China’s strategic move on rare earth metals and critical mineral

China has heavily invested in education, science, technology, and innovation since it launched reforms and opened up in 1978. In early days, China sent its youth to world-class universities all over the world and developed quality human resources. In the next stage, China focused on upgrading their own universities and invested within Chinese universities. Curricula were modernized, and teaching methods were improved. Exam systems were changed, and they started to catch up with the global universities and struggled to achieve global ranking. As a result, today, around a dozen universities have achieved status in the top hundred universities of the world, and nearly a hundred universities fall among the top 500 universities of the top global universities.

The Far Right: How Right-Wing Populist Politics Threatens the EU Economy

It’s generally accepted that right-wing politicians in power are a boon to economic growth, since, unlike leftists, they favor business freedom, strong competition, and reasonably low taxes. In the current context of a pan-European economic downturn, moderate right-wing governments are forced to implement unpopular reforms, as in Italy and Greece. But the downturn in Europe is also leading to growing support for far-right populists with completely different policies that run counter to the traditional tenets of the economic right: fighting migrants, rejecting integration, tariff wars, etc. Implementing this program threatens European countries with growing budget deficits, acute labor shortages, and new debt crises.

Turkey’s Drone Sales to Kosovo Test its Friendship with Serbia

epa11654553 Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic (R) and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) attend a press conference following their meeting in Belgrade, Serbia, 11 October 2024. President Erdogan is on an official state visit to Serbia. EPA/ANDREJ CUKIC

Turkey was among the first to recognise Kosovo in 2008 and has since backed its efforts for wider international recognition. During the early 2010s, frequent visits between then prime minister Hashim Thaci and Erdogan deepened ties, while Turkish companies secured major stakes in Kosovo’s economy: from the airport and electricity distribution to a significant share of the banking sector.

State of Denial: How Greece Deploys Lawfare Against the Victims of its Failures

Giannis Kafkas had dreams of making it as a photographer until he was bashed in the back of the head. Fourteen years ago, Greece was in the throes of a sovereign debt crisis that was threatening to bring down the euro-zone. On May 11, 2011, Kafkas joined tens of thousands of his fellow Athenians in a mass demonstration against the crippling austerity measures imposed by Greece’s international creditors. As the crowd snaked past the parliament building, it was abruptly set upon by riot police. “There was no escape, they were beating everyone,” he recalls. “I’ve never seen such fury.”

Kosovo Spy Agency’s Undocumented ‘Special Ops’ Spending: Probe Halted

Prosecutors in Kosovo have shelved an investigation based on an internal audit at the Kosovo intelligence agency that identified nearly two million euros of alleged undocumented spending under three former directors, BIRN has found.

An internal audit at Kosovo’s state intelligence agency, AKI, identified undocumented spending of some two million euros from a ‘special operations fund’ under three former directors between 2017 and 2020, but prosecutors closed their investigation citing the statute of limitations and a lack of evidence, BIRN can reveal.

Albania Emerges as Destination Port for Illicit Oil from Russia and Libya

It was a cold and windy day in January this year when the Besart and the Aya Zanoubya approached the port of Porto Romano near Durres on Albania’s Adriatic coast, the latter being towed due to an electrical failure that had supposedly prevented it from continuing to its stated destination.

Their declared cargo was cement, but, acting on a tip-off, investigators discovered something else – 600,000 litres of undeclared diesel fuel.