Syria, the Gaza conflict and the rest: Is the Middle East crisis spiralling out of control? November 18, 2012 YES Allan Hogarth The situation in the Middle East is spinning dangerously out of control. The government ought to be playing a key diplomatic role in protecting human rights. We’d like to see them stressing the human cost of further escalation in the Middle East, and warning all combatants in Syria that there will be [...]
Israel drafts in more troops as violence builds November 15, 2012 ISRAEL last night called in reserve troops after two rockets fired from the Gaza Strip targeted Tel Aviv amid escalating violence in the region. The attack by Palestinian militants is the first on Israel’s commercial capital in over two decades, and defence minister Ehud Barak insisted they would pay a price for firing the missiles. [...]
What the other papers say this morning November 20, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES TNK-BP fails in London civil suit bid TNK-BP, Russia’s third-largest oil producer and the subject of a high-profile sale, has failed in its attempt to sue a former director for civil fraud in English courts. A €39m (£31m) freezing order gained by TNK-BP on its former head of logistics, Igor Lazurenko, his wife, [...]
Investors should expect a perfect storm of global political instability November 19, 2012 VIOLENCE in Israel and Gaza may seem to be a solely political (or geopolitical) issue. But politics has implications for all investments, and particularly sovereign debt. Governments drive policy and policy drives the bond markets. Instability used to be more of an issue for emerging markets. But we are now entering a new age of [...]
Direction of war on terror now in doubt May 2, 2011 JUSTICE has been done, about that there is no doubt. The death of Osama bin Laden, the man who masterminded the world’s worst terrorist atrocity, is a hugely symbolic moment in the West’s war on terror. It is impossible to witness the scenes of jubilation in New York without sharing in a sense of triumph, [...]
Direction of war on terror now in doubt May 2, 2011 JUSTICE has been done, about that there is no doubt. The death of Osama bin Laden, the man who masterminded the world’s worst terrorist atrocity, is a hugely symbolic moment in the West’s war on terror. It is impossible to witness the scenes of jubilation in New York without sharing in a sense of triumph, [...]
Tensions simmer in the Arab World March 21, 2011 LIBYA David Cameron says almost all of Libya’s air defences have been destroyed, allowing the no-fly zone to be patrolled by Allied forces. He says the action has prevented a “bloody massacre” in rebel stronghold Benghazi. EGYPT A vote saw 77 per cent of Egyptians back pro-democracy amendments to its constitution. Its stock exchange will [...]
Arabian unrest hits fever pitch March 21, 2011 VIOLENT anti-government protests in several Middle Eastern countries accompanied a third day of air strikes in Libya yesterday, as the ten-country military coalition squabbled over the next move. As Gaddafi’s compound in Tripoli was damaged by the strikes yesterday, David Cameron told Parliament enforcing a no-fly zone had come “just in the nick of time” [...]
Arabian unrest hits fever pitch March 21, 2011 VIOLENT anti-government protests in several Middle Eastern countries accompanied a third day of air strikes in Libya yesterday, as the ten-country military coalition squabbled over the next move. As Gaddafi’s compound in Tripoli was damaged by the strikes yesterday, David Cameron told Parliament enforcing a no-fly zone had come “just in the nick of time” [...]
Salmond’s momentum sets course for independence May 9, 2011 SO Scotland is on the road to independence. There are many who say it will never happen, but they are the same people who said the SNP would never be the largest party in the Scottish Parliament, let alone win an outright majority. They are the people who said that devolution would kill off all [...]