A six-day conflict in the Caucasus mountains has transformed the international balance of power, with Russia now looking stronger than ever. But what sparked it? Diplomatic Editor Anne Penketh reveals how the Georgian government walked straight into a trap set by Moscow – and considers the consequences of the first war in Europe for a [...]

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Blame it on a dull black substance called coltan, also known as columbite-tantalite, also occasionally dubbed “black gold.” Coltan has been a source material in the manufacture of cell phones, DVD players, computers, and you guessed it: game consoles. Earlier this month, Toward Freedom claimed the metallic ore had exacerbated a decade-old conflict in the [...]

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Spain’s economy is in trouble. Rising property values earlier this decade lured many Spaniards into the market. Now that the bubble has burst, the crisis is quickly spreading through the country’s economy. By Reiner Wandler in Madrid more…

Photo Gallery: Housing Market Crisis
Sliding into Recession: Economic Tempest Overtakes Europe
Housing Market Slump: Britain’s Homebuilders Get Bloodied
Real Estate [...]

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China and Taiwan agreed on Thursday to set up their first ever offices in each others’ territories, as they began historic talks aimed at consolidating a dramatic rapprochement and building trade ties.
Both sides said the restart of the dialogue, which China suspended a decade ago as relations between the long-time rivals plummeted, would be able [...]

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World military spending grew 45 percent in the past decade, with the United States accounting for nearly half of all expenditures, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said Monday.
Military spending grew six percent last year alone, according to SIPRI’s annual report.
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Record spending on infrastructure will help to sustain rapid growth in emerging economies
THE biggest investment boom in history is under way. Over half of the world’s infrastructure investment is now taking place in emerging economies, where sales of excavators have risen more than fivefold since 2000. In total, emerging economies are likely to spend an [...]

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Output is tanking, but there’s fierce opposition to a plan that could reward Big Oil for helping find new reserves
Reform is urgent: Oil output in Mexico, the world’s No. 6 producer of crude, is plummeting. At the Cantarell field, the country’s main source of oil, production is declining 15% annually. Pemex pumped 2.85 million barrels [...]

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The latest figures released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute show a precipitous decline in the volume of Russian weapons sales to the Chinese military. Although Beijing remains the single largest recipient of Russian arms, the figures show a 63 percent decrease in the value of major Russian weapons deliveries to China, which is [...]

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Their political leaders and military planners seem impervious to the fact that a war between Pakistan and India in which each used only five of their nuclear weapons on the other’s cities could kill several million people and injure many more. The effects of a nuclear war could be much worse if India and Pakistan [...]

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For the first time in a decade, a North Korean has defected to South Korea by crossing the heavily armed border dividing the two countries. VOA Seoul Correspondent Kurt Achin has more.
South Korean military officials say the North Korean military officer crossed into the South on Sunday.
The officer is being debriefed by South Korean [...]

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