
Sharply higher interest rates around the world could combine with weaker growth in emerging markets to slice as much as two percentage points off global growth in the next five years, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday.

Amid mounting criticism of Russia over the MH17 plane tragedy and conflict with Ukraine, FIFA rejects calls for the country to be stripped of 2018 World Cup hosting rights and says a boycott is no solution to the crisis.

”The World travel and tourism industry must come together and take leadership after the Malaysia Airlines (MH17) incident.” This is the opinion voiced by Juergen Thomas Steinmetz, Chairman of the International Coalition of Tourism Partners (ICTP).

A suspected Russian-made surface-to-air missile downed a Malaysia Airlines jet in a separatist-controlled corner of eastern Ukraine on Thursday, prompting the Kiev government to denounce an “act of terror” that killed all 298 people on board.

In an article for Penguin News, distinguished political and scientific Bulgarian author Dr Lyubomir Ivanov (*) discusses the Crimean conflict and its parallel with the Falklands.The Argentine President Cristina Kirchner praised the recent Crimean status referendum as, “one of the famous referendums of self-determination.”

By Gwynne Dyer - With due apologies to God, Voltaire and the Ukrainians, I must point out that if Ukraine did not exist, it would not be necessary to invent it.It is not a great power, it has no resources the world cannot do without, and it is not a “vital strategic interest” to anybody except the Ukrainians. Not even to the Russians, although they are acting at the moment as though it were.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he doesn't think the European community can do without the natural gas it gets from energy monopoly Gazprom. With a Russian economy starting to decline, however, it may be Gazprom that's too strongly interconnected to the European market to break free.

As protests in Ukraine's eastern region turned violent on Sunday leading to the death of a Ukrainian security officer in a shootout with pro-Russian militia, Kiev threatens military action while Moscow flexes its geo-economic warfare muscles.

By Robert Bensh of Oilprice.com - There is only one certainty in Ukraine: The energy sector must and will be transformed, and how long this takes will depend on who ends up in the driver's seat and how serious they are about becoming a part of Europe and reducing dependence on Russia. But by then, investors will have missed the boat.

UK Defense Secretary Philip Hammond has been talking about why the UK and US must remain partners of choice in defense. This week Mr Hammond gave a speech at the Heritage Foundation in Washington DC about the special relationship that exists between the UK and the US, describing the UK as the most capable and interoperable ally.