesday it would accept foreign currency debt obligations as collateral against the loans. The hope is that it will provide relief to those who can’t tap foreign capital...
Report: At least 60 journalists killed in 2014
At least 60 journalists around the world were killed in 2014 while on the job or because of their work, and 44 percent of them were targeted for murder, the Committee to Protect Journalists said.An “unusually high proportion,” or about one-fourth, of those killed were international journalists, though the overwhelming number of...
Russia bails out bank following ruble slide
Russia has bailed out a mid-sized bank for about $500 million to save it from bankruptcy— a clear sign that the slide in the value of the ruble in the wake of falling oil prices is straining the banking system.The Central Bank said Monday that it will provide a 30-billion ruble loan to help the Trust Bank to continue operating as normal. It will...
Russian minister talks up the ruble
A senior Russian minister said on Monday he’s expecting the ruble to extend its recent gains and said the government is not planning to introduce currency controls on Russian companies.The ruble has been the worst performing currency this year along with the Ukrainian hryvnia, having lost half of its value. Its collapse in the past weeks...
Belarus enjoys bonanza amid Russia-West tensions
As relations between Russia and the West have deteriorated, there’s one country that’s reaping rewards — Belarus, whose authoritarian leader was once dubbed “Europe’s last dictator” by the United States and the European Union.President Alexander Lukashenko is relishing his new role as broker of the Ukraine peace...
Obama takes foreign policy risk, but on his own terms
President Barack Obama has been criticized as cautious on foreign policy, but the secret negotiations on Cuba suggest a willingness for bold and risky action, if he can keep tight control and rely on a few close aides.It’s a pattern Obama followed during clandestine talks with Iran that led to an interim nuclear deal and in under-the-radar...
Russia sees harsh crackdown on independent media
Among the five TV journalists interviewing Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, the odd one out was easy to spot. Mikhail Zygar’s questions were sharper than those of the others, who headed back to spacious television studios while Zygar broadcast his piece from a Moscow living room.The Dozhd news channel, whose editor-in-chief Zygar was...
Top news of 2014 left public grasping for answers
More than nine months after searchers began scouring the seas for a Malaysia Airlines jetliner that vanished with 239 people aboard, the catastrophe defies resolution.The long hunt for clues to Flight 370’s fate set the tone for many of the headlines that defined 2014. It was a year that often left the public and its leaders grasping for...
Putin: West wants to defang, declaw Russian bear
Sternly warning the West it cannot defang the metaphorical Russian bear, a confident-looking President Vladimir Putin promised Thursday to shore up the plummeting ruble and revive the economy within two years.While he issued a litany of sharp rebukes against the West, Putin struck a conciliatory note on Ukraine, saying that the rebellious east...
Fed rate wording boosts world stock markets
World stock markets powered higher Thursday, sweeping aside worries about a flagging global economy after the U.S. Federal Reserve said it would remain “patient” in its approach to raising interest rates.KEEPING SCORE: France’s CAC 40 jumped 2.2 percent to 4,200.83 and Germany’s DAX surged 1.9 percent to 9,727.83....
