Section: US & Canada
France: Europe hurting from Russia sanctions, needs to act
LAS VEGAS (AP) — France’s economy minister says Europeans should work together to pressure Russia for a solution over Ukraine so that all sides can ease sanctions that are hurting European economies…. …read more Source: Associated...
Russian Investigated Over Ukraine-Related Internet Activity
Russian authorities are investigating a woman in the city of Yekaterinburg on suspicion of inciting extremism online after she joined Ukrainian nationalist groups on the Internet. …read more Source: Radio Free Europe / Radio...
Orthodox Faithful, Russian Leaders Celebrate Christmas
Orthodox Christians in several countries celebrated Christmas on January 7, and Russia’s leaders were among many who attended midnight Masses. …read more Source: Radio Free Europe / Radio...
HMCS Fredericton arrives in Portugal, HMCS Toronto to be back in Canada in late January
The Royal Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Fredericton arrived Tuesday in Lisbon, Portugal to join Standing NATO Maritime Forces as part of Operation REASSURANCE, according to the Department of National Defence. Op REASSURANCE is Canada’s contribution to NATO-led assurance measures under way because of Russian actions in the Crimea. More details...
Looking Backward, Looking Forward: 2014 – 2015
Image by Jpatokal Introduction The balance sheet for 2014 and the prospects for 2015 provide us with a complex panorama of negative and positive outcomes. In most cases the advances, are not earth-shattering but open possibilities for further progress. The negative developments, however, have greater and more threatening systemic outcomes. We...
The Credibility Addiction
Does U.S. credibility matter? If so, how much? Is it more important for other states to have high confidence that the United States will fulfill its overseas commitments, even when doing so might be expensive and not necessarily in America’s best interest? Alternatively, is it better if other states have high confidence in America’s...
Orthodox Christian World Celebrates Christmas
Worshippers across the Orthodox Christian world have begun Christmas celebrations, with clergy in Bethlehem, Cairo, Moscow, Kyiv and other Eastern Christian communities commemorating the biblical birth of Jesus. In Bethlehem, which braced for a rare snowstorm, Syria’s Orthodox archbishop joined his Greek and Coptic Orthodox counterparts for...
Some Russians Are Freaking Out As Their Mortgages Soar
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — When they took out a mortgage on a small two-room apartment seven years ago, Oksana Li and her husband hoped to make a new home for themselves and their young son. Now, like thousands of other Russians, they are seeing that dream unravel as they are unable to make payments — even by working longer hours and a second...
Russian Roulette and the Monetary Policy Bullet
The mess in Russia — including a falling ruble, de facto currency controls, economic contraction, and bank bailouts — is as much about problems specific to Russia as it is about the slowdown in China, the strong dollar, and monetary policy divergence globally. But this has to be worrying for investors looking at emerging markets. In truth, the...
What’s the weirdest thing about leaving a Russian jail after a year? The price of milk.
MOSCOW — The Russian ruble is slumping again, all but erasing gains made through extraordinary spending measures in late December and reminding the country that hard times are likely to continue into the new year. Chapter and verse have been written about how historically low oil prices, coupled with economic sanctions over Ukraine, have created...
