India’s controversial decision to ban 500- and 1,000-rupee notes has backfired. The idea was to root out “black money” — the profits of political corruption, tax evasion and ordinary crime. But efforts to get around the ban have been so effective that those problems may now be harder to solve than before. Prime Minister Narendra Modi deserves credit for …

  Once again Cyprus reunification talks failed to reach any conclusion. The diplomats from Turkey, Greece and Britain suspended the talks after failing to iron out differences on security guarantee for its ethnic Greek and Turkish communities. The reunifications talks have failed multiple times in the past also. This gives rise to skepticism. Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when …

  Bloomberg The UK government is deeply concerned that Donald Trump’s closeness to Russia will give sway to Vladimir Putin in eastern Europe and weaken US ties with its traditional Western allies. The US President-elect caused alarm in London after saying he wants a warmer relationship with Russian President than the Obama administration had, according to two senior officials, who …