Athens, Greece / AFP Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed in an article published on Thursday that the EU would not be a global player without his country’s help as he prepared to visit the bloc for the first time in almost a year. Putin, who starts a two-day visit to Greece on Friday, also called for an energy alliance ...

  Vilnius, lithuania / AFP Germany says the EU is facing difficult talks on extending sanctions against Russia over the conflict in Ukraine due to the increased resistance of some member states, according to an interview released on Thursday. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier also told the Baltic News Service (BNS) that the West needed to engage in dialogue with ...

  Caracas, Venezuela / AFP Protesters seeking to oust Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro staged fresh street rallies but drew scant turnout, a setback the divided opposition blamed on repressive tactics and a spiraling economic crisis. Some 500 Maduro opponents gathered in eastern Caracas, waving the red, yellow and blue Venezuelan flag and banners denouncing the daily woes a crippling recession ...

  Seoul, South Korea / AFP UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged a return to talks with North Korea, during a visit to South Korea that has fuelled speculation of his presidential ambitions in his home country. “We must find the path back to dialogue,” Ban said at a peace and security forum on the southern island of Jeju. Tensions ...

WASHINGTON How many times have you heard that Americans’ wages have stagnated? Countless commentators (including me) have repeated this complaint. Naturally, politicians of both parties — Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump — deplore it. It’s conventional wisdom that wage stagnation has contributed to the sluggish recovery and the downcast attitudes of millions. But what if it’s not true? A new ...

  The same tragic drowning scenario at the Mediterranean Sea keeps recurring as the illegal migrant flow continues unabated from sub-Saharan Africa to Libya, where they take perilous journeys using dilapidated dinghies to get into Europe but at a price. On Wednesday, the Italian navy captured the chilling images of a heavily overcrowded boat overturning off Libya, leaving at least ...

  Narayana Kocherlakota The Federal Reserve’s track record of economic forecasting is a lot better than many observers recognize. It might also offer some insight into the central bank’s approach to managing the recovery. Criticism of the Fed’s forecasting has focused largely on its failure to recognize, as late as mid-2008, the depth and persistence of the recession that the ...

  The share of Germany’s electricity generated from renewable sources has tripled during the past decade, to 30.1 percent. That’s impressive, especially when compared with what has happened in the U.S. On the other hand, the percentage of Germany’s electricity generated by burning coal isn’t all that much lower than it was a decade ago, and is higher than it ...

  The International Monetary Fund and European finance ministers hailed their new agreement on Greece as a “major breakthrough.” In reality, it’s the beginning of a permanent fudge designed to make the intractable Greek problem a political non-issue for Greece’s EU partners and reduce the financial and reputational risk for the IMF. It’s the equivalent of canceling visitation hours for ...

  The existing world order, led by the United States, is one whose aims include collective security, the protection of human rights, promoting negotiation and diplomacy, and improving global welfare. These ideals have been consistent from the League of Nations to goals of the United Nations (UN). Keeping consistent with these aims, we should take a humanist approach when viewing ...