Features
Oil discounts
When Russian troops crossed into Ukraine in February 2022, the country’s main crude export blend, Urals, was still trading in line with its traditional discount to Brent of $2. A month later Russia discounted it by $30 to find buyers.
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Peru’s broken regulatory system is enabling illegal mining networks
Peru’s decision to prolong the Integrated Registry for Mining Formalisation (Reinfo) is the clearest indication that the state has lost control over its primary tool for regulating small-scale mining.
After Tajikistan deports hundreds of Afghans, refugee community remains on edge
Tajiks accuse deportees of bad behaviour, many held legal status.
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Maduro's days look numbered. Venezuela's chaos may be just beginning
The drumbeat of war grows louder in the Caribbean as the US masses its largest military deployment since the Panama invasion. Trump wants Maduro gone — but fears Venezuela could become another Libya.
PANNIER: Dire power deficit pits Kyrgyz president against city mayors and kettle against washing machine
Disco lights ordered off by 10pm. Crypto farms unplugged.
COMMENT: Head-to-head – China vs Japan. Who wins?
With the latest China – Japan spat having been blown up exponentially by Beijing in recent days, many in East Asia are asking what would happen if hostilities break out between Beijing and Tokyo.
New jet engines compound Russia’s glide bomb headache for Ukraine
The Russian air force is lobbing as many as 5,000 glide bombs at Ukrainian positions every month, including some bombs weighing 3,000 kg that are powerful enough to destroy any defences.
Ukraine's Energoatom scandal escalates as Zelenskiy dithers on implementing a strong response
The Operation Midas scandal involving close associates of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and senior Ukrainian officials in a $100mn kickback scandal continues to expand and threatens to bring the government down.
China’s LNG tanker shadow fleet – reality or fiction?
China appears to be constructing a discreet fleet of LNG tankers capable of moving sanctioned Russian fuel in what is an emerging tactic that would allow Moscow to preserve export revenue while tightening the energy relationship between the two.
Ukraine’s Energoatom corruption stole money to protect Ukraine’s power stations, caused blackouts
A Russian missile barrage has plunged Ukraine into darkness as winter approaches but could have been avoided. Money earmarked to build effective defences against Russia’s sustained missile attacks was stolen, leaving them defenceless.
Families of Kocani fire victims in North Macedonia march ahead of landmark trial
The fire was one of the deadliest tragedies in North Macedonia's modern history, and for many, a symbol of deep systemic decline.
EXPLAINER: Lukoil scrambles to sell its international operations
Time is running short for Russia’s second-biggest oil producer to divest its vast international business, after it was hit with US sanctions that will soon render its assets outside Russia effectively inoperable.
Bottleneck on the border, truckers baffled by major snarl-up on Kazakhstan-Russia frontier
Tens of thousands of goods vehicles stranded. Yet nobody is quite clear on what is going on.
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Georgia’s ruling party cements absolute power one year on from disputed election
The Georgian Dream government has banned rival parties, imprisoned their leaders and branded them saboteurs, successfully laying the foundations for dictatorship in Georgia.
Tokyo refuses to kowtow to China’s latest round of anti-Japanese bullying
China has once more escalated a minor diplomatic skirmish with Japan, by urging its citizens to avoid travelling to the country and hauling in Tokyo’s ambassador over Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s recent remarks about Taiwan.
Indonesia’s decision to honour Soeharto sparks debate over justice and memory
Indonesia’s decision to posthumously name former president Soeharto a National Hero has reignited fierce debate over how the country remembers its past.
EU LNG imports set for record high in November as US supply surges
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports into the European Union are on track to hit an all-time monthly high in November, driven by a sharp rise in shipments from the United States.
LGBTQ+ Russians fleeing Georgia say country mirrors Kremlin's playbook
Russian émigrés who once saw Georgia as a safe haven now warn the country is replicating Russia's systematic persecution of LGBTQ+ people, forcing them to flee once more
COMMENT: Japan and Europe come together in support of Taiwan
Over the past week, two moves in East Asia and Europe clearly signal that the handling of the Taiwan question is entering a new phase - one in which neither Tokyo nor Brussels is prepared to abide by a Beijing-centric diplomatic equilibrium.
The EU’s new supply web
Global turbulence has stalled FDI for now, but the potential for future investment around the EU’s periphery — from the Western Balkans to Ukraine to north Africa — remains strong.