New York Times (July 31)
“Coming on top of the Zika epidemic, reports of terrible conditions in the Olympic Village, low ticket sales, police violence, a suspended president facing impeachment and a Russian team depleted by the doping scandal, the news of the contaminated waters certify that the Rio Olympics will be one of the most disorderly and woebegone in the 120 years since the modern Games began in Athens.”
Tags: Athens, Contaminated waters, Disorderly, Doping scandal, Epidemic, Impeachment, Olympic Village, Police violence, Rio Olympics, Russia, Ticket sales, Zika
Wall Street Journal (June 28)
“The free world got a boost Tuesday as American, Japanese and South Korean forces completed their first trilateral missile-defense drill in waters off Hawaii. Deepening such cooperation is vital for defending America and its partners against North Korea’s nuclear capabilities, and for putting China and Russia on notice that the U.S. won’t be muscled out of Asia.”
Tags: China, Cooperation, Hawaii, Japan South Korea, North Korea, Russia, Trilateral missile-defense drill, U.S.
Institutional Investor (April 23)
“Rate announcements by the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan will loom large this coming week as investors consider the alternate reality of negative interest rates. Meanwhile, key economic indicators for onetime BRIC stars Russia and Brazil will arrive as each suffers from the weight of low oil prices and Brazil deals with domestic political intrigue surrounding the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff.”
Tags: Announcements, BOJ, Brazil, BRICS, Economic indicators, Fed, Impeachment, Negative interest, Oil, Rates, Rousseff, Russia
Financial Times (February 18)
The conditional deal between Saudi Arabia and Russia delivered “maximum rhetorical impact for the minimum genuine commitment.” Ultimately, it “will not take a single barrel of oil off the market to ease the glut that has driven crude prices down about 70 per cent since the summer of 2014.” The deal reveals “nervousness among the world’s two largest oil producers. But the fact that Saudi Arabia is not already cutting its output, in spite of mounting signs of financial strain, shows that while its strategy might be painful, it is still rational.”
Tags: Deal, Financial strain, Glut, Market, Oil, Output, Producers, Rational, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Strategy
Wall Street Journal (January 3)
Not just one, but “two U.S. companies have landed a rocket safely after space flight.” This major breakthrough “could make space commuting for commerce and exploration a reality.” This “is also a sign of America’s continuing economic vitality.” The competition between two private sector companies “should lead to more rapid innovation, and the development of private U.S. rocketry will make the country less dependent on Russian rockets for various government or commercial purposes.”
Tags: Breakthrough, Commerce, Competition, Economic vitality, Exploration, Innovation, Private-sector, Rocket, Russia, U.S.
Washington Post (December 19)
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin have been exchanging compliments. They clearly have a lot in common. “Much as Mr. Putin has muzzled free expression in the media, marginalized political opponents and scrapped contested elections, Mr. Trump has blithely endorsed shutting down parts of the Internet, praised President Franklin D. Roosevelt for interning Japanese Americans during World War II and openly contemplated registering Muslims in America.”
Tags: Elections, Free expression, Internet, Internment, Japanese Americans, Media, Muslims, Political opponents, Putin, Roosevelt, Russia, Trump, U.S.
New York Times (September 3)
“A disaster has been averted. The nuclear deal concluded by six major powers with Iran is now unstoppable in Congress.” Had the deal “unraveled in Congress, so would America’s standing as a global power. Russia, China and the European Union would have concluded that the United States is unserious.”
Financial Times (August 11)
Fears are growing of a meltdown in the aluminum market as Chinese output soars and, much like the oil market, supply outstrips demand. “China now accounts for more than half of global supply, up from 18 per cent in 2003 thanks to cheap power and the world’s most efficiently built smelters. Established producers from North America to Russia and the Middle East—facing the lowest prices since the financial crisis, reduced margins and profits—are anxious but do not want to cut capacity for fear of losing market share.”
Tags: Aluminum, Capacity, China, Fears, Margins, Market share, Meltdown, Middle East, North America, Oil, Output, Profits, Russia, Smelters
New York Times (July 22)
“Given the rapid changes in that region, the fishing ban hasn’t come too soon.” With the Arctic melt proceeding faster than many imagined, the U.S., Canada, Russia, Norway and Denmark have proactively “put a ‘No Fishing’ sign on the high seas portion of the central Arctic until full scientific studies have been conducted.”
Tags: Arctic, Ban, Canada, Changes, Denmark, Fishing, High seas, Norway, Russia, Scientific studies, U.S.
Wall Street Journal (June 9)
With the unfolding FIFA scandal, the legitimacy of Russia’s successful bid to host the World Cub may be called into question. To some, the bribery is irrelevant. “Why not at least threaten a boycott of the Cup for as long as Russian troops remain in Ukraine? The average Russian couldn’t care less that the deputy prime minister is under international sanctions for Moscow’s seizure of Crimea. But soccer-mad Russians would care, a lot, if the games were taken from them.”
