Section: Business Insider (USA)
North Korea, ISIS, and cyber warfare — intelligence chief outlines the biggest threats facing the US
Evy Mages/Getty ImagesDirector of National Intelligence James Clapper delivered his annual assessment of the top dangers facing the country to the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday. Clapper said North Korea has expanded a uranium enrichment facility and restarted a plutonium reactor. Clapper also said that Islamic militants will continue...
EU to unveil new energy plan to curb reliance on Russia
© AFP/File Sergei SupinskyBrussels (AFP) – The EU will unveil Wednesday plans to give it power to examine energy contracts that European states sign with countries outside the bloc, amid concerns about Europe’s dependence on Russian gas. Brussels is aiming to beef up its legal arsenal one year after launching a landmark “energy...
A number of people are noticeably missing from the global jet set
ReutersThere are people in the world who rarely stay in one place. They’re the executives, the entrepreneurs, and the global citizens who feel just as comfortable in Dubai as they do in Shanghai. Call them your global jet setters, if you like. And in 2016 they’ve started to notice that some members of their group have gone missing —...
10 things you need to know before the opening bell
Reuters/Stefano RellandiniHere is what you need to know. European stocks are getting smoked. Heavy selling has European stock markets under pressure. Greece’s ASX is down 5.7%. Financials are being hit especially hard, off 20%. Other European markets are lower with Germany’s DAX weaker by 2.4%. In the US, S&P 500 futures are down...
NATO is planning its largest military build-up in eastern Europe since the Cold War
Wikimedia CommonsBRUSSELS (Reuters) – Backed by an increase in U.S. military spending, NATO is planning its biggest build-up in eastern Europe since the Cold War to deter Russia but will reject Polish demands for permanent bases. Worried since Russia’s seizure of Crimea that Moscow could rapidly invade Poland or the Baltic states, the...
Germany’s troubles are bad news for Europe
REUTERS/Michaela RehleThe great British geographer Halford Mackinder invented the term “geopolitics” over 100 years ago. He painted a grand vision of international relations that revolved around one fear: dominance of what he called the “Heartland” of Eurasia. Mackinder believed the road to dominance ran through Eastern Europe. His ideas have...
If Aleppo falls, Putin could get the military prize he’s been craving
Thomson ReutersVladimir Putin thinks Russian air strikes in Syria have helped turn the war’s tide but the pace of the Syrian army’s advance has frustrated him, some sources say. If Aleppo falls, he could get the military and symbolic prize he has been craving. More than four months of Russian air strikes have stabilized the government...
Here are five theories on why oil prices are plummeting
energyspectrumindo.comThe last time crude oil prices spent significant time below $30 a barrel Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez were still “Bennifer,” Howard Dean was leading the Democratic primary race and Saddam Hussein had just been captured by U.S. troops in Iraq. It was December 2003 and the world was awash in oil. The OPEC cartel had ramped...
The US is headed for a natural gas price war with Russia
REUTERS/Carlos Garcia RawlinsU.S. oil drillers have been hollowed out from what has been described as a price war waged by OPEC. But a separate price war might soon descend upon the U.S. natural gas industry, which is already reeling from a downturn in prices. The market for natural gas is not a global one in the same way that it is for crude...
Russia could steamroll into the capitals of NATO’s most exposed members in 36 hours
Eduard Korniyenko/ReutersWith current force deployments, Russia could steamroll NATO forces in the Baltic states. In the most optimistic scenario for NATO, Moscow would be able to conquer all the way to Estonia’s capital Tallinn in the course of 60 hours, according to a new report from the think tank RAND Corp. The report, which attempted...
