Section: US & Canada
IMF Backs US$3.9 Billion Loan For Ukraine
IMF aid had effectively been frozen since April 2017 due to the country’s sputtering efforts to implement major economic reforms and tackle corruption. …read more Source: Radio Free Europe / Radio...
Ukraine Wins New I.M.F. Support as Tensions Rise With Russia
The International Monetary Fund agreed to a $3.9 billion line of credit for Ukraine, whose economy has struggled with corruption and a conflict with Russia. …read more Source: The New York...
Ukraine’s Poroshenko: World Bank Approves $750 Million Loan Guarantee
The World Bank has approved a $750 million loan guarantee for Ukraine, President Petro Poroshenko said on Twitter on Tuesday, calling it proof of his nation’s “tangible progress on the reform path.” The World Bank, International Monetary Fund and other bodies support Ukraine with loan agreements conditional on Kiev passing...
Georgian Dream’s Pyrrhic Victory
On Tbilisi’s central square, activists backing ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili have camped out in protest of the outcome of the recent presidential elections in Georgia. There is a strange sense of déjà vu from the time Saakashvili himself was in power, when protesters—among them Georgia’s new President, Salome Zurabishvili—blocked...
How to Make Sanctions on Russia Work
Even proponents of sanctions against Russia (and I count myself among them) have to admit that they have failed to change the Kremlin’s aggressive behavior. Russia continues to wage a brutal war in eastern Ukraine. It continues its military campaign to obliterate the opposition to the Assad regime in Syria. And it continues to subvert...
Russia condemns U.N. resolution on Crimea militarization and Ukraine occupation
Russia on Tuesday lashed out against the United Nations for passing a resolution that criticized its militarization of Crimea and the occupation of Ukraine. …read more Source: United Press...
Conservative Senators Fight Corker Bill Aimed At ‘Neutering’ Trump’s Broadcasting Chief
A group of conservative senators are fighting a last-ditch effort by retiring senator Bob Corker (R., Tenn.) and Sen. Bob Menendez (D., N.J.) to undermine President Trump’s choice to lead the nation’s taxpayer-funded global broadcasting operation, Michael Pack, before he steps into the role early next year, according to several...
A Surge In Foreign Influence Prosecutions
It began with a meeting in New York between the future national security adviser Michael Flynn and Turkish government officials in September 2016, where they discussed kidnapping an exiled cleric and turning him over to Ankara. A curious op-ed followed, in which Flynn alleged that the cleric, Fethullah Gulen, helmed a “dangerous sleeper terror...
Canada has fifth biggest AI workforce, but still lacks diversity: study
TORONTO — Canada has the globe’s fifth largest artificial intelligence workforce, but is still far from closing the gender gap in the sector, according to new rankings from the World Economic Forum. The international organization used LinkedIn data to find the size of Canada’s AI workforce is lagging behind the U.S., India, Germany...
Dispute Within Orthodox Church Could Deepen Conflict in Ukraine
Ukraine has elected the head of a newly unified Orthodox Church, following a split from the Russian Orthodox Church, announced Saturday. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has hailed the move as an important safeguard against future Russian aggression. The head of the Russian Orthodox Church has condemned Ukraine’s church split from the...
