Fortune magazine issued a list of the biggest organized crime groups in the world: elements of Japan's Yakuza, Russian mafia, two Italian syndicates and Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel.
In a little-noted irony, as Vladiimir Putin backs the "People's Republics" in eastern Ukraine, he has cracked down on a separatist movement that has emerged in Siberia.
China's participation in the Paris summit on building an international effort against ISIS comes as Uighur militants were detained on suspicion of recruiting for the "Islamic State."
Crimean Tatar leaders, forced into exile by Russian judicial orders, accuse Moscow of a campaign of raids and harassment aimed at driving Tatars from the peninsula.
Putin's political machine convened an "anti-fascist" summit at Yalta in annexed Crimea, attended by Hungary's Jobbik party, the British Nationalist Party and other neo-fascist entities.
At the NATO summit called in response to the Ukraine escalation, a particularly hard line is being taken by Canada—now in a race with Russia to claim Arctic oil resources.
Five large non-Western economies are planning a new development bank, but activists say the bank's impact will depend on the ability of the countries' populations to mobilize.
Nicaragua approved a route for its proposed inter-oceanic canal—sparking demands both by the Rama indigenous people and neighboring Costa Rica to be consulted in the project.
As Obama blames Russian-backed rebels in the downing of the Malaysian flight over Ukraine, Putin blames Kiev—and the people of eastern Ukraine are brutalized by both sides.
The US and Iran alike are sending drones to Iraq to help the government beat back ISIS, while Russia has followed Washington in sending warplanes and military advisors.
As the 1914 assassination of Archduke Ferdinand is commemorated in a bitterly divided Sarajevo, the conflicts in Ukraine and Syria show grim potential for a new world war.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a report citing abductions, detentions, torture and killings in the eastern regions of Ukraine where armed groups hold control.
