Global Geopolitics Series

The spectre of a hard border is not just an Irish problem, it looms across Europe

Oct 30, 2016 23:19 pm UTC| Insights & Views

The future of the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland after Brexit is proving to be a complex political problem. As negotiators aim to avoid a new hard border between the two jurisdictions, their...

Global Geopolitics Series

Obama's Nobel-winning vision of 'world without nuclear weapons' is still distant

Oct 30, 2016 23:15 pm UTC| Insights & Views

Even now, Barack Obama is being hailed as a transformer for the vision of a world without nuclear weapons he articulated during his first year in office. The 44th US president has left an indelible mark on the nuclear...

Electric Vehicle Series

Are priority measures for electric cars really a good idea?

Oct 30, 2016 21:36 pm UTC| Insights & Views Technology

With as many as 40,000 premature deaths linked to air pollution each year, five UK cities are considering a novel approach to reduce emissions. Birmingham, Leeds, Nottingham, Derby and Southampton may adopt clean air...

Is it time to resurrect the wartime 'Grow Your Own' campaign?

Oct 30, 2016 21:34 pm UTC| Insights & Views Life

During the devastating floods that hit Queensland in 2011, Brisbane and regional centres came perilously close to running out of fresh food. With the central Rocklea produce market underwater, panic-buying soon set in and...

Negative Rates Series

BoJ likely to keep negative interest rates, 10-year government bond yield target unchanged

Oct 28, 2016 10:49 am UTC| Insights & Views Economy Central Banks

At its two-day policy meeting which concludes Nov 1st, the Bank of Japan (BoJ) is widely expected to keep unchanged its minus 0.1 percent short-term interest rate target. In a quarterly evaluation of its forecasts also due...

Global Geopolitics Series

Is the Islamic State finished? Five possible scenarios

Oct 28, 2016 10:32 am UTC| Insights & Views

Most military analysts believe its only a matter of time before Mosul falls. Mosul is Iraqs third largest city. The Islamic State captured it in June 2014 during a campaign that left it in control of territory the size...

Israel, where prostitution is legal, debates criminalising the men who pay for sex

Oct 28, 2016 08:42 am UTC| Insights & Views Law

How should the selling of sex be treated? What should law do about it, if anything? What kind of links are there between prostitution and sex trafficking? Such questions ignite vigorous controversies around the world, and...