Islamic State turns to cigarette smuggling to fund itself
Thousands of Mosul residents flee the city every day as the Iraqi army pushes farther into the city from the east. But despite suicide car bombs, airstrikes and the whizzing sound of bullets around them, when they emerge, one of the first things they ask for from the soldiers are cigarette…
OPEC’s Challenge
In September, in a concerted effort to stem the fall in oil prices and accelerate the rebalancing of the global market, the Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) announced the “Algiers Accord.” The accord called for OPEC members to freeze production levels somewhere between 32.5 and …
Fidel Castro, Cuban Revolutionary Who Defied U.S., Dies at 90
Fidel Castro, the fiery apostle of revolution who brought the Cold War to the Western Hemisphere in 1959 and then defied the United States for nearly half a century as Cuba’s maximum leader, bedeviling 11 American presidents and briefly pushing the world to the brink of nuclear war, died on Friday. …
Paul Gillespie: European attitudes towards Brexit are hardening
In my opinion, the only alternative to a hard Brexit is no Brexit.” This stark warning by Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, one month ago has gained traction since then among EU governments, echoing a similar hardening of political opinion in the UK. Why this should be so matters …
The Man Who Could Have Stopped the Islamic State
The phone in the Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime Directorate of the police headquarters in Gaziantep, a southern Turkish city, rang at 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 16, 2006. The caller did not provide a name, and records oddly do not indicate the person’s gender. But the caller did offer a well-informed tip…
Colombia government, rebels sign revised peace agreement
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos signed a new peace agreement with the country’s largest rebel movement on Thursday, aiming to end a half century of hostilities. Santos and Rodrigo Londono of leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, signed the 310-page…
65 years of military spending: Trends in SIPRI’s new data
Today, SIPRI is launching its new extended military expenditure data—free to download from our website—with consistent data going back as far as 1949. It may seem curious that, although SIPRI has published military expenditure data almost since its creation, starting with data from 1950 in the …
Climate changing ‘too fast’ for species
Many species will not be able to adapt fast enough to survive climate change, say scientists. A study of more than 50 plants and animals suggests their ability to adapt to changes in rainfall and temperature will be vastly outpaced by future climate change. Amphibians, reptiles and plants are partic…
Cement Isn’t As Terrible for the Climate As We Thought
If you’re making a building, you’re probably going to use cement—and that means contributing to global warming. But new research suggests it may not be so bad in the long run. Creating cement is essentially a matter of superheating limestone and clays in a kiln until the mixture transforms and cough…
North Korea: Breaking geopolitical deadlock
Current international policy vectors toward North Korea have largely failed to curtail North Korea’s WMD programs and change its policies. As Pyongyang prepares for a possible sixth nuclear test, it’s clear a new approach is called for. This year North Korea has conducted two nuclear tests and…