Section: The Huffington Post (USA)
Bookies Betting Pope Francis Will Win This Year’s Nobel Peace Prize
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Francis is tipped to win this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, according to some of the world’s leading bookmakers. The Argentinian pope is currently the 5-2 favorite to win the award, which will be announced by the Nobel Institute in Oslo, Norway, on Friday (Oct. 10), according to British bookmaker William Hill....
Legacies, Clouds and Uncertainties
The recovery continues, but it is weak and uneven. You have now seen the basic numbers from our latest projections in the October 2014 World Economic Outlook released today. We forecast world growth to be 3.3% in 2014, down 0.1% from our July forecast, and 3.8% in 2015, down 0.2% from our July forecast. This number hides however very different...
UN Says At Least 3,660 Killed In Ukraine Violence Since April
GENEVA, Oct 8 (Reuters) – At least 3,660 people were killed and 8,756 wounded in violence in Eastern Ukraine between mid-April and Oct 6, the U.N. Human Rights Office said on Wednesday, publishing a monthly report by U.N. monitors in the country. At least 331 fatalities were recorded after a ceasefire on Sept 5, the U.N. Human Rights Office...
World War II, Through the Eyes of a Red Army Medic
Yevdokia Ivanovna Syemchonok was small, somehow reminding me of an aging falcon, her sharp eyes fading as she blinked in the bright light. Ninety-four, she stood straight and resisted my attempt to take her arm. In the Moscow apartment we sat at her daughter’s table, her grandson Alexei on her right to translate. She had brought photographs...
Putin Is Hercules In A New Art Exhibit
If, for some reason, you have ever wondered what Russian President Vladimir Putin might look like as Hercules, then the art world has finally provided your answer. A new exhibit depicting Russia’s demagogue as demigod opened in Moscow on Monday as a one-night-only tribute for Putin’s 62nd birthday. Entitled the “12 Labors Of...
Sanctions Are Forcing New Russian Links with China
A significant number of the economic sanctions that the United States and European Union have imposed on Russia involve not just restrictions on exports of advanced and dual-use technologies, but also technology aimed at purely civilian use. And, in contrast to restrictions on Russia’s financial and energy sectors that are also painful for...
Can China and Russia Squeeze Washington Out of Eurasia?
The Future of a Beijing-Moscow-Berlin AllianceCross-posted with TomDispatch.comA specter haunts the fast-aging “New American Century”: the possibility of a future Beijing-Moscow-Berlin strategic trade and commercial alliance. Let’s call it the BMB.Its likelihood is being seriously discussed at the highest levels in Beijing and Moscow, and...
Ukraine’s Military Says Separatists Violate Month-Old Ceasefire
By Gabriela Baczynska DONETSK, Ukraine, Oct 5 (Reuters) – Ukraine’s military accused Russian-backed separatists of fresh violations of a month-old ceasefire on Sunday, saying their forces came under attack in several parts of the east including the airport at the big city of Donetsk. Two Ukrainian service staff were killed in the past...
Ukraine’s Truce Is In Trouble As Fighting Rages On
DONETSK, Ukraine (AP) — A month-long cease-fire in Donetsk looks like this: nine civilians killed on Wednesday, a Red Cross staffer killed Thursday, scores killed and wounded since the fighting was supposed to stop. Day after day, artillery shells and rockets fly overhead. Many explode in densely populated residential areas as the rebels have...
Weekend Roundup: Confucius vs. The Umbrella Revolution
In the streets of Hong Kong today, China’s future is meeting its past. It’s 17 year-old rebellious student Joshua Wong, who is leading the Umbrella Revolution protests, versus Confucius, the sage of order and “social harmony,” whose 2565th birthday was just emphatically celebrated by Xi Jinping in Beijing last week. To put...
